Stem cell therapy comes to the aid of Parkinson’s patient

In a major breakthrough in the area of stem cell therapy, a hospital in Bangalore has claimed to have successfully treated a patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Andrew Kisana, 58, a US national, had arrived in India last year for treatment for the dreaded ailment after having exhausted all options in his country. The year-long stem cell therapy he underwent at Manipal Hospital in Bangalore has yielded positive results and Kisana’s improvement has been termed as “remarkable” by the doctors attending on him.

Announcing this at a press conference in Bangalore Director of Manipal Institute of Neurological Disorders K Venkataramana said Kisana came to the hospital with tremors in the hands and legs, severe shaking of the head, difficulty in walking, swallowing and speech. He also had episodes of “freezing” in which the patient has difficulty in locomotion.

The doctors began the treatment by harvesting stem cells from the Kisana’s bone marrow and injecting them into the brain through surgery. Six months later, drugs were stopped. “There have been no tremors, no drooling and there are no freezing attacks”, the doctors said.

The patient, who was also produced in the press conference, concurred with the doctors. “No other treatment has been as effective….”, he typed on his laptop while sitting on the wheelchair at the press conference. “The tremors of the limbs and head have stopped completely and handwriting has improved”, he said communicating with the reporters through the laptop as his speech was still slurred.

Kisana, a structural engineer in the US, primarily chose India for the treatment of his debilitating ailment on account of the low costs. Venkataramana said the costs in India work out to less than a third of the costs in the US.

The hospital authorities presented another remarkable story of recovery of a patient, who became paraplegic losing control over his limbs and bladder after suffering a spinal cord injury in an accident.

The patient Ramesha also underwent stem cell therapy to regain control over his bladder and hands. “After the treatment, I can move my hands and can control my bladder”, he told reporters.