Tag: autism spectrum disorder

Medical science continues to advance in many promising directions, tackling conditions, disorders, and medical concerns that were once considered impossible to treat. Vaccines have, over the decades, helped to contain and minimize infectious epidemics. New experiments in engineering are improving the way prosthetic limbs can bring more mobility to people.

And in cellular research, stem cell transplants are one of the most exciting new developments, and there’s great hope that this technique could be a way to address many conditions that, in the past, were considered untreatable, or difficult to handle, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. But what is a stem cell transplant? What makes it so special that it can go where other medical treatments can’t and possibly yield better results?

The Power Of A Stem Cell

A stem cell is unique in human biology because it is a “blank slate.” Ordinary cells in the human body, like hair, or skin cells, can only reproduce additional copies of themselves. When a person is cut, skin cells create even more skin cells to repair the damage. Other cells, such as heart cells, never reproduce at all, meaning any cellular damage that occurs to the heart is permanent.

Stem cells, however, are the building blocks of a human being. DNA may be the blueprint with a complete plan for a heart, lungs, brain and all other parts of the body, but stem cells are used to create those organs. The stem cell can program itself to become any cell required, from common, easily reproducible skin cells to more difficult nerve or heart cells. In other words, stem cells can help damaged cells repair themselves faster, or even replace cells that biologically, are irreplaceable.

Compatibility Issues

As the name suggests, a stem cell transplant takes a unique part of human biology known as a stem cell and puts it in another location. As with any other transplant, such as organ transplants, or blood transfusion, this requires a high level of biological “compatibility.” The human body is naturally resistant to foreign substances, viewing them as possible threats like viruses, bacteria or other potential diseases. When the human body deems a foreign body a threat, it rejects it and attempts to remove it from the body.

This is why compatibility is so critical for transplants. If a body rejects blood that has been transfused due to incompatibility, a patient will get sick. If a body rejects a kidney that has been transplanted, a patient may die. In the case of a kidney transplant, the patient may die. So when it comes to a substance that can potentially replace new cells in the body, it’s not unusual that a high degree of biological compatibility is required. In the best-case scenario, there is a very close genetic relationship between the recipient and the stem cells being transplanted. This often means the stem cells come from the patient, or a close genetic relative, such as identical twins or any other sibling.

Limited Supply

The stem cells that can become virtually any other cell in the body are known as pluripotent stem cells, and the human body does not naturally produce these except under specific circumstances, such as pregnancy. This is why, normally, the only way to gather biologically compatible pluripotent stem cells is by harvesting “cord blood” after the delivery of a baby.

“Cord blood” is the generic term for the fluids left in the umbilical cord after a baby is born. Because the umbilical cord acts as a conduit, delivering both nutrients to a growing baby, and carrying away waste materials, a large concentration of pluripotent stem cells is left here after birth.

The human body naturally produces other stem cells, but they are not pluripotent. Multipotent stem cells, for example, are cells that can convert themselves to any related cell. This type of multipotent stem cell is located in the bone marrow, which is the “factory” for blood used by the circulatory system. Bone marrow stem cells can become red cells, white cells and platelets, the primary cells found in the blood.

The Transplant Method

A stem cell transplant does not have to be as invasive as major transplants for organs. In some cases, a stem cell transplant is even less invasive than a typical blood transfusion. In the best-case scenario, a stem cell transplant takes the stem cell supply, either from cord blood, or another donor, and injects it intravenously into the veins. For some treatments, such as ASD, the injection may be intrathecal, rather than intravenous, which means an injection into the spine area.

If no cord blood or other donor is available, or sufficient, another step may be taken to harvest stem cells from bone marrow from the patient. In this scenario, some surgery is required for the medical team to access bone marrow in another part of the body and extract the stem cells. This is one of the most common methods used for treating leukemia, but science continues to research more ways to culture larger amounts of stem cells in the lab.

