Stem Cell Therapy || Multiple Sclerosis Treatment …

Multiple Sclerosis

At present there are no treatments that specifically target the abnormal immune responses in MS. Current approaches, such as interferon, copaxone, or immune suppressants all act in a nonspecific manner blocking immune responses against the myelin sheath. While these approaches are useful for reducing the severity of disease, they do not repair the damage to nervous system tissue that has already occurred and therefore they cannot cure multiple sclerosis.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), have immune regulatory properties which may stop the immune system from attacking the myelin sheath.

Mesenchymal stem cells may also potentially help remyelination (re-generation of the myelin sheath) of the affected neurons. Currently, the University of Cambridge is conducting formal clinical studies using mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of MS.

VIDEO Professor Arnold Caplan The father of mesenchymal stem cells from Case Western Reserve University discusses stem cell therapy for MS.

The adult stem cells used to treat MS at the Stem Cell Institute are called allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells. They are harvested from human umbilical cords donated after normal, healthy births. Each mother is tested for infectious diseases and has her medical history screened. Proper consent is received from each family prior to donation.

Before they are approved for use in treatment all umbilical cord-derived stem cells are screened for infectious diseases to International Blood Bank Standards.

Only about 1 in 10 donated umbilical cords pass our rigorous screening process.

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Stem Cell Therapy || Multiple Sclerosis Treatment ...