Multiple Sclerosis: MS Treatment 'Breakthrough'

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Doctors hope a new experimental treatment could halt the progression of multiple sclerosis.

For the first time, researchers have reprogrammed the immune systems of MS patients to stop cells attacking the protective layer around nerves in the spinal cord.

The destruction of the insulating sheath - called myelin - prevents normal transmission of nerve signals, triggering symptoms of the disease such as limb paralysis.

The clinical trial showed that patients' immune systems learned to recognise myelin as harmless. Further studies are expected to start shortly to confirm whether that in turn prevents relapses of the disease.

Northwestern University in Chicago, which took part in the research, hailed the study as a "big breakthrough".

Researchers, working with scientists in Switzerland and Germany, took billions of white blood cells from nine patients and processed them to carry tiny fragments of myelin.

The cells were then re-injected, training the immune system to tolerate myelin.

Lead researcher Professor Stephen Miller said results showed the treatment stopped the body turning against itself - without the side effects of some other treatments that suppress the entire immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to infections and cancer.

"Our approach leaves the function of the normal immune system intact. That's the holy grail," he said.

Read more from the original source:
Multiple Sclerosis: MS Treatment 'Breakthrough'