The anecdotal reports of the results of stem cell treatment for cerebral palsy are extraordinary. However, none have yet been published in peer-reviewed journals as the clinics providing these treatments have generally been functioning without legal approval, or worse, are still without any regulatory framework whatsoever. In order to remedy this and provide knowledge for all, Tissu only conducts treatment under strict clinical trial protocols and guidelines. All of our results are available and transparent. The patients that have been given stem cells for cerebral palsy range from newborns to adults. It is believed that giving the treatment earlier in life or earlier in the course of the disease leads to better results.
An eight-week regimen of injections of neural stem cells into a 19-year-old patient’s spinal fluid relieved many of the debilitating symptoms of cerebral palsy,
The stem cells were introduced into a Hungarian patient’s (19-year-old Gabor Bocskai) spinal cord fluid via a lumbar puncture. These neural stem cells then migrated to the brain and started the unbelievable treatment.
“Unedited videos taken before and after [the patient’s] injections dramatically demonstrate the profound improvement in his 19-year battle to walk, write, focus his eyes, concentrate, and overcome the many other detrimental effects resulting from the cerebral palsy, he acquired at birth,” the hospital said.
Improvements included improved vision, increased eye focus and better concentration on one subject.
“He also reported clearer writing, enhanced muscle tone, the ability to sit up unsupported, and a new capability to walk and swim in an unassisted manner,” the hospital said. “As a lifelong quadriplegic with paralysis in his lower limbs, he was never able to walk independently, using a wheelchair for transportation. Within four months of the initial treatment, he stated that he was able to walk with the help of a walker and no other support, and at a rate three times faster than ever before with increased manoeuvrability in his legs and torso. Even his speech became clearer and faster.”
The hospital said the patient has returned to Hungary from the treatment centre and has reported “continued daily improvement.”
It is cautioned, however, that not every teenage cerebral palsy patient treated with stem cell therapy should expect the same results.
The treatment program for cerebral palsy sufferers centres on a stem cell treatment that includes approximately four injections of neural stem cells into the spinal cord fluid via a lumbar puncture.
“For 2-year-old Chloe Levine, life was not easy. From her birth, she was suffering from an incurable disease called cerebral palsy. Her only hope was stem cell therapy.
Her parents had saved her umbilical cord blood at the time of her birth. It was the stem cells that saved her from the deadly disease. This two year old toddler was infused with stem cells from her own umbilical-cord blood. It saved her from the condition. She was able to use her right hand.“
Cerebral palsy (CP) is defined as any non-progressive motor deficits resulting from cerebral abnormalities that occur in the prenatal or perinatal period. Cerebral palsy (CP) is a large group of disorders impairing control of movement due to a defect or lesion of the developing brain. Symptoms become apparent within the first few years of life and generally do not worsen over time [Hughes and Newton, 1992].
Cerebral palsy is a common disorder of childhood, with an incidence of 1 in 250 to 1,000 births [Bundey and Alam, 1993; Pharoah et al., 1987]. Individuals with cerebral palsy may have difficulty in fine motor skills, maintaining balance and walking, or have involuntary movements such as uncontrollable writhing motions of the hands or drooling. Some patients may also have mental retardation and seizures, and some children with cerebral palsy are born with an abnormally small head (microcephaly) [NINDS, 2005].
A study of cerebral palsy prevalence in Asian (almost exclusively from Northern Pakistan) and non-Asian populations in Yorkshire, United Kingdom has reported a two-fold increase in cerebral palsy prevalence in the Asian population (6.42 cases per 1,000) compared to non-Asian population (3.18 cases per 1,000) [Sinha et al., 1997]. Since about 60 % of the Asian families in this study had a known history of consanguineous marriages, and since about a third of the affected children in these families had a first or second degree relative with the same type of cerebral palsy, recessive genes may have caused the increased incidence.
An independent study from Saudi Arabia reported a 2.5-fold increase in the occurrence of cerebral palsy in consanguineous families [Al-Rajeh et al., 1991], also strongly suggesting that the recessive forms of CP exist.
Cerebral palsy is divided into four main categories: spastic, athetoid, ataxic, and mixed forms, according to the type of movement disturbance [Hughes and Newton, 1992; NINDS, 2005]. Spastic cerebral palsy accounts for approximately 70-80% of cases, and is subdivided into hemiplegic, diplegic, quadriplegic, and monoplegic types, depending on which limbs are affected. The most severe form of spastic cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia, is frequently accompanied by dysarthria (abnormal speech characterised by poor articulation). The most common mixed forms are spasticity and athetoid (abnormal) movements, but other combinations are also possible [NINDS, 2005].
