Autologous Cell Transplant for People with Stroke

A stroke is a ‘brain attack’ which occurs if the blood flow to an area of the brain is cut off. The brain cells begin to die as they are deprived
of fresh oxygen supply. As they die, their ability to control the person’s memory and muscle movement get completely lost. The level of
stroke severity depends on the area and the extent of brain damage. Thus, stroke is a neurological disorder caused by the loss of neurons
or glial cells of the brain. Cell treatment for stroke is an innovative therapy to treat people with their own stem cells. 

Types of Stroke

Haemorrhagic stroke

A haemorrhagic stroke occur when weak blood vessels burst to spill blood. This results in the swelling and damage of the tissue and cells. 

Ischemic Stroke

If the blood vessels become narrow or get by a blood clot (ischemic), it causes reduced fresh blood supply to the brain.  

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) 

A transient ischemic attack is just like a stroke. It has similar symptoms but lasts only for a short period. This ‘mini-stroke’ causes no permanent
damage but acts as a warning for a serious stroke.

Cell treatment for stroke helps to generate new neurons and glia in patients suffering from a stroke. Stem cell-based therapy at
NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute is accomplished using mesenchymal stem cells to treat a variety of damaged brain tissues.
Easily accessible in the marrow tissue, these cells are exceedingly suitable for autologous cell-based therapies. As they are derived
from the patient’s own body (autologous), they do not face issues like rejection while merging with other stem cells.  

Thus, for stroke cell treatment has helped in preventing the death of brain cells by promoting regeneration and repair of
defective tissues, nerve, and cells.  

Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells involves just three simple steps:

• Collecting the marrow from the hip bone of the patient
• Purifying and filtering the cells through ‘density gradient centrifugation’ procedure
• Infusion of the filtered stem cells after being diluted in CSF 

At the hospital, for people with stroke cell treatment is an intrathecal administration of mesenchymal stem cells in the spinal area.

When infused in the body, these cells migrate through the vertebral canal to reach the site of injured brain tissue.
They begin their healing process to stop further tissue deterioration and to generate new cells to replace the dead ones. As the tissue
gets healed the brain regains its lost plasticity.

Thus, cell treatment for stroke is a promising way of promoting the interest of people towards regenerative medicine

Cell Therapy in India

Human beings are either born healthy and remain healthy throughout their lives. Nevertheless, some are born with neurological disorders
and muscular disorders and other degenerative disorders that at times are severe and life threatening. Cell therapy is the safest treatment
option for a number of disorders using stem cells from various sources procured from the bone marrow. 

Degenerative disorders, like neuromuscular disorders, occur due to gene mutilation or from damage to the brain and muscle cells.
These disorders have a slow onset but can lifelong and painful disrupting the social life of the person. Stem cells are defined by their
ability to differentiate into multiple host cells and to self-renew. Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells are highly proliferative,
and can inexhaustibly multiply into numerous mature cells. Hence, cell therapy in India has been proposed as a viable alternative for
treating degenerating disorders.  

Some of the best qualities of stem cells essential for cell therapy:

• The capacity of proliferation and endless multiplication.
• The ability to differentiation into any cell type or tissue
• The capability to anchor into the damaged tissue after transplant.
• The capability to function well for a long duration 
• They are not rejected by the body and create no side effects
• Cell treatment is safe and is done without having the patient go under the knife
• Cell therapy in India assures improvement in the brain plasticity to obtain positive results.

Mesenchymal stem cells are categorized as adult stem cell population that can be easily obtained from the bone marrow.
They can multiply, differentiation and provide an inexhaustible source of neurons for cell replacement. In addition to their cell
replacement role, mesenchymal stem cells provide the protective paracrine effect. This paracrine effects control the further deterioration of the diseased tissues, regenerate the surviving injured cells and promote survival. 

Some of the disorders treated at Neurogen hospital are 

• Autism, 
• Muscular dystrophy 
• Stroke
• Traumatic brain injury 
• Cerebral palsy
• Dementia
• Motor neuron disease
• Intellectual disability

There has been a rapid growth for cell therapy in India and could one day replace the painstakingly expensive and prolonged ineffective conventional therapy for treating a multitude of neurological and muscular disorders.