MS Researcher: Managing unrealistic expectations in relation to HSCT

[ActiveMSers]

Respected UK researcher Gavin Giovannoni had this to say about HSCT. Go to the post's link to read it in full and to see additional documents he references. He's spot on right IMO. I discuss many of the same things in my interview with Shift.ms, which will post soon. - D

#ClinicSpeak: managing unrealistic expectations in relation to HSCT

We need a national debate about the use of HSCT to treat MS and we need to educate MSers about what to expect. #ClinicSpeak

I received an email from a colleague this week that stated:

"I saw a patient last week that I thought might be worth discussing on the blog. The patient had a self-funded AHSCT in Russia last year after doing badly on an injectable. She went into the transplant with the expectation she would be cured. A year after the transplant she has now developed a spinal cord relapse confirmed on MRI. To complicate matters her lymphocyte count is still around 0.8x10^9/L.*She was absolutely devastated when I gave her the MRI results that the HSCT had not worked. It was worse for her than receiving the initial diagnosis of MS. ...

I get very upset when I hear stories such the one above. AHSCT is not a cure and a significant number of pwMS will relapse after having HSCT.

FULL POST: http://multiple-sclerosis-research.b...is+Research%29

[ActiveMSers]

Needless to say, if you read the comments, folks were not happy with the researchers' thoughts. It's hard to have a sane, balanced conversation around stem cells.