Can Stem Cells Help Cure Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disorder that causes the patient’s immune system to attack their own nerve cells. The immune system releases antibodies that attack the self-myelin antigens, causing demyelination of the nerve fibers.
Demyelination causes a disconnect between the brain and the rest of the body, so MS sufferers lose control of their own movements and functions. Other symptoms common in MS include:
- Weakness
- Tingling in the limbs
- Numbness in the limbs
- Trouble speaking
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Vision loss
There is no cure for MS, and currently, no approved treatments to repair myelin destroyed by the disease process either. However, stem cell therapy for MS patients has shown incredible promise in improving their quality of life.
Stem cell therapy for Multiple Sclerosis patients involves collecting the patient’s own stem cells, usually from peripheral blood vessels or adipose fat tissue, then injecting those stem cells back into the areas affected with nerve pain or other symptoms. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the most common type of stem cells used for this process, although hematopoietic stem cells have also had excellent results in trials.
In one study, MSCs were injected into patients’ bloodstreams, where they traveled to brain lesions and prevented the death of brain cells. This study also showed that injection of the MSCs reduced the severity of the disease symptoms and improved patient quality of life.
Another clinical trial showed that 69% of MS patients who received stem cell treatments did not have a relapse of symptoms for at least five years.
Complete and total disability is the fear of all MS patients, but advances in stem cell therapy for these patients are giving them much-needed hope. As more research is completed and positive results are shown, hopefully, stem cell therapy will become a first-line treatment for sufferers of multiple sclerosis.
If you live with MS and want to try innovative, regenerative stem cell therapy, use our easy search tool to find a provider near you. You can filter your results by procedure, specialty, location, and distance, so you only get results that are highly relevant to you. Join the army of people discovering the benefits of regenerative medicine for living a healthy and pain-free life.
