An Oxford professor who was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) six years ago aged 49 has revealed how a new form of stem cell treatment, that does not rely on foetal stem cells, halted the disease.
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst told The Times newspaper in December that his condition deteriorated quickly for the first two years. In 2019, he underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) – the implantation of the patient’s own stem cells.
As evangelical Dr Denis R. Alexander, Emeritus Director at The Faraday Institute, explained: ‘These then develop into a new set of immune cells that now function properly, so there are no more self-destructive attacks.’
aHSCT treatment is considered safe but it is expensive. Douglas-Fairhurst, who said his condition is no longer declining, borrowed the £80,000 costs from Magdalen College.
Dr Alexander commented: ‘Over the past few years there have been several reports of remarkable success in the treatment of MS. This debilitating condition arises from errors in immune cells that result in them attacking and damaging the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve cells.’
He added: ‘Christians should be thankful that cells from our own bodies can be used for our own healing. In fact this self-healing process is happening in our bodies all the time, but we are not generally aware of it, simply because it’s so successful.
‘The new stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis just makes more visible what is generally invisible. The only ethical issue involved arises from the fact that there is no money in the new therapy for pharmaceutical companies as no new drugs are involved, so further development of the therapy has to come from elsewhere. Self-healing is relatively cheap compared to many other types of therapy – another good reason to be thankful!’
The MS Society estimates more than 130,000 people are living with MS in the UK; and that almost 7,000 people are diagnosed every each year.
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