This is about chronic inflammation of the central nervous system. The disease is difficult to diagnose, especially in the early stages, and progresses differently for each affected person over the years. The diverse symptoms and the relapsing course make not only the diagnosis but also the treatment significantly more difficult. New therapy methods that promise to slow down the disease in its early stages give hope to patients with multiple sclerosis.
Multiple Sclerosis: Treatment begins immediately after diagnosis
This is onecomplicated disease. Depending on the stage the patient is in, it must be treated differently. In the first stage the nerves become inflamed, in the second the immune system begins to react. In the final stage, the nerve cells begin to die out.
In the beginning the disease progresses in relapses, then it can be well controlled with medication even over decades. If the affected person is diagnosed in the later, insidious phase, the course of the disease can hardly be influenced.
New studies show that the sooner a patient is treated after symptoms first appear, the more effective the therapy is. In the test subjects who started doing this before the first attack, the onset of the disease was delayed for a long time. The reason is very simple: starting therapy promptly prevents the nerve cells from dying out and the nervous system from being permanently damaged.
Two alternative treatment methods offer hope
The treatment methods offered to patients with multiple sclerosis are very diverse. A combination of medication and exercise proves to be sufficient to bring the disease under control for most sufferers. Two new methods promise to stop the disease even in patients in the insidious phase.
Stem cell therapy in combination with chemotherapy should be able to stop the disease for many years. However, the treatment involves major risks, especially because patients are particularly susceptible to infections and viruses after chemotherapy. Around 13% of test subjects who underwent this alternative therapy died from side effects.
A research group at the University Hospital in Heidelberg hopes to soon be able to offer patients a gentle alternative. Scientists are currently working on a treatment method that can improve the survival of nerve cells. Not only can new damage be prevented, but existing damage to the central nervous system can also be repaired.
About the study forStem cell therapy and chemotherapy
