Multiple
Sclerosis Stem Cell Research
or
MS
Stem Cell Research:Stem
Cell research is being done to determine if stem cells can be used
to replicate other cells throughout the body to help stimulate the body
to repair damaged cells. In
this vein of thinking, stem cell researchers are also looking into ways
to adapt the use of stem cells for helping to regenerate
nerve cells, as in the case of spinal cord injuries or for those of us
that have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
This
is good news for those of us that have been given the diagnosis of
Multiple Sclerosis, since in the majority of the cases of MS, the
myelin sheath along the spinal cord is damaged. MS nerve damage
can often contribute to many of the MS symptoms that are present in the
majority of the many cases of Multiple Sclerosis, that are
appearing in many different countries around the world.
Although
stem cell research is still in its infancy and it is not yet a tried
and true method for finding ways to repair the damage to the spinal
cord, there is still hope that one day, stem cells will become a
more widely used and effective method for helping to repair the nerve
damage that appears in Multiple Sclerosis.
MS Stem Cell research
has the potential for helping those of us with Multiple Sclerosis to be
given a change to repair the damage to the myelin sheath along the
spinal cord, not just chase Multiple Sclerosis symptoms in an attempt for us to find relief to our suffering because of MS.
In Multiple Sclerosis myelin on
the spinal cord is damaged, resulting in scarring or removal of the myelin
sheath, which protects the spinal cord and allows the nerve signals to travel
from the brain, through the nerves along the spinal cord and throughout the rest
of the body.
Stem
cell research is not new, but it has progressed much more in Europe and
Asia and has not been pursued as much in the United State of America,
until recently.
Once President Obama came into office, within the first year,
he signed into law that stem cell
research
can move forward in the United States. Although stem cell
research as been given the go ahead, the funding that has been
promised for stem cell research takes more time to reach those who are
actually doing the stem cell research, delaying the forward progress of
the stem cell research within the United States.
Stem
Cell research can potentially help those of us that have suffered
spinal cord injuries or damage to the spinal cord, which includes those
of us with MS demyelination to the spinal cord, as the majority of
the
cases of Multiple Sclerosis have caused.
In Multiple
Sclerosis, myelin along
the spinal cord is damaged, resulting in scarring or removal of the
myelin sheath, which protects the spinal cord and allows the nerve
signals to travel from the brain, through the nerves along the spinal
cord and throughout the rest of the body.
Stem
cells are a specialized type of cell in our bodies, as in the case of a
baby forming in the mother’s womb, where these cells can adapt to form
organs, nerve tissue, membranes, or most types of other cells in the
body. Researchers are finding that there are several ways
that the
stem cells can be found in different locations throughout our
bodies. Embryonic stem cells are not the only ones available
to us.
Stem
cells are also found to be located in the adult human body in the
reproductive organs, in the sinuses and in the nerves in our teeth.
There may be other locations in our bodies that stem cells
are
located, but these are the main one that have been found so far.
As MS
stem cell research
continues to advance, researchers finding that stem cells can be
extracted from one location in our bodies, cultured in the lab to start
these cells to adapt to replicating the desired type of cell that our
body needs for repairing damage to our bodies, and then implanted in
the part of the body where it is needed
Implanted
stem cells along the spinal cord has been used on a trial basis
in a few cases in France and other countries in Europe with some
success, for a few MS patients with in the last 10 years. The
implications from the small groups of test cases in Europe may mean
that in the future that the use of stem cells holds promise for those with more severe
cases of MS
that are unable to walk that they may have a
way that can help them be able to learn to walk again.
Until
further stem research is done to find out what can be done to make this
a more of a reality for more people on a broader scale, those of with
Multiple Sclerosis will have to focus on finding ways to retain the
body and brain nerve cells through physical exercise, brain exercises,
as well as using ms diet and ms nutrition as well as other alternative
and natural ways to work with our bodies to promote their own natural
methods of healing and repairing ms nerve damage and with finding
relief to our symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, to reduce our present
suffering with MS
As
MS research progresses in understanding how our
own bodies can repair the damage to the myelin sheath along
the spinal cord or about how the nervous system's own repair cells work
in repairing the Blood Brain Barrier or BBB (that surrounds an protects
the brain from toxins entering it), then maybe a better way for helping
to repair or reverse the effects of MS on our bodies can be
discovered or developed that can help those of us living with Multiple
Sclerosis to recover more of our abilities to function again.
Time will tell which way Multiple Sclerosis stem cell research
goes in finding out more about the Multiple Sclerosis disease process
and with hopefully finding ways to reverse or repair the damage that is
so often a result of Multiple Sclerosis attacking the Central Nervous
System.
If the developments in MS stem cell research
advance far enough, hopefully this will include finding ways to
help those of us that have been unable to walk, because of the severity
of the nerve damage that Multiple Sclerosis has caused to our nervous
systems, to be able to walk again.
