Effects of Swank, Wahls Diets in Multiple Sclerosis: Tyler Titcomb, PhD, RDN, IFMCP

WATCH TIME: 2 minutes

"The idea is that if there’s some underlying mechanism and it happens to be something similar between the diets, it would be teased out. Or, if it was something due to the drastic differences, that would be teased out.”

At the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), October 25-28, data from a randomized, parallel-arm study showed the effects of both the Wahls and Swank elimination diets on individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Presented by Tyler Titcomb, PhD, RDN, IFMCP, the study, termed WAVES, showed that these 2 elimination diets led to significant reductions in each group for fatigue and cognitive dysfunction compared with their respective baseline values.

Those in the Swank diet group (n = 38) reported total Perceived Deficits Questionnaire (PDQ) scores of 25.1 (±2.00) compared with 32.4 (±2.36) at baseline, while the Wahls group (n = 39) reported total scores of 29.1 (±2.71), compared with 35.9 (±2.16) at baseline, both being a significant improvement. In his presentation, Titcomb explained that the improvements observed from both groups may indicate that the diets are both driven by a similar mechanistic action.

Titcomb, post-doctoral scholar, Wahls UIHC Clinical Research Lab, University of Iowa, sat down with NeurologyLive at CMSC 2021 to discuss his presentation, along with the reasons for why he conducted the study and the significant end points observed.

For more coverage of CMSC 2021, click here.

REFERENCE

Titcomb T, Eyck PT, Hoth KF, Snetselaar L, Wahls T. Effect of the Swank and Wahls elimination diets on perceived fatigue and cognitive dysfunction in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a randomized parallel-arm trial. Presented at: CMSC 2021; October 25-28; Paper 7210.