Cell Therapy For The Treatment Of Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is recognized in patients having both intellectual and adaptive functioning issues. It is assessed by a doctor through standardized IQ testing. An IQ score of 70 - 75 indicates the patient as being intellectually disabled. The scores can vary considerably or may also not accurately reflect his/her overall intellectual functioning. There are many degrees of intellectual disability ranging from mild to profound.

The areas of functioning impaired due to intellectual disability are:

• Conceptual: Inability to read, write, reason, remember, attention deficit
• Social: Lack of communication skill, empathy, make friends, follow rules
  

Causes 

Some of the known causes of intellectual disability are:

• Genetic conditions: Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome  
• Problems during pregnancy: Interference with fetal brain development due to excessive alcohol or drug use, and infections
• Problems during childbirth: Occurs when the baby’s brain is deprived of fresh oxygen supply or if he/she is born extremely premature
• Illness or injury: Infections like measles or meningitis can lead to intellectual disability in the newborn baby. A head injury or a near-drowning incident or exposure to toxins such as lead also lead to intellectual disability.
• Signs of intellectual disability

Given below are some of the common signs of intellectual disability:

• Late in reaching the motor milestone like sitting, crawling, rolling over, walking
• Having trouble while talking
• Slow to learn things like dressing, tying a shoelace, eating  
• Find difficult to remember things
• Behaviour problems such as tantrums
• Difficulty with logical thinking
• Health problems that include anxiety, seizures, vision and hearing issues

Intellectual Disability is a non-progressive condition that affects a person’s cognition, behaviour, and social skills. Although there is no complete cure for this condition, still cell therapy for intellectual disability focuses on the symptoms and addressing its core neurological condition. To reverse the damage caused to the brain, intellectual disability treatment, cell treatment is a neuro-restorative therapy which benefits patients in gaining the needed skills.

Autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells are approved for intellectual disability treatment.  They are easily collected from the patient’s own bone marrow and have the capability to multiply into numerous cells. The treatment procedure is accomplished in Neurogen hospital in just three easy steps.

• The bone marrow is extracted with the help of an aspiration needle from the patient’s own hip bone.
• The collected marrow tissue undergoes a filtration process to separate the stem cells.
• The acquired stem cells are intrathecally introduced in the spinal area.

Once inside the body, these stem cells migrate to the damaged areas of the brain to differentiate into neurons, adopt the properties of the host cells, and accelerate the neurorestorative processes.  Thus cell therapy for intellectual disability has proved to be beneficial in minimizing the severity of the disorder.

The treatment with the bone marrow-derived stem cells in combination with rehabilitation therapies or conventional treatment such as speech therapy and occupational therapy are aimed towards improving the symptoms of intellectual disability.  The objective is to reduce the level of impairment while enhancing the functional ability of the individual.