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Sunday, January 26, 2014

Transverse Myelitis and Stem Cells. Is this a possibility for the future???

This post is taken from a report on CBS Evening News: "MS patient to take part in pioneering experiment". < http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ms-patient-to-take-part-in-pioneering-experiment/>
The lady in question was formally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but her initial symptoms sound very much like Transverse Myelitis.


"One night I woke up and I couldn't feel either of my legs," Quinn said. "Right now, my biggest problem is my hamstring. I cannot get my hamstring to cooperate when I have to walk, so that's my battle right now," she said.
Current treatments only try to stop progression of the disease. Quinn is about to test a new approach: using stem cells designed to actually make MS patients better.
Stem cells can be morphed into any cell in the body. Patients like Quinn have bone marrow removed and the stem cells are extracted and then changed into the kind of stem cells found in the brain and spinal cord.
So watch this space for the outcomes. They may be relevant to those of us with Transverse Myelitis. Is this this a false hope? We just do not know. But in the absence of anything else, we can dream...


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