Stem cell research & therapy in Mumbai

NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute is not just an organization, but a collective, committed concept, of paving the way to a brighter future, and a life of independence, for individuals with incurable neurological disorders, through the combination of revolutionary regenerative medicine, holistic comprehensive neurorehabilitation and medical intervention.

Some time ago donated organs were transplanted to replace the diseased or failed organs in the recipients. Soon the number of recipients exceeded the number of donated. To overcome this demand, cell therapy offered the possibility of replacement of the damaged cells of tissue with new cells. Stem cell infusion helps to treat a plethora of conditions including cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, intellectual disability, and other neurodegenerative syndromes as well.

Stem cells have the potential to develop into different cells of the tissues (of the body) and the ability of self-renewal. When serving as a repair system, the stem cells divide without limit as long as the person is alive. As they divide, they remain as stem cells or develop into cells with more specialized functions, like a brain cell or a muscle cell.

Stem cells, from different sources, have three common properties: They can divide and replicate themselves as long as the person is alive.

Impairments linked to neuromuscular conditions are usually irreversible due to inadequate cell regeneration or impaired cells in the central nervous system. It was observed that the cellular characteristics of autologous stem cells had the capability of treating major neurological disorders without incurring any side effects. With their neurotrophic properties, self-renewal & differentiation capacity, and immune modulation effects, the bone marrow-derived stem cells are considered as a promising candidate for treating disorders related to the nervous system.

For cell treatment, bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells are isolated from the marrow tissue (extracted from the patient’s hip bone) in an expedited, painless and safe way. By centrifugation procedure, a sufficient number of stem cells are separated from the unwanted tissue within a few hours. These injectable stem cells are infused intrathecally into the spinal area or the damaged muscle points, as per the need of the patients.

These bone marrow-derived stem cells have many useful properties that lead to great clinical improvement in post-cell-based therapy. According to various clinical trials, treatment with bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells have shown improvement in patients with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders through axonal sprouting and remyelination, potential to replace/protect the damaged neurons/cells, and neovascularization.

How do the infused stem cells act? Once infused into the body,

– The infused stem cells journey toward the nervous system and blend into the neural circuits to mend or improve the disrupted synaptic transmission.
– Post infusion, improved neuropathological condition, upregulated Aß clearance and reduced deposition is detected within a short period.
– The infused stem cells reduce neuroinflammation and provide protective immunomodulatory effect.
– The stem cells secrete neurotrophic influence and nerve growth factors, bringing cognitive and memory improvement in patients.

Apart from encouraging effects, renewed brain plasticity is also observed in patients following intrathecal delivery of stem cells. With the new medical breakthrough in stem cell therapy, the treatment has become a highly sought-after curative. To know about the treatment efficacy, one must understand the efficiency of stem cells in terms of engraftment, migration, cytokines and growth factors. However, cell-based therapy is a promising contribution to regenerative medicine and has gained considerable clinical attention. See more info at NeuroGen BSI.

Considerations Before Starting Treatment: The needs of a child with cerebral palsy aren’t solely based on correcting their physical disabilities. There are also social and emotional aspects of living a more fulfilling life. These aspects shouldn’t be ignored when considering treatment and therapy. Many children are content with their disabilities. As a parent, it’s important to consider their feelings. Some treatments can be stressful and uncomfortable, and may not be in the best interest of the child. It’s important to discuss the physical and emotional impacts of all treatments with specialists and most importantly, the child.

A few tricks to help your child with autism: Be consistent. Children with ASD have a hard time applying what they’ve learned in one setting (such as the therapist’s office or school) to others, including the home. For example, your child may use sign language at school to communicate, but never think to do so at home. Creating consistency in your child’s environment is the best way to reinforce learning. Find out what your child’s therapists are doing and continue their techniques at home. Explore the possibility of having therapy take place in more than one place in order to encourage your child to transfer what he or she has learned from one environment to another. It’s also important to be consistent in the way you interact with your child and deal with challenging behaviors. Look for nonverbal cues. If you are observant and aware, you can learn to pick up on the nonverbal cues that children with ASD use to communicate. Pay attention to the kinds of sounds they make, their facial expressions, and the gestures they use when they’re tired, hungry, or want something.

The spinal cord is responsible for sending messages from the brain to all parts of the body. It also sends messages from the body to the brain. We’re able to perceive pain and move our limbs because of messages sent through the spinal cord. If the spinal cord sustains an injury, some or all of these impulses may not be able to “get through.” The result is a complete or total loss of sensation and mobility below the injury. A spinal cord injury closer to the neck will typically cause paralysis throughout a larger part of the body than one in the lower back area.

Stem Cells: So far, umbilical cord blood has been successfully used in the treatment of over 75 conditions, such as various types of cancer, blood disease and immune deficiencies, such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia (siclemia), thalassemia, Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Stem cells also treat very rare, potentially fatal conditions, such as Krabbe’s disease or Sanfilippo’s syndrome. But from year to year new diseases appear on the list of 75 that can be treated with the help of stem cells.

Physiotherapy can be defined as a treatment method that focuses on the science of movement and helps people to restore, maintain and maximize their physical strength, function, motion and overall well-being by addressing the underlying physical issues. Neuro Physiotherapy is a type of rehabilitation offering examination and treatment of the physical problems that are caused by an individual’s neurological condition (stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, etc) and aims at enhancing and maximizing their functional ability. Read more details Cerebral Palsy Physiotherapy.