top
+
Home Tag: "Stem Cell Therapy" (Page 2)

Tag: Stem Cell Therapy

19Nov

Everyone deals with a medical issue at some point in their lives, but in these cases, medical attention is always a temporary imposition on life. Whether it’s surgery or an illness, professional medical attention in the form of a diagnosis, professional treatment, or a prescription with directions to follow may be all that’s required to get over the problem. And while medical treatment can be expensive, for some countries, such as Canada, for example, critical medical treatment is taken care of by the government, so, fortunately, there are no exorbitant costs.

Sadly, however, not every medical problem is something that can be cleared up with a single procedure, and not every country has invested in a medicare infrastructure like Canada. Some medical conditions, like autism, otherwise known as autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, have no known cure, and the symptoms can only be managed. And the management of those symptoms has a cost.

One emerging form of treatment for ASD is known as stem cell therapy. But what is it, and what can people expect to pay for such a procedure?

The Stem Cell Revolution

Stem cell therapy is a relatively recent form of medical treatment, and is still being intensely researched for myriad applications, although it is already in heavy use in the United States as an effective—but very limited—form of medical treatment. It relies on the usage of stem cells, which, surprisingly, is not a brand new synthetic invention of medical laboratories, but instead the usage of something so natural that it’s an essential part of the pregnancy process.

Stem cells are also known as “master cells” because they can “convert” or “reprogram” themselves into any cell of the human body. Where blood cells can only create more blood cells, and hair cells can only grow more hair, a stem cell can turn into a nerve cell, brain cell, lung cell, or whatever else is required. This is no big surprise, as it is from stem cells, during pregnancy, that a group of undifferentiated cells can divide and eventually specialize into the different organs that make up the human body. Without stem cells, humans couldn’t grow from a single, unfertilized cell into a multi-cellular organism with many organs.

How Therapy Works

Stem cell therapy takes stem cells and reintroduces them into the human body. This is normally done through some type of injection, a common point of insertion being the spinal cord. However, stem cells are unique to a person, which means that there are only two types of stem cells that can be used and accepted by the body. “Cord blood” refers to the fluids in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth, the “leftovers” of stem cells used to grow a baby to maturity. To use these stem cells, they must be harvested after birth and stored.

The other option is to harvest less powerful stem cells after birth within the human body, within the bone marrow. This is a much more extensive procedure that will require surgery in addition to the stem cell injection itself. These two types of stem cells and their harvesting methods are currently the only means of introducing stem cells into a body that won’t be rejected. The results, however, are that certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, are cured, as cancerous blood cells are replaced with newly grown healthy ones. Now stem cell therapy is being researched and applied to other conditions such as ALS, multiple sclerosis, and ASD.

Limited FDA Approval

One of the biggest barriers to cost for stem cell therapy as a treatment for autism is the need for travel. For the moment, stem cell therapy, while promising massive potential for a range of different conditions, is only legally approved in the United States for treatments of specific types of cancer of the blood, such as leukemia. Any other use of stem cell therapy, including ALS, or ASD, is currently not approved by the FDA, and therefore, not legally available in the United States.

There are other countries, however, such as Mexico in the Americas, and Georgia, in Europe, that have fully-staffed and experienced stem cell therapy specialists, but this does require budgeting for travel and accommodation in addition to the procedure itself.

The Procedure Cost

Once travel to a destination country has been factored in, there is the matter of the cost of the procedure. If you’ve had the foresight to have cord blood stored after pregnancy, then you’ve already paid some of the costs for storage, and will now need to pay for safe transport to the clinic site. However, this option isn’t available to you, then there is an additional cost for the surgery to harvest stem cells from bone marrow.

In general, the stem cell procedure averages between USD$12000-15000 depending on the country and technique. In Georgia clinics, as one example, people can expect to pay about USD$12000 + VAT for all procedures.

