By Erin Allday Updated October 2, 2017
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Super-exciting-results-in-stem-cell-therapy-12245199.php
Four out of six paralyzed patients who had 10 million stem cells transplanted into their spinal cords have shown striking improvement a year after treatment, including increased ability to move their hands and arms and to perform basic functions like feeding and bathing themselves, according to research results being released Monday.
All six patients in the early-stage clinical trial, conducted by Fremont’s Asterias Biotherapeutics, reported at least some recovery after the stem cell transplant. The trial is among the first to use embryonic stem cells in human subjects.
It’s too soon to know for sure that the stem cells were solely responsible for the patients’ improvement. The patients could have experienced a spontaneous recovery, which is not unheard of in spinal cord injury victims, or their improvement could be the result of intense rehabilitation.
But compared to a large group of people with similar injuries, the results among patients treated with stem cells were remarkable, said doctors and scientists involved with research.
“Scientifically, I have to say we don’t know for sure if it’s the stem cells. But I’ve been treating these kinds of patients for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Dr. Richard Fessler, lead investigator of the Asterias trial and a professor in the department of neurosurgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Super-exciting-results-in-stem-cell-therapy-12245199.php
Four out of six paralyzed patients who had 10 million stem cells transplanted into their spinal cords have shown striking improvement a year after treatment, including increased ability to move their hands and arms and to perform basic functions like feeding and bathing themselves, according to research results being released Monday.
All six patients in the early-stage clinical trial, conducted by Fremont’s Asterias Biotherapeutics, reported at least some recovery after the stem cell transplant. The trial is among the first to use embryonic stem cells in human subjects.
It’s too soon to know for sure that the stem cells were solely responsible for the patients’ improvement. The patients could have experienced a spontaneous recovery, which is not unheard of in spinal cord injury victims, or their improvement could be the result of intense rehabilitation.
But compared to a large group of people with similar injuries, the results among patients treated with stem cells were remarkable, said doctors and scientists involved with research.
“Scientifically, I have to say we don’t know for sure if it’s the stem cells. But I’ve been treating these kinds of patients for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Dr. Richard Fessler, lead investigator of the Asterias trial and a professor in the department of neurosurgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.