Diet quality and patient health outcomes over 10 years in people with MS

There is some evidence that diet plays a role in the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, these largely come from small studies at single timepoints, preventing us from determining cause-and-effect.

This study will employ a large cohort of more than 2000 people living with MS in the UK with clinical follow-up measurements of multiple patient-reported outcomes since 2011. Advanced statistical methods will be used to extract diet quality characteristics from to diet intake data from 2016 and 2022 and evaluate the links between diet quality and relapse, disability, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and quality of life over 10 years of follow-up.

These results will then be used to develop a web-based interface which people living with MS can use to predict how their MS might progress based on their reported food and beverage intake.

Dr Steve Simpson-Yap and his team will also undertake discussions with people living with MS and their carers to better inform ways people living with MS can improve their diet, which are practical given their clinical, social and life circumstances.

These results will directly inform people living with MS, medical practitioners, and researchers about the link between diet and the range of clinical outcome measures in MS. It will also provide a basis for applying these and other diet analysis results to achievable positive lifestyle change.

Please update “Progress to date”

Dr Simpson-Yap and his team have found preliminary evidence that eating a Mediterranean diet was more likely to result in a better mental quality of life and lower risk of depression or anxiety, over 7 years of follow-up.

The Mediterranean diet is an eating pattern that has emphasises plenty of vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, and legumes, along with healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil and nuts eaten daily. It also includes fish and poultry more frequently than red meat.

Over the next year, Dr Simpson-Yap and his team plan to analyse how different types of diets relate to people’s physical and mental health outcomes. They’ll study patterns in their data to see if certain diets are linked to better or worse outcomes. Dr Simpson Yap and his team also plan to develop a client-facing interface to assist people living with MS in their knowledge and pursuit of a healthier diet.