Nearly 400,000 in UK are affected by Multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that hinders movement and coordination and causes muscle weakness, cognitive impairment, slurred speech and vision problems. Till date, there is no known cure for the disease.

Recent study has shown that bone marrow stem cells could stabilize and in some cases reversed early-phase multiple sclerosis.

Research team led by Richard Burt of Northwestern University in Chicago used adult stem cells to treat 21 patients suffering from early onset multiple sclerosis. This lead to an improvement in the condition of 17 patients, with 16 patients showing no relapse in their condition three years after receiving the treatment.

Richard Burt said: "We focus on destroying only the immune component of the bone marrow and then regenerate the immune component, which makes the procedure much safer and less toxic than traditional chemotherapy for cancer."

Researchers said that although the treatment did improve patients suffering from the early stages of the disease, the treatment has no effect on patients who have late-stage MS.