STEM CELL THERAPY FOR CEREBRAL PALSY: "a ray of hope"

Introduction

Cerebral palsy is a group of congenital disorder that affects the movement and muscle tone or posture caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain caused by mutations, maternal infections, fetal stroke, internal bleeding in brain or lack of oxygen. Various risk factors makes a child more prone to developing cerebral palsy one such being severe untreated jaundice or premature birth.

Almost 2 in 1000 full term births suffer from cerebral palsy more likely during premature births and usually occurs in black children than whites. There are different types of palsies according to the movement disorder including spasticity, uncontrollable movement, poor balance and coordination or mixed palsy. Almost 80% of cerebral palsy cases suffer from spastic cerebral palsy which can include muscle stiffness in either body parts.

Usually the diagnosis is made in the first year of life by signs that indicate certain abnormal behaviour and habits that are different from other kids. This include reaching out with one hand while keeping the other one fisted, head lagging when taken in arms, feeling stiff or floppy when carrying, crossed legs like scissors when taking them in arms, crawling in lopsided manner, delayed speech, chewing or eating development and delayed development of motor skills. This can also be accompanied by seizures, vision problems and behavioural problems.?

The cerebral palsies are classified into five levels according to the GMFCS system that classifies the grade of palsy according to the ability to sit, capability for movement and mobility, charting independence and use of adaptive technology.

There is no specific cure for cerebral palsy, but it also does not get worse with time as it is not a prgressive disease. The treatment options usually include certain pharmacotherapeutic and supportive approaches that include oral medications like diazepam, baclofen, dantrolene sodium, tizanidine that possess side effects on long term use. Botulinum toxin and intrathecal baclofen are used in severe chronic cases. Supportive therapies mainly focus on certain therapies like physical, occupational, speech and language and recreation therapy that helps in improving the child’s functional abilities.?

A new approach of Stem cell therapy?

Stem cells are the primitive cells that can develop into different cell types and in turn form different tissues. They are immune privileged cells that do not cause any adverse events as they are obtained from the patient's own body. The transplanted stem cells have the capability to migrate and build their home to the damaged body part of the brain and other affected areas to help repair it. They do so by preventing cell death in the neuronal population, establishment of new blood vessels, cell multiplication and integration and establishment of new neuronal mapd in the brain in order to learn new functions. Stem cells release certain trophic factors that heal injury and make a distinction between several cells of the nervous system like oligodendrocytes, glial cells and others. An average of 96.2% patients show positive response with symptomatic and clinical scans. Organisations also provide certain other therapies along with stem cell therapy, mainly being ozone therapy that provides extra oxygen to the brain tissue which is the main factor contributing to the disorder. One such another treatment is NIBS where brain is stimulated without pain to reduce the effects if issues relating to speaking, swallowing, movement, cognition and other functions. In all,

“ Stem cell therapy renews the core of brain damage and further improves the child’s cognitive ability”

~ Dr. Pravin Patel?

MD(USA), N.D(UK), C.H.T(USA)?

& Dr. Ria Patel (Pharm.D)