Has there been success in curing Multiple Sclerosis with Umbilical Cord Stem Cells?

Does anyone know if storing your child's cord blood can cure Multiple Sclerosis? Have there been any successful cases of this?

Unfortunately, there is no cure as of yet, to include stem cell therapy. Although some stem cell therapy is effective, so far the trials have only yielded minor successes. They are using a treatment normally reserved for leukemia patients, and it is being trialed on MS patients due to anecdotal reports of people who got this leukemia treatment having their MS cured. It is essentially a "reset" of the immune system.

The treatment is autologous blood or bone marrow stem cell transplant. This is a fairly invasive procedure, first involving stimulating stem cell production, harvesting those stem cells, and then using chemotherapy to destroy all white blood cells in the body, which then have to regenerate following the transplant. Out of 85 patients being tracked, 18 patients (21%) showed EDSS improvement of greater than one point. 78% of SPMS sufferers showed zero disease progression at three years following the treatment. There is a risk in this treatment; out of the 106 known patients, seven have died. The potential risk will have to be tested completely.

Now, the question you posed was "can your child's cord blood cure MS" and the answer, today, is no. In any stem cell treatment that has actually worked, the patients own stem cells are encouraged to grow and then harvested. These are called "adult stem cells" and they have been shown today to effectively treat more than 70 diseases and conditions. Some of those are cord blood stem cells.

Note the difference is between adult stem cells (or non-embryonic stem cells) and embryonic stem cells, which are derived from embryos which are destroyed as part of the stem cell harvesting process.

Cord blood stem cells have so far effectively treated Cerebal Palsy, hepatitis, Hurler's Syndrome, paralysis, and have been able to regenerate the liver.

hth

What is the procedure for recovering umbilical cord stem cells for research?

Does anyone know the process for recovering umbilical cord stem cells for transplantation? I was curious.

Newborn infants no longer need their umbilical cords, so they have traditionally been discarded as a by-product of the birth process. In recent years, however, the multipotent-stem-cell-rich blood found in the umbilical cord has proven useful in treating the same types of health problems as those treated using bone marrow stem cells and PBSCs.

While most blood stem cells reside in the bone marrow, a small number are present in the bloodstream. These multipotent peripheral blood stem cells, or PBSCs, can be used just like bone marrow stem cells to treat leukemia, other cancers and various blood disorders. Since they can be obtained from drawn blood, PBSCs are easier to collect than bone marrow stem cells, which must be extracted from within bones.

Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants are less prone to rejection than either bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. This is probably because the cells have not yet developed the features that can be recognized and attacked by the recipient's immune system. Also, because umbilical cord blood lacks well-developed immune cells, there is less chance that the transplanted cells will attack the recipient's body, a problem called graft versus host disease.

Both the versatility and availability of umbilical cord blood stem cells makes them a potent resource for transplant therapies.

hope this helps u

Please guide which is better for spinal cord injury: One's own stem cells or umbilical cord blood stem cell?

My cousin being a victim to spinal cord injury we are planning for his own bone marrow stem cells treatment by NCRM (http://www.ncrm.org/) - Life line hospital, Chennai group. But the first such success having been reported by a korean team in which umbilical cord blood has been used (http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200411/ ... 710440.htm) I wonder whether there is any reliable institute in India offering this treatment using umbilical cord blood.

When my sister delivered a baby we understood there are more than 7 companies in India storing the umbilical cord blood stem cells, but none were confident enough to say they could offer treatment for such diseases. can any one guide me with?

I have had patients (in India), who after storing their Umbilical cord blood couldnt use for a sibling as these cord blood storage companies simply told their clients that their responsibility is only to Store and Deliver. Leave them! Ones own bone marrow is OK, but still on experimental basis, but should the treatment you think have to take place in India, then thats only resort.

I dont think any umbilical cord blood company in India is involved in real research towards applications, as most of them are run by business men and stock brokers whose main aim is to just make money without any botheration for patients. Preferably the government should come with public banking attached to their tertiary referral hospitals to solve this problem.

Can you suggest a website which has comparison between umbilical cord stem cells and adult stem cells?

Preferably tabulated.

Umblical VS Adult stem cells - at http://www.wiseorb.com/articles-review- ... ges%2E.htm

Is it possible to make an identical twin of my baby from her umbilical cord blood stem cells?

I would never want to do this, but I'm wondering if it is possible.

Which is why people will keep their babies stem cells in the future...so that they can be used to create a new kidney or a new heart... pick ur part no more rejections for transplants...