Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also called motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. It’s also associated with the production of inflammatory mediators by the microglia cells.
Approximately 20,000 Americans live with ALS, and an estimated 5,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. The progressive destruction of motor neurons leads to malfunction of neuromuscular connections and to muscle paralysis.
Since there is currently no long-term effective treatment for this condition, any improvement in delaying further degeneration or restoring neurological function would be a major step forward. This makes it a good target for stem cell therapy.
Research studies include stimulating endogenous neural stem cells located in small numbers in “niches” and reservoirs in the nervous system, which results in decreasing the microglia inflammatory process with compounds that have neuroprotective properties.
The use of stem cells derived from the umbilical cord blood is a new development. Researchers are now able to expand the number of umbilical cord blood stem cells and grow them in a culture with specific growth factors. As a result, cells differentiate into specific cell lines including precursors of selective neural cells populations.
Despite the early stage of stem cell research for ALS, studies performed in animal models suggest that if “healthy stem cells could get to the spinal cord of ALS patients their survival might be extended”. Recent trials have shown promising results when stem cells are implanted into the spinal canal.
Cellulogix now offers cell therapies for ALS patients that include both umbilical cord blood stem cell treatment and/ or stem cell aphaeresis with the use of stem cells collected from the patient’s peripheral blood.
Cell therapy is combined with a comprehensive holistic approach. The entire treatment takes five days to complete and includes lifestyle and diet recommendations, personalized natural supplements, a prescription for neuron support, and light physical therapy.
Post-treatment, patients are asked to submit regular neurological examinations; MRI, PET scan of the brain, and other laboratory tests, in order to monitor their progress.