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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStem Cell Therapy for MS Shows Promise
MONDAY, Dec. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental therapy that kills off and then "resets" the immune system has given three years of remission to a small group of multiple sclerosis patients, researchers say.
About eight in 10 patients given this treatment had no new adverse events after three years. And nine in 10 experienced no progression or relapse in their MS, said lead author Dr. Richard Nash of the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver.
"I think we all think of this as a viable therapy," Nash said. "We still need to perform a randomized clinical trial, but we're all pretty impressed so far, in terms of what we've seen."
In multiple sclerosis, the body's immune system for some unknown reason attacks the nervous system, in particular targeting the insulating sheath that covers the nerve fibers, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. People with the more common form, called relapsing-remitting MS, have attacks of worsening neurologic function followed by partial or complete recovery periods (remissions).
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2014/12/29/stem-cell-therapy-for-ms-shows-promise
ncliberal
(185 posts)MyOwnPeace
(16,927 posts)ASSHOLE "W" banned stem cell research.
ANOTHER reason he should fry in hell
slipslidingaway
(21,210 posts)davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I hope they can do the same for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well.
Cha
(297,285 posts)ChazII
(6,205 posts)with MS and other similar disorders.