Stem Cell Success With MS

[jimcaster]

One of many reasons I'm excited about stem cell therapy for those of us with Parkinson's is because of success in actual human beings with other neurodegenerative diseases like MS.

multiplesclerosisnewstoday....

[chartist]

I thought that some people have gone to other countries to have the stem cell treatment and have reported good to moderate effects, but they are not lasting and they are expensive if I remember the reports correctly?

On an unrelated note, Jim, did you say that your main issue at this time is poor writing? My memory isn't all that it should be and I may be wrong.

Art

[jimcaster in reply to chartist]

There are MANY sham stem cell treatments, BUT there are some in Japan and Australia (and hopefully very soon in the USA) which have undergone far more rigorous scrutiny and I believe hold great potential. Yes, handwriting is the only symptom which bothers me, but I also have very minimal sense of smell, lack of arm swing when I walk, and minor rigidity and gait issues, too.

[chartist in reply to jimcaster]

Jim,

I will respond to you tomorrow, I have a question regarding your hand writing.

Art

[Magari- in reply to jimcaster]

Same here. Writing is my biggest challenge (with arm pain) and reduced to no swing. Diminished smell and rigidity. The mystery of pd and symptom manifestation. Exercise helps a lot

[33hpdem5x4 in reply to chartist]

Yes I'm one of them who went to china a few years back it cost 22.000 us dollars it was for Parkinson's it help but nev

[jeffreyn]

Note that this article is talking about Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), rather than the iPSCs that Jeanne Loring (and others) are working with.

A summary of current "MSCs for PD" clinical trials was posted in January 2019.

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

[jimcaster in reply to jeffreyn]

Correct!

[WinnieThePoo]

A couple of points. The first Jim made really, but can't be overemphasised

There are at least 3 current properly organised trials into stem cell transplants for PD - all using slightly different approaches. They are trials. They are not currently available clinical therapies.

There are any number of untested, unregulated private clinics offering stem cell treatments, which are high risk, untested and not recommended

At the moment, legitimate, genuine , safe stem cell therapies are all at the trial stage, and it is likely to be many years before they are mainstream approved. There are no legitimate, safe , authorised stem cell therapies available today

Second point is that the stem cell trials that are underway, all suffer the same problem, which is that they will be replacing lost neurons with substitutes which are not that similar. The stem cells produce dopamine where its needed, but do not have the other connections into the brain which the original lost neurons had. This differs from other stem cell therapies (like macula degeneration, and if I understood it properly the MS treatment)

And PD stem cell trials don't tackle the cause of the problem. So they are only another motor symptom relief tool (albeit possibly a really good one).

[jeeves19 in reply to WinnieThePoo]

😕😢

[Farooqji in reply to WinnieThePoo]

The three stem cell trials are

1. ISCO hpNSC

2. Japanese trial

3. Chinese trial

But there are no updates available since long