Chinese make progress in using stem cells for treat neurologic disease

http://www.china.org.cn/health/2009-08/12/content_18322951.htm

China News Agency( August 12, 2009)

Wu Like

Wu Stem Cells Medical Center,Beijing China

"I thought I would have to wait for 2 years to eat Peking duck, the other day I had Peking duck for dinner!" When we heard this spoken so clearly from Georgiana Li, you would never imagine what she was previously like two months ago.

Georgiana is a 65-year-old female suffering from multiple systems atrophy (MSA), a deadly disease that has no definite cure with traditional medicine. When she came to us for the treatment in February of 2009, she had lost movement in her right arm and her legs very early on, the remaining strength in her left arm also decreased significantly, leaving her not able to move or control any of her limbs. Her speech was severely impaired as well. While her family was able to guess her needs just by knowing her, nobody was able to actually understand what she was saying. Her voice was very weak and unclear. Also, she was not able to eat any solid foods or drink water because of a fear of chocking. All her food was prepared and liquefied, adding a lot of water to make it easier for her to swallow. Since the development of her MSA, she has been in severe pain, experiencing cramps throughout her whole body, in her legs, arms, shoulders, and in every major muscle region. Sometimes family members would actually have to massage her limbs during the night in order for her to sleep.

In 2006, Georgiana noticed that she had problems with her balance while walking, which caused her to fall a few times, soon after she had to use a cane to walk because she continuously felt off balance. Over the next few months she became progressively weaker, resulting in her inability to get out of a chair by herself and eventually in March of 2007 she felt too weak to walk. A local neurologist saw her and initially suspected Parkinson's disease. In August of 2007 she visited the Parkinson's Institute in California, where the director, based on her various symptoms, gave her the diagnosis of MSA.

Georgiana then went to a neurological treatment center in Beijing for stem cell treatment first, for a period of three months. However she didn't gain any positive results. Later on her family found the Wu Stem Cells Medical Center located in the southern suburban area of Beijing and made the decision to transfer her there.

Dr. Like Wu, the head neurologist and the Director of Wu Stem Cells Medical Center, who was in charge of Georgiana's treatment, told reporters that Georgiana's case was just one of the typical successful cases he has treated with the neural stem cell technologies he developed. Using such unique and cutting edge stem cell technologies since 2005, Dr. Wu and his team have successfully treated over 1,000 patients from all over the world suffering from various neurological diseases, including Parkinson's, Stroke, Battens disease, ALS, MS, MSA, PSP, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, etc. Georgiana is one of them. This has laid a solid foundation for the application of stem cell technologies to treat previously incurable neurological diseases. The total effectiveness is above 95%, and most importantly the treatment receives the patients' highest praises.