ABSTRACT
Stem cell therapy, an evolving, progressive field of therapeutics has shown several successes in areas where classic treatments failed to prevent or stop disability. Starting in 2009, twenty two sequential patients with progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS) courses were treated with Autologous Bone Marrow Mononuclear stem cells (BM-MNSCs). The cells were given both intravenously and intrathecally. Using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score for evaluation, our data indicates that the majority of the patients benefited on the average one point on the scale. This paper adds to the body of evidence suggesting the safety and efficacy of autologous BM-MNSCs in the treatment of MS and awaits validation through larger, randomized studies.
ABSTRACT
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disabling condition that affects a child's life and his/her family irreversibly. It is usually a non-progressive condition but improvement over time is rarely seen. The condition can be due to prenatal hypoxia, metabolic, genetic, infectious, traumatic or other causes. It is therefore a heterogeneous group that results in functional motor disability associated with different degrees of cognitive abnormalities. There are no treatments that can cure or even improve CP and the best available approach aims at functional, social and nutritional supportive care and counseling. In this paper, we report 17 sequential patients with CP treated with intrathecal administration of Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells (BMMC). All patients had an uneventful post-injection course with 73% of the evaluable patients treated having a good response using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). The average improvement was 1.3 levels on the GMFCS with cognitive improvements as well.
