New treatment (immune system reboot) for Multiple Sclerosis

Immune system reboot got patients having multiple sclerosis (MS) to walk again.

A new treatment for MS developed as a part of clinical trial at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital has enabled some patients to walk again by ‘rebooting’ their immune systems.

The clinical trial involved 20 patients, and the researchers used stem cells to carry out a bone marrow transplant.

The method known as an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) works by using chemotherapy to destroy the area of the immune system which causes MS.

Professor Basil Sharrack of the Royal Hallamshire described the treatment as a ‘major achievement’. MS is a neurological disease that is generally diagnosed when a person is in the 20s or 30s. UK has about 100,000 people affected by MS.

The trial has been so effective for some patients that they have been able to walk once again.

Holly Drewry, a clinical trial patient was diagnosed with MS aged 21, but her condition worsened after she gave birth to her daughter Isla and had to started using a wheel chair. ‘Within a couple of months I got worse and worse. I couldn’t dress or wash myself; I didn’t even have the strength to carry my daughter,’ she told the BBC.

Drewry was able to walk out of the hospital after the treatment. There is no evidence of the active disease in her scans. She said, ‘It’s been a miracle. I got my life and my independence back and the future is bright again in terms of being a mum and doing everything with Isla.’

Professor John Snowden at Royal Hallamshire Hospital said the patient’s immune systems were ‘reset or rebooted’ back to a time point before it caused MS. ‘It’s clear we have made a big impact on patients’ lives, which is gratifying,’ said Professor Snowden.