October 3, 2015
LIA HARRIS The Sunday Telegraph
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/stem-cell-trial-gave-mum-new-life/story-fnii5s3y-1227555479105
LESS than two years ago, Sydney mother Lucie Clark was blind in one eye, could barely walk without help and was in constant pain.
Her condition had deteriorated so rapidly doctors said her multiple sclerosis would confine her permanently to a wheelchair within months, rendering her unable to care for her two young children.
But after receiving a groundbreaking stem cell transplant at St Vincent’s Hospital one year ago, Ms Clark now lives a completely normal life.
“Within a couple of days my eye sight came back, I could walk again, I can drive, I do outdoor training four times a week and can take care of my kids,” she said.
Ms Clark is among a small number of patients with auto immune diseases deemed eligible for the hospital’s trial.
As well as multiple sclerosis, the trial, the first of its kind in Australia, will *investi-gate other auto *immune diseases that have not responded to conventional treatments, including scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis and Crohn’s and Behcet’s diseases.
ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
— A disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged, disrupting the ability of parts of the nervous system.
— Symptoms include physical, mental and sometimes psychiatric problems.
— Some forms occur in isolated attacks and others build up over time.
— There is no known cure, but treatments can improve function and prevent new symptoms.
— Life expectancy is about five to 10 years lower than an average unaffected person.
The revolutionary treatment involves stimulating the patient’s bone marrow into *releasing large numbers of stems cells which are harves-ted from the patient’s blood.
The harvested cells are then stored outside the body in a freezer for about 10 days while the patient undergoes rigorous chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy depending on the condition. The patient then receives an infusion of their own stem cells.
This enables the patient’s body to start creating a new blood and immune system about two weeks later.
Ms Clark said she and partner Josh were “absolutely devastated” when she was diagnosed with MS in 2004, on the very same day she *realised she was pregnant with her first child.
With miraculous and life-changing results for dozens of patients, many Australians deemed ineligible for the Sydney stem cell trial have been travelling to Russia to undergo the procedure.
However, clinicians at St Vincent’s Hospital are hopeful the program will be fully *funded by the NSW government by next year and allow the hospital to become a state-of-the-art auto immune treatment centre.
Ms Clark, who has been chosen as the keynote speaker at St Vincent’s Hospital’s *annual Life Ball fundraiser on Friday, October 16, said she hoped the program would be extended to help hundreds of other MS sufferers.
LIA HARRIS The Sunday Telegraph
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/stem-cell-trial-gave-mum-new-life/story-fnii5s3y-1227555479105
LESS than two years ago, Sydney mother Lucie Clark was blind in one eye, could barely walk without help and was in constant pain.
Her condition had deteriorated so rapidly doctors said her multiple sclerosis would confine her permanently to a wheelchair within months, rendering her unable to care for her two young children.
But after receiving a groundbreaking stem cell transplant at St Vincent’s Hospital one year ago, Ms Clark now lives a completely normal life.
“Within a couple of days my eye sight came back, I could walk again, I can drive, I do outdoor training four times a week and can take care of my kids,” she said.
Ms Clark is among a small number of patients with auto immune diseases deemed eligible for the hospital’s trial.
As well as multiple sclerosis, the trial, the first of its kind in Australia, will *investi-gate other auto *immune diseases that have not responded to conventional treatments, including scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis and Crohn’s and Behcet’s diseases.
ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
— A disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged, disrupting the ability of parts of the nervous system.
— Symptoms include physical, mental and sometimes psychiatric problems.
— Some forms occur in isolated attacks and others build up over time.
— There is no known cure, but treatments can improve function and prevent new symptoms.
— Life expectancy is about five to 10 years lower than an average unaffected person.
The revolutionary treatment involves stimulating the patient’s bone marrow into *releasing large numbers of stems cells which are harves-ted from the patient’s blood.
The harvested cells are then stored outside the body in a freezer for about 10 days while the patient undergoes rigorous chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy depending on the condition. The patient then receives an infusion of their own stem cells.
This enables the patient’s body to start creating a new blood and immune system about two weeks later.
Ms Clark said she and partner Josh were “absolutely devastated” when she was diagnosed with MS in 2004, on the very same day she *realised she was pregnant with her first child.
With miraculous and life-changing results for dozens of patients, many Australians deemed ineligible for the Sydney stem cell trial have been travelling to Russia to undergo the procedure.
However, clinicians at St Vincent’s Hospital are hopeful the program will be fully *funded by the NSW government by next year and allow the hospital to become a state-of-the-art auto immune treatment centre.
Ms Clark, who has been chosen as the keynote speaker at St Vincent’s Hospital’s *annual Life Ball fundraiser on Friday, October 16, said she hoped the program would be extended to help hundreds of other MS sufferers.