Posted on 06/03/2016 4:27:30 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
Doctors have reversed the symptoms of stroke in a major medical breakthrough.
Patients regained the ability to walk, speak and have a normal family life, thanks to a procedure requiring only local anaesthetic and a single night in hospital.
Remarkably, the stem cell treatment was shown to work even three years after someone had suffered a stroke - meaning that millions of people could potentially benefit from the treatment.
Eighteen patients underwent the procedure in an initial trial - with stunning results.
Despite the long gap between stroke and treatment, all 18 patients in the pilot showed increasing improvement for the 12 months they were tracked after the operation.
Nearly half showed ‘clinically meaningful’ results - which meant the procedure had a significant impact on their lifestyle.
One patient who relied on a wheelchair, unable to properly use her legs, has since taken up jogging.
Another woman, who could barely get to her feet before the operation, has since walked down the aisle and is now expecting a baby with her new husband.
And another, completely paralysed apart from the use of her left thumb, has regained the ability to walk.
The treatment, carried out by scientists at Stanford University in California, is thought to be so effective because it triggers the rapid regeneration of brain circuits damaged during a stroke.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The stem cells come from the bone marrow of donors...not fetal tissue, if I read this correctly.
Bookmarked for later...
Fantastic!
However, look for government regulators to severely limit the use of this, as it costs money. Don’t expect compassion or common sense from them.
The new therapy uses stem cells called SB623 cells, extracted from the bone marrow of donors and then modified to make them suitable for insertion into the brain.
Adult, not embryonic stem cells.
This is good. Now, if they could only improve this to reprogram patient’s own stem cells, it would be even better.
Will only be available to Democrat voters and a few Republican elites under new Obama Care rule. Everyone else will still be given a pill and told to go home and die.
Besides, since it uses adult stem cells, it can’t legitimize the liberal UnHoly Sacrament of baby dismemberment.
Exactly. They don't say why they didn't use the patient's own bone marrow, but I suspect it is probably because 1) it put all the patients on the same playing field, eliminating some confounding factors, or 2) it would require another procedure to extract it and process it, significantly increasing the cost, or both. If you can use two bone marrow donors for 18 patients, as they did, that probably lowers the cost tremendously. However, one thing I'd be interested in knowing is if the recipients have to take anti-rejection drugs, since the stem cells aren't their own. If they do, then the cost and risk of using the patient's own stem cells, as compared to the cost and risk of using a donor's, might tip in favor of the patient's own.
Bookmarking...
I wonder if this procedure can help other maladies such as Parkinson, MS, mental illness, autism...
Tremendous!
Not covered.
Health insurance companies: “denied”
....we need to compensate our CEO millions/annum plus stock options.
There’s a whole subculture of medical care/facilities for recovery of stroke victims .... they won’t want to be giving up their golden goose without some pushback.
It IS fantastic. Regarding the money issue, think about all the costs that could be saved for people on disability, or Medicaid that could come off the rolls if this procedure works.
Bookmark
This will really piss-off Planned Parenthood.
Girlene wrote: "...think about all the costs that could be saved for people on disability, or Medicaid that could come off the rolls if this procedure works."
How true!
My own mother suffered a devastating stroke subsequent to emergency brain surgery to repair a brain aneurysm in '93 which resulted with total loss of left hemisphere control - hemi-plegia. She was left blind, deaf, and totally incapacitated on her left side, yet managed to re-learn to walk and independently access stairs at the age of 54 despite a total loss of depth perception. She remained independent with use of a cane for nearly 20 years, but relied heavily on my dad for help with bathing, dressing and household chores. He needed to lift her in/out of the bath and car during those two decades which took it's toll on his well-being as well. After a series of falls (refusing help) she spent the last four years in a nursing facility suffering many infections/surgeries from failed hip replacement which ultimately took her life.
I can only imagine the costs saved for others, who like my mom require additional home support as well as nursing/rehab services - should this therapy become widely available.
Just fathom the value of - immediate signs of recovery - but the elimination of often overlooked costs and stresses on family, personal finances, alterations to home environment to accomodate the needs of the handicapped, the elimination of physical & emotional duress of everyone adjusting to an unforgiving shift in circumstances.
The savings from unneeded government medical coverage alone would be tremendous!
I pray this therapy proves to be safe and as overwhelmingly successful as this article suggests to spare countless families from the devastation a stroke can inflict.
I agree with you. Not only does this new procedure eliminate a lot of human misery, it also will take a substantial burden off of our healthcare system. However, don’t expect government bureaucrats to do anything that makes sense.
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