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<\/p>\nMultiple sclerosis is a condition which can affect the spinal cord and\/or brain, potentially causing problems with arm and leg movement, vision and sensation. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 people diagnosed with MS in the UK alone.<\/p>\n
The treatment involved wiping out the patient\u2019s immune system, before resetting with healthy haematopoietic stem cells.<\/p>\n
Prof Basil Sharrack, neurologist and director of MS research at Royal Hallamshire Hospital, told the BBC: “This is interim analysis, but with that caveat, this is the best result I have seen in any trial for multiple sclerosis.”<\/p>\n
The trial involved just over 100 individuals with MS being treated either with stem cells or traditional drug treatments. Of the stem cell group, only one suffered a relapse compared with 39 of the drug group after one year.<\/p>\n
\u2018After an average follow-up of three years, the transplants had failed in three out of 52 patients (6%), compared with 30 of 50 (60%) in the control group.\u2019<\/p>\n
Prof Richard Burt, lead investigator, Northwestern University Chicago, told the BBC: “The data is stunningly in favour of transplant against the best available drugs – the neurological community has been sceptical about this treatment, but these results will change that.”<\/p>\n
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Fergus Walsh, of the BBC, spoke with one of the trial participants;<\/p>\n
Louise was diagnosed with MS in 2010 when she was only 28.<\/p>\n
She told me: “MS ruled my life and I lived in fear of the next relapse.<\/p>\n
“The worst time was not being able to get out of bed because I had no stability in my body – I struggled to walk and even spent time in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n
“It also affected my cognition – it was like a brain fog and I misread words and struggled to keep up with conversations.”<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Panorama filmed her undergoing her transplant in October 2015 and she is now back to full health.<\/p>\n
She got married to her partner Steve, on the first anniversary of her transplant, and their baby daughter Joy is now a month old.<\/p>\n
“I feel like my diagnosis was just a bad dream. I live every day as I want to, rather than planning my life around my MS.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n