Study says stem cells can repair damage of MS

Raising hopes of a treatment for multiple sclerosis, researchers have found that stem cells injected into mice can repair damage and sharply reduce symptoms from an experimental form of MS.

Seven of 26 mice recovered completely from hind-leg paralysis and others showed substantial improvement after the stem cells were injected into their spinal cords or blood.

The study's authors, from the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, say they now plan to try the procedure on monkeys using human stem cells, but caution that a treatment for human patients, if possible, is years away.

Multiple sclerosis occurs because the body mistakenly attacks the fatty substance that surrounds nerve fibers, interfering with signals sent by the brain. Symptoms can include slurred speech, numbness, blurred vision and muscle weakness or paralysis.

About 400,000 Americans, mostly women, have MS, and most are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, according the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Current therapies help slow the disease by quieting the immune system attack on nerves, but no cure is known.

"This opens new hope for patients, but the way is very long and very hard," Martino said. "We have seen the phenomenon, but now we have to dissect why we have seen this phenomenon and take all the steps to understand that."