The achievements in the field of medical science are simply marvelous and seem like a dream to the mankind. The diseases which almost wiped the planet from the human race can now be treated and completely cured with the help of advance medical technologies. However, as mankind grew smarter, it found out many types of diseases which till date are incurable.
Two of the famous diseases known for its cruel death rate are Cancer and AIDS. Also, genetic disorders, brain diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, etc. All these above diseases have no known cure till now and extensive research is being conducted by scientists and experts to find cure for these diseases.
Out of many such research one field which has proven its potential to fight against these diseases is stem cell field. Even in the stem cell research various applications of it exists, but we will focus our attention to research about the potential of cord blood and bone marrow stem cells to treat brain diseases.
Cerebral Palsy is one type of brain disease or can also be said as a condition which arises because of abnormalities in the brain. These abnormalities may arise from an injury in the brain of a child during pregnancy or mostly within 2 years of birth. It majorly affects brain and nervous system, causing problems in the functions of body movement, learning, hearing and seeing. There is no known cure for Cerebral Palsy, but cord blood stem cell therapy has shown some promising results like for example, researchers in Germany have reported that they have successfully treated a 2 year old boy suffering from Cerebral Palsy. They reported that when the boy’s parents approached them and mentioned that they had stored their child’s cord blood at birth, doctors agreed to do a cord blood stem cell therapy and after the treatment even the researchers were surprised to see the results. After 2 months of treatment the boy started to move and speak simple words, he was able to sit, smile and form simple sentences. After 40 months he was able to walk with assistance, eat on his own and was able to form 4 word sentences which was a miracle for them.
Recently, researchers for the first time in the history of medical science have successfully transplanted bone marrow stem cells into a damaged brain tissue of mice with the application of a lipoic acid (an antioxidant). The aim of this experiment was to regenerate the damaged neurons in the tissue, so that the brain injury could be cured. Surprisingly the result of the experiment was overwhelming; the mice in the laboratory showed exceptional growth in his condition and formed new blood vessels in the areas where the tissue was damaged. Researchers are conducting further experiments in the laboratory and once they get positive results they will try human experiment. If they are successful then this can be used in the treatment of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
It is clear that stem cells have a great potential in treating deadly diseases. Cord blood and bone marrow stem cell therapy have shown their mettle in successfully treating and curing various blood disorders like leukemia, sickle cell anaemia, etc. Very soon, they will show their potential in treating brain diseases and many other medical conditions.