Terry Wahls

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Terry Wahls
Born (1955-11-09) November 9, 1955 (age 68)
Occupation(s)Physician, writer

Terry Lynn Wahls (born November 9, 1955) is an American physician and paleo diet advocate. She was an assistant chief of staff at Iowa City Veterans Administration Health Care and is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa. She has a private practice and conducts clinical trials. She was diagnosed with a chronic progressive neurological disorder and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. [1] [2] Wahls is a promoter of functional medicine. [3]

Contents

Professional positions

In 2000 Wahls moved to Iowa City, Iowa, to become the associate chief of staff for ambulatory care at the Veterans Administration (VA) Iowa City Medical Center and associate professor of medicine in the college of medicine at the University of Iowa. In that same year, Wahls was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) [4] that progressed to a stage where she was using a wheelchair and on the verge of being unable to continue practicing medicine.

Terry and her partner, Jackie Reger, have two children, Zach and Zebby. [5]

The Wahls Protocol Diet

Wahls advocates a low-carbohydrate paleo diet. [6] The diet promoted by Wahls to treat MS is a modified paleo diet, relying primarily on grass-fed meat, fish, leafy vegetables, roots, nuts, and fruit and restricting dairy products, eggs, grains, legumes, nightshade (solanaceous) vegetables, starches and sugar. Wahls has claimed that the diet alleviated the symptoms of her own multiple sclerosis. [7]

Wahls' promotion of her diet and lifestyle regimen as an important strategy for managing MS-related symptoms as well as other disorders has been criticized for relying too much on anecdotal evidence, for failing to initiate adequate research to verify the claims, and for Wahls' perceived conflicts of interest (selling numerous products and educational materials related to her protocol). [8] [9] A 2020 Cochrane review found no research supporting efficacy or effectiveness of diet or vitamin supplementation for treatment of MS. [10]

Clinical neurologist Steven Novella has commented that Wahls "paint[s] a picture of reality that is at drastic odds with the evidence" and elevates "nutrition to a magical stature that is not based on a lick of published evidence". [11]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optic neuritis</span> Inflammation of the optic nerve

Optic neuritis describes any condition that causes inflammation of the optic nerve; it may be associated with demyelinating diseases, or infectious or inflammatory processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiple sclerosis</span> Disease that damages the myelin sheaths around nerves

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. Being a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to transmit signals, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems. Symptoms include double vision, vision loss, eye pain, muscle weakness, and loss of sensation or coordination. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms either occurring in isolated attacks or building up over time. In relapsing forms of MS, between attacks, symptoms may disappear completely, although some permanent neurological problems often remain, especially as the disease advances. In progressive forms of MS, bodily function slowly deteriorates once symptoms manifest and will steadily worsen if left untreated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatigue</span> Range of afflictions, usually associated with physical or mental weakness

Fatigue describes a state of tiredness, exhaustion or loss of energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interferon beta-1a</span> Cytokine in the interferon family

Interferon beta-1a is a cytokine in the interferon family used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). It is produced by mammalian cells, while interferon beta-1b is produced in modified E. coli. Some research indicates that interferon injections may result in an 18–38% reduction in the rate of MS relapses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalizumab</span> Medication used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohns disease

Natalizumab, sold under the brand name Tysabri among others, is a medication used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the cell adhesion molecule α4-integrin. It is given by intravenous infusion. The drug is believed to work by reducing the ability of inflammatory immune cells to attach to and pass through the cell layers lining the intestines and blood–brain barrier.

Interferon beta-1b is a cytokine in the interferon family used to treat the relapsing-remitting and secondary-progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is approved for use after the first MS event. Closely related is interferon beta 1a, also indicated for MS, with a very similar drug profile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis</span>

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS in which activated immune cells invade the central nervous system and cause inflammation, neurodegeneration, and tissue damage. The underlying cause is currently unknown. Current research in neuropathology, neuroimmunology, neurobiology, and neuroimaging, together with clinical neurology, provide support for the notion that MS is not a single disease but rather a spectrum.

A functional symptom is a medical symptom with no known physical cause. In other words, there is no structural or pathologically defined disease to explain the symptom. The use of the term 'functional symptom' does not assume psychogenesis, only that the body is not functioning as expected. Functional symptoms are increasingly viewed within a framework in which 'biological, psychological, interpersonal and healthcare factors' should all be considered to be relevant for determining the aetiology and treatment plans.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). Several therapies for it exist, although there is no known cure.

Inflammatory demyelinating diseases (IDDs), sometimes called Idiopathic (IIDDs) due to the unknown etiology of some of them, are a heterogenous group of demyelinating diseases - conditions that cause damage to myelin, the protective sheath of nerve fibers - that occur against the background of an acute or chronic inflammatory process. IDDs share characteristics with and are often grouped together under Multiple Sclerosis. They are sometimes considered different diseases from Multiple Sclerosis, but considered by others to form a spectrum differing only in terms of chronicity, severity, and clinical course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis</span> Neurological signs and symptoms

The signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) encompass a wide range of neurological and physical manifestations, including vision problems, muscle weakness, coordination difficulties, and cognitive impairment, varying significantly in severity and progression among individuals.

