Specialists at Vinmec International Hospital in Hanoi have performedstem-cell therapy on a one-year-old baby boy to try and overcome theeffects of cerebral palsy (brain paralysis).
The operation, whichalready appears to be working, was the first of its kind performed inVietnam. Doctors will continue the therapy, until, hopefully, the infantstarts to recover.
The boy, simply known as Bui Duy, has beensuffering from the ailment since he was 10 months' old. The symptoms ofthe ailment are mainly a lack of body movement.
Cerebral palsy isneither genetic nor an infectious disease and thus is not contagious.Most cases arise at or about the time of birth.
The baby wasfirst treated for sepsis (blood poisoning), which was accompanied bydiarrhoea, high fever and convulsions. Doctors thought that the boymight never recover.
The blood poisoning left him with a brainstarved of oxygen, which caused body stiffening, breathing difficulties,problems in eating and sleeping as well as communicating - in otherwords, cerebral palsy.
"The doctors said that my son was tooyoung for acupuncture or traditional medicine, the usual forms oftreatment in Vietnam. Stem-cell therapy became his last hope forrecovery," said Tuan, the baby's father.
The boy received his first injection of stem cells on March 21.
NguyenThanh Liem, Vinmec Hospