Are Stem Cells the Great Hope for Curing ALS?
One of the most exciting areas of research into ALS is stem cell therapy. Stem cells, which are immature cells that can differentiate into specialized adult cells, could represent the next great advance for ALS therapy. Because of federal restrictions on stem cell therapy and the difficulty of designing studies, very few studies have been conducted so far on the treatment of ALS with stem cells. The ones that have been conducted, however, are encouraging, and early animal results show great promise. Researchers have found the following: • Stem cells delayed motor neuron degeneration in mouse models of ALS (Salini V et al 2004). • Bone-marrow-derived stem cells injected into human ALS patients were safe (Silani V et al 2004). Even as researchers push forward with a promising study of stem cells in ALS, there is an understanding that antioxidant therapy will remain an important part of ALS therapy (Silani V et al 2004).
