The use of vitamins, minerals, and other supplements is both popular and controversial. Surveys of people with MS indicate that the use of supplements is one of the most common forms of CAM. Much of their popularity probably is due to their accessibility. Supplements are easily purchased from grocery stores, health food stores, and drug stores, and using supplements does not require seeing a practitioner.
The potential benefits of supplements are frequently exaggerated by vendors and other proponents of supplements, and the possible uses of supplements in MS are sometimes based on incorrect information about the disease process. In conventional medicine, supplements have been viewed typically with skepticism. Supplements are now undergoing more serious investigation, and supplements are now recommended for preventing or treating a limited number of conditions on the basis of recent research studies.