The new year has gifted a fresh lease of life to Remya V Prabhu of Mattancherry. The 20-year-old who underwent stem cell therapy, is now learning the ropes of doing her daily activities independently. “Stem Cell therapy is emerging as one of the newer treatment options for conditions like autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, paralysis, brain stroke, cerebellar ataxia and other neurological disorders.
The treatment has the potential to repair the damaged neural tissue at molecular, structural and functional level,” Dr Nandini Gokulchandran, deputy director, Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute, who treated Remya. Dr Alok Sharma, professor and head of Neurosurgery, LTMG Hospital and LTM Medical College,Sion, is the director of the hospital
Though Remya was born as a normal child,a severe bout of jaundice in the initial days following her birth resulted in damage to her brain which later manifested as cerebral palsy. The condition Remya had was called Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy.
“Stem Cell Therapy (SCT) done at NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute in Navi Mumbai is a very simple and safe procedure. Stem Cells are taken from the patient’s own bone marrow and cells are injected back into their Spinal Fluid after processing. Since they are taken from the patient’s own body there is no rejection, no side effects, making SCT a completely safe procedure,” Dr Nandini explained.
“When Remya was brought to Neuro Gen in August 2016 for examination she had many disorders, including poor hand functions. Oral motor control was not adequately developed and hence her speech was slurred. Her attention and concentration was average and she used to get distracted after 15-20 minutes. Her cognition and problem solving was average. Her eye contact was poor.
She was dependent on others for all her daily activities, including bathing , dressing and post toilet hygiene,besides difficulty in walking on uneven terrain, difficulty in crossing obstacles, difficulty in climbing stairs (required support and supervision), She was unable to eat food on her own (eats only biscuit and chips on her own). She used to get startled and suffered seizures like jerks on sudden touch, loud noise,” Dr Nandini said, adding, the girl, who had slurred speech, can now sing songs”.
At NeuroGen, Remya underwent Stem Cell Therapy along with a customised rehabilitation programme. She was given exercises that would help her to improve body balance, walking, stair climbing, cognition, posture and grip. “We are happy to see Remya grow into a independent child. Stem Cell Therapy brings life changing improvements in the patients. Stem Cell Therapy definitely changed the life of parents along with bringing in more positivity and motivation in their struggle,” Dr Nandini said.