Expert doctors in Sheffield, UK have confirmed that MS (multiple sclerosis) patients have witnessed phenomenal health improvements opting in for a treatment, that’s generally used for cancer. Approximately, 20 MS patients recently have said yes to bone marrow transplants resorting to their own stem cells. And few patients were completely paralyzed and showing zero chances of being able to walk.
According to Prof Basil Sharrack, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield the fact that there’s a treatment available for MS which can heal the disability completely, is a stellar achievement in medical science. Today close to 100,000 UK inhabitants has MS, a chronic neurological condition, that’s incurable. Most of these patients generally get detected with this ailment in their 20’s or 30’s. A person having MS will have his/her immune system to attack the nerve lining of the spinal cord and the brain.
Multiple Sclerosis Explained
When a person is affected by MS his/her protective cover encompassing the nerve fibres of the spinal cord and the brain, called the myelin gets damaged. The myelin gets attacked by the immune system, resulting in sclerosis or scarring. The disrupted myelin further damages the nerve signals. When this scarring and inflammation is not halted, then the person suffers from permanent neurodegeneration.
MS Stem Cell Trial in Hospitals of UK
Recently there has been advanced clinical trials happening in UK hospitals like Royal Hallamshire Hospital, King’s College Hospital and many others, that has resulted in phenomenal outcome. The example of Holly Drewry, 25 living in Sheffield who has taken part in these trials is noteworthy. After she gave birth to her daughter Isla, her condition worsened making her stagnant in a wheelchair. She shared with BBC’s Panorama that she wasn’t able to walk straight and was scared to even hold her daughter, lest the baby falls. And with every passing day her MS condition was deteriorating.
It was in Sheffield that Holly got her MS cord blood stem cell treatment and results were miraculous. She witnessed positive improvements in her condition within a couple of days of the transplant. She was able to walk. And when she was treated completely she went back home, hugged her daughter being completely overwhelmed. This is nothing short of a miracle for Holly.
An in-depth analysis of the treatment that was given to Holly revealed that her paralysis has been cured to a great extent. Though she has to be under medication and medical guidance in the years to come, but the cord blood stem cell treatment has taken her out of the zone of paralysis, which is a complete blessing. Surprisingly, Holly isn’t the one today who’s been cured of MS paralysis. Apparently, Steven Storey, eminent marathon runner and tri-athlete too suffered from MS paralysis and he couldn’t even flicker a muscle. Post his stem cell treatment Storey was able to move his toe in about 9 days and gradually recovered back to normalcy.
The Treatment – A complete Reboot of the Immune System
The medical treatment that has been healing MS paralysis is known as HSCT, which is an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant that completely destroys the non-functional immune system through chemotherapy.
Post this, the immune system gets re-created using the stem cells sourced from the patient’s own cord blood. These cells are nascent and don’t have the trace of any flaws or irregularities. Prof John Snowden, Consultant Haematologist, Royal Hallamshire Hospital reveals that the immune system gets completely rebooted back to a state, when there was no MS.