Improve symptoms in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by diffuse motor neuron degeneration. The disorder leads to paralysis of the skeletal muscle and premature death, often by respiratory failure. About 20% of those with ALS may have mutations in copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD-1) that allow neuronal damage by oxidative stress.

Several patients with ALS have gone to Mexico for intravenous therapies with umbilical cord stem/progenitor cells (CD34+/CD133+). They reported initial improvement but required periodic stem cell treatments to maintain those improvements. ALS patients require a comprehensive program that includes detoxification, nutritional therapies as well as cord stem cells and perhaps genetic therapies. Treatment options now becoming available include a combination of neural progenitors and mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord and cord stem cells transfected with the SOD-1 gene (for those who have the SOD-1 mutation). Growth factors such as glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), Human Growth Hormone, or insulin growth factors may also be helpful in protecting motor neurons. For research on ALS, click here.