Stem Cell Treatment Eliminates Lupus

June 5 - KGO -- We've all heard a lot about the promise of stem cells in medicine. Now researchers say they have taken a huge step forward, using a type of these cells to treat a devastating disease. Surprisingly, the cells are taken directly from the patient.

Edjuana can once again enjoy shopping after beating lupus. She battled the disease for more than a decade.

Edjuana Ross, lupus patient: "Extreme joint pain, and every single day, sick and tired."

Lupus attacked her immune system and scarred her face. It damaged her heart and caused three strokes.

The treatment was almost as hard as the disease. Cortisone caused her to gain 100 pounds.

Edjuana Ross, lupus patient: "It took a lot for me just to get out of bed."

Edjuana's doctor, Richard Burt, recommended an adult stem-cell transplant. The goal was to fix her immune system.

Richard Burt, MD, immunotherapist: "What we're doing is rebooting the computer. So the computer's gone on the blitz. And we've rebooted it, and now it's working."

First, patients have blood removed to harvest the stem cells. Next, chemotherapy destroys the existing, broken immune system. Patients are then given stem cells to build a new immune system.

Richard Burt, MD, immunotherapist: "The patients we've treated, many of them have their lives back."

In Dr. Burt's study, about half of patients who have the procedure are now lupus-free. Edjuana is one of them.

Edjuana Ross, lupus patient: "It changed my life and it made my life better, and it made me appreciate a lot of other things."

Slimmed down and feeling better, Edjuana is now looking forward to her future -- one free of lupus.

The treatment is now being tested in individuals with other diseases, like MS and diabetes. However, there are risks, including possible blood transfusions, infection, nausea, and an effect on fertility. So it should be weighed very carefully.

This was a small study of only 50 patients. Now the goal is to expand the research to more patients and other diseases.

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