10Sep

Autism is more technically referred to as autism spectrum order or ASD. It is a disorder that, depending on your point of view, is either growing in the number of people diagnosed with it or is now being accurately recognized as people that might have “slipped under the radar” in years past, are now being found and diagnosed with ASD.

It is a complex disorder, with many different symptoms, and, as a result, it wasn’t even until the 1980s that ASD was even given a distinct category in medical diagnosis. Before the recognition came, many people throughout the years were incorrectly diagnosed as being schizophrenic, an error that is now, thankfully, not being made today.

Unfortunately, while there is a greater understanding of what autism is, that doesn’t mean that a fast, convenient cure, like antibiotics, has been discovered that can “clear up” ASD with a single injection. With more understanding of what autism is—and isn’t—comes a greater appreciation for the complexity of the disorder and how to address it.

Stem cell therapy, a recent innovation in medical science, is one of the treatments that is showing promise, but what is it, and how can it help with autism?

ASD’s Uncertain Origins

One of the biggest hurdles to finding a definitive cure for autism is that there appears to be more than one way to contract the condition, and thus, no one way to prevent it from occurring. Autism can, in some instances, result from genetic inheritance, and there is medical evidence that shows autistic parents passing the trait onto their offspring.

However, ASD can also be pre-natal, meaning that during pregnancy, specific medical circumstances can occur, such as an infection resulting in inflammation, that can result in an autistic baby. On the other hand, autism can even be post-natal, as some medical data that suggests even a lack of oxygen during birth might lead an otherwise healthy baby to contract autism just as birth occurs.

The differences, even in just how ASD is contracted by a patient, have consequences for the ways to treat the condition. This is one of the reasons why no known cure for ASD currently exists in medicine. There are, however, different ways to manage the symptoms that arise from ASD. In some cases behavioral therapy with an emphasis on learning and training can make a difference. In others, stem cell therapy may be a solution.

The Promise Of Stem Cells

Stem cells are the powerful, versatile cells that the pregnancy process relies on to create a “complete” human being from a single, undifferentiated fertilized egg cell. Under ordinary medical circumstances, after birth, the only way to grow new replacement cells when cells from the same group reproduce. This is why, after a hair cut, hair only grows from existing hair, rather than hair growing out of your teeth, or your fingernails.

However, as a baby is developing in a mother’s womb, there are no lungs, kidneys, leg, or arm muscles in place, but they have to come from somewhere. Stem cells, also known by the nickname “master cells” can become any cell that is encoded in a person’s DNA, whether it is something as common as a skin cell, that is always growing new replacement cells, or a brain cell, which is far less prone to replacement.

Treating Autism

The challenge with autism is that there are different approaches to handling the symptoms. In some cases, the most productive approach is focused behavioral therapy, teaching an autistic child, for example, important skills to integrate and use for the rest of his or life that can also lay the groundwork for problem-solving skills that will always be a benefit. Stem cell therapy, however, takes a different approach.

While the symptoms of autism are largely behavioral, it’s not uncommon for there to be a physiological or neurological cause for that behavior. If the medical circumstances are such that damaged neural cells or atypical brain cell activity are involved, then the replacement of problem cells with “fresh,” undamaged cells may help to manage or mitigate certain symptoms.

Stem cell therapy works from this philosophy, by using either “cord blood,” or stem cells taken directly from the patient. Cord blood is the fluid in the umbilical cord that can, on request, be preserved after birth, since it is rich in stem cells. If the cord blood was not preserved, less versatile, but still effective stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow can be harvested and used in stem cell therapy.

The stem cells are then usually transfused intrathecally, which entails an injection in the spinal area, so that the stem cells may travel throughout the spinal cord and even into the brain. If stem cell therapy is a good fit for such a patient, results have been shown such as decreased hostility and even increased receptiveness to socialization and interaction with others.

However, it’s always important to get a proper medical consultation before committing to this decision. Stem cell therapy is not for every case of ASD.

