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Feb 11, 2009 2:30 pm US/Central
Stem Cell Transplant Could Reverse MS Symptoms
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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An estimated 400,000 Americans suffer from multiple sclerosis, but a new treatment is showing promise in reversing the symptoms.
CBS
An estimated 400,000 Americans suffer from multiple sclerosis, but a new treatment is showing promise in reversing the symptoms.
Edwin McClure is strong and healthy now, but just fours years ago, his life was very different, CBS station KCBS-TV.
"I couldn't deal with heat. I had really bad balance," McClure said.
In his senior year of high school, the star football player came down with what he thought was a cold. But then his vision changed.
"It was kind of like someone just turned down a dimmer switch 30 degrees or so," McClur said.
A neurologist diagnosed what was happening to him.
He said you have the signs of multiple sclerosis. And, I remember hearing my mom say, 'Oh no, that's a disease 40 year old white women get. I'm like, I'm an 18 year old black male. Somebody didn't get the memo somewhere," McClure said.
For the next two years, Edwin received the conventional drugs used to manage MS, but his symptoms persisted. Then, in 2005, he heard about a clinical trial being offered at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
"This therapy is designed to reset your immune system," Dr. Richard Burt said.
Dr. Richard Burt led a study that looked at a completely new way to treat MS – stem cell transplant. The patient's own stem cells are stimulated to grow more cells, then harvested, next chemotherapy is used to wipe out the immune system.
"It was rough," McClure recalls.
The treatment lasted nearly a month. Then, Edwin's previously harvested stem cells were transplanted back.
"They call it your birthday when you get re-infused. So… that birthday was January 21, 2006," McClure said.
And today, Edwin's symptoms of MS have completely disappeared.
"Now for the first time in battling MS, we can say that there's a study that's showing we've turned a tide against the disease," Dr. Burt said.
"I really don't feel like I have multiple sclerosis anymore," McClure said.
The study group was small – only 21 patients, but researchers believe these findings are a huge breakthrough.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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