Breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research

[manouli]

for our friends with multiple sclerosis


STANFORD


Breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research
Scientists detect protein that may be key to the disease

Kavita Mishra, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Printable Version

Stanford researchers reported new findings Wednesday that they say bring them closer to understanding what causes multiple sclerosis.

In the report published in the online version of the journal Nature, the researchers implicated a protein that they believe normally regulates the human immune system, but doesn't do so in people with the lifelong illness.

The researchers, led by Stanford neurologist Lawrence Steinman, said they are optimistic their discovery will lead to new treatments for patients and possibly a way to stop the disease's progression.

For Joyce Bruno, one of the 400,000 people in United States with multiple sclerosis, the report was good news.

"Even if it isn't the answer for me, I have a feeling it's going to be an answer for someone," the Walnut Creek resident said.

In 1990, Bruno started to drag her left leg and felt intense muscle cramps in both legs. An MRI of her brain revealed she had signs of multiple sclerosis, and her doctor told her the haunting word "incurable."

She was forced to retire from managing funds at a mortgage company four years later, at the age of 44, and now uses a cane to walk.

Most people with multiple sclerosis experience a range of symptoms -- from daily fatigue and weakness to blindness and paralysis. They are diagnosed early in adulthood and experience symptoms, as the immune system attacks nerve cells, intermittently throughout life. To avoid a whirlwind progression of these symptoms, they take steroids and other drugs to suppress the immune system and control the disease.

Siblings and close relatives have a higher risk of the disease. Doctors currently tell patients that the disease is caused by a mixture of bad genes and environmental factors. But the work by Steinman and his team is putting new focus on a protein in the body called alphaB-crystallin.

The researchers found that people with multiple sclerosis had more alphaB-crystallin in their bodies than people without the disease. They looked at the protein, usually found in high levels in the lens of the eye and in muscle, in both humans and mice.

In mice that were designed to lack the protein and had a multiple sclerosis-type illness, the disease worsened. When the protein was given back to the diseased mice, the illness improved, showing that the protein could help check the hallmark inflammation of the disease.

more:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/14/BAGI5QETNM1.DTL&type=health

[manouli]

Stem cells & MS: what the investigators see
I
nside MS, Feb-March, 2007 by Martha King

Last month, the National MS Society hosted an international meeting in San Francisco, which allowed 30 cutting-edge investigators to present new findings, share insights, and debate some issues emerging from this frontier in MS research. After lengthy discussions, they forged preliminary agreements about the best ways for the MS research community to move ahead. They grappled with these questions:

* What are the prospects for stem-cell-based treatments for people with MS?

* What are the prospects for stem cell systems to speed drug development by identifying promising compounds?

* How can stem cells help scientists understand the cause of MS?

more:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0850/is_1_25/ai_n19189248

[wheels4one]

manouli,
Thanks for posting these articles. I have had MS now for 28 years and been in w/c for 12 years.

[manouli]

manouli,
Thanks for posting these articles. I have had MS now for 28 years and been in w/c for 12 years.


You are welcome wheels4one, check this site, you might like it because it has all the latest breakthrough for MS:

http://ms-toolkit.blogspot.com/


Monday, June 25, 2007
Promising prescription: $5.5B market waiting as Pipex tests 2 drugs




By Andrew Dietderich

6:00 am, June 25, 2007

An Ann Arbor-based company that’s moving to the American Stock Exchange today plans to tap at least two drug markets that could be worth a total of $5.5 billion annually, using drugs licensed from the University of Michigan and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Two weeks ago, Pipex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Amex: PP) received $5 million from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the largest grant ever given by the organization.

Pipex has six drugs in its pipeline, but two are closest to going to market: Trimesta and Coprexa.

Trimesta is used to treat multiple sclerosis; and Coprexa is used to treat Wilson’s disease, which destroys the lungs.

Pipex was founded in Miami in 2001 by Steve Kanzer, the company’s chairman and CEO. A biotech investor, Kanzer moved Pipex to Michigan in 2004 to be nearer to the talent pool in Ann Arbor.

more:

http://ms-toolkit.blogspot.com/

[manouli]

I saw this today, hope is a good news.



