Beth Holcomb has lived with multiple sclerosis for nearly twenty years. “Symptoms come and go, but fatigue remains,” explains Beth. “I’m a full-time pre-school teacher. I love my job, but after five days of being on my feet and keeping up with the kids, I often have no energy left. I was considering scaling back my hours.” Then she joined Kessler Foundation’s study on the effects of aerobic walking on brain processing speed, mobility, and quality of life in people with MS. 

Health experts agree, regular exercise can work wonders for our bodies and minds, improving mobility, lessening fatigue, and boosting mood. With a recent grant from the Dean Janeway Endowment Fund at New Jersey Health Foundation and support from donors like you, a new Kessler Foundation pilot study aims to determine whether home-based, aerobic walking exercise can reverse cognitive impairment caused by multiple sclerosis and deliver additional health
benefits. Brian M. Sandroff, PhD, senior research scientist in the Center for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, leads the investigation. This novel, randomized control trial builds on the Foundation’s 13 years of exercise research. Dr. Sandroff’s team will examine 12 months of home-based, remotely delivered and supported exercises, comparing high-frequency, high-intensity aerobic walking with mild-to-moderate walking that parallels the current standard-of-care exercise often prescribed for people with MS.

“I believe this study will provide meaningful insight into developing aerobic exercise guidelines for specifically managing MS-related cognitive impairment at home and in the community,” says Dr. Sandroff. “We are hopeful that this pilot study sets the stage for the broad-scale consideration of aerobic walking exercise training for restoring cognitive functioning not improved by MS disease-modifying drugs. It may also answer the often-asked question, ‘Does the amount or intensity of walking exercise matter?’

If successful, this study may yield substantial benefits for individuals with MS. All participants should experience a general health boost, including improvements in fitness and mobility, along with a reduction in fatigue and depressive symptoms. Participants randomly assigned to the high-frequency, high-intensity group might realize additional gains in processing speed, brain volume, connectivity, and quality of life.

Your support helps sustain and expand the work of our scientists and the potential to positively impact the lives of people with MS. Dr. Sandroff hopes this latest endeavor will lead to a large, federally funded, multi-site trial with participants from across the U.S. “Thanks to the Dean Janeway Endowment Fund and donors like you, we’re able to take this first, all-important step in creating actual guidelines for aerobic walking that clinicians can prescribe to their MS patients across the globe.”

Beth was curious to see whether this exercise would help. It did. After completing the regimen, she found her stamina had increased. “Now I can continue full-time work with energy left to enjoy being with my family and friends, and even go bowling,” she says. “This research is essential to improving quality of life for people like me.”