Parents who have a child with a disability, especially a severe disability that significantly limits function and/or quality of life, may want to consider any therapy that offers hope of a cure or significant improvement.
The discovery of stem cells in adult brains has led scientists to explore whether they can use stem cells to treat different conditions affecting the brain, including cerebral palsy.
Doctors and scientists have used stem cell treatments in a number of different conditions affecting other parts of the body.
A stem cell is a primitive cell that has the potential to develop into a range of cell types and form different tissues. Stem cells have the ability to renew themselves by dividing.
There are 2 main types of stem cells:
Cerebral palsy is a permanent physical condition that affects movement and posture and can cause a range of other problems. It is caused by damage to, or lack of development in a part of the brain that controls movement. Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability in childhood occurring in 1 in every 500 babies. Cerebral palsy is often called ‘CP’ for short. For more information, see the cerebral palsy page on this website [1].
Scientists are developing stem cell therapies for the replacement or repair of damaged tissues such as nerves, muscle and other parts of the body.
Doctors and scientists are carrying out ongoing research into stem cell therapy and are looking at the best ways to use stem cells in cerebral palsy.
The aim is for the stem cells to develop into the kind of cells that can take over the function of the damaged areas of the brain. As more information becomes available from carefully conducted scientific studies, how this therapy can help children with cerebral palsy will become clearer.
Stem cells can come from a range of sources including:
Scientists are also exploring whether they can use stem cells from other body tissues.
The method used will depend on the centre carrying out the therapy. The injection may be:
For a stem cell treatment in cerebral palsy to work, several things may need to happen:
To make the treatment more likely to be effective, most centres offering this treatment also recommend intensive physical therapy programmes following the stem cell treatment. This makes it hard to know whether changes are the result of the stem cell treatment itself, or the intensive physical therapy, or are the result of the child growing and developing.
Yes, things can go wrong.
If you plan to travel overseas to get stem cell treatment for your child with cerebral palsy, talk with your healthcare team about whether the place you plan to travel to for treatment is safe. Some of these treatments happen in countries where standards of healthcare are different from those in New Zealand.
There is the risk of introducing viral diseases and prion diseases (such as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease - CJD) from donor cells. It is really important to know where the donor cells came from and whether the person who donated them was a healthy individual. This is not always carefully regulated in non-approved trials.
There is also a risk of bacterial infections from donor cells, especially if the donor cells have not been properly stored.
Ther is ongoing research into the factors that influence the development of stem cells into the kind of cells that are needed. There is a possibility that stem cells may develop into cells that are harmful. Stem cells that multiply (remember that is the function of a stem cell) without differentiating or developing into mature cells may cause complications. These complications may be serious depending on where in the body this happens.
Results from studies are beginning to show that stem cell transplants may be helpful for some children with cerebral palsy.
There are a number of clinical studies in progress. If you want to find out more about these, check the information about stem cell therapy clinical trials at the Canchild website [2].
The interest in stem cell therapy has led to the development of many commercial clinics claiming to offer stem cell therapies. In some parts of the world these clinics are unregulated and uncontrolled.
In some clinics, the treatment they offer may not be what is claimed and the cells given may not even be true stem cells.
There are many claims on the internet of dramatic improvements following stem cell treatments. There are real concerns about exploiting vulnerable families who only want to do the best for their children. Find out as much information as you can and talk to your healthcare team before planning to travel for treatment.
If you are planning to use this option for your child, carefully consider the following points:
This page last reviewed 17 December 2020.
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Links
[1] https://kidshealth.org.nz/cerebral-palsy-overview
[2] https://www.canchild.ca/en/resources/276-current-state-of-stem-cell-treatments-for-cerebral-palsy-a-guide-for-patients-families-and-service-providers
[3] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/2452?language=ton
[4] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/1884?language=ton
[5] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/1885?language=ton
[6] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/1886?language=ton
[7] https://kidshealth.org.nz/node/1887?language=ton
[8] https://kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fkidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F1880%3Flanguage%3Dton