"I would do it again" – News: Medicine & Psychology

We meet Andrea Müller (38 years old) in physiotherapy. Again and again, she climbs a stepper: the left leg forward, the right leg. As if she had to climb a staircase. "Now let go of your hands and keep your balance," said the therapist next to her. "All right, now you can sit down." A smile floats on the face of Andrea Müller.

A year ago, the Swiss patient was still in a Moscow hospital for a stem cell transplant. One last desperate attempt to stop his rapid progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). In this disease, the immune system falsely attacks the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord, leading to neurological deficits: visual and emotional disorders, muscle cramps to paralysis. Since 2011, Andrea Müller has primary progressive MS, a particularly severe form of neuropathy. In a few years, his condition worsened rapidly. Finally, she could walk only 100 meters, most often she had to use the wheelchair. She had already abandoned her profession as a painter. Heavy fatigue, a common symptom of MS, also bothered her, she often fell asleep in the middle of the day. The most worried Andrea Müller, who lives with her husband and two children (9 and 11 years old) in the Aarau region, but the future of their family, when the mother can do less and less.

Immune System Rebuilt

No wonder, she was looking for all the straws that promised to be improved. On the Internet, she discovered the "autologous stem cell transplant". This method, which is particularly well-known in the treatment of cancer, works with a radical approach: with chemotherapy, the immune system of MS patients is completely destroyed and then reconstructed with previously extracted body stem cells. The new immune system then usually attacks the nerves more. MS is stopped, patients no longer need to take medication.

The problem: stem cell transplantation has not been approved for MS in Switzerland. And that, even though it has been used successfully for many years in various other countries – such as Italy, Sweden, Poland or even Russia. Several studies abroad have also shown that stem cell therapy in MS is more effective than the best drugs. Among many Swiss neurologists, such as the famous Ludwig Kappos of Basel, the process is still controversial. The validity of the studies is criticized, for example. In addition, thanks to the new drugs, MS is now easy to treat, without the patient having to undergo such a radical and risky therapy. In rare cases, stem cell transplantation could even lead to death.

Some things have even improved: they can stay longer, have more power and be less tired.

It is also true that despite the best drugs, some medications usually improve young patients even today with serious illness. Invalidity, bed rest and premature death are in danger. The primary progressive MS, in which Andrea Müller suffers, also takes a difficult course. Until the end of last year, there were no drugs against this form. And the recently available drug, ocrelizumab, an antibody, can slow the progression of the disease only moderately, according to Bern neurologist Andrew Chan.

Successful fundraising campaign

Andrea Müller is so much safer today that she did the right thing. Before she could travel to Russia, however, she had to collect the money needed for treatment. Because therapy in this country was not yet approved, it had to bear the cost of about 50,000 US dollars. No cardboard handle for a young family like the Müllers.

Thanks to a mass action on the Internet (crowdfunding), relayed by various media, but it worked without problem. Within three months, the money was together. More than 500 donors have not left the fate of Andrea Müller's illness sick. "The fact that so many people gave me this opportunity was, of course, a great demonstration," she said gratefully today. It has also helped endure the trials of chemotherapy and transplantation. The treatment of a month in distant Moscow was a real "energizing cure". But above all, there are the beautiful moments: human care and personal contact with the doctor Denis Fedorenko. The Russian hematologist specializes in stem cell transplants and treats each week up to five MS patients around the world.

"Stay on the lookout"

"Raise your arms!", He repeats in the therapy room. "And shoulders encircle." The physiotherapist gently supports his patient. She moves the small dumbbells with obvious pride. Andrea Müller goes to physiotherapy twice a week and regularly to yoga. "You have to go on and keep up," she said militarily.

She knew that the damage that MS has already done to her nervous system can not be reversed even with stem cell transplantation. But she is convinced that the disease has stopped since treatment. This also showed a magnetic resonance tomography of the brain and spinal cord, which was later made in Switzerland. Yes, some skills have even improved: she can stay longer, has more strength, is less tired.

"I would do it again," says Andrea Müller. "The only pity is that I did not know this treatment before."

(Tages-Anzeiger)

Created: 01.07.2018, 17:47