The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, is something expected with fear, but also, sometimes with relief. When one had a condition that has been tormenting for his or her life for years, knowing the name of the condition helps, since at least this provides them with a chance to get proper treatment and soothe some of the symptoms.

Multiple Sclerosis’s diagnosis also brings with it a bad news, meaning the fact that scientists have yet to find a cure for it. So, for most patients this means that they can expect their symptoms to worsen, this even to a degree that’s going to leave them disabled. Doctors tell patients that the symptoms can be managed through medication, and with diet and exercise the progression of the disease can be slowed down. However, it can’t be stopped. Or can it?
Today, there are two therapies that shed a light of hope into the lives of multiple sclerosis patients. These are CCSVI or the “liberation therapy” and Stem Cell therapy. Both are quite controversial and have shown mixed results so far, but for the moment, they are the closest thing to a multiple sclerosis cure.

Developed by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni, the liberation therapy is founded on the theory that vein narrowing ( condition medically named CCSVI) causes MS related symptoms like fatigue, muscle spasm, vertigo and such, due to the fact that there is a blood and iron buildup in the brain.   Some countries like Poland, Mexico, Bulgaria and India immediately adopted this therapy, while others, like Canada, are still hesitant when it comes to it. Through a simple procedure, the veins are widened, and this helps soothe most of MS symptoms, allowing people to live an almost MS free life.  However, the procedure is not performed in Canada and the US which means that patients need to travel to countries that perform this procedure and pay out of their own pocket. The price is about $10,000.

Stem cell therapy is also seen as a possible cure for MS sufferers.  The problem in MS is the immune system. Basically, if there would be a way to stop it attacking myelin, then the disease would be cured. This is who immune-suppressors are used in the treatment of MS. However, this requires the person with MS to take these all their life, and the body becomes accustomed to them, and their efficiency drops when this happens.  This is where stem cell comes in.

Stem cells are cells that have the ability to renew themselves, and differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types. So, how can this be used in the treatment of MS and finding a cure?

Scientists devised a way through which they erase one’s immune system through chemotherapy. So basically, there’s nothing left to attack the myelin in one’s body. Scientists also found that taking stem cells from patients and inserting them into the body once the immune system is erased, leads to the development of a new immune system, a naïve immune system that doesn’t attack myelin anymore. Also, stem cells, once introduced in the body, renew the myelin and reverse the damage made by MS.

So, for the moment, the MS cure seems to be far away, but yet close. Scientists always work on finding cures for the disease and in the near future, it is very likely for a cure to be found.