( this is the first time I have read about bone marrow transplant use in Parkinson's! has anyone else read about this-- madelyn)

B'lore docs spell Parkinson's cure

Shwetal Kamalapurkar
CNN-IBN
Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 08:35
Updated Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 09:14 Email Print




Bangalore: Fifty-eight-year-old Andrew Kisana was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 15 years ago. He first noticed slight tremors in his body. He then gradually lost control of his movements and his speech became slurred.


"The disease manifests itself by what is called as shaking of the hands - tremors. It starts with one hand and gradually spreads to the other hand and then to the legs and in some severe extremities the entire body keeps shaking,” says Head of Department, Neurosurgery, Manipal Hospital, Dr Venkatraman.


There is no known cause for Parkinson's disease, but it is a low level of dopamine (A neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger between nerve cells) in the brain that results in symptoms of Parkinson's.


There is no cure for the disease, but the first line of treatment is usually drugs, which have side effects with prolonged use. Surgery is another option, but it's not always effective as in the case of Andrew, where doctors chose to try a newer form of treatment stem cell therapy.


"There was about 50 per cent recovery after stem cell therapy in Andrew’s condition. Earlier he had severe tremors, he could not walk, there was drooling of saliva, his speech was slurred, he could not even write. But now, after one year of therapy, he can walk. he is not having tremors, and he can write and use his computer as well,’ says Chief Scientific Officer, Stempeutics Research, Manipal Hospital, Dr Satish Totey.


So what exactly is bone marrow stem cell therapy? Stem cells from the patient's bone marrow are taken and set aside to culture. After the required numbers of stem cells are formed, these cells are injected back in the patient's body. Since stem cells regenerate on their own, thus compensating for the cells lost during the disease.


There are around one million people living with Parkinson's in the country and not all can afford stem cell therapy.


The cost for treatment varies between Rs 2 and 2.5 lakh. Surgery on the other hand has a low success rate.


So it's a no win situation for the people effected, and they will just have to bid their time until treatment becomes affordable.