Riley's last day with the landscaping company is Friday.

Fort Wayne MS Patient Back from China
Sep 26, 2007 04:33 PM

Riley thinks the physical demands of his job caused his tremors to come back.

(Fort Wayne - WANE) In May, Mikey Riley, 20, traveled to China for a controversial stem cell treatment in hopes of stopping the progression of his multiple sclerosis (MS).

"I think what surprised me the most was the acupuncture," Riley said. "But the treatment itself was astonishing with all the people it was helping."

Riley got four injections of 20 million umbilical cord stem cells and a bone marrow transplant in the five-week treatment in China. The transplant is supposed to help his myelin re-grow and slow the progression of MS.

MS makes the body attack the central nervous system, and the protective tissue around nerves called myelin get scraped away and replaced by scars.

Riley said his transplant went well in China, but it's too early to tell if its working.

"I'm going on eight and a half months since I had a bad MS attack that landed me in the hospital," Riley said. "That the longest I've gone since I was diagnosed. Can I equate that to the stem cells? Maybe. Time will tell."

Riley hasn't experienced any new symptoms which is a good sign, but his tremors in his legs did come back. The went away while he was in China and for the first month back home.

But in July, Riley went back to work for a landscape company, and the physical work, may have brought the tremors back.

"My doctors told me physically tasking jobs make it hard especially for me because the stress on the body is such a big factor that with MS it's just too much," Riley said.

Then Monday Riley had a close call when he blacked out at the end of his shift.

"When I came to and realized what happened, it made me stop and think. I need to get a new job because I don't want to hurt myself or someone else. What if that happened on the mower," Riley said.

Friday is Riley's last day with the landscapers. He hopes with a different, less physically demanding job, his tremors will go away again.

Alternative Medicine: Traditional Chinese medicine for multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory, autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, generally striking during early adult years. Its most frequent symptoms include numbness, impaired vision, loss of balance, weakness, bladder dysfunction and psychological changes. While there is no cure for the disease, acupuncturists can offer significant help managing symptoms and side effects. In a 2002 survey of multiple sclerosis patients at the Rocky Mountain MS Center in Boulder, Colo., more than 50 percent of patients receiving acupuncture noted significant improvement in symptoms of pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue, muscle stiffness and numbness. Additionally, many noted improvement in walking problems, weakness and balance, while others saw positive changes in urinary and bowel problems.

Traditional Chinese medicine, a 5,000-year-old medical tradition, has no definitive diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Many classical texts refer to a syndrome known as a Wei (or atrophy) syndrome. There are multiple presentations of a Wei syndrome, and each can result from different factors. These may include any combination of improper diet, emotional stress, shock and possibly heredity.

Visits to a licensed acupuncturist for multiple sclerosis may include traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture (gentle electrical stimulation of meridian points) as well as dietary advice, Qi Gong and Chinese herbs. Treatment will be designed to help resolve symptoms as well as address underlying conditions that may cause symptoms. Traditional Chinese medicine is in no way a replacement for conventional therapies. The medical advice of a board-certified neurologist should be followed during any course of treatment.

Michael Spano, Bastyr University Center for Natural Health

Bastyr is a non-profit, private university offering graduate and undergraduate degrees, with a multidisciplinary curriculum in science-based natural medicine. The university's Seattle teaching clinic, Bastyr Center for Natural Health, is the Northwest's largest natural medicine clinic. Go to bastyr.edu or bastyrcenter.org.