Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Patients Showing Progress With Cancer Treatment

• comments
• 
• 

The doctors in Sheffield England discovered that the treatment normally use for cancer patients have worked well with people that have multiple sclerosis.

According to a report by BBC, this latest development certainly gives hope to the people who are suffering with the disease. The doctors at the Royal Hallamshire hospital tried the cancer treatment to a few patients with multiple sclerosis and the results were remarkable.

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease nobody wants to go through with. It is a chronic disease that affects the brain and the spinal cord that would lead to paralysis.

Although there are multiple methods of treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, some patients do not respond to them.

"To have a treatment which can potentially reverse disability is really a major achievement," said Prof. Basil Sharrack, who is part of the experiment. Since we started treating patients three years ago, some of the results we have seen have been miraculous.

The professor added that, due to their research, he was able to see "profound neurological improvements."

The new possible treatment for the disease is known as autologous haematopoietic.

Nevertheless, the team of researchers explained that the treatment may not be suitable for other patients with the same disease. They have tested the treatment in the span of three years involving 20 patients that have suffered with multiple sclerosis, which attacks the whole nervous system.

The chemotherapy that is usually used for anyone that is going through any form of cancer works really well in destroying the patients' defective parts of the immune systems. Using the cells that the doctors collected from their own blood, it will rebuild the faulty immune systems.

According to a report by Mirror, a consultant hematologist at the hospital, Prof John Snowden, said that this development has made both the doctors and the patients happy.

"It's clear we have made a big impact on patients' lives, which is gratifying. Considering some of the patients were bed-bound when we first saw them, the results are amazing," Snowden said. "The potential is certainly there for this to be used to treat patients with other conditions, for instance those with Crohn's disease, lupus and even arthritis."

Despite the effort to determine the cause of multiple sclerosis, researchers have yet to provide a definite report with regard to the study. However, there are some doctors who believe that multiple sclerosis is caused by the immune system itself attacking the nervous system, which eventually leads to disability, paralysis or even death.