New MS Treatments

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative condition, or one that worsens with time, caused by damage and destruction to the central nervous system, most specifically the covering of nerves called myelin. Myelin acts much like insulation on wires, protecting the inner wire from injury or damage that may cause shorts or electrical failure in wiring systems. The myelin sheath covers nerve fibers in the brain, spinal cord and nerves that thread their way through the body. Damage caused by multiple sclerosis includes difficulties with mobility, pain and eventual decreased function throughout the body. New MS treatments may offer hope to those diagnosed with the disease.

Stem Cell Treatments

According to the Northwestern University School of Medicine, researchers are busy developing an adult stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis by harvesting the patient's own (autologous) stem cells from bone marrow to treat the disease. Injecting the person's own stem cells requires chemicals that kill immune or defensive cells in the body, then replacing those damaged cells with healthy cells (which are not programmed to attack the myelin) culled from bone marrow.

Leustatin

Leustatin, also known as cladribine, is not a new drug, and has been used in the medical field for two decades. However, the oral therapy drug has only recently been used in the hopes of providing effective treatment for MS. The drug, as of 2009 undergoing Phase III trials in Germany, is focusing on treatment of a rare form of MS called hairy cell leukemia, and has also been shown to decrease the relapse rates of individuals fighting MS.

GIFT15

Researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and the McGill University in Montreal are hopeful that a new drug called GIFT15 will be capable of sending MS into remission by limiting the body's immune responses. The drug uses the body's own cells to specifically limit immune system response by combining two proteins, interleukin-15 and GSM-CSF, together in a laboratory setting.