After studying a long-term report, the authors stated that with the help of stem cell transplants, patients with rapidly progressing multiple sclerosis may have some hope for improvement.

This treatment is known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and still lies in some major controversies. The procedure of this treatment involves removing the immune and other dead blood cells from the patient's body and then replacing them with new bone marrow stem cells. These new bone marrow stem cells need to be from the same patient.

According to Dr. Aaron Miller, who is the Chief Medical Officer for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and a Professor of neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, the idea of this treatment is to "reset the thermostat and start fresh". However, Miller was not part of this study and therefore he has some doubts regarding the procedure. He suspects that this treatment will become a feasible option for patients suffering from aggressive multiple sclerosis.

He said, "This is a very heroic form of therapy for multiple sclerosis [MS], which is unlikely, in my view, ever to have a major impact on the field. It's a substantially risky therapy -- the mortality rates have been in the 2-3 percent range . . . and it's hugely expensive".