Avigen Initiates European Multi-Center AV650 Phase II Spasticity Trial in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Wednesday September 5, 8:00 am ET
Twenty-Five Center Trial Will be Conducted in Five Countries in Europe


ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Avigen, Inc. (NasdaqGM:AVGN - News) a biopharmaceutical company innovating therapeutics for the treatment of neurological conditions, today announced the initiation of a Phase II trial for AV650 (tolperisone HCl) in the treatment of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). This Phase II spasticity trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of AV650 in MS patients at doses up to 900mg for one month followed by an open-label safety extension. The trial will be conducted in top MS centers in Germany and several other European countries.

``Our development plans for AV650 in North America have been strategically designed to leverage the clinical experience of tolperisone in many of the European countries where the drug is currently approved,'' said Kenneth Chahine, Ph.D., J.D., Avigen President and Chief Executive Officer. ``This trial reinforces Avigen's U.S. AV650 development program by allowing us to accumulate long-term safety and efficacy data needed for commercialization.''
Avigen is developing AV650 for commercialization in the North American market for the treatment of disabling neuromuscular spasticity and spasm under a license and supply agreement with Sanochemia Pharmazeutika AG. AV650 is considered a New Chemical Entity (NCE) in the United States.

Tolperisone is an orally administered, centrally acting small molecule marketed for the treatment of neuromuscular spasticity and spasm in Europe and Asia. Avigen's U.S. development program is designed to build on the extensive ex-U.S. safety and efficacy experience with this compound. Versions of tolperisone have been approved for marketing in Germany for over 10 years. Sanochemia and its European marketing partner, Orion Pharma, have recently received approval for marketing a proprietary 150mg tablet formulation of tolperisone in Germany under the brand name Viveo(r) which is expected to be launched later in 2007.

more:

http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/070905/126089.html

[manouli]

Pipex Pharmaceuticals Announces Broadly Issued European Patent Covering Uses of Oral TRIMESTA for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases, Including Multiple Sclerosis

Claims Covering Use of Estrogens Including TRIMESTA, in Combination With Popular Immunotherapies to Treat Multiple Sclerosis
September 06, 2007: 07:00 AM EST


Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: PP), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative late-stage drug candidates for the treatment of neurologic and fibrotic diseases, announced today that it has received a broadly issued European patent which covers the use of estrogens in combination with other FDA-approved multiple sclerosis therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

more:

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0298519.htm

[manouli]

Stem cells trial for MS patients

A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) is being pioneered near Bristol.
Six patients at Frenchay Hospital are being injected with their own stem cells in the hope that they will repair damage to the brain.

Approximately 60,000 people in the UK suffer from MS, an incurable disease of the nervous system.

Prof Neil Scolding, of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, said: "We know stem cells are attracted into the brain, into these areas of damage."

He added that he hoped the stem cells would "help those areas to stop getting worse" and "repair damage".

'Lot of hope'

more:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/7014813.stm

[manouli]

Stem cell trials raise multiple sclerosis hopes

By Martin Beckford
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 28/09/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/global/2007/09/28/noindex/nstem128.xml

[Sue Pendleton]

Stem cell trials raise multiple sclerosis hopes

By Martin Beckford
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 28/09/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/global/2007/09/28/noindex/nstem128.xml

Thanks Manouli. It seems there is a break through every other week in MS. Now if we can see it in all types of the disease and those sick for many years as this last group is.

[manouli]

Multiple Sclerosis Nerve Damage Repaired By Scientists
Editor's Choice

Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis News
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT

Nerve damage which was caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) was repaired by scientists from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, who were working with mice. The scientists said it is hoped this may lead the way to new treatments for humans.

The immune system of a MS patient attacks the fatty myelin sheath which covers the nerves, gradually destroying them. The patient's nerves do no work properly; he/she experiences loss of balance, blurred vision, and sometimes paralysis. The symptoms can be treated/managed to some extent; however, there is no modern way to repair damaged myelin.

In this latest experiment, the scientists re-grew myelin in mice with MS by using a human antibody. At the American Neurological Association meeting they explained that they would be starting human trials after further tests are carried out on animals.

