Stem Cell Therapy May Help Treat Parkinson's Disease

Japanese researchers at Kyoto University announced the first human trial to treat Parkinson’s disease using stem cells. Parkinson’s is a degenerative chronic neurological disease that impairs the motor system of our body which causes shaking and difficulty in movements.

The researchers plan to start the clinical trial by implanting five million induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells into patients brain after successful experiments in the monkey.

Shortage of dopamine, a chemical produced in the brain cells is the chief cause of Parkinson's. Hence the iPS cells from healthy donors will be developed into dopamine-producing brain cells for the clinical trial.

iPS cells are made by removing mature cells from a person usually from skin or blood and reprogramming like embryonic stem cells. They can be manipulated into dopamine-producing brain cells.

The researchers stated that the monkeys with Parkinson's symptoms showed significant movement after iPS cells were inserted into their brains.

About ten million people have been affected by this illness globally, reports Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. The treatments which are available now improve symptoms without decreasing or stopping the disease progression says the foundation. But the new research aims to reverse the disease actively.

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Source-Medindia