Duke Health just reported that in a recent study, children with cerebral palsy may show improvements from an infusion of their own umbilical cord blood. Recently, a clinical trial including 63 children with vastly different levels of cerebral palsy were tested. Children dosed with their own cord blood were said to have greater motor function within a year. While there is more to be done, many are hopeful about what they have found so far.
The Duke’s Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program director, Joanne Kurtzberg, shared her excitement about the progress. She does believe there is more to learn about the therapy and a plan needs to be developed on how to reach more children with the disease, but she is proud that they did indeed find a therapy to alleviate some symptoms.
Prior research supported of cord blood infusion for children with cerebral palsy, but the dosage level was unknown before and researchers weren’t even sure if it would help. Kurtzberg was a vital part of the testing, having been involved with therapeutic potential of what cord blood could provide. While they just touched upon promising potential for cerebral palsy, researchers are confident that this type of blood could provide relief in other cancers and diseases.
While looking at the data post trials, every child showed motor function improvement, even if it was seemingly small and vastly different from one another. Yet, small changes are sometimes more significant to the patient than it might seem on the outside. The learned ability to grasp an object could change someone’s life.
Beyond the researchers involved in the study, they have received support from other organizations such as the Marcus Founding and the Robertson Foundation. While the study had its limitations, it did provide progress and the researchers only hope to continue building upon the discovery they have come across.