11Aug

Those diagnosed with autism are more formally known to have autism spectrum disorder or ASD. This is a neurophysiological condition that can most often express itself in behavioral symptoms. As a result, living a normal life for some people with ASD can present some big challenges.

For the moment, ASD has no cure; the symptoms must be treated and managed to varying degrees. Much of this, however, depends on the exact evaluation of ASD in a child. As the name implies, Autism Spectrum Disorder occurs on a spectrum, so different children will exhibit different symptoms at different levels of severity. Some were formally considered “high functioning” or “mild” conditions with little or no serious treatment intervention required, while others will require extensive attention to overcome severe behavioral symptoms. There are several ways to treat autism.

Medical Prescriptions

In the past, before autism was formally recognized as a unique medical condition, many doctors erroneously diagnosed people with ASD as schizophrenic, and so many of the usual treatments of schizophrenia were applied to these patients. One of the complicating factors in why it took so long to for ASD to be recognized on its own was that some of the schizophrenia treatments, such as certain medications, yielded positive results.

That means that even today, with a much fuller and more comprehensive understanding of ASD, sometimes specialists will recommend a course of medication. Anti-psychotics, and other medicines, for example, have been prescribed to ASD children to curb more extreme behavioral issues such as violence and hostility.

Occupational Therapy

One of the primary forms of addressing ASD behavioral issues is through different types of therapy. Occupational therapy is often an effective solution for addressing very specific concerns. The name seems misleading in that it appears to suggest training people for work, such as learning a trade like plumbing, or carpentry.

In reality, what occupational therapy focuses on is learning to complete specific tasks. If a child is diagnosed with ASD and is evaluated as suitable for occupational therapy, this can result in training for many different things. Tying shoes properly, for example, is one of the things occupational therapy can help with. Learning self-applied techniques for managing emotions and controlling arousal or excitability, is another example of occupational therapy training children to take the actions they need to regulate themselves without constant adult intervention.

Speech Therapy

One of the primary symptoms that many ASD children exhibit is difficulty in sustaining normal communication. This can express itself in a variety of different ways, such as a refusal to maintain eye contact when interacting with others, or unnatural tones of voice, such as speaking in a flat, expressionless monotone, like a robot.

Speech therapy can be an effective, comprehensive way to teach ASD diagnosed children with the communication skills that most children subconsciously pick up and internalize. This is merely a more deliberate, conscious way to learn traits that come more easily to others. Children in speech therapy learn important skills, such as maintaining eye contact, implementing appropriate pauses in conversation before responding, or even learning alternative forms of communication such as sign language is these yield better results than traditional verbal communication.

Stem Cell Therapy

This is a very new form of treatment, and as a result, has yet to be widely implemented or receive official approval from larger administrative bodies, such as the Food & Drug Administration in the United States. However, that doesn’t mean that stem cell therapy doesn’t work; it just means that, as applied to stem cell therapy, it is very much in its infancy.

Stem cell therapy is a form of medical treatment that adds stem cells into a treatment area. Stem cells have the nickname “master cells,” because, unlike other cells such as blood, or skin, they can grow into any cell that is required. This is how babies develop from a loose collection of general cells into the more specialized organs like the brain and lungs. Unsurprisingly, this means that “cord blood,” which are the various fluids exchanged during pregnancy, located in the umbilical cord, is rich in stem cells even after birth has occurred.

Stem cell therapy has already proven its worth as a form of treatment for cancer, specifically leukemia, where the success of this method is well documented. After the success that stem cell therapy had in replacing cancerous blood cells and helping patients overcome this debilitating illness, medical science began looking into other areas where stem cells could be effective. Now, ASD stem cell therapy is one of those new areas. As a recent development, this means that the full implications of this treatment are not yet documented. However, it has already shown progress in eliminating some of the inflammation that is associated with ASD, as well as addressing some of the behavioral issues, such as reducing hostility and irritability.

There are many ways to address and treat ASD. It’s important to find the one that is right for your child’s unique diagnosis within ASD.

