Multiple Sclerosis is a crippling disease that affects as many as 2.5 million people worldwide with over 10,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
New studies are being done that show promise with neural stem cells. The recent studies with mice injected with stem cells show the stem cells try to repair the damaged tissue. Although it may be a long wait before human trials can be possible the trial studies with mice have been encouraging. Professor Charles Ffrench-Constant, a leading expert on the disease, believes multiple sclerosis could be reversed within 15 years. Stem cells help to repair nerve damage. Medications given to patients at the present time only help the patients reduce inflammation that causes multiple sclerosis. The key to finding a cure to multiple sclerosis is finding a way to rebuild myelin, the sheath that protects nerve fibers.
Adult stem cell research, which eliminates the killing of human embryos, promises hope for people suffering from many diseases including multiple sclerosis. In one Italian experiment, a half dozen mice were injected with neural stem cells and had almost complete recovery from the disease. An alternate breakthrough may come from stem cells from baby teeth. Many researchers believe the adult stem cells from the baby teeth will be more flexible than embryonic stem cells. In September of 2007 a small group of multiple sclerosis patients began a clinical experiment to test bone marrow stem cell therapy by the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust. The patients were to be monitored for 9 to 12 months, provided no serious adverse effects arose.
Researchers are making great strides in stem cell research, giving hope to those afflicted with multiple sclerosis.
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