Stem cell Transplantation to help cure Cerebral Palsy

Medical Researchers are working hard to determine if stem cell transplants can help cure cerebral palsied children.

Cerebral palsy is a result of brain damage or abridgement of oxygen in the brain afore or during the birth. A person affected with cerebral palsy normally has slow development, delay in movement skills, learning, hearing, and other such disabilities. According to the Centers for Disease Control, two to three Children in 1,000 are affected with cerebral palsy.

Normally, prolonged deliveries can result in lack of oxygen in the brain resulting in permanent damage of the brain. Doctors and nurses attending to the delivery should be highly cautions and act as per the standards of care to make sure that the baby is delivered in healthy condition. However, according to researchers, in cases of brain damage due to birth complications, stem cell transplantation may be able to help repair and restore damaged brain.

Stem cell transplants tested on animals have shown that mature stem cells from the bone marrow will move to the site of brain injury. More research is being carried out to enhance this process in a natural way. New tests have been carried out on animals where the bone marrow is removed from one group and transplanted into a different group to see the effects. The cells from the bone marrow are transplanted into the vascular system of the other group and monitored to see whether the transplanted cells will move to the brain and help repair damaged brain cells as well as make fresh ones. Researchers are observing if they can transplant the cells into the right place and make the brain function normally.

Doctors believe that the stem cell transplantation idea has a great potential and once it is a success, it will truly be a new milestone in curing cerebral palsy and other allied.