Can Stem Cells Cure Multiple Sclerosis ?

Currently there is NO cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Pharmaceutical drug therapies are available to slow down the progression and to lessen symptoms but are incredibly expensive at $62000 per year. Stem cell therapies by comparison are $10000 to $25000 per year and have no known side-effects. MSCs (mesenchymal stem cells) are adult stem cells found in several places in the body, including the bone marrow, skin and fat tissue. They produce cells which help other stem cells function properly. NSCs (neural stem cells) are responsible for repairing nerve-insulating myelin in the brain. Since MS is characterized by the breakdown of myelin and nerve fibers, it follows that stem cell therapy could be a viable alternative to drug treatments of the disease.

This article explores what MS is, how it is currently treated and explains why stem cell therapy could help those suffering from the disease.

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. MS is characterized by the immune system attacking the fatty substance which surrounds and protects the myelin sheath and healthy nerve fibers  in the brain and spinal cord. This attack causes inflammation, which destroys nerve cell processes and myelin.

Multiple Sclerosis affects different people in different ways. Symptoms can be very severe, affecting one's ability to walk and talk. Some of the common symptoms are frequent and urgent need to urinate, depression, dizziness or vertigo, fatigue, impaired coordination (aka Ataxia), pain, numbness, muscle spasms, muscle stiffness, temperature sensitivity, tremors, problems with short term memory, trouble concentrating, weakness and eye problems such as double vision, pain and optic nerve damage.

Most people with MS that have intermittent periods of apparent remission, about 80% of cases, eventually get secondary progressive MS. Symptoms of MS steadily get worse. The shift typically begins 15 to 20 years after someone is first diagnosed with MS.

What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?

The cause of Multiple Sclerosis is still unknown, other than that is an autoimmune malfunction. As a general rule, it afflicts people between the ages of 20-40 years old and may contain a genetic component. Women are victims of the relapsing-remitting type of MS twice as often as men but the progressive type of MS is more evenly distributed between the sexes. Researchers have a long-standing interest in studying how the nervous system and the immune system interact, a process that goes sideways in multiple sclerosis. Determining, for example, how white blood cells manage to cross the blood brain barrier may eventually lead to new treatments that inhibit this process. Risk factors for getting MS appear to be genetics, smoking, vitamin D deficiency and a history of migraine headaches. Infections may also trigger the sudden development of MS.

How is Multiple Sclerosis Treated Medically Currently?

MS is currently treated by injectable and oral pharmaceutical drugs which manage symptoms but do not offer a cure to the disease. 

Most recently, the FDA approved drugs are Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus), Fingolimod (Gilenya), Cladribine (Mavenclad), Siponimod (Mayzent), Diroximel fumarate (Vumerity), Ozanimod (Zeposia) and Ponesimod (Ponvory). 

In March 2018, daclizumab (Zinbryta) was withdrawn from the market due to concerns of side effects such as brain swelling.

These MS drugs are extremely expensive, unless you have 100% medical prescription insurance. Ocrevus,for example, currently costs nearly $70000 per year. Of the newest drugs approved by the FDA, the cheapest is $45000 per year. Zinbryta cost nearly $90000 per year before it was withdrawn from the market. 

The following chart shows the rising costs of MS drugs over the past 2 decades.

Clinical Trials for Stem Cell Therapy in MS

Drug therapy is currently much easier to obtain than stem cell therapy in the United States. MS sufferers can apply to clinical trials that are testing stem cell therapy for the disease but drugs are the first approach being taken. 

In clinical trials, stem cells are being used in combination with chemotherapy in the US in a procedure called a Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant or HSCT

HSCs (haematopoietic stem cells) are adult stem cells that are found in bone marrow and blood. HSCs are capable of producing all of the cells that make up the blood and the immune system.

HSCT (Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation) attempts to “reboot” the immune system, which is responsible for damaging the brain and spinal cord in MS. Using chemotherapy, the patient's immune system is wiped out. The patient's own stem cells are harvested from their bone marrow, multiplied and reintroduced after the chemotherapy. The patient then hopefully develops a new healthier immune system that does not attack its own protective myelin. 

There is growing evidence that autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT, commonly known as bone marrow transplants) can be highly effective for people with relapsing MS who meet specific characteristics.

Could Stem Cell Therapy provide a more effective and less expensive alternative to MS drugs?

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system (CNS). MS symptoms are the direct result of the myelin sheath being destroyed. Oligodendrocytes produce myelin, an insulating sheath required for conduction of electrical impulses along axons. 

Oligodendrocyte loss results in demyelination, which leads to impaired neurological function in a broad array of diseases ranging from pediatric leukodystrophies and cerebral palsy, to multiple sclerosis.

It follows then,  that replacing lost oligodendrocytes, whether by transplanting oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) or by mobilizing the patient's own stem cells, holds great promise as a therapeutic strategy for the disease of MS and other autoimmune diseases.

Methods for producing OPCs and oligodendrocytes from embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, as well as directly from somatic cells have been developed. 

However, embryonic stem cells are not available due to “ethical” concerns and in the United States it is difficult to obtain multipotent stem cells from umbilical cords. Since umbilical cords are a by-product of births brought to term, this makes no sense. 

It makes no sense to restrict access to stem cell therapy unless you consider that big pharmaceutical companies are making enormous profits on the drugs they sell for the same conditions that stem cells could treat. Stem cell therapy would already be WIDELY  accepted and available if pharmaceutical companies could patent them. 

Can Sufferers of MS find Stem Cell Therapy Outside of the US?

Yes. Stem Cell Therapies using multipotent mesenchymal cells are available by reputable clinics in Costa Rica, Panama, The Cayman Islands and Mexico. 

Stem cell therapy is not covered by health insurance and therefore the relative costs of the procedures out of the US is a big consideration for people who need stem cells.

In the US stem cell therapy is very limited by the FDA, the procedures cover a very narrow list of autoimmune, degenerative diseases and muscular injuries, and since it’s rigorously limited there are restrictions that prevent the manipulation of stem cells making it impossible to improve the therapy to achieve better results.

In Mexico, stem cell therapy is approved and providers that are regulated work under high medical standards and it's legal to manipulate stem cells to customize a treatment for an individual patient's needs.

The Cost of Stem Cells in Mexico

Compared to Costa Rica, Panama, Grand Cayman Islands and Colombia, prices in Mexico for stem cell therapies are drastically lower. Procedures in Mexico range from $1500 to $3100 for knee arthritis while the same thing in the other countries ranges from $5000 to $10000. Treatment programs for multiple sclerosis in Mexico go between $7000-$8500 and in the other countries $20000 to $30000.

Since flying to another country will also involve the cost of airline tickets, accommodations and food, Mexico is also the more economical choice for your stem cell “vacation”. People living at the border can drive to their clinic. People flying will find tickets at least 50% cheaper to Mexico than Panama or Grand Caymans.

In conclusion, stem cell therapies are effective and available to those with money to spend on their health and Mexico is the most affordable of those therapies.