Stem Cell Therapy may lead to ALS Cure

           ARTICLE: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/767898

           BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics in Tel Aviv, Israel has conducted a clinical trial that shows that adult stem cell therapy may lead to the stabilization or even possibly to the cure of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).  Patients were transplanted with stem cells derived from their own bone marrow and then were treated with the NurOwn stem cell technology.   Though it is early in the study, BrainStorm’s NurOwn therapy is showing improvement in many patients across multiple areas.  Areas where improvement was shown include speech, muscle strength, and breathing. Chaim Lebovits, the President of BrainStrom, said that the early results of the trial show that the stem cells might not just stop the deterioration in these ALS patients, but that it might even cure ALS.  He says that the coming phases in the trial will show for sure, but the results so far reaffirm their belief that the drug has enormous potential and may even be successful with less severe indications such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.

            So far the treatment has been safe and BrainStorm is awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin ALS trials at Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

            I chose this article because I was intrigued by the possibility of stem cells used for treatment of Neurological diseases such as ALS, MS, and Parkinson’s.  I have a friend who is being tested for ALS, and the thought of using the body’s own stem cells to cure a disease that basically destroys the lives of 5,600 people who are diagnosed in the U.S. each year is a miraculous use of stem cell technology.  Though the trial is in the early stages, the results are an exciting development in the area of Biomedical Research.