They are have already successfully treated MS with stem cells (From your own bone marrow). I believe the research was done in the UK, but I could be wrong. It could be a long time before its available to us though.

Bone marrow transplants are pretty risky. Hopefully we will make advances in doing this safely.

oh my..o you guys realize the avenues of reseach ..this has opene up? i am so excite...you shoul be too---

They did a study at Northwestern University in Chicago. "Some 81 percent of patients in the early phase study showed signs of improvement with the treatment, which used chemotherapy to destroy the immune system, and injections of the patient's bone marrow cells taken beforehand to rebuild it."

Here is the link to the story...

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE50S7KZ20090130

I am so hopeful!

I doubt we will find a cure in my lifetime, but I would love it if they could find a truly effective cure, and hopefully a treatment to reverse some of the neurological damage that we all face during the course of this devastating disease.

Don't say that they may not find a cure!!! 10yrs ago they didnt think they would find something to slow down the progression of the disease and they have over 6 on the market now and working on some oral medications!! They can see the light at the end of the tunnel, ow that tunnel is a long one, but getting shorter everyday!!

since modern times doctors had time to find the cure for MS, I really doubt I see in America they will be using stem cell to cure MS any time soon.

*I am gloom and doom today*

Besides the moral & ethical issues, ESC research is going to remain controversial for a long time ~ what those particular types of cells have working against them is that they do not know how *not* to be an embryo, so they continue to proliferate ~ currently that means they have the propensity to turn into tumors which in turn can become cancerous.

Research is good & I'm all for it, but what bothers me here is that big money will go towards ESC research, which I personally would rather see going towards additional trials of ASC therapy ~ adult stem cell transplants have already proven to be beneficial to many patients w/ various diseases, & since the ASCs are derived from the patient's own body, they're also w/out those very moral & ethical issues that are so controversial.

@ Sentient ~ ASC therapy isn't a bone marrow transplant per se, it's an extraction of stem cells from tissue that is already developed, which can be any number of body areas. I think, for MS patients that have ASC therapy, that the hip is the most common extraction area. In Costa Rica, at ICM, they commonly extract fat cells also & use those in conjunction w/ transplants of adult stem cell therapies.

Many places around the world provide ASC therapy, & when you look into various treatment centers, all seem to have varying approaches to their methods. We can hope one day that it becomes universally known what protocol is best for which disease ~ meanwhile, it's been very disheartening to me that other countries make advances 1st due to religious & political inertia in the USA, so today was a good day on that front.

I have been waiting for this day for 8 years! It's coming too late for my poor mother, who is in the final stages of Alzheimers, but perhaps someone else's mom can be saved from this ravaging disease some day.

As for me & other MS patients, I am going to dream a positive dream tonight.

Thank you Mr. President

Right. I used the wrong word. You are not replacing bone marrow you are extracting the stem cells to make a new immune system.

Its still risky though, but I am hopeful that it could lead to a cure, if it isnt one already.