A MAN who spent £10,000 on experimental treatments in failed attempts to 'cure' himself of multiple sclerosis has been given the green light to take part in a radical treatment in the UK.
Barry McArthur, 33, has hope in his heart at last, despite being trapped in a wheelchair by the condition.
Five years ago, the young man from Paisley travelled to an MS clinic in Katowice, Poland, for vein irrigation treatment alongside radio star Tim Stevens and dozens of other Scots hopefuls.
Although the procedure failed, Mr McArthur has been given new hope as he is due to begin the first process in undertaking ground-breaking stem cell treatment in London, backed by the NHS.
“I’ve been researching possible cures for stem cell treatments for MS in recent years and this treatment looks to be getting great results,” the former quantity surveyor said.
In May this year, Mr McArthur spoke with his neurologist Colin O’Leary about stem cell treatment. However, the father of three young sons was offered no hope.
He said; “But he wished me all the best in my attempts to find an improvement and I began to look at my options. I looked at stem cell clinics around the world after weighing things up decided to go to Mexico, which my brother-in-law, Richard McFadyen, offered to fund.”
However, Mr McArthur’s latest conversation with his neurologist saw his life plans take off in a new direction.
“We had a chat, and he decided he would now put me up for having stem cell treatment in London. Next month I’ll attend the Charing Cross hospital where I’ll have my first examination, to make sure my body can cope.”
MS is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system attacks its own nerve cells, which causes problems with muscle movement, balance and vision.
The new stem cell treatment involves using high doses of chemotherapy to knock out the existing faulty cells of the immune system, before rebuilding it using clean stem cells taken from the patient’s own blood.
The process has been describe as “like giving the immune system the chance to reboot.”
Mr McArthur said he had been talking to people on social media from around the world about their great results with stem cell treatments.
“I’ve learned that it can take a couple of years from having the treatment to getting a major improvement but that there is gradual, but very noticeable progress.”
The stem cell treatments however won’t work, at this stage at least, for those who have had the disease for more than ten years, such Tim Stevens. The aggressive chemotherapy can take its toll.
The radio presenter accepts this form of stem cell treatment will not work for him. “Yet, I’m optimistic about the overall progress with stem cell science and I’m feeling good at the moment," he said. "I've got to hope the treatment develops to cope with those who have progressive MS. Meantime, I’m delighted for Barry and his wife Katy. It’s amazing he’ll have the chance to recover.”
Meanwhile, Mr McArthur has his bag packed and ready for the London trip.
“Up until Christmas I was doing voluntary work, now I can’t do anything but wait, and hope,” he says. “But I’m really excited about the future, about life getting so much better for Katy and my boys.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here