Stem Cell Therapy For Spinal Injuries

They are cells that are located within the body that have not yet transformed to perform a certain function.

Stem cell therapy for spinal injuries.

It is hypothesized that these cells will transform when placed into a certain environment to accommodate a certain need. Since their discovery in 1998 they have been used in thousands of studies to one day cure paralysis but there is still no cure for those with chronic injuries despite this scientists have come a long way especially in recent years. Stem cell therapy is still in its infancy but it does offer some hope for patients with spinal injuries who are looking for an alternative to minimally invasive spinal surgery. The focus of current stem cell research and treatments is to reduce inflammation eliminate toxins and free radicals and replace neurons and their supporting cells.

Food and drug administration has even expressed. That allows us to study this novel therapy in a different population of patients he says. Spinal cord injury sci a serious public health issue most likely occurs in previously healthy young adults. Wenchun qu m d m s ph d is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain at mayo clinic s campus in rochester minnesota he is currently leading multiple clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells mscs in the treatment of low back pain including a phase iii trial of intradiscal allogeneic bone marrow derived msc transplantation and a.

The treatment program for spinal cord injury involves systemic iv paraspinal and cerebral spinal fluid csf administration of passage 1 cord stem cells for maximum clinical benefit. Windebank is also involved in the new clinical trial for people with traumatic spinal cord injuries. Early research published in mayo clinic proceedings examines the first case at mayo clinic of stem cell therapy tested in humans for spinal cord injury. The case study found stem cell intervention which took place after standard surgery and physical and occupational therapy restored some function in a patient with spinal cord injury.

First let s discuss what stem cells are. Stem cell therapy using adult mesenchymal stem cells has been shown to be safe for the treatment of spinal cord injuries. We have demonstrated that stem cell therapy is safe in people with als. So these treatments are not available in the mainstream medical market.

Spinal cord injury is devastating and it generally affects people in their. Stem cells have long held hope for many people with spinal cord injuries. In fact as of january of 2020 the fda hasn t approved any stem cell therapies for this purpose. Current therapeutic strategies for sci includes surgical decompression and pharmacotherapy however there is still no gold standard for the treatment of this devastating condition.

The reason for this ambiguity is that stem cell therapy for spinal cord injuries is in its infancy as a treatment.