StemCell Therapy

There is currently only one scientifically-demonstrated & confirmed treatment for Multiple Sclerosis with enduring curative efficacy:HematopoieticStem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). This is not a new medical procedure; it has been performed millions of times all around the world since the 1960s for treatment of cancer(now approximately 50,000 times per year)and has been used successfully to cure several types ofhematologically-rooted autoimmune disorders since the early 1990s (such as MS,scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, CIDP and others). It involves chemotherapy so the treatment is both uncomfortable and expensive (most medical insurance will not yet cover it for treatment of an autoimmune disorder until the phase III clinical trial is completed).

It is not an impossible procedure to endure, as many people do it and make it through just fine. But this procedure is currently the ONLY treatment that has been scientifically verified to stop the underlying MS disease process, restore normal immune self-tolerance and produce lasting curative symptomatic improvement for the majority of MS patients, as it has for me and others. And definitely worth mentioning. . . . probably one of the biggest intangible benefits to stopping the MS disease progression is that this treatment restores a degree of certainty to the future of a persons life that MS often robs us of.

How & why doesHSCTcure multiple sclerosis?

As a curative treatmentHSCTworks by partially or completely erasing the bodys immune system memory. This effects a beneficial change of the bodys overall B- and T-lymphocyteepitope(antigen binding)repertoire, inactivating autoimmunity (making the bodys immune cells antigen naive) which results in restoration of immune self tolerance. This is often referred to as resetting the immune system which stops the underlying MS disease activity & progression. Onceachieved, the body then has a chance to repair (or compensate for) existing neural damage that is not undermined by further MS disease progression, often resulting in substantial and lasting symptomatic improvement.

The interesting fact here is that it is the chemotherapy which is effecting the curative aspect of the treatment by wiping out long-lived T- and B-lymphocytes of the body that carry the faultyautoreactivememory so they may be replaced by naive,unprogrammedand self-tolerant non-autoreactivelymphocytes generated by the bone marrow.The takeaway concept here is no chemotherapy = no cure. This is why simply injecting stem cells into the body does not render the bodys immune system self-tolerant as is required to stop the underlying MS disease activity.

STEPS:

Mobilization

For approximately four days (twice a day), I will be given injections to stimulate my stem cell growth. The process of causing greater numbers of stem cells to be present in the blood stream in order for collection,is known asmobilization.The most common side effect of the mobilization process is mild-to-moderate bone pain or fever, which can often be controlled with Tylenol.

Apheresis (Collection of Stem Cells)

Apheresis isnormally apainless procedure, however, back and hip pain have been reported. The collection of stem cells takes approximatelytwo tofour hoursfor the procedure. My blood will be withdrawn through a catheter and circulated through a cell-separating machine. This machine separates and collects white blood cells, including the stem cells, along with a few red blood cells and platelets. The remaining blood cells will be returned tomy body. There is only a small amount (several cups) of your blood in the separator machine at any one time. Your blood is returned to you at the same rate it is removed. After the cells are collected, they are frozen and stored under special conditions until they are needed for my transplant.

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Stem Cell Transplants | From Russia with Lisa...

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