Book Review

'Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis' by Professor George Jelinek

One Internet search for books about multiple sclerosis will return thousands of possibilities. Over the coming months we’ll be reading some of these titles, giving a review and providing you with useful information. 

This month, we looked at 'Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis' by George Jelinek. First published in 2009 and revised in 2010, this is a follow-up to Taking Control of Multiple Sclerosis. George Jelinek is a Professor in Emergency Medicine with appointments in the University of Western Australia, University of Melbourne and was the first Professor of Emergency Medicine in Australasia. He was diagnosed with MS in 1999. 

Brief Summary:

Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis is a ‘positive lifestyle programme that aims to help people live long healthy lives without the usual problems associated with MS’. This is a book based on the premise that people with MS have the ability to make changes to their lives that will significantly improve their health in general and their MS symptoms in particular. 

Expert Experience:

Professor Jelinek begins by telling his personal story of growing up with a parent living with MS. He had first-hand experience of MS at a time in history when knowledge and research into the condition was limited and treatments almost non-existent. The book is well structured and easy to use with tips based on personal experience and back up with rigorous attention to detail. At the beginning of every chapter there is a ‘Summarising the Evidence’ box that breaks the reseach into easily digestible pieces. 

Research: 

With the emphasis is on rigorous scientific research, the book is interspersed with personal experiences from the author and others. The author reviews the importance of Dietary Fat Intake (Swank Diet), Supplements, Sunshine Exposure and Vitamin D, Exercise, Stress, Depression and Smoking and The Mind-Body Connection, Prevention and Management of Pain and Fatigue. 

The focus is on preventative treatment through lifestyle changes and wellness, ‘Lifestyle changes are generally the most effective therapies for chronic Western diseases, of which MS is one’. The author’s approach to the condition is based on reality with great hope about what can be achieved through personal discipline. It reminds us of the human body’s ability to heal when given the right resources. 

Summing up

A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis upsets life expectations. It can come ‘out-of-the-blue’; at a stage when people are making significant decisions, or they may have had years of unexplained symptoms coupled with significant loss of function. While human existence is certainly changeable, MS can be an uncomfortable reminder of this uncertainty and unpredictability. Jelinek provides a framework and strategy that encourages people to recover a sense of control that empowers them to deal with their life in the best way they can. 

This is a very useful resource for people living with MS. In an accessible, affirming way, the author encourages the reader to seek out the very best for them. According to Jelinek, the condition demands changes to lifestyle, to personal understanding and to life in general. This is a reminder that to remain well after a diagnosis is more than an exciting possibility; it can be a person’s reality. Reading this book will provoke people in ways that some might find uncomfortable. However, there is so much useful information that all who read it will learn something new about life with MS. 

More information can be found at: 
http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org 

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