Advancement in stem cell therapies show potential for multiple sclerosis care

A report outlining the progress of stem cell therapy - and new methods which could lead to an eventual cure for multiple sclerosis and other degenerative diseases - has been published today.

More than 100,000 people in the UK are affected by multiple sclerosis (MS), with 2.5 million people, mostly young adults, affected worldwide.
The cause of multiple sclerosis is yet unknown, but is thought to occur as a result of brain cells becoming damaged, with conducting fibres in the brain being attacked by the body's immune system.
The immune system damages the protective insulating layer called a 'myelin sheath', which disrupts the signals travelling along nerve fibres and can partially or completely disrupt transmission.
Due to the nature of our central nervous system, the symptoms of MS in each instance can vary according to which nerves are damaged.

MS costs the EU economy €9 billion each year, largely due to the progressively disabling nature of the disease.  Until recently, therapy has focused upon using stem cells to replace oligodendrites, cells which produce myelin. This approach, however, has had limited application in the treatment of MS.
The authors of the paper published in the Lancet, Professor Neil Scolding and a team from Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, UK, have suggested that new hope may lie in an increasingly advanced understanding of stem cells and their reparative properties.
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