6Aug

Autism, which today is more accurately referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a neurophysiological condition. While people diagnosed with ASD may exhibit some physical symptoms that require medical treatment, such as inflammation, the majority of ASD’s symptoms are behavioral.

This can mean people with ASD, especially children, at a critical juncture in their lives, can have major challenges integrating socially due to their behavioral symptoms. There is a range of different symptoms, such as an inability to maintain eye contact, unusual speech patterns, or even hostility. Some traditional medical treatments can help with managing ASD, but medical treatments do not help with the social component.

This is where is therapy can be important. Medical treatments such as administering anti-psychotics, or other medications, can suppress certain behaviors or symptoms, but children must still learn to socialize properly or perform other activities once behavior—such as hostility—has been reduced. Many different types of therapy help children to learn the behaviors that others may take for granted. Depending on the type of ASD symptoms a child has, different, effective forms of therapy include:

Occupational Therapy

The name may be misleading to some since this type of therapy isn’t about training people for employment opportunities. However, this type of therapy is about training people to perform activities that they can rely on to do themselves daily.

Occupational therapy focuses on assessing a child’s needs, especially when it comes to useful daily activities. Then it constructs therapeutic “training courses,” tailored to an ASD child’s sensibilities and needs to effectively learn those activities that give more agency to the child. The range of activities can include anything from learning to tie shoes correctly to training in sleeping quietly, running, skipping, other hand-eye coordination activities, and even self-regulation methods, such as controlling emotional arousal and remaining calm.

This is a very specific form of therapy that requires extensive evaluation of the child, and his or her ASD tendencies, understanding what the symptoms are, and where along the spectrum they lie. It is only after evaluating a child’s symptoms that a proper course of action can be determined for which therapies can be learned, and which may require further treatment or assistance.

Speech Therapy

Communication for most children is something that is unconsciously “absorbed” and internalized. Under normal conditions, children learn to interpret cues like the rising tone at the end of a sentence to indicate a question or the frown of an adult as disapproval. However, for those with ASD, these communication skills aren’t so easily learned.

One aspect of speech therapy is to more consciously reinforce and train these cues that other children learn without formal training, and impart them to those evaluated as being suitable to learn. This can mean that an ASD child trains to overcome a natural aversion to eye contact, and learns to look at people when speaking. In some cases, it can mean learning alternative forms of communications such as sign language.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Applied Behavior Analysis is a very specific, structured form of training that works on a rewards-based system to create long-lasting, desired, behavioral changes. This may be administered by parents, professionals, or both, depending on the circumstances.

ABA has different techniques aimed at achieving different results. Verbal behavior intervention is a technique that is often used to help impart and retain important communication skills. Pivotal response treatment is a different method that is used to train specific social behavior for interacting with others. Early intensive behavioral intervention is a specific form of training best applied to children under the age of five if the ASD diagnosis has occurred early enough.

Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell therapy, despite having the word “therapy” in its name, is not a behavioral training technique but is a medical procedure. However, as with behavioral therapy techniques, it may affect behavior. Stem cells are “blank cells” in a sense, in that they can reconfigure themselves to become any kind of cells in the human body, such as the brain, or liver or heart cells.

When stem cell therapy is used in ASD patients, it’s been found to help reduce certain behaviors, such as improving receptiveness to communication training and even reducing hostility and aggressiveness. However, stem cell therapy is a recent addition to the arsenal of therapies and treatments, and its full range of possible treatment outcomes is not yet completely documented. Stem cell therapy is medically documented to work, as it has already proven its worth as a form of cancer treatment. But now, stem cell therapy is exploring other avenues of treatment, such as Alzheimer’s and ASD, and this is where more research is being conducted, even as more results come in.

It’s always important to remember that different children will have different needs. If you suspect your child has ASD, get a professional evaluation, then decide from there, according to professional medical advice, what’s the most appropriate treatment.




up-arrow-1