HSCT

Ive been looking into this. It reads like theres been a good success rate in clinics in Moscow, India, Israel and more. Its expensive, the cheapest is $40,000 USD but I must say Im tempted. Has anyone any opinions please? Steve x

Yes, it does have a good success rate for treating some types of cancer.
I seem to recall that the Society is funding research into using this treatment on MS patients.
Hence, for MS it is not yet proven.

Geoff (who is not tempted)

Maybe not proven but still a good success rate. There’s a facebook page with people that have had it done. Even my Neuro feels stem cell will be the way to go. You may have seen my post re the 2 years chemo neuro wants me to start in January? It seems to me that is only half of the job required. Why not take my stem cells, harvest them and put them back into my body as other countries do? Because our wonderful NHS say its not proven here, doesnt mean its not proven elsewhere. Steve (who is tempted)

If it could be done locally to me for £1000 or less, I’d be tempted to give it a try !

Dom

Cambridge are doing trials on this. So they must think there is merit in it. I have a lesion although ms is unlike so immune system involvement is unlikely… Clear lp etc. I was wondering if stem cells could help repair lesion and nerve damage done. For a while they thought ms or delayed radiation myelopathy but now possible damage due to pernicious anaemia. Anyway I have a lesion cause unknown. MOYNA xxx

Just a few more thoughts:

I believe that stemcell treatment will probably turn out to be the best one in the end. I do not believe that it will come in time to do me any good at all. So now you know a bit of where I am coming from.

Every time a new treatment is suggested for MS (and a few other conditions where there is no known cure) the fringes of the medical profession will fall over themselves to offer that treatment. This is taking advantage of the fact that the more academically inclined will report an initial finding so as to establish themselves as the discoverer. You can see this by following the history of CCSVI since Zamboni first reported it. Dig just a little deep and you can find practitioners all claiming that their technique is the best, fastest, needs no second treatment, etc. Research into CCSV is still ongoing, some people have had it done and rate it highly, some people have had it done and rate it as useless.

Whether a new treatment is worth anything is very much dependent on the individual. Shall we say £5000 to keep someone out of a wheelchair is a totally different cost if you are 30 and looking at an expectancy of 40 years as a wheelie, to the cost if you are on the high side of seventy and looking at five more years total if you are lucky. The numbers after the £ stay the same, but the calculation is different. If you are 45 (say) the calculation gets a whole lot more involved. Switch between RRMS and SPMS and it gets harder.

So, what I would spend on an unproven treatment is probably in the very low three figures; anyone else must make up their own mind, looking at their own future.

Geoff.