Recent Trial Shows the Promise of Cord Blood Stem Cells to Treat Parkinson’s

Umbilical cord blood stem cells continue to be at the forefront of treating neurological disorders. These powerful stem cells have already been shown to have a restore varying degrees neurological capacity for a number of disorders such as stroke and traumatic brain injury. Now, a recent study suggests that cord blood stem cells can improve motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by dopamine neuron loss in patients’ brains. Cord blood stem cells represent “a promising therapeutic approach to replace the missing dopamine neurons and restore the motor function of patients with Parkinson’s disease.”
 
The major challenge for the development of stem cell replacement therapies for Parkinson’s disease has been finding reliable sources of easily expandable cells which can generate specific dopamine neurons that are lost in the brains of patients.
Enter Cord Blood Stem Cells The study looked to see if transplanting umbilical cord blood stem cells had positive, therapeutic effects on rat models with Parkinson’s disease. In fact, investigators observed that the cord blood stem cells “significantly improve the motor deficits of the Parkinson disease rats.” In conclusion, the study’s results suggest that using cord blood stem cells “would have a significant impact on future strategies for Parkinson’s diseases treatment.”

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