(ARA) – Scientists believe that stem cells may hold therapeutic promise for conditions affecting children as well as adults such as diabetes, paralysis, Parkinson”s disease and many others. Stem cells are rare cells that can both duplicate themselves (e.g. “self-renew”) and produce differentiated (e.g. functionally specialized) cell types that constitute the various tissues or organ systems of the human body. One single stem cell from a living adult donor can help stem the tide of degeneration and maybe even cure the disease.
Consider the case of the Miltos family, whose two children, Nathan and Phil Joseph (P.J). are affected with a condition called Late Infantile Batten Disease. It”s the most common form of a group of disorders called neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses. Affected children like Nathan and P.J. lack a specific enzyme necessary to eliminate cellular waste. The accumulation of toxic material leads to death of neurons, resulting in mental impairment, worsening seizures and progressive loss of sight and motor skills. It”s always fatal; most children do not live past 12 years of age. This untreatable genetic condition, occurs in about three of every 100,000 births in the United States.
Researchers hope to someday inject adult stem cells into the suffering child”s central nervous system (CNS). Once injected, in theory, the cells would produce an enzyme to help the CNS to regain function. Adult stem cell therapy has shown tremendous promise for growing neurons to “re-build” a diseased brain. Dr. William Mobley, chairman of the Department of Neurology at Stanford University explains, “It”s the loss of brain cells that leads to the neurodegenerative disease process. If you provide host cells with something that sustains them, you may be able to cure or at least delay the onset of the disease. The potential for manipulating stem cells to repair or replace diseased or damaged tissue has generated a great deal of excitement in the scientific and medical communities.
One company, StemCells, Inc., is engaged in identifying and isolating stem cells from a variety of medically important tissues, including the brain, liver and pancreas. Phil Milto, the father of Nathan and P.J., and President of the Nathan”s Battle Foundation for Late Infantile NCL Therapy Development says, StemCells Inc.”s recent data is the most promising cell mediated data we have seen. The results are extremely encouraging for Battens disease and potentially for all neurodegenerative disorders. Preliminary results showed a large area of new cell activity.
With its strong research and successful culturing of human neural stem cells, the company, experts say, is poised to become a leader in novel treatments of diseases characterized by damage to or degeneration of the CNS as well as treatments for disorders of the liver and pancreas.
To learn more about stem cell therapy, look online at www.stemcellsinc.com. To learn more about Batten disease, see www.nathansbattle.com or www.bdsra.org.
Courtesy of ARA Content
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