MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Stem Cells, Sense of Smell, Cannabis Guide
Blood Stem Cell Transplants Improve RRMS Patients’ Disability, Phase 3 Trial Shows
Here’s yet another study that shows the benefits of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or AHSCT — the procedure in which a patient’s own stem cells are harvested and used to rebuild the immune system. I hope it moves us closer, quickly, toward the day when the Food and Drug Administration will approve this treatment for patients in the U.S.
Blood stem cell transplants lead to significant improvements in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients’ disability, a Phase 3 clinical trial shows.
The 110 patients who took part in the MIST study (NCT00273364) were experiencing relapses after receiving standard therapies such as beta interferon, Copaxone (glatiramer acetate), Novantrone (mitoxantrone), Tysabri (natalizumab), Gilenya (fingolimod), and Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate).
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Treatment with Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Safe with Sustained Benefits for MS, Trial Shows
Here’s one more article about a stem cell study. In this case, it involves mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the stem cells that are found in a mother’s umbilical cord.
Treatment with umbilical cord stem cells was found to be safe and to lead to sustained improvements in disability and brain lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, according to a clinical trial.
The study, “Clinical feasibility of umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of multiple sclerosis,” was published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) can indeed have a poorer-than-usual sense of smell, with problems possibly starting at early diseases stages, a small Turkish study reports.
This work supports previous research noting olfactory problems in MS patients. It also argues that longer disease duration and more relapses are associated with greater difficulties, reflecting “more extensive involvement of the central nervous system and olfactory network in MS disease,” the researchers said.
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GeneFo Guide Explains How Medical Cannabis Can Help MS Patients
There’s a good deal of interest in using marijuana to treat MS symptoms. There’s a thirst for information about what’s legal where and what’s required to buy medical cannabis products in states where it’s OK. As this story reports, there’s now a guide to help you find your way.
More studies are showing that medical cannabis can alleviate symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a company that helps patients, doctors, and others understand genetic conditions better.
The observation came in GeneFo’s 2018 Guide to Clinical Effects of Medical Cannabis.
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Shawnee Rose Bush
Can we do the umbilical cord stem cell now? I did go to Chicago & had the stem cells removed & put back into my body. Some symptoms improved & some improved greatly for a week or more, but went back.