SKIN DEEP: A POSSIBLE MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH?

Written By Samantha Dym, Contributing Author.

They say beauty is only skin deep… but when it comes to science… your skin may actually be the key to helping those who suffer from multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and Stanford University, who recently conducted a study using mouse cells, say they are now able to adapt skin cells into brain cells. The next step is to conduct a new study using human cells… and if researchers are successful… this could have major benefits to those with a variety of myelin disorders, which can damage nerve signal transmission to the brain and spinal cord leading to cognitive and motor problems. If the neuron does not have myelin to insulate it, the signals to other parts of the body through nerve cell axons lose their pressure and do not go as far as they are supposed to.

Typical myelin disorder symptoms include:

• Blurriness in the central visual field that affects only one eye (may be accompanied by pain upon eye movement)
• Double vision
• Loss of vision/hearing
• Odd sensation in legs, arms, chest, or face, such as tingling or numbness (neuropathy)
• Weakness of arms or legs
• Cognitive disruption (including speech impairment and memory loss)
• Heat sensitivity
• Loss of dexterity
• Balance disorder
• Difficulty controlling bowel movements or urination
• Fatigue

This latest study can be found in the journal, Nature Biotechnology. Researchers will now attempt to populate human cells in a laboratory. If it is proven that skin cells can actually help people with these disorders… it would be a medical breakthrough and a blessing to those who are affected by these diseases.