Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability, found in children, with symptoms like difficulties in walking, seeing, hearing, thinking and coordination of the limbs. Most of the problems ensue in the womb due to brain infections or injuries. No complete cure has been discovered to eradicate the disorder. So can a stem cell therapy help?
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a cluster of disabilities (both physical and mental) caused by a damage to the child’s developing brain – during pregnancy or at the time of birth. Children with cerebral palsy exhibit difficulty while moving, speaking, eating, and are faced with learning disabilities. Therapies for CP deal with improving the symptoms and tackling various other developing problems in babies.
Cerebral palsy is connected with a range of symptoms, including movement and muscle weakness. Symptoms like difficulties in walking or motor control, eating, swallowing, coordination of eye movements, slurred speech and intellectual disability. No two patients with cerebral palsy are affected with the same symptoms.
The challenges
Each case of cerebral palsy is unique! Classified as a non-degenerative condition(as it does not deteriorate with aging), CP is a physical impairment that can speed up the aging process in patients. Using stem cells to reconstruct the brain is an incredibly challenging therapy for cerebral palsy treatment. The new cells injected, embed themselves amid the complex networks of a myriad of neurons in the brain, stabilizing the symptoms in the process. Stem cell therapy encourages neurogenesis (regeneration of the affected portion of the brain matrix), improves fresh oxygen and blood flow to the brain and also replaces the neurons in the damaged area. The goal of this treatment is to improve the life of the patient. Stem cell therapy is combined with other conventional treatments for a better outcome.
For cerebral palsy treatment at well-known hospitals, such as NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute, the bone marrow stem cells that are rich in hematopoietic and mesenchymal cells are collected under strict sterile conditions. The patient is wheeled into the operating theatre where under general anaesthesia the doctors aspirate the marrow from the bone with the help of a bone marrow aspiration needle. The marrow aspirate is collected and separated using the density gradient centrifugation method and subjected to microbiologic and serologic testing. Later, the patient is injected intrathecally, under sterile conditions, with the treated stem cells.
