Is it true that stem cells will be used to fight ALS (SLA) syndrome?

Answer

ALS is a relatively rare but very serious neurological disease, in which the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord are damaged. The prognosis for ALS patients is usually dramatic – the ALS League, for example, has set up an ultra-fast loaner service for wheelchairs and other aid equipment, because aid requests through the traditional route sometimes arrive too late. Although there are also “survivors”, such as Stephen Hawking, who manage to build a quality life for decades despite the limitations that the disease imposes on them.

A treatment with stem cells is not yet for tomorrow, but the intention is to use stem cells to replace the damaged nerve cells. The damaged cells themselves cannot be repaired. But they evolved from stem cells, and the idea of ​​stem cell therapy is precisely to replace damaged cells with new ones.

(courtesy of Prof. Catherine Verfaillie)