Though there are not many institutions authorized to test stem cells in the United States, there is promising data coming from these researchers dealing with diseases like cerebral palsy. Researchers have identified that neonatal brain injury is one cause of cerebral palsy, so doctors in Europe are working on new treatments directly to the brain of infants with the hope of curbing this disease.
A new paper from those researchers outlines exactly what the procedure entails, including some of the common issues researchers must be careful over.
Current testing uses animal models to “predict” the behavior of stem cells in the human body. This is important because the animal model cannot perfectly duplicate conditions that exist in the human body. Researchers require multiple models to help approximate the impact of the therapy, and even with these models the outcome is uncertain.
At this point, research suggests that the most promising cells to help treat CP are the human cord blood cells and mesenchymal cells. These cells are also mostly available for human study, signaling that clinical trials may begin soon if they are not already under way.
There is also some work being done on the usage of intravenous injection methods. These tests would look at the safety and viability of this method, expanding the use cases of stem cells treating cerebral palsy.
New treatments are under development, using new technology that makes it possible to inject cells with minimal risk to the patient. Now the question is whether doctors can find the disease and treat it quickly enough to prevent it.
Bio: Sasha Bakhru is a leading bio-medical researcher who has made significant contributions to drug delivery and drug monitoring. For information about stem cell research, visit Sasha Bakhru online.
