Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
New adult stem cell therapy stops, reverses symptoms of MS

New adult stem cell therapy stops, reverses symptoms of MS

Last updated on: June 13, 2016 at 10:02 pm by CNA Daily News

New adult stem cell therapy stops, reverses symptoms of MS 2016-06-13T22:02:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ontario, Canada, Jun 13, 2016 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A risky adult stem cell clinical trial in Canada has proven effective in stopping and even reversing the symptoms in patients with severe cases of multiple sclerosis, a progressive disease of the immune system that is often untreatable.

The stem cell therapy was performed on 24 adult patients who were expected to be confined to a wheelchair within 10 years. After the treatment, most patients saw no further progress in their symptoms, and were even able to regain functions that had been taken away by the disease, such as their vision, balance, or ability to walk, the Guardian reports.

The treatment performed by doctors in Canada is still considered highly risky, as it required the destruction and rebooting of each person’s immune system, causing the death of one of the 24 trial patients.

However, the other patients, who were followed for up to 13 years after the treatment, all experienced no further progression of the disease, which typically worsens over time. Many of these patients were able to go back to work and resume their other normal activities such as driving or playing sports.

Multiple sclerosis is a potentially disabling disease of the immune system, which attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body. Eventually, the disease can cause the nerves themselves to deteriorate or become permanently damaged.

Symptoms include a progressive loss of motor function, fatigue, vertigo, memory loss and depression. The disease affects approximately 2.3 million people throughout the world.

During the trial therapy, doctors first administered a drug to each patient that caused the stem cells in their bone marrow to move out into their bloodstream.

Doctors then extracted these stem cells, and processed them in a lab to purify them of the cells that cause MS. The patient was then given a drug that completely destroyed their immune system.

Finally, the newly purified stem cells were re-injected into the patient’s bloodstream, where they were able to make their way back into the bone marrow and slowly rebuild the immune system, free of the MS-causing cells.

While the Catholic Church does not support embryonic stem cell research that creates and destroys embryos for the sake of harvesting their cells, the Church does support ethical stem cell research and treatments such as those using umbilical cord stem cells or adult stem cells, like the ones used in the MS trial.

“Clearly, the Church favors ethically acceptable stem cell research. It opposes destroying some human lives now, on the pretext that this may possibly help other lives in the future. We must respect life at all times, especially when our goal is to save lives,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explains on their website.

“The Catholic Church has long supported research using stem cells from adult tissue and umbilical cord blood, which poses no moral problem. Catholic institutions at times have taken the lead in promoting such constructive research, which is already providing cures and treatments for suffering patients,” their website reads.

In April, the Pontifical Council for Culture helped host a conference at the Vatican on “The Progress of Regenerative Medicine and its Cultural Impact”, which brought together doctors, researchers and bioethicists throughout the world to discuss the potential for adult stem cells and other ethical cellular therapies to treat cancer, diabetes and other debilitating medical conditions and diseases.

While the results of the MS study were promising, the treatment is still limited in its availability due to its high risk and specialized nature.

Mark Freedman, a neurologist at the University of Ottawa who co-led the trial, told The Guardian that while all patients experienced a halt in new brain inflammations, he was hesitant to call the treatment a cure.

“A cure would be stopping all disease moving forward and repairing all damage that has occurred. As far as we can ascertain no new damage seems to occur beyond the treatment and patients don’t need to take any medication, so in that sense I think it has induced a long-standing remission. Some patients did recover substantial function and it allowed them to do things they couldn’t do for years, but others did not,” he said.

Freedman also said that because of the risky nature of the stem cell transplant, only about 5-10 percent of MS patients would be eligible for the treatment. It would be considered too risky for those with milder forms of MS whose symptoms can largely be controlled by other medications.

Still, the results are promising for MS sufferers who go to great lengths to find ways to treat the disease. A neurologist in the U.K. is planning a similar study with a less intense drug, and with 180 participants.

The clinical trial in Ontario was funded by the MS Society of Canada, and the findings were published in the Lancet medical journal.

Photo credit: www.shutterstock.com.

Americas

Previous Post

June 13, 2016

UN rules that Ireland's abortion ban violates human rights

Next Post

June 13, 2016 ACLU lawyers say Christians caused the Orlando shooting

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Pale Horse in Revelations symbolize?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Prosperity War Death The Kingdom of God