Autism, more correctly referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), has taken generations to be properly understood and diagnosed, and it is only in recent years that a more comprehensive understanding of this disorder has become more common in medical science. That doesn’t mean, however, that ASD is now understood and that there is an effective common cure for its many symptoms.

The sad fact of the matter is that this is a very complex disorder, one with its roots in behavioral, physical, and neurological symptoms, making it difficult to track. In fact, because of ASD’s many behavioral symptoms and the spectrum of number and intensity that those symptoms can appear in, many people with ASD symptoms are were diagnosed as having unique, entirely different conditions.

At one time, for example, Asperger’s Syndrome was thought to be a unique disorder, while some people with ASD were misdiagnosed as being schizophrenic. Today, however, there’s a greater understanding that this huge spectrum of different behavioral symptoms all have a single root cause that allows for multiple forms of expression.

As a result of the huge variance in symptoms for ASD, there are also several different treatments. ASD currently has no known cure. Once someone is diagnosed with it, then, like asthma or diabetes, this is going to be a lifelong condition. However, as with those other conditions, just because there is no cure, that does not mean that this condition can’t be managed.

Treatment Options

There are a variety of different treatments for ASD. For some severe behavioral problems, antipsychotics or other forms of medication may be prescribed to help keep certain tendencies under control. In other cases, psychological treatment, like behavioral therapy, may be the most effective means of consciously teaching someone with ASD to identify, manage, and overcome their symptoms.

Another alternative for treating symptoms is stem cell therapy. This is a technique that has already been well-established for fighting specific types of blood-related cancer, like leukemia. As a result, stem cell therapy is widely regarded as a promising new method for treating many different conditions. However, at the moment, the Food & Drug Administration in the USA only legally recognizes the use of stem cell therapy for leukemia. Usage for other disorders is not currently legal, though they are being researched.

How It Works

Stem cells are a very special, very versatile type of cell that can only be collected through two means. If a family has the foresight after childbirth, the baby’s stem cells can be preserved from the umbilical cord, known as “cord blood,” and this can be cryogenically stored for later use if required years down the road.

The other way to harvest stem cells if no cord blood is available is to collect a less potent version of stem cells that are created and stored in the bone marrow. This requires surgery to facilitate, so is the more complex, invasive method.

Once the stem cells have been collected, they are injected into the patient. This can either be done intravenously, through a typical hypodermic needle in the arm, or some other vein, or it can be done through intrathecal injection into the spine.

The reason that stem cells are only viable in these two ways is because of compatibility. Unlike blood, if stem cells from another person are introduced into a patient, they will be rejected.

The Cost Considerations

Because stem cell therapy for ASD treatment is not legal in countries like the United States, that means the USA neither offers treatment for it nor recognizes medical insurance claims that request coverage for stem cell ASD treatment.

This already means that families interested in stem cell therapy must rely on their savings. On top of this, additional costs must be considered for travel, because while the United States does not have safe, legal medical centers for stem cell therapy for ASD, other countries do.

Mexico in North America, and Georgia, in Eastern Europe, for example, both have modern 21^st-century medical facilities, and in both countries, the practice of stem cell therapy for treatment of conditions other than leukemia is completely legal.

The Final Cost

Depending on where you go and what kind of currency fluctuations are at play in the currency market, the cost of the stem cell therapy treatment itself will vary. The average cost of stem cell therapy globally is about USD$12000-$15000, but much of that is dependent on the diagnoses, and the individual patient requirements.

People who come to Georgia for their stem cell therapy treatments can expect to pay, on average, about $USD 12000 + VAT, even for procedures that may involve harvesting bone marrow. However, it’s important to consult medical professionals first before seeking stem cell therapy for autism treatment. Not every ASD symptom is appropriately dealt with through stem cell therapy. Diagnosis and medical recommendations should always be sought before taking this route.

