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Clinical Trials

A list of multiple sclerosis clinical trials provided by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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Bone Marrow Research

Stanford researchers have had some success with performing bone marrow transplants in mice with a disease similar to multiple sclerosis. While this is probably years away from even being tested in humans, it's an exciting area of research.

A bone marrow transplant infuses stem cells into the body which form new blood and immune cells. In MS, some of the immune cells have become corrupt. They mistakenly attack the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve cells, resulting in the variety of MS symptoms. The theory is that by removing those, and then replacing them with fresh ones, the MS mechanism can be halted.

Even if a treatment such as this works, it still leaves the other pesky problem of actually reversing nerve damage. Perhaps that can be done with stem cells as well - time will tell.

In any case, the more avenues we pursue with research, the better our odds of finding effective treatments.


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