It’s been a pretty cool week for science, and now we’re ending it on something that might even be cooler than a fish inside a jellyfish. It looks like scientists might have figured out the key to curing Multiple Sclerosis.
A new report recently published in The Lancet, is showing that the best way to cure someone with a disease that turns your immune system against yourself is to get rid of it and reboot the whole thing.
If you are not aware of what it’s like to live with MS, imagine your immune system attacking the protective coating around all your nerve cells in the brain. The result is inflammation, pain, disability, often times an early death.
This trial is so promising that some experts are going as far as to call it a potential cure for the disease. Amazingly, this isn’t even some brand new medicine, but a treatment protocol that has been used to treat Leukemia for years.
Step 1: Using chemotherapy, completely destroy the current (compromised) immune system.
Step 2: Reboot the body with a brand new immune system, care of a transfusion of healthy bone marrow cells.
So far, the treatment has been given to 24 people. Of them, the majority saw major improvements to quality of life, and 70% say that it has completely stopped the progression of their MS. 40% say that they’ve even seen a reversal of symptoms including vision loss, muscle weakness and balance loss.
One such trail patient is Jennifer Molson. She was diagnosed in 1996, and received her stem cell transplant in 2002.
“Before my transplant I was unable to walk or work and was living in assisted care. Now I am able to walk independently, live in my own home and work full time. I was also able to get married, walk down the aisle with my Dad and dance with my husband. I’ve even gone downhill skiing. Thanks to this research I have been given a second chance at life.”