Stem Cells May Soon Aid Stroke Patients

New avenues for stem cell- based regenerative therapies in human beings will be possible in the coming days. Successful results in repairing damaged brain cells of rats with human embryonic stem cell open new vistas of hope for stroke patients.

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California reported that stroke-related brain damage inducing human embryonic stem cells could effectively rectify brain damage in rats.

These stem cells capable of producing every tissue and cell in the body, further developed into neurons and two other important types of brain cells. Hopes are heightened by the fact that the cells never grew uncontrollably. Stem cells also restored the lost functions of front legs in rats, which were weakened by stroke.

Dr. Gary Steinberg, the leading person of the research explained to Public Library of Science journal, PLoS ONE, how perfectly well the stem cells fitted into the damaged brain regions and blended themselves with the nearby tissue cells.

Applying this technique in human beings is expected to bring successful results in human stroke trials in another five years.

So many steps to go from rats to humans, but there is much to hope for the affected lot.

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Source-Medindia
SUN/M