Stem cell research has progressed at an incredible rate in the past few years. It’s no wonder — many scientists believe that stem cells may hold the key for treating a wide variety of conditions including macular degeneration, heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes, and eczema.
Some researchers believe they will be able to develop a stem cell treatment for chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS) — a devastating immune system disorder that affects millions of people around the world.
MS occurs when a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks the protective coatings that surround nerves in the nervous system. Once the coating is removed from these nerves, the brain cannot communicate effective with the body, causing the symptoms of MS to appear.
Some new stem cell treatments for MS are using autologous hematopoietic stem cells. They are blood-forming stem cells that come from a patient’s own body.
Typically, a stem cell treatment to treat MS starts with hematopoietic stem cells being extracted from the patient. The cells are then processed in a laboratory to remove any impurities or congenital defects. While this is happening, doctors give the patient a treatment to reduce or destroy their immune system. This is usually done with chemotherapy, anti-thymocyte globulin, and monoclonal antibodies.
Once their immune system has been impaired, they received a transplant of their own stem cells, which re-establishes their ability to make healthy blood cells. Their immune system is “reset”, removing the defects that cause the patient’s immune system to attack their own body — the cause of MS.
This stem cell treatment has resulted in some incredible outcomes, where MS sufferers have had most of their symptoms disappear in a short amount of time. Some large scale studies are scheduled to begin in the next couple of years to test the safety and efficacy of this incredible stem cell treatment.
Source: aHSCT – Autologous Hemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in MS
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