Umbilical cord blood stem cells and Parkinson's disease

Umbilical cord blood stem cells have been successfully used to treat Parkinson's disease. Although stem cells have been used to treat Parkinson's disease abroad for some time, it is still considered experimental and controversial in America. The first American to undergo cord blood stem cell treatment was Penny Thomas. She was in the advanced stages of Parkinson and was looking for treatment options. After attempting to contact many treatment centers, she emailed one in China. She underwent a surgery where 3 million cord blood stem cells were injected into the putamen part of her brain. After the surgery, her symptoms reduced significantly and doctors are now weaning her off of her medication.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells and leukemia

Cord blood stem cells are commonly used to treat childhood leukemia. In recent years, adults with leukemia have been successfully treated with transplantation of cord blood stem cells from unrelated donors. One case is that of Stephen Sprague who was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) in 1995. Although a normally slow moving cancer in his case, chemotherapy only kept it in check for 17 months. The only hope was a stem cell transplant. A matching bone marrow donor could not be found so he turned to a new clinical trial being conducted on final stage adult leukemia patients, using umbilical cord blood stem cells to treat cancer. Mr. Sprague underwent the treatment in November 1997, and has now been cancer free for over nine years.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells and multiple sclerosis (MS)

Cord blood stem cell transplantation has given hope to multiple sclerosis sufferers like Patricia Frost. Mrs. Frost has suffered from MS for 14 years and has been confined to a wheelchair for the last 10 years. She also lost the use of her arms. Stem cell treatment was her only hope but is not licensed in the UK and only a few private clinics offer the treatment anywhere in the world. She sought umbilical cord blood stem cell therapy from the private Preventative Medicine Clinic in the Netherlands. Within an hour of receiving the stem cell treatment, she was able to turn her head and partially lift her arms. These are functions that she said were previously lost. Clinical trials are being conducted and the UK is planning to invest 100 million pounds into this research.

In recent years, cord blood has emerged as a source for stem cell transplantation as it contains hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that can develop into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The ongoing stem cell research for treatment of diseases is promising. Patients who suffer from previously fatal diseases and debilitating conditions have found hope in cord blood stem cell therapy.