The professionals at Stem Cell Miami know that looking into an ALS stem cell treatment can be a nerve-wracking decision. ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerves and brain. Currently, there is no cure for this disease, but thanks to regenerative medicine like stem cell treatments there may be a cure in the future. If you or someone you love is suffering from ALS, it is important to gather all of the information possible about different treatments that are available before making any decisions. Keep reading to learn more about this new innovative treatment and why it may be the perfect option for you.
Understanding ALS Stem Cell Treatment
When a patient suffers from the neurodegenerative disease ALS, their motor neurons are hyperexcitable and overactive. This causes the neurons to become burnt out at a faster rate than a person without the condition. This is why many doctors and researchers have spent countless hours trying to find a treatment that could address the overactive neurons, and there may be a group that is close. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital along with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have begun a clinical trial with people that have ALS where they are given the innovative drug retigabine, which has shown to improve the characteristics of motor neurons that are impacted by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Also, the drug has also been effective in lowering the excitability of the motor neurons in patients with ALS. This is a new treatment where doctors took stem cells from a patient and brought them into the lab to help identify a potential treatment option.
This treatment development started over a decade ago when researchers came up with a better way to study ALS in the lab. This disorder is complex and can be caused by over a hundred different mutations in many different genes. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to study ALS in both humans and animals. However, it has become clear through extensive research that all of the mutations in the genes results in hyperactive or overexcited neurons. Once this information was uncovered the goal became to find a drug that reduces the excitability in the motor neurons. Since the drug that was developed, retigabine, had been shown to be safe in the lab for people the doctors and researchers were able to skip the animal testing phase that takes an extensive amount of time and bring the drug from the lab straight to a clinical trial. Patients with ALS were treated in the trail, and the results were positive. Retigabine was shown to lower the excitability in their motor neurons successfully. Another benefit of this trial was the participants agreed to donate their stem cells so further research could be done to improve this regenerative medicine treatment.
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Stem Cell Miami is a regenerative medicine specialist that is devoted to the well-being of each one of our patients. We specialize in staying on top of the most innovative medicine including ALS stem cell treatment. If you are in the Miami area call or visit us today to find out how we can help you!