The MS Association calls on the Ministry of Health and the National Health Care Institute to make stem cell therapy now possible for patients with multiple sclerosis. On Thursday, the three parties discussed this with each other. A small group of people with MS who are no longer able to take medication and become sicker quickly benefit from stem cell transplantation. This report MS Association and Algemeen Dagblad.
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With the so-called Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), the immune system is given a kind of restart. First, stem cells are isolated from the patient’s blood. Then he is administered drugs that kill the disrupted immune cells (chemotherapy and immunotherapy). Subsequently, the own stem cells are returned to the patient. These stem cells form the new immune system. The treatment is most effective in patients with high levels of inflammation in the central nervous system despite the use of DMTs (MS-inhibiting drugs).
International comparative research
Several European countries reimburse HSCT, but the Netherlands has not reached that stage yet. Partly because neurologists first want to see the results of an international study that clarifies for whom the stem cell therapy is effective and what the risks are for people who undergo the therapy.
The MS Association understands that neurologists want to wait for the results of the research, but “because we see that this treatment is extremely effective abroad, we think it is justified in anticipation of this to make the treatment possible for the limited group of patients through a temporary arrangement. where other treatments don’t work ”.
In the meantime, desperate patients go to Mexico, Russia or India, where they have to pay up to 100,000 euros for HSCT in a private clinic.
By: Nationale Zorggids
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