Autism Stem Cell Triumph
Autism Stem Cell Triumph
Stem cell trial triumphs as improvements in autistic children are seen in over two thirds of participants
A recent study has shown promising developments by using children’s own stem cells to effectively treat autism symptoms.
Children who took part in the trial saw improvements with social interaction such as with their behavior, communication and their socialization as well as not experiencing any significant side effects.
The study tested 25 children who had autism aged between 2 and five years old, this study was published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.
The children in the research project had their own stem cells banked at birth. In the trial, there were a variety of behavioral and functional tests for the children to do before having the one-time stem cell infusion. This was followed up with assessments one at six months after the initial infusion and one at 12 months.
The researchers found that not only was the treatment safe, but parents of the autistic children were reporting seeing improvements with the symptoms of autism themselves.
These improvements were also seen by the clinical assessments for more than two-thirds of participants.
After the first six months children had started to show behavior gains and the study presented evidence that the improvements were sustained over 12 months following the first infusion of stems cells.
Joanne Kurtzberg, a pediatric bone marrow transplant specialist at Duke Health who worked on the study, said:
“We are pleased that this study demonstrated the safety of treating children with ASD with their own cord blood,”. She also commented: “We’re also encouraged that, while small and non-randomized, there were observed improvements in a majority of the children reported by clinicians and parents.”
When asked about further trails, Kurtzberg said,
“We are now hoping to replicate these preliminary results in a Phase II randomized clinical trial for which enrollment is nearly complete,”.
These finding are incredibly encouraging, and researchers are looking at doing another study with more participants, so they are able to confirm the conclusion about the effectiveness of stem cell infusions to improve the symptoms of autism.
Below is an interview with a young boy called Brady, who has severe autism, and his parents. Although Brady was part of a different trial, the stem cells used were the same as in the article above.
Personalized Stem Cell Therapy is anticipated to overcome many different illnesses, diseases and injuries. Having access to the therapy requires access to Stem Cells, in the cases here the children had their own cells banked at birth.
In 12 years of offering the service BioEden have released 20 samples for customers for use in treatments, conditions where the cells were used include Autism amongst others.