Algoma University student may help MS sufferers breathe easier

Multiple Sclerosis affects up to 30,000 Ontario residents in various degrees.

May Fedorchuk, a fourth-year psychology student at Algoma University is looking for Sault Ste. Marie residents living with MS to participate in her thesis study.

Fedorchuk is using her thesis to see if a special breathing technique used by those suffering from similar or related diseases, would help those suffering from MS.

Her hope is that the breathing technique would help strengthen the diaphragm of the patients, thus helping them expel more air.

With the onset of MS, those with the disease see a point where it restricts their ability to eat, speak and breathe.

Fedorchuk hopes the technique she plans to try with patients suffering from MS will help make life easier for them.

Though she doesn’t have a set number of participants she is looking for, she said ideally up to 10 participants would be ideal and give her a cross section from which to determine how effective the technique is at various stages of the disease.

The technique has been used to aid people with pulmonary disease or who have had strokes and Fedorchuk hopes the technique could be transferred over to people with MS as well.

Testing the technique would take 12 weeks, though Fedorchuk said those participating would not be locked in to the time-frame if they wished to pull out early.

She would meet with the participants on a weekly basis to see their progression as the 12-week period winds down.

The idea for her thesis stems from her family fight with the disease.

Her father and step-mother both suffer from MS. Her father was diagnosed with it prior to her birth and she said watching the effects of the disease first-hand was a motivation for her to look into it further for her thesis. 

Those who have been diagnosed with MS and wish to participate in her study can contact her one of two ways. She can be contacted by email at [email protected] or by calling (705) 949-2301, ext. 4342.