Whilst a woman in the UK with MS seeks the right to have her husband take her to Switzerland for assisted suicide to the cheers of euthanasia advocates and the media, other MS patients have been effectively treated with their own bone marrow stem cells. From the press release:
“All patients appeared to respond to treatment”, reported Dr. Ionova. Improvement was seen in 62.3%, and stabilisation occurred in 37.7% of patients. Progression after improvement occurred in 7.1% and progression after stabilisation in 11.8% of patients.This confirms other studies. But it isn’t an easy therapy. First the immune system is destroyed, requiring hospitalization and isolation. Then the stem cells are used to rebuild the immune system, improving the MS, or as in other studies, preventing it from worsening.
There were no deaths during the course of the study.
Out of 26 patients included in the quality-of-life analysis, 24 exhibited a response and preserved a good quality of life during the follow-up. No unexpected treatment-related adverse events were observed.
According to Dr. Ionova, immunosuppressive therapy plus autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation appears to be a safe and effective therapy for multiple sclerosis, Dr. Ionova concluded.
Onward!
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