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In between running to doctors appointments, therapy
appointments, and living every day life, most parents of children with cerebral palsy
spend their precious free time looking for the next miraculous treatment.
One treatment making the headlines is a stem cell therapy. When a child is born, parents
can choose to bank the baby’s umbilical cord. One reason to make this investment is the
stem cells within the cord can be helpful should the child get sick later in life. The cost of
storing cord blood runs around $2,000.
One story that is causing many parents to really think about and consider this option is of
Chloe, an Arizona resident who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 12 months. When
Chloe was 9 months old, her parents noticed she wasn’t able to hold her bottle with her
right hand, and she also could not raise both hands above her head or crawl. She was
eventually diagnosed with right-side hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Hemiplegia is a form of
cerebral palsy that affects one arm and leg on the same side of the body.
The diagnosis seemed to indicate to Chloe’s parents that there was a lifetime of therapy
ahead of them. In the process of finding out more options and information, they stumbled
across an experimental procedure at Duke University in North Carolina. Using research from Duke, doctors had begun using a child’s own cord blood stem cells to heal and
repair damaged brain tissue. Luckily, Chloe’s umbilical cord had been banked at birth.
At age 2 Chloe received an infusion of her own stem cells. The cells were injected into an
area that requires healing, prompting the unhealthy cells to begin to form new cells which
replace the damaged tissues and cells. According to Chloe’s father, the toddler’s
progress has been incredible. She can walk, run, and use her right hand for sign
language. Even Chloe’s therapist is impressed, proclaiming a 50 percent recovery in the
two month after the stem cell infusion.
Chloe’s recovery has given hope to cerebral palsy patients. To learn more about this
procedure discuss options with your physicia
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