The scientists said that although this technique of using natural human antibodies to treat MS has never been tested in humans, they believe their findings are very promising.

The human body generally is able to repair myelin as and when required - unfortunately, this is not the case with the MS patient; for them the myelin repair process occurs very slowly or fails altogether. In this experiment, the researchers used an antibody that was genetically engineered from a single cell and managed to get the repair underway in mice with MS. The antibody continued working even while the mice were undergoing steroid treatment with methylprednisolone. Humans with MS frequently have to take steroid treatment.

more:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85087.php

[manouli]

Immune Ablation and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Aggressive Multiple Sclerosis: Presented at ECTRIMS
By Chris Berrie

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC -- October 22, 2007 -- Immunoablative therapy plus autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) completely abrogates relapses and MRI events related to ongoing inflammation for up to 5 years, researchers reported here at the 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

Mark S. Freedman, MD, Steering Committee Member and Professor of Neurology, University of Ottawa, and Director, Multiple Sclerosis Research Unit, Ottawa Hospital-General Campus, Ottawa, Canada, presented the 5-year interim analysis from a 3-year phase 2 study.

"If we completely remove the diseased immune system, we should halt ongoing immune-mediated damage, because we would have removed the mistake," Dr. Freedman said during his presentation on October 13. Furthermore, the purified stem cells should be capable of restoring a functional immune system, and might even be capable of stimulating repair.


more:

http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/852571020057CCF68525737C0071AAAB

[manouli]

In the Clinic - Dr. Harold Atkins, MD, on Marrow Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

(November 7, 2007 - Insidermedicine) Welcome to Insidermedicine In the Clinic, where we bring you advice on clinical skills from some of the world's best doctors, giving you the inside track on knowledge gleaned from years of medical experience.

In this video, Dr. Harold Atkins, MD, a clinician-scientist with the Ottawa Hospital Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and the Ottawa Health Research Institute, discusses bone marrow stem cells and regenerative medicine in the context of Multiple Sclerosis.




see it:

http://www.insidermedicine.ca/archives/In_the_Clinic_-_Dr_Harold_Atkins_MD_on_Marrow_Stem_Cells_and_Rege nerative_Medicine_1817.aspx

[manouli]

i SAW THIS TODAY, AND YOU MIGHT WANT TO SEE IT.


Stem Cells- Dr. Omar Gonzalez' Therapy for all Ills!



Biological solutions for degenerative diseases, bringing in hope where
there is none!

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sister Nancy Boushey, Rio Grande
City, TX, resigned to a life of pain with Rheumatoid Arthritis is healthy
and normal today thanks to Dr Omar Gonzalez. She hails him as a savior" my
Good Shepherd, Jesus and His own good shepherd, Dr. Omar, have rescued me
from a valley of darkness."

Cathy Zuker, Mt. Pleasant, MI, patient of multiple sclerosis for years
was unable to walk unaided. She dragged her left leg and had to LIFT her
legs manually when she got into the car. After her implants she can't stop
smiling and the sparkle in her eye says it all" I have stopped taking one
of two antidepressants without any negative effects. My friends say I
'glide'. I also wake up without a headache' "My mind and my life turned 360
degrees as my body became CANCER FREE!'" says an equally exultant Peggy
Seagrist from Corpus Christi. She suffered from breast cancer, arthritis
and a masticated tumor in the stomach. Multiple placenta implants and
acupuncture brought her out smiling!



http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-23-2007/0004710427&EDATE

[manouli]

Glaucoma Assessment Tool can Help to Track Multiple Sclerosis Progression

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain is the gold standard for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), but it is expensive and comes with limitations, one of which is the inability to assess fully the extent of loss of neurons.



New research by neurologists at the University at Buffalo has shown that a technique called optical coherence tomography, or OCT, a simple and inexpensive measure employed currently to assess glaucoma, also could be used as a surrogate marker of disease status in MS and to assess the effectiveness of new and current MS treatments. Results of the study appear online in the "in press" section of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

more:

http://www.medindia.net/news/Glaucoma-Assessment-Tool-can-Help-to-Track-Multiple-Sclerosis-Progression-30901-1.htm

[manouli]

MS: Stem Cell Transplant

Stem cell transplants for people with MS: What does the research show?


