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Posted on Oct 11, 2002, 6 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
Stem cell transplants could help to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), say a group of researchers from the University of Seattle Medical Center in Seattle. The study of people with severe MS who had failed to respond to standard therapy revealed that stem cell transplants stabilized or improved the condition of eight out of ten sufferers.
Stem cell transplants could help to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), say a group of researchers from the University of Seattle Medical Center in Seattle. The study of people with severe MS who had failed to respond to standard therapy revealed that stem cell transplants stabilized or improved the condition of eight out of ten sufferers. For the study, the researchers destroyed the patients' immune system and then restored it using a transplant of the patients' own stem cells. A year after the transplants were conducted, just three patients had developed MS-related brain lesions and only two needed to take MS drugs. Without treatment it is almost certain the condition of all the participants would have deteriorated significantly.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 16th April 2002