The movement and posture abnormalities that are characteristic of cerebral palsy are associated with underlying abnormalities of muscle tone, including dystonia, spasticity, and rigidity. The subtypes of cerebral palsy are defined according to the predominant muscle tone abnormality, its distribution and severity. There is widespread agreement that cerebral palsy subtypes should be divided into the following groups: spastic subtypes (hemiplegia: unilateral asymmetric spasticity; diplegia: bilateral symmetric spasticity, lower limbs more affected than upper limbs; quadriplegia: bilateral symmetric spasticity, upper and lower limbs affected equally), dystonic or athetotic type; and other miscellaneous types: hypotonic, mixed types, etc. These descriptive definitions are not useful when forming cohorts of cerebral palsy subtypes in research.
The cause of cerebral palsy is often hard to determine but about 10-15% of cases appear to be due to intrapartum problems [Blair and Stanley, 1988]. The other major risk factors are prematurity, small size for gestational age, and multiple births [Stanley, 1994]. Inherited factors are thought to contribute to approximately 2% of cases in European populations [Hughes and Newton, 1992; Mitchell and Bundey, 1997]. However, with increased understanding of genetic patterns that cause neonatal brain disorders, it is clear that some patients have a genetic basis for their condition..
Cerebral palsy is a group of brain diseases that produce chronic motor disability in children. The causes are quite varied and range from abnormalities of brain development to birth-related injuries to postnatal brain injuries. Due to the increased survival of very premature infants, the incidence of cerebral palsy may be increasing. While premature infants and term infants who have suffered neonatal hypoxic–ischaemic (HI) injury represent only a minority of the total cerebral palsy population, this group demonstrates easily identifiable clinical findings, and much of their injury is to oligodendrocytes and the cerebral white matter. While the use of stem cell therapy is very promising there are no controlled trials in humans with cerebral palsy and only a few trials in patients with other neurologic disorders. However, studies with experimentally induced strokes or traumatic injuries have indicated that benefit is possible. The potential to do these stem cell transplants via injection into the vasculature or cerebrospinal fluid rather than directly into the brain increases the likelihood of timely human studies.
We have recently developed a comprehensive program for cerebral palsy patients combining both nerve stem cell activation and stimulation treatment and stem cells treatments via injections. This combined treatment has so far proved itself to be most efficient in bringing high level of recovery. By employing all of the above methods we can maximally improve functions such as mobility, language and intelligence.
3 - 4 injections of 10 million stem cells each are given to each patient into the subarachnoid space at lumbar puncture. As most cerebral palsy patients have global brain damage this treatment optimises delivery. Through the cerebrospinal fluid, the stem cells will migrate to the damaged areas in the brain. This procedure is short and simple and done with local anaesthesia. In order to prevent even the minor risk of infection and keep a strictly sterile environment, the procedure is done in the operation room by our consultant stem cell expert or radiologist.
NINDS. Cerebral Palsy: Hope Through Research. NINDS. 2005
The potential of cord blood stem cells for use in regenerative medicine Harris, David T; Badowski, Michael; Ahmad, Nafees; Gaballa, Mohamed A: Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, Volume 7, Number 9, September 2007 , pp. 1311-1322(12)
Stem cells and neurological diseasesD. C. Hess and C. V. Borlongan: Informa Healthcare
Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, and Medical Research Service, VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
World-Class Stem Cell Treatment Facility Follows up Parkinson’s Successes with Another Medical Triumph, Brings New Hope of Effective Treatment for Thousands with CP, April 19, 2007—Neurosurgical Hospital, the world’s leading center for effective treatment of Parkinson’s disease and stroke, today here announced a breakthrough in the worldwide treatment of Cerebral Palsy
The Treatment of cerebral palsy: what we know, what we don’t know . M Goldstein The Journal of Pediatrics , Volume 145 , Issue 2 , Pages S42 - S46
Stem and progenitor cell−based therapy of the human central nervous system. Steve Goldman.Nature Biotechnology 23, 862 - 871 (2005)
Published online: 7 July 2005; | doi:10.1038/nbt1119
Steve Goldman Division of Cell and Gene Therapy, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, 601 Elmwood Ave., Box 645, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14642, USA.
Al-Rajeh, S; Bademosi, O; Awada, A; Ismail, H; Al-Shammasi, S; Dawodu, A. Cerebral palsy in Saudi Arabia: a case-control study of risk factors. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1991;33:1048–1052
Bundey, S; Griffiths, Mi. Recurrence risks in families of children with symmetrical spasticity. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1977;19:179–191
An Autosomal Recessive Form of Spastic Cerebral Palsy (CP) with Microcephaly and Mental Retardation. Anna Rajab,1,2* Seung-Yun Yoo,4,5* Aiman Abdulgalil Am J Med Genet A. 2006 July 15; 140(14): 1504–1510.
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