Currently, stem cell transplants are an experimental treatment for MS. We know that they have the potential to help treat MS, but that the procedure can have a number of health risks. Research is ongoing to determine whether stem cell transplants are safe and effective.

Scientists first realized that stem cell transplants may work for MS when they discovered that MS patients, who underwent stem cell transplants as part of their cancer treatment, had a noticeable improvement in their MS. This, plus promising animal studies, led to more interest in studying stem cell transplants for people with MS.

more:

http://www.medbroadcast.com/channel_health_features_details.asp?channel_id=100 3&relation_id=4544&health_feature_id=152&article_id=468

[manouli]

An experimental adult stem cell transplant is getting results for patients

Updated: Feb 26, 2008 02:18 PM PST





By Lori Lyle
WAVE 3 Health and Medical Reporter

LOUISVILLE (WAVE) -- Adult stem cell therapy has become a standard of care when treating several types of cancer. Now a review of clinical trials involving adult stem cells during the past ten years indicates they are helping patients who have a variety of diseases and even heart trouble. One patient diagnosed with multiple sclerosis says his symptoms are gone.

Barry Goudy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995. He began losing feeling in his left leg and as trouble with his central nervous system progressed he started to lose his vision.

"You sit and you cry and you wonder why you and then I went back to my neurologist and said tell me how I can fight this," said Barry.

Barry enrolled in a clinical trial in 2003. After five days of chemotherapy to destroy his immune cells, doctors used his own stem cells to rebuild his immune system.

"I have no symptoms of MS. I do no treatment for MS, I do no shots," Barry says.


more:

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=7928797

[manouli]

MS Society Comments on Stem Cells Story

Posted : Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:21:01 GMT

Author : Multiple Sclerosis Society






LONDON, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- With regard to Professor Charles ffrench-Constant's comments on stem
cells and multiple sclerosis:


Dr Laura Bell from the MS Society said: "These are exciting times for MS
research. Ten years ago there were no drugs to treat MS, but today there are
a range of therapies available and a dozen more in late stage clinical
trials. We are putting millions into MS research and very much hope that the
new avenues we are exploring - including stem cells - will bring about major
advances in the next ten years."



more....

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ms-society-comments-on-stem-cells-story%2C363847.shtml


http://meltwaternews.com/pagroup/pagroup.asp?padocid=A92201371208910648A0

[manouli]

May 9, 2008

Adult Stem Cells Helping MS Patients

by Nim Reza
While congress is focusing on embryonic stem cell research, a breakthrough in adult stem-cell research means some people with one of the most debilitating of diseases could finally get some relief.

Researchers say they were only trying to “restart” the immune systems of M-S patients with adult stem cells from bone marrow. What they saw was a remarkable remission of the disease. No one’s using the word cure, but no patient with the treatment has had a relapse in nearly seven years. Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council.

“I think this is just another brick on the pile of adult stem cells and their ability to effectively treat disease in human patients.”

This is just the latest study that shows how effective adult stem cell research is compared to embryonic stem cell research.

“It’s about time," said Prentice, "that people woke up to the facts, that adult stem cells are the ones that hold real promise to treat patients.”

more....

http://www.citizenlink.org/fnif/A000007392.cfm

[manouli]

New study aims to take mystery out of MS
Posted Fri May 16, 2008 1:19pm AEST
Updated Fri May 16, 2008 2:51pm AEST


Associate Professor, Bruce Taylor from the Menzies Research Institute is aiming to take the mystery out of multiple sclerosis. (ABC News: Fiona Breen)

Audio: Associate Professor Bruce Taylor from the Menzies Research Institute discusses a new study of multiple sclerosis with ABC Hobart reporter Fiona Breen (ABC News)
The Menzies Research Institute hopes to take the mystery out of multiple sclerosis(MS), with a study investigating factors that predict the rate of progression of the disease.

more....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/16/2246950.htm

[manouli]

Tuesday May 27, 2008

Charleston doctor participating in clinical trials for mulitple sclerosis drugs
Charleston physician has 800 patients who are afflicted with the disease
by Monica Orosz

Dr. Kirin Kresa-Reahl and her husband, Dr. Harry Reahl, have plenty of paperwork associated with the day-to-day operations of a busy neurology practice.

