Two years of follow-up data are now being finalized by Terry Wahls and her University of Iowa team in a study aimed at testing longer-term effects of a paleo-style diet in multiple sclerosis.
Wahls launched the research after her own steep decline to near-bedridden disability in 2007 and a recovery she attributes to diet, electrical muscle stimulation, exercise and other lifestyle changes after conventional treatments failed her.
Earlier Wahls studies were small: year-long trials in 8 and 20 patients reported less fatigue, and a later randomized trial of 77 patients found both the Wahls and Swank diets improved fatigue and function.
Neurologists say diet, exercise and smoking reduction can help MS patients, but the strongest evidence still supports immune-targeting drugs; critics argue functional medicine often extends promising ideas beyond what controlled trials have proved.
The study lands as functional medicine gains political and commercial traction in the U.S., with chronic disease affecting about 60% of Americans and the alternative-medicine ecosystem estimated at $66 billion.
Beyond one doctor's miracle recovery, can functional medicine reverse chronic illness for the average person?
Are functional medicine's popular microbiome tests a healthcare revolution or an unregulated, unreliable gimmick?