Relieving Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms With Cooling Vests

There are usually two ways to develop a course of treatment for a given health disorder: theory and practice. Fortunately, in the case of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), theory and practice have come together to establish the use of cooling vests as a way to relieve heat-induced symptoms.

People who live with MS know from personal experience that heat, or more specifically, a rise in their body temperature, worsens symptoms like disturbed vision, loss of balance, fatigue and muscle weakness. These accounts are backed by research which confirms that nerves with damaged sheathing/myelin (the condition that causes the symptoms of MS), are sensitive to changes in temperature.

So, as early as the 1950's, neurologists began to investigate the possibility of alleviating or reducing MS symptoms by reducing body temperature. The research showed that cooling the body could temporarily relieve some of the symptoms commonly associated with MS.

During the years since those initial studies, numerous research facilities and organizations, including the Multiple Sclerosis Association of American (MSAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), have conducted further research on the link between MS symptoms and body temperature/body cooling. These scientific studies support the practical experience of MS patients: body cooling works!

As a result, neurologists today continue to recommend cooling vests like the StaCool Under Vest to help MS patients maintain active lifestyles, even during the hot summer months. But you don't have to take our word for it. Read what MS patients have said about their personal experience with the StaCool cooling vest, or better yet, try one yourself and start living life to its fullest.

Information for this article was gathered from the MSAA website. For a more detailed discussion, please refer to the MSAA article “Multiple Sclerosis and Cooling, Third Edition” written by Adam Roberts and Judith Harper-Bennie.