Yet Kresa-Reahl gladly takes on even more if it will help her patients and advance the ways of treating multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects 3,000 West Virginians.


MS attacks the central nervous system - brain, spinal cord and optic nerves - and can cause symptoms such as numbness, balance problems and vision loss. Depending on the type of MS, symptoms may come and go, change with each attack, or they may progress to the point that the patient is disabled. It affects women two to three times more than it does men. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50.

Currently, Kresa-Reahl's and Reahl's practice is involved in 14 clinical trials for medications to treat multiple sclerosis. Kresa-Reahl's patients involved in the studies - currently 29 - are using medications that are either newly approved or on the cusp of being approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

more.....

http://www.dailymail.com/Life/200805270181

[manouli]

Drug that may reverse Multiple Sclerosis hailed as a breakthrough

Thursday, 23 October 2008

Multiple Sclerosis sufferers across Northern Ireland were given fresh hope last night after scientists may have found a drug with the unprecedented power to halt advancement of the condition — and reverse damage already done.


The discovery is being hailed as the biggest advance against the debilitating neurological condition for more than a decade and could prove effective against other, similar diseases. The MS Society said it was "delighted" by the results.

Scientists believe the drug, alemtuzumab, may also be effective in other conditions. Further studies are under way into its use in autoimmune conditions such as rhemumatoid arthritis, in which the immune system attacks itself, and in transplant surgery.

Alemtuzumab was developed 30 years ago by researchers at the University of Cambridge and is an established treatment for leukaemia. It was the first monoclonal antibody – a type of immune system booster – given to humans and heralded a new era of powerful medical treatments. Its creator, Cesar Milstein, was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1984.

more...

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/drug-that-may-reverse-multiple-sclerosis-hailed-as-a-breakthrough-14011177.html

[carbar]

I saw Tony Johnstone (the golfer mentioned in the article) on the news last night and his story is certainly compelling evidence that the treatment has worked for him. Very good news for MS sufferers in the early stages.

[manouli]

British Researchers Make Major Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough
By Tom Rivers
London
23 October 2008

Rivers report - Download (MP3)
Rivers report - Listen (MP3)


British scientists have found a drug used to fight leukemia that appears to stop multiple sclerosis in its early stages and restore lost function to patients. Although still in the clinical trial phase, it is being called by some, the most promising and most significant MS treatment yet discovered. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from London.

The three-year study conducted by Cambridge University researchers found for the first time a treatment that showed long-term multiple sclerosis disability improvement.


read...

http://voanews.com/english/2008-10-23-voa27.cfm

[Wise Young]

This is an exciting development. It prevents progression. Now, what we need are treatments that reverses neurological losses. Wise.

[jhope]

what about this? http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=109587

can this restore spinal cord?

[manouli]

Stem-cell therapy reduces symptoms of multiple sclerosis
3:30 PM, January 29, 2009



Infusing multiple sclerosis patients with their own immune stem cells appears to help the immune system "reset" itself and fight off the disease, according to a study that will be published online Friday in the Lancet Neurology.

The study, an early-phase research project involving only 21 patients, is similar to other experiments in which a patient's own stem cells are used to treat autoimmune diseases. The treatment, called autologous non-myeloablative haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, has also shown promising results in people with lupus and diabetes.

In the new study, Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, selected people ages 20 to 53 who had early-stage MS (they had been diagnosed an average of five years) and who had not responded to at least six months of treatment with interferon beta, the standard treatment for the disease.



more...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/01/stem-cell-thera.html

[manouli]

MS attacks the brain, said one researcher. 'After the procedure, it doesn't do that any more.'

Bone marrow stem cells prove effective in treating MS


A Northwestern University of Chicago study using adult stem cells to treat patients suffering from early onset multiple sclerosis has lead to an improvement in the condition of 17 of the 21 patients, with 16 patients demonstrating no relapse in their condition three years after receiving the treatment.