Autism or someone diagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be a difficult and challenging experience for people unfamiliar with this condition. Unlike many conditions, ASD has numerous factors at play, from both genetic to environmental, and, as such, there’s no one universal diagnosis, treatment or therapy that will apply to everyone. So, unlike measles, or pneumonia, where vaccinations and a well-documented, standardized medical treatment can be applied to just about everybody to address the problem, ASD requires a unique approach for each individual.

But for people—especially parents—to deal with ASD effectively, it’s important to get an understanding of what autism is, and where the medical sciences stand in their current understanding of its causes and possible treatments.

What Is Autism?

Generally speaking, autism or ASD, is a condition that expresses itself primarily in the behavior of a person. Someone diagnosed with ASD will usually experience more difficulty than the average person when it comes to social skills, speech, non-verbal communication, and repetitive behaviors.

However, the reason that autism is often referred to as autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, is because of that word in the middle, “spectrum.” Because autism expresses itself primarily as a behavioral condition, the type of behavior displayed exists on a broad spectrum. On the minor end of the spectrum, someone diagnosed with ASD can live a largely normal, independent life in which the ASD proves to be disruptive only occasionally. On the other extreme of the spectrum, ASD can be so severe that a person diagnosed with requires a supervised setting to live safely.

What Causes Autism?

It’s important to note that because ASD is so varied, no one specific cause has been definitively confirmed as “the one.” Genetics, for example, is currently theorized to be anywhere from 60%-90% a determining cause in ASD. However, inheritance may not be the only factor, and medical investigations have also revealed that there may factors in the prenatal stage when a baby is developing in the uterus, that may also cause ASD, such as a mother contracting rubella, while pregnant, and transmitting that disease to the developing embryo.

There are also theories that certain factors in the environment may also pose a risk of autism even once a baby is born. Vaccines, thankfully, have already been ruled out as a possible cause of ASD in children, and in many cases, there isn’t sufficient medical evidence that yet indicates any post-natal factors that might be associated with causing ASD.

However, there are still some ongoing studies to see if there is any relation in ASD with other side-effects, such as gastrointestinal problems. Many people diagnosed with ASD also have a gastrointestinal problem accompanying this, so there may yet be a connection between the two that is, as yet undiscovered.

Can Autism Be Cured?

For the moment, the answer to this is “no.” There is no guaranteed, permanent cure to eliminate autism in the same way that antibiotics can eliminate certain illnesses, or surgery can repair a problem within the body. ASD can, however, be treated, which is a different thing. ASD treatments or therapies are not supposed to get rid of ASD, so much as manage it, and create a situation where a person diagnosed with ASD can “move along the spectrum” and regain more behavioral functionality.

Because ASD affects different people in different ways across the spectrum, different treatments will often apply. What is recommended for one individual may not be suitable for another, and vice versa. The specific position along the spectrum as well the distinct forms of ASD symptoms determine which treatments are most appropriate. Someone with only the mildest form of ASD, for example, may require no treatments at all. However, there are several different approaches to treatment, including:

Behavioral Therapy

In some cases, a person diagnosed with ASD is best served through addressing the behavior of the person. By introducing the ASD diagnosed child to methods such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the children can learn to reduce undesirable behaviors, such as aggression, while developing the desired behaviors, such as verbal communication. In many instances, some time of behavioral therapy is always recommended, as a strictly medical approach doesn’t do anything to help a child integrate and socialize properly with others.

Medical Treatment

The other side of the equation is the physical or medical side. Here procedures are carried in an attempt to deal with some of the physiological characteristics of ASD. Stem cell therapy, for example, is an emerging form of treatment that is showing promise in helping reduce aggression, and re-engage social and speech abilities.

It’s important, however, for every parent to make sure that a thorough examination and diagnosis is undertaken to understand a child’s exact ASD condition. It’s very harmful to decide that one treatment is the ideal one and to ignore all other medical advice and diagnoses that are not the preferred method. Not every treatment is appropriate for every ASD diagnosed child.