In an early clinical trial of 21 patients, doctors at Northwestern University have succeeded in reversing early-stage multiple sclerosis (MS) using a patient’s own stem cells.
MS is an autoimmune disorder in which a person’s immune system attacks their central nervous system. The new treatment being studied involves removing stem cells from the bone marrow of an MS patient and disabling their immune system using chemotherapy. The stem cells are then injected back into the patient to “reset” their immune system so that it no longer attacks healthy tissue.
Three years after transplantation, the disease had stabilized in all of the patients, and 17 of them (81 percent) had improved by at least one point on a disability scale in areas such as walking, limb strength and vision.
Could this practice also be useful in treating cancers and immune deficiency disorders?
Tags: Burrus, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, Healthcare, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Northwestern University, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cells
