A Scottish research team today claimed that stem cell can be used to treat the effects of multiple sclerosis. In an interview with the media, Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, director of the Edinburgh-based center said they aim to use stem cells to repair nerve damage caused by MS. They hope to offer the treatment within next 15 years. It can be mentioned that Scotland has a large number of MS patients.

MS, which usually strikes young adults, is one of a group of diseases in which the immune system attacks body tissue as though it was an infection. In MS, Myelin is stripped away completely and the fibres themselves are at risk of damage. This disrupts the messages the fibres should be carrying and patients can experience a wide range of different symptoms.

At present, the doctors can offer treatment only for inflammation which causes the disease. But nothing is available to reverse the growing damage left behind. Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, said that the study aims to find out ways to treat the inflammation and to promote repair simultaneously. He envisages a treatment which is either injected into the bloodstream or taken as a pill, and then dispersed through the nervous system, prompting the growth of new Myelin, the sheath which protects nerve fibres.

This study is likely to be free from any controversy as it will not use embryonic stem cell.

Source: THE HERALD