Patients in the study were in what is commonly referred to as the first stage of the autoimmune disease, in which their symptoms periodically flare up and then subside.

According to Bloomberg, the patients' blood-forming stem cells were extracted, and then chemotherapy drugs were used to kill the patient’s immune cells within their bone marrow.

After the chemotherapy treatment, the patient’s hematopoietic cells were returned to the body. A Northwestern University report on the study said this transplantation process resets the patient’s immune system.

more...

http://www.kansasliberty.com/liberty-update-archive/2009/02feb/stem-cell/

[manouli]

my friends this is great news yeah?



College Student With Multiple Sclerosis Symptom-Free After Stem-Cell Treatment
Monday, February 23, 2009


Edwin McClure, a Virginia Commonwealth University advertising graduate student, says a stem-cell study he participated in appears to have cured his multiple sclerosis symptoms.

McClure started showing symptoms of MS in 2000 when he was a senior in high school.

Although he initially thought it was just a cold, he knew the condition was more serious when his vision began blurring.

"It was like someone turning down the dimmer switch," McClure said.

When his neurologist told him he was showing the symptoms of MS, he was surprised and confused."

It threw me for a loop," McClure said. "This is a disease that typically hits 40-year-old white women and I'm like, 'I'm an 18-year-old black male.' Somebody didn't get the memo."

more...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C498464%2C00.html

[manouli]

Easing the pain of MS: Hilton Head Island resident Vita Johnson is looking to stem cell treatment in China for relief from multiple sclerosis ( )


Mar 24, 2009 (The Island Packet - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Sometimes, the pain is manageable. Vita Johnson can operate her mechanical wheelchair, but her back and right arm are almost always in pain, like the muscles are constantly tense. Other times, the pain is unbearable. All she can do is stay in her darkened bedroom and cry.
She used to jog, lift weights, swim and jump out of airplanes for fun. But multiple sclerosis has reduced her body to the point where she needs help just to go to the bathroom.

She wants to be better, but none of her treatments have stopped the MS, a disease that attacks the central nervous system. She sees hope, but it's halfway around the world.

Johnson is raising money to go to China to receive injections of stem cells, a treatment that she hopes will improve her condition. She'd like to do it in her own country, but it's not permitted in the United States.

Stem cell therapy has been hotly debated. Clinics in Costa Rica, China and elsewhere offer the treatments for a variety of afflictions, from cerebral palsy to spinal cord injuries. Some of these clinics' Web sites feature stories of the wheelchair-bound who take their first steps again, the blind who can make out shapes and letters.

IS THERE HOPE?

But in the United States, skepticism mixes with hope. Advocates of stem cell research say one day stem cell treatments may prove beneficial for Vita and other MS suffers. But the evidence isn't there yet. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society issued a statement last month encouraging research of stem cells in clinical tests.

more....


https://sites.stockpoint.com/dain/newspaper.asp?site=D&Mode=Biotechnology&Story=20090324/083e1817.xml

[manouli]

United Spinal Association Reports Positive Results of Stem Cell Transplantation to Treat Multiple Sclerosis: Study May be Key to Unlocking a Cure

NEW YORK, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An article published in the Summer 2009 edition of Multiple Sclerosis Quarterly Report, a joint publication of United Spinal Association (www.UnitedSpinal.org) and the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS), highlights the positive initial results of patients who have improving neurologic function after receiving a stem cell transplant, despite no longer taking any MS medications.


The results are reported in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored study called HALT-MS to confirm whether high-dose immunosuppression followed by autologous stem cell transplantation will prevent MS attacks in patients who are not responding to available treatment options and ultimately protect against the degeneration of nerve fibers.

more...

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/prnewswire/press_releases/New_York/2009/05/08/DC13761

[manouli]

Multiple sclerosis treatments gain legal favor
Stem cell therapies could help the 3,100 persons affected in Oklahoma
Published:
Monday, May 18, 2009 12:50 PM CDT


OKLAHOMA CITY – Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease with potentially debilitating effects, may be reversible with stem cell therapy, according to new findings published in The Lancet Neurology journal. In the study, 80 percent of patients with early-stage multiple sclerosis saw improvement in their symptoms after undergoing stem cell therapy with their own cells

read....

http://www.bixbybulletin.com/articles/2009/05/18/opinion/doc4a1188c02da68965770438.txt

[manouli]

UK: Adult Stem Cells Reverse Symtoms of Multiple Sclerosis
By Bob Ellis on June 10th, 2009



Chalk up yet another success for adult stem cell therapy!

