Stem cell transplants to be used in treating Crohn’s disease
“Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust have begun a clinical trial using stem cell transplants to grow new immune systems for patients with Crohn’s disease. A painful, chronic intestinal disease affecting 780,000 Americans, Crohn’s is intractably difficult to treat, often fought with inflammation-reducing drugs and even invasive surgical procedures to remove parts of the bowel. Shifting from a palliative approach, however, this clinical trial uses chemotherapy and hormone treatment to mobilize and harvest patients’ stem cells. Once additional chemotherapy wipes out a patient’s faulty immune system, reintroduced stem cells can then develop into new immune cells. Ultimately, researchers have evidence to believe that this newly populated immune system will no longer react adversely to a patient’s own gut or ward off drug compounds before they have a chance to work.”
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An immune system reset. Cool. I wonder if it would clear many of the other immune system maladies.