'Stem cell regime has no advantage over conventional treatment of stroke'

Stem cell treatment has no added beneficial effects over the conventional treatment of paralysis, which is also known as stroke, a study conducted by the All India Institute of Medial Sciences (AIIMS) has revealed.

The study that was financed by the Department of Bio-Technology stated that the general public, suffering from disabling and incurable diseases, should not go in for stem cell treatment without knowing its scientific effects as there are different types of stem cells.

The study, released Thursday, was carried out between 2008 and 2014 and out of 120 patients, 60 patients were assigned to receive conventional treatment and the remaining 60 patients were assigned bone marrow stem cell treatment.

All the patients had suffered from a stroke and subsequent paralysis.

While half of the patients underwent conventional treatment, the other half underwent stem cell aspiration from the hip bone. Bone marrow cells were infused into the veins of their forearm.

Later the patients' difficulties in using their upper limbs were measured at intervals of 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively.

"Stem cell treatment might have no side effects, but it has been proved that it has no advantages over the conventional treatment process," said Kameshwar Prasad, professor at the department of Neurology, AIIMS.

The study, which is the first report on stem cells treatment for stroke, has been published in the American Journal "Stroke".

Apart from AIIMS, SGPGI Lucknow, PGIMER Chandigarh, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune and Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi participated in the study.