Vancouver, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- A new study shows more success for adult stem cells, an ethical and more effective means of stem cell research than embryonic. A unique pilot study has established a safe pathway for using bone-marrow stem cells to slow down and potentially treat Lou Gehrig's disease.

Also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the condition is a fatal neurodegenerative disease without cure.

Dr. Neil Cashman, professor of neurology at the University of British Columbia and director of the ALS program at Vancouver Coastal Health and VCH Research Institute, headed the study.

He published the results in the latest issue of the medical journal Muscle & Nerve.

In the study he and his colleagues tested the use of a growth factor stimulant in ALS patients and found that bone-marrow stem cells became activated with no adverse effects to patients.

“Our idea was to use a growth factor stimulant to increase the number of circulating stem cells from within the body’s bone marrow where they would have the potential to travel to the site of injury and begin repair, slowing down the progression of ALS,” says Cashman.

“This pathway, if one day successful, may provide a new therapy that will avoid the ethical debate surrounding embryonic stem cells,” he explained.

Growth factors are proteins that can stimulate cell division. They occur naturally in the human body and can also be developed in a laboratory.

Stem cells serve as a “repair system” in the human body and have the potential to develop and divide into many different cell types.

“The project was complex because growth factors have the potential to activate the wrong cells in the brain and spinal cord, which could be harmful to ALS patients," Cashman said.

“We were able to measure a prominent effect on stem cell mobilization and found no adverse effects in the patients,” said Cashman. “There have been many misgivings in using stem cell stimulators in ALS patients but now we know we can safely do this. This is an important first step in providing a new treatment for ALS.”

The research team is now developing a larger scale multicentre trial to look at therapeutic effect. This trial is at least one year away from beginning.