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"We found that stem cells, developed by us, when injected in the damaged portion of the brain did trigger development of new brain cells without any life-threatening side-effects," S Prabhakar, head of the department of neurology, PGI Chandigarh said.
"This is the first time that interactions between the two kinds of cells (injected cells and host cells) worked out," he said.
Five centres across the country, including AIIMS, are conducting studies on the stem cell treatment of stroke, according to Prabhakar.
Brain stroke occurs when a blood vessel carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot or bursts, causing the brain to starve.
"If deprived of oxygen for even a short period of time, the brain cells begin to die. Once this happens the part of the body controlled by that section of the brain is affected, causing paralysis," M V Padma, a neurologist at AIIMS, said.
Human trials for the study will begin this month. "From January onwards the trials in human being will start. In our experiment we wanted that once the stem cells were injected, it should reach and form new cells in the damaged destination and it really did." Prabhakar said.
There are two types of strokes. In the first, blood clots in vessels leading to blocking of the arteries in the brain. The second type occurs when a blood vessel ruptures causing a bleeding also known as hemorrhagic stroke.
There are also "mini-strokes" which is often ignored and which if left untreated will lead to full blown strokes.
Brain stroke is the third largest killer in India after heart attack and cancer and the second largest in the world, according to the World Health Organisation.
A WHO study, stated that the incidence of the disease in India to be around 130 per 100,000 people every year and says about 20 per cent of heart patients are susceptible to it.
"For this study, we injected human stem cells into adult mice only after deliberately inducing brain stroke in them," Prabhakar said while explaining the experiment on the mice.
For this, the blood supply in the brain of mice was cut off for just 15 minutes and then restored. "That causes massive damage to the brain. It's the sort of thing that happens when you have a cardiac arrest. Then human cells were injected and within about a week, the responses of mice improved dramatically," he said.
Compared to a heart attack, the awareness about brain strokes, is limited," Prabhakar added.
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Stroke type:Blood cloting in vessels leading to blocking of the arteries in the brain. My father has stroke on 23rd dec.'07 and he is suffering from right paralysis. Kindly give me the complete details of this treatment. The contact information as well as the cost in this therapy
Stroke type:Blood cloting in vessels leading to blocking of the arteries in the brain. My father has stroke on 23rd dec.'07 and he is suffering from right paralysis. Kindly give me the complete details of this treatment. The contact information as well as the cost in this therapy.
My father is suffering from left paralysis from last 3 years. Kindly give me the complete details of this treatment. The contact information as well as the cost in this therapy.
My mother has stroke on 15th Aug. 2008, she is presently hospitalized and having paralysis. Kindly give me the complete details of this treatment. The contact information as well as the cost in this therapy.
My father has stroke on 10th September 2009, he is presently hospitalized and having paralysis. Kindly give me the complete details of this treatment. The contact information as well as the cost in this therapy. Thanks in advance
My Sister is paralysed for almost 8 years now and recently she lost her husband who was taking care of her. Please send me any other relevant details of this treatment and I am sure she will be ready for any trials on stemcell therapy. Thanks.
i have brain stroke so this treatment use for me.
my sister" daughter is suffring from spainal cort injurey during an accident with a car . her spainal cort is damezd and some vains are cut in spainal cort . her lowr porshion is not working . plz help me and tell me what can i do for that her age is 1.5 years
my sister in law got paralysis attack on 31/12/2008.her left side got paralysied.iwant to know will srem cell treatment help her
My mom's left side has been paralysed 4 the last 3 months..can u give me the contact details of the doctors working on this...also does it have any side-effects...in which country other than india...these surgeries are successfully done...?
i am a patient of brain stroke for last 40 yrs that rendered my right side weak.hence i am unable to perform stressful works. year after year this weakness is increasing. after hearing about stemcell therapy i am quite hopeful.can you send me the mob no or email adresses of the doctors working on this.i am ready for experimental trials on me for stemcell therapy at pgi chandigarh or aiims delhi.thanks
This is a great achievement by an Indian Doctor.I hope he conducts the test on humans also successfully.There are plenty of kids suffering from brain diseases in our country.They have some hope now.please give contact details of the doctor so that more details on the same can be obtained.
i have brain stroke so is this treatment use for me?
Hello, Very encouraging development.Can I get the contact details of the doctors and hospitals who are working on this ?My father suffered Paralysis couple of years ago