A new MS treatment that has been described as “astounding” puts 86 percent of patients into lasting remission with no relapses three years after the protocol. In addition, the treatment stopped the disease from progressing in 91 percent of patients, a new study has found. The unprecedented results were published in a recent edition of the journal JAMA Neurology.
For the study, researchers recruited 24 MS patients who suffered from relapsing-remitting MS. All of the patients participated in a grueling therapy protocol that included going through chemotherapy to completely destroy their immune systems. They faced the same side effects as any patient taking chemo-hair loss, nausea, mouth sores, and a list of additional problems.
During the time they were undergoing the treatment, the study participants had to remain in the hospital for up to four weeks. That is because the medicine left them completely devoid of an immune system. To venture out of the hospital would have meant being exposed to many potentially deadly infections. Lead researcher Dr. Richard Nash from the Denver based Colorado Blood Cancer Institute explained, “Patients are immunosuppressed, so they are on prophylactic antimicrobial medications. They are also educated regarding how to reduce the risk of infections after transplant.”
The medicine the patients took is called HDIT or high-dose immunosuppressive therapy, and doctors used it to erase the patients’ immune responses. Once the chemotherapy was complete, the patients were injected with stem cells that had been extracted and developed from their own bodies.
In essence, the researchers were obliterating the patients’ immune systems and transplanting entirely new immune systems made from the patients’ blood in an effort to see how the new immune systems would react to myelin, which is the substance that MS attacks. Myelin is a protective barrier that buffers nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord from degeneration.
In most MS patients, myelin is attacked by the body, resulting in symptoms such as weakness, pain, muscle spasms, dizziness, slowed gait, fatigue, memory problems and emotional issues such as depression and severe mood swings.
The new immune system given to each patient had been “rebooted,” so to speak, and doctors expected that this fresh system would not mistakenly attack the myelin. They were right. Healthline reports that most of the patients experienced drastically improved quality of life as their symptoms retracted.
What is more, say researchers, there may be signs that some of the patients are experiencing what is known as remyelinating, which is the elusive process that could equate to a cure for MS. That is when the nerve cells actually begin to restore the myelin that had previously been damaged. In repairing the myelin, the doctors say, the nerve cells would also be regenerated.
One of the patients who took part in the study went from being stuck in the house with severe MS symptoms to becoming an active snowboarder who loves spending time outdoors. He runs a website called activemsers.com, which is designed to help inspire other MS patients to live active, healthy lifestyles.
This astounding new MS treatment must undergo further study before it becomes the go-to protocol for the debilitating disease. However, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the results, which show the stem cell transplant stops the progression of the disease in 91 percent of patients and delivers complete remission with no relapses in 86 percent of those suffering. Thus far, no existing treatments for MS come close to offering such results, and the study is sure to bring hope to millions worldwide who suffer from this devastating condition.
Photo credit: neurowiki2014.wikidot.com