British doctors are reporting on remarkable progress being made on patients afflicted with paralysis caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) who were given the same kind of adult stem cell transplant used in some cancer treatments and are now able to walk again.

The Daily Mail is reporting on a clinical trial conducted at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield which treated 20 patients paralyzed with MS with bone marrow transplants using their own stem cells. After receiving the treatments, the patients were able to stand unaided, walk, cycle, even swim again.

According to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, the cause of MS is unknown but the disease causes abnormalities in the immune system which cause the body to attack its own central nervous system. Affecting about 2.5 million people worldwide, symptoms range from extreme tiredness to numbness and tingling, vision problems, and difficulty walking. Almost three times as many women than men are afflicted with MS, which can eventually cripple a patient.

The new trial involves treatment that destroys the faulty immune system causing the MS by using chemotherapy, then giving patients an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) which rebuilds the immune system with cells harvested from the patient’s own blood. The results have been amazing.

“The immune system is being reset or rebooted back to a time point before it caused MS,” said Professor John Snowden, a consultant hematologist in the trial. “It's clear we have made a big impact on patients' lives, which is gratifying.”

One patient, Holly Drewry was 21 when she was diagnosed with MS and her condition deteriorated after she gave birth to her daughter Isla. By the time she was 25, she was wheelchair-bound, unable to dress or wash herself, and lacked the strength to even carry her daughter. She received the treatment two years ago and was able to walk out of the hospital three weeks later.

“It's been a miracle,” she told the Mail. “I got my life and my independence back and the future is bright again in terms of being a mum and doing everything with Isla.”

Thus far, she has suffered no relapses and shows no evidence of active disease, leading doctors to hope the transplant could be a permanent fix.

But there is still work to be done.

According to Dr Emma Gray, head of clinical trials at UK's MS Society, even though HSCT may be able to stabilize or improve disability in MS patients, it may not be effective for all types of the condition. The treatment also comes with significant risks and needs to be carried out at accredited centers or as part of a trial.

“The MS Society has recently funded a study looking into the impact of HSCT on the immune system and we'd like to see larger trials in this area,” Dr. Gray said. “They would help us learn more about the safety and long term effectiveness of the treatment and who could benefit from it.”

The same clinical trials are currently underway here in the United States, Sweden and Brazil,

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