b'MS Focus ActivitiesHerb Karpatkin By Kimani HendricksHerb Karpatkin enjoyed sports. So much soof fatigue related to MS, people with the disease that he began his working life as a track andcould not exercise too strenuously. This drove eld coach. Over time, he developed an interestKarpatkin to start exploring therapy options in physical therapy as a sports-related eld,for people with MS.pursing further education at Boston University.Innovations become standardsIn 1989, he received his master of science inKarpatkin adds that listening to his patients physical therapy. He went on to train in several PT specializations, including gerontology,and reverting to the basics of exercise helped neurology, and most notably, multiple sclerosis. him navigate the development of their treatment PT and the nervous system options. "In talking to them, I learned what did It was at his rst job in the PT eld thatand did not work; often, I found that it wasn\'t Karpatkin developed an interest in the linkso much the practice but a lack of breaks in between physical therapy and conditions ofbetween that prevented them from maximizing the nervous system. "I thought of this practicein tness. Specialists hadn\'t studied intermittent predominantly in the context of sports, but inexercise much then, which was one of the neurologicphysicaltherapy,Isawpeoplereasons I decided to go for my Ph.D. Once I slowly regain their abilities to walk, balance,realized how effective including breaks was, I and live their livesnot as a result of medicine,knew I\'d have to publish research because but from PT, and that was fascinating," heotherwise, many would never know about it," said. He transitioned to a physical therapyhe said.supervisor position at the Hospital for JointThe International Journal of Multiple Sclerosis Diseases, where two renowned MS neurologists,published Karpatkin\'s doctoral dissertation Drs. Joseph Herbert and Aaron Blitz mentoredon the benets of intermittent exercise for him. "I learned a tremendous amount frompeople with the disease; since then, he has those gentlemen who were sure that PT couldwritten several dozen papers on interval help multiple sclerosis patients. training and the use of cooling modalities, In the early 1990s, there had been developedwhichappearedinpublicationssuchas protocolsforpeoplewhohadParkinson\'s,Journal of Integrative and Complementary traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and strokeMedicine,PhysicalTherapyReviews,and victims. Still, nothing specic for individualsNeurodegenerative Disease Management, to with MS. One of the main issues was becausename a few. msfocusmagazine.org 34'