Welcome to Living Well with MS, the Overcoming MS podcast where we explore all topics relating to living well with multiple sclerosis (MS). In this episode, we are sharing the highlights from one of our ‘Ask Aaron’ webinars, where neurologist, Dr. Aaron Boster, answers questions about MS from the community. Dr. Boster covers a range of fascinating topics such as fasting, menopause and gut health.

This webinar was recorded in March 2022 as part of our Finding Hope with Overcoming MS webinar series. You can watch the whole webinar here or the podcast highlights on YouTube here.

Keep reading for the key episode takeaways and Dr Boster’s bio.

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Dr. Aaron Boster’s Bio:

Dr. Aaron Boster is an award-winning, widely published, and board-certified neurologist specialising in multiple sclerosis (MS) and related CNS inflammatory disorders. He currently serves as the Director of the Neuroscience Infusion Center at OhioHealth.

Why Dr. Boster chose to become a specialist in MS

Witnessing his uncle’s diagnosis with MS when he was 12, he and his family came to see a lack of coherence in the way MS was treated at the time. That experience informed Dr. Boster’s drive to do things differently.

Dr. Boster’s career

At OhioHealth, he spearheads a revolutionary model in MS treatment and patient care drawing oninterdisciplinary resources and putting patients and families first. Dr. Boster is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurology at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, and a former Assistant Professor of Neurology at The Ohio State University, where he also formerly headed the Neuroimmunology division.

Dr. Boster has been intimately involved in the care of people impacted by MS; he has been a principal investigator in numerous clinical trials, trained multiple MS doctors and nurse practitioners, and has been published extensively in medical journals. He lectures to both patients and providers worldwide with a mission to educate, energise and empower people impacted by MS.

Dr. Boster’s education and personal life

Dr. Boster grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended undergraduate at Oberlin College. He earned his MD at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed an internship in Internal Medicine and Residency in Neurology at the University of Michigan, followed by a two-year fellowship in Clinical Neuroimmunology at Wayne State University.

He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Krissy, son Maxwell, and daughter Betty Mae.

Selected Key Takeaways:

Embracing exercise is an important step to improve outcomes for MS

“I would encourage the entire family to embrace exercise, when it's nice outside, you go for a walk and kayaking and canoeing and what have you. We have excellent data that people impacted by MS who exercise as part of their lifestyle end up less disabled at the end of their life as compared to they didn't. And so we want to help instil those important, very, very important behaviours in a young person as early as possible.”

Intermittent Fasting is recommended and is safe for MS

“Within the last year, I've become very interested in not just what PwMS eat, but when they eat. When they eat turns out to matter. It's my opinion that intermittent fasting specifically is a bio-hack, not just for people impacted by MS,but for [all] humans. And it's my opinion that intermittent fasting is very safe in the setting of MS.”

What to consider when thinking about alternative medicine

“When someone wants to consider alternative medicine, which I will define as something that I was not taught in medical school, it doesn't make it good or bad. It just means I wasn't taught about it. An example might be acupuncture. I was not trained in acupuncture, which doesn't mean it's not real. It just means I don't know much about it. So, when I'm presented with something that is alternative, then I'm okay with it as long as three rules are met. The first one is it can't be too expensive. ... The second thing is it can't be dangerous. ... And [the] third is it can't be instead of something that I know works.”

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