According to the UK Telegraph, researchers in Britain have taken stem cells from a patient’s own body fat to stimulate the regrowth of tissue damaged by multiple sclerosis.

Last year experts suggested that stem cell therapy could be a “cure” for MS within the next 15 years.

Patients’ symptoms were still improving up to a year after the treatment, the new study shows.

One, a 50-year-old man, who had suffered more than 600 painful seizures in the three years before treatment has not had a single one since the infusion of his own cells.

Another patient’s ability to walk, run and even cycle are still improving 10 months after the therapy.

Apparently there are a couple of studies underway, and the second one is also reporting excellent results:

more....

http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/06/uk-adult-stem-cells-reverse-symtoms-of-multiple-sclerosis/

[manouli]

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.: Dr. Alan Moore Will Present the Company's Brain and Neural Regeneration Therapy for the Treatment of Stroke and Multiple Sclerosis at the 2009 Banff Venture Forum


CALGARY, ALBERTA - (Marketwire - Oct. 2, 2009) - Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. ("SCT") (TSX VENTURE:SSS) announced that Dr. Alan Moore, President and CEO, will be presenting today at the Banff Venture Forum 2009, taking place in Banff, Alberta, October 1-2. Dr. Moore will be providing an overview of the Company's clinical and pre-clinical stage programs, including progress in the Phase IIb stroke trial with Drs. Steven C. Cramer of the University of California, Irvine and Michael D. Hill of the Foothills Hospital at the University of Calgary, as co-lead investigators; as well as its soon-to-commence multiple sclerosis ("MS") phaseII trial with prolactin, lead by Drs. Luanne Metz and Fiona Costello of the MS Clinic at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Alberta.

read...

http://newsblaze.com/story/2009100205340300001.cc/topstory.html#

[manouli]

Multiple Sclerosis Patient Finds Hope Through Stem Cell Treatment

-Electromyogram (EMG) findings show improvement in conduction speed and latency

-RNL Bio's stem cell therapy demonstrates effective outcomes
SEOUL, Korea, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- RNL Bio Co., Ltd, (www.rnl.co.kr) a leading biopharmaceutical company specialized in adult stem cell therapeutics announced today that a 46-year-old female, Kang Sook Park's Multiple Sclerosis improved tremendously after receiving stem cell treatment. Park was suffering from MS (Multiple Sclerosis), an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease in which the nerves of the central nervous system degenerate. MS can cause problems with muscle control and strength, vision, balance, feeling, and thinking. MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. When the myelin sheath is damaged, nerve impulses slow down or stop responding. From the many symptoms of MS, numbness or abnormal sensation in any area is predominant.

For the past 20 years, Park suffered from MS. For stem cell injection, she was admitted into Choyang Hospital of Regenerative Medicine in Yanji, China for three weeks. She received stem cells intravenously as well as intrathecally. The injections were given in five intervals -- a total of 1.2 billion cells.

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http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/multiple-sclerosis-patient-finds-hope-through-stem-cell-treatment-78625262.html

[manouli]

Study could hold key to MS treatment
By Henry L. Davis
News Medical Reporter
Updated: December 19, 2009, 11:50 PM / 2 comments

Buffalo researchers early next year expect to report the initial results of the first major study of a controversial new theory that multiple sclerosis is caused by blockages in the veins that drain the brain.
If proven correct, the novel theory could overturn the current understanding of how to diagnose and treat a disabling and incurable disease that attacks the nervous system.

Advocates of the new theory contend that angioplasty, the same procedure used to open clogged arteries around the heart, could repair the blockages.

If so, it could change the lives of the 2.5 million people worldwide — 500,000 in the United States — with MS, many of whom are desperate for better therapies and intensely monitoring the work here.

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http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/899766.html