Nashik teens successfully undergo stem cell therapy

Two mentally-challenged teenagers from Nashik got a new lease of life after they successfully underwent rare stem cell therapy treatment at a Navi Mumbai hospital.
Rutuja Bukane, 16, who suffered from cerebral palsy, and 11-year-old Tapasvi Chavan, who was a intellectually disabled child, recently successfully underwent stem cell therapy treatment at Navi Mumbai Nurogen Brain and Spine Institute and are much better now, deputy director of the institute Dr Nandini Gokulchandran said.
She said Rutuja was a case with chief complaints of in-coordination, and had difficulty in speech and swallowing along with signs of mental retardation. She had inability to stand and walk independently, but now after prolonged treatment at the institute she is now better.

Rutuja first came to the institute in March, 2014 and post stem cell therapy, she is mch better than earlier, the doctor said.
In Tapasvi's case, in term of her motor milestones, she achieved her head control, rolling and crawling on time however standing independently, walking independently and speech was delayed, but now she is better, Gokulchandran said.
"Till very recently, it was believed that brain damage during the birth was irreversible. However, now with emerging research, we understand that it is possible to repair the damaged brain tissue using cell therapy," she said.

Director of the institute, Dr Alok Sharma, stem cell therapy is emerging as one of the newer treatment options for conditions like autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, paralysis, brain stoke, cerebellar ataxia and other neurological disorders.

Briefing on the process of stem cell therapy, Sharma said during the process, stem cells are taken from patient's own bone marrow with a needle and are injected back in their spinal fluid after processing.
Since the cells are taken from the patient's own body, there are no side effects, making the treatment a completely safe procedure.