Monday, October 10, 2011
U of M researchers find possible cure for rare skin disease
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are making great strides in finding a cure for a rare skin disease. Kyle Hicks, a 20 year old Kansas native, suffers with a rare skin disease called epidermolysis bullosa, also known as EB. He has been in and out of hospitals all his life battling this painful and rare disease. EB prevents skin from staying attached to the body. Kyle was doing research on different treatments and stumbled across Dr. John Wagner. Dr. Wagner has been researching EB the affects of bone marrow and it's ability to help patients with the rare disease. Kyle reached out to Dr. Wagner for help.
"It's the very collagen - think of it as the glue that keeps the outer layer of your skin attached to your body. When that's missing it takes very little to shear it off and what we're doing is we're trying to recreate that glue," says Dr. Wagner.
After a few weeks at Amplatz, Kyle received his bone marrow transplant, and a few weeks later was already seeing results. Although, they do not know the long term effects, he is slowly progressing towards a brighter and happier future.
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