A new mouse study has shown that blood from young mice helps old mice to heal damage caused by MS.
MS causes myelin, which insulates nerve cells electrically, to become damaged. Stem cells can produce myelin but they lose efficiency in older patients.
Researchers in the UK have found a way to reverse this age-related efficiency loss. By linking the bloodstreams of young mice to old mice with myelin damage, the older stem cells were reactivated and boosted myelin production.
White blood cells from the young mice called macrophages were found at myelin damage sites in the old mice. These cells engulf and destroy pathogens and debris, including destroyed myelin.
Amy Wagers, from Harvard University says, “We know this debris inhibits regeneration, so clearing it up is important.”