Stem cell breakthrough set to bring new hope to disabled stroke victims

A RADICAL stem cell treatment is offering fresh hope to thousands of stroke victims.

Patients disabled by the condition showed ‘significant’ improvement after undergoing a pioneering procedure trialled by Scottish doctors.

Newly published research shows that when their brains were injected with stem cells, some patients regained part of the movement, balance and co-ordination lost when they suffered the stroke.

The procedure was carried out on 11 male stroke patients in Glasgow who volunteered after being left with long-lasting disabilities.

The doctors are now offering the treatment to other patients as part of their trials.

There are more than 14,000 strokes north of the Border every year and they are the third most common cause of death. More than half of all survivors are left with a disability.

The trial was led by Professor Keith Muir of the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow and scientists at UK stem cell firm ReNeuron.

After 12 months, four of the 11 patients showed ‘significant’ improvement.

Professor Muir said: ‘These were individuals who were strongly motivated to do something to get better as this was extreme brain surgery and experimental.

‘Their families were very supportive, as they recognised the restricted lives the patients were living, but they were also very anxious. The main motive was to look at the safety of the procedure, but also how the patients got on afterwards.

‘We chose patients in whom we did not expect to see an improvement, but nonetheless some of them did get a bit better and they stayed better.

‘That was enough for us to see that there is something here worth pursuing.

‘There were patients who did not experience any change. But some reported changes, for example, in their ability to move their fingers, in their ability to balance and go from sitting to standing, and in their co-ordination.

‘They were less dependent on other people in their ability to carry out day-to-day tasks like feeding, getting up the stairs, walking and dressing. The effects were subtle and varied – however, in some cases they were significant.’

The results of the trial were published in The Lancet last week.

Dr John Sinden, chief scientific officer at ReNeuron, said: ‘The stem cells appear to be triggering a repair process within the brain, by switching on its natural repair process so that it was making new blood cells and new nerve cells. This is a big step forward.’

Dr Shamim Quadir, research communications manager at the Stroke Association, said: ‘We welcome the latest findings. We now look forward to the results of the larger and ongoing study which could increase our understanding of the potential benefits of this therapy.’