New treatment which may halt MS hailed as a ‘game changer’
DOCTORS last night hailed a major breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis which can stop the disease and improve symptoms for sufferers.
An international trial also found that the stem cell transplant treatment could reduce disability for people with MS, according to the BBC.
The disease attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord and affects peoples’ immune systems. But now a new stem cell treatment involves wiping out a patient’s immune system using cancer drugs and then rebooting it with a stem cell transplant.
Louise Willetts, 36, a patient from Rotherham, had the treatment and is now symptom-free. She told the BBC: “It feels like a miracle.”
Prof John Snowden, director of blood and bone marrow transplantation at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital, told the BBC: “We are thrilled with the results – they are a game changer for patients with drug resistant and disabling multiple sclerosis.”
The results were released at the annual meeting of the European Society for Bone and Marrow Transplantation in Lisbon.