Reported in the UK based newspaper, The Sun, today 17th Nov 2005. A 19 year old girl, Amanda Bryson is walking again,
after spending the last year in a wheelchair.
Amanda and her fiancé David White managed to raise £10,000 to finance a trip to Holland to receive the controversial stem cell treatment. This treatment is banned in the UK as not enough is known about it’s long-term effects. A spokesman for the MS Society has said "Research into stem cells and MS is still at an early stage".
Amanda received the treatment at a private hospital in Rotterdam and within minutes of the treatment she was able to get out of her wheelchair and walk around. She is now walking every day and doctors say she should make an 80% recovery. The stem cell therapy takes 4 hours to administer but the effects can be seen in minutes.
Earlier this year another MS patient, Jan Wilks, from Liverpool had the same treatment with the same results.
The Department of Health has warned patients not to travel abroad for this therapy as the long-term outcome is very uncertain.
Stem cells are taken from babies umbilical cords, and injecting them can help repair nerve damage in the spine. My understanding of stem cells is that they can grow into any type of tissue, so nerve repair is quite possible, but scientists know little of the control mechanisms that determine what type of tissue the cells will become. Hence the danger, the cells intended to repair damaged nerves could end up growing into something entirely different conjuring up pictures of mid 20th century horror movies.
In today’s newspaper (23 Jan 2006) was an article about a sixty year old gentleman, who has had Multiple Sclerosis for 30 years, who travelled to Brussels in Belgium for stem cell treatment. Scientists removed cells from his bone marrow and extracted regenerating cells for implant into his spinal cord. Mr Ian Wood reports noted improvement in his motor control but is wary about sounding too optimistic.
The latest news I have seen (15 Feb 2006) reports that Amanda has suffered a setback and is in her wheelchair again. This may not indicate a failing of the stem cell therapy, as she was suffering a great deal of stress caused by her alcoholic fiancé who was spending all of his wages and her disability allowance on drink. Whatever the cause, this is sad news.
The MSRC’s New Pathways magazine recently ran a Stem Cell Special article with an extensive Q&A section. There is also a good article on their web site. Advanced Cell Therapeutics (ACT) are a Swiss-based biotech company offering the latest treatment. The treatment cost is around 19,500 euros and ACT may be contacted at www.stem-cells.com. The company in Belgium is cells4health although from the web site they appear to be based in The Netherlands
