The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a groundbreaking medical strategy– a new stem cell clinical trial for multiple sclerosis (MS).
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system (the spinal cord, optic nerves and brain). Common symptoms are numbness of the limbs, but more severe cases can lead to paralysis and blindness.
According to Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, there are currently between 350,000 to 500,000 people in the US who have been diagnosed with MS, and 200 people are diagnosed with the disease every week.
Researchers from the Tisch MS Research of New York say the FDA has granted approval to begin early clinical investigation (phase 1 trial) of autologous neural stem cells in the treatment of MS.
Similar trials but with larger number of patients (phase 2) have already been under way in the UK. In 2011, UK scientists received £1 million from the MS Society and the UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKCSF) towards research investigating whether stem cells can slow, stop or reverse brain and spinal cord damage in MS patients.
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