Research in multiple sclerosis may find new pathways to interact with the disease, improve function, curtail attacks, or limit the progression of the underlying disease. Many treatments already in clinical trials involve drugs that are used in other diseases or medications that have not been designed specifically for multiple sclerosis. There are also trials involving the combination of drugs that are already in use for multiple sclerosis. Finally, there are also many basic investigations that try to understand the disease better and in the future may help to find new treatments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumefactive multiple sclerosis</span> Medical condition

Tumefactive multiple sclerosis is a condition in which the central nervous system of a person has multiple demyelinating lesions with atypical characteristics for those of standard multiple sclerosis (MS). It is called tumefactive as the lesions are "tumor-like" and they mimic tumors clinically, radiologically and sometimes pathologically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency controversy</span> Medical condition

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency is a term invented by Italian researcher Paolo Zamboni in 2008 to describe compromised flow of blood in the veins draining the central nervous system. Zamboni hypothesized that it might play a role in the cause or development of multiple sclerosis (MS). Zamboni also devised a surgical procedure which the media nicknamed a liberation procedure or liberation therapy, involving venoplasty or stenting of certain veins. Zamboni's ideas about CCSVI are very controversial, with significantly more detractors than supporters, and any treatments based on his ideas are considered experimental.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paolo Zamboni</span>

Paolo Zamboni is an Italian doctor and scientist. He is full Professor and Director of the School of Vascular Surgery at the University of Ferrara in Italy.

Schumacher criteria are diagnostic criteria that were previously used for identifying multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis, understood as a central nervous system (CNS) condition, can be difficult to diagnose since its signs and symptoms may be similar to other medical problems. Medical organizations have created diagnostic criteria to ease and standardize the diagnostic process especially in the first stages of the disease. Schumacher criteria were the first internationally recognized criteria for diagnosis, and introduced concepts still in use, as CDMS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis</span>

Current standards for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) are based on the 2018 revision of McDonald criteria. They rely on MRI detection of demyelinating lesions in the CNS, which are distributed in space (DIS) and in time (DIT). It is also a requirement that any possible known disease that produces demyelinating lesions is ruled out before applying McDonald's criteria.

Rhonda Renee Voskuhl is an American physician, research scientist, and professor. She is a member of the Brain Research Institute (BRI) at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and is the director of its Multiple Sclerosis Program. Voskuhl has published numerous scientific articles in academic journals and has served in the role of principal investigator for several treatment trials investigating potential treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Living Proof is a documentary directed by Matt Embry, released in 2017. The documentary explores Embry's story of living Multiple sclerosis (MS). Embry visits several MS patients and learns about their lifestyle changes and the progression of the autoimmune disease. Since there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, Embry and his father embark on journey to find answers and hope.

Anne Cross is an American neurologist and neuroimmunologist and the Section Head of Neuroimmunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Cross holds the Manny and Rosalyn Rosenthal–Dr. John L. Trotter Endowed Chair in Neuroimmunology at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and co-directs the John L Trotter Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Cross is a leader in the field of neuroimmunology and was the first to discover the role of B cells in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in animals and then in humans. Cross now develops novel imaging techniques to observe inflammation and demyelination in the central nervous systems of MS patients for diagnosis and disease management.

References

  1. ↑ Landau, Meryl Davids (19 December 2012). "An MS-Stricken Doctor Changes Her Diet ... and Reverses Her 'Irreversible' Decline". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Rogers, Adrian (March 12, 2013). "Speaking of MS". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  3. ↑ "Terry Wahls, MD". The Institute for Functional Medicine. 2020. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023.
  4. ↑ "UI Researchers Develop Innovative Protocol of Treatment for MS Patients". N.p., 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. https://www.ccsvi.nl/prikbord/Direct.aspx?guid=tag:ccsvi-ms.ning.com,2011-11-17:5297960:BlogPost:186423
  5. ↑ Heidemann, Jason A. (April 20, 2011). "Zach Wahls". Time Out Chicago . Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ Moore, Charles (2014). "Can Low Carb, High Fat Ketogenic Diets Improve MS And Other Neurological Disease Symptoms?". Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023.
  7. ↑ "What Is the Wahls Protocol Diet and Does It Work for MS?". WebMD. WebMD, LLC. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  8. ↑ "Should Iowa professor promoting MS diet lead study to see if it works?". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Howard, Jonathan (2019). Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes: Case-Based Guide to Critical Thinking in Medicine. Springer International Publishing. ISBN   978-3-319-93223-1 . Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  10. ↑ Parks, Natalie E.; Jackson-Tarlton, Caitlin S.; Vacchi, Laura; Merdad, Roah; Johnston, Bradley C. (19 May 2020). "Dietary interventions for multiple sclerosis-related outcomes". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020 (5): CD004192. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004192.pub4. ISSN   1469-493X. PMC   7388136 . PMID   32428983.
  11. ↑ Novella, Stephen (2014). "Can Diet Cure MS?". NeuroLogica Blog. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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