Stem Cells Put Woman's Rheumatoid Arthritis Into Remission

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Stem Cells Put Woman's Rheumatoid Arthritis Into Remission

By Carol Eustice

<http://arthritis.about.com/bio/Carol-Eustice-361.htm>, About.com Guide

September 4, 2004

The journal abstract

<http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/109581978/ABSTRACT>

is technical, but the news remarkable. Researchers from Northwestern

University in Chicago report in the August 2004 issue of /Arthritis &

Rheumatism/ that a 52 year old woman with rheumatoid arthritis

<http://arthritis.about.com/od/rheumatoidarthritis/> in 38 joints has

successfully been treated with stem cells from a sibling.

*The results:* the woman's morning stiffness disappeared before she was

released from the hospital; 9 months following transplantation of stem

cells the woman's rheumatoid nodules

<http://arthritis.about.com/od/nodules/> disappeared; one year after the

transplant the woman is said to be free of disease and not taking drugs

to suppress her immune system. Prior to transplantation the woman was

given several drugs to prevent graft-versus-host disease

<http://adam.about.net/encyclopedia/001309.htm> (rejection of the

transplanted cells) or serious infection. There was no evidence of

either complication. Read more about Stem Cell Research

<http://arthritis.about.com/od/stemcell/>.

Does anyone know where I can find a copy of the above study? I just had

stem cell in the Dominican Republic for Diabetes but I am noticing a big

reduction in the inflamation in my joints and especially my shoulders.

I went off the anti-inflamatory medicine this morning and I'm going to

see what happens.

H.