[News Today] STEM CELL PARKINSON’S TREATMENT

[LEAD]
Twenty years ago, former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk shocked the world with his embryonic stem cell research. Unfortunately, this later turned out to be fraud, causing a significant setback in domestic stem cell research. Nonetheless, efforts continued to develop treatments using of stem cells. A recent report from a South Korean medical team highlights symptom improvements, in Parkinson’s disease patients using embryonic stem cells.

[REPORT]
A man in his 50s battling Parkinson's disease for the 15th year.

Symptoms had worsened, making it difficult to walk and even go to the restroom on his own.

However from a year after receiving an embryonic stem cell transplant, conditions improved and he was able to walk more than 5,000 steps a day.

Now he even plays table tennis and badminton.

Parkinson's disease patient who received embryonic stem cell transplant/
Before, I couldn't play badminton at all. But now I can play 15-20 minutes at one go. It's the same with table tennis.

Parkinson's disease develops when our brain cells that secrete dopamine which controls movement perish.

Researchers have developed stem cells into dopaminergic neural precursor cells and injected them into the patient's brain.

Prof. Chang Jin-woo / Korea Univ. Anam Hospital
If the embryonic stem cell is not injected to the accurate spot, secondary links can be created making it difficult to ease patient symptoms.

After the treatment, researchers, using brain imaging testing, confirmed that the area of the brain secreting dopamine has become much larger.

This shows the precursor cells injected into the brain have grown into dopamine-releasing nerve cells.

Also, the mobility of 3 patients who received the treatment have improved about 44% on average.

Prof. Lee Phil-hyu / Severance Hospital
The treatment is expected to sharply reduce patients' dopamine intake, improve
side effects such as stiffness of the body when medication wears out.

This marks the first time in Asia that treatment effects of embryonic stem cell transplant on Parkinson's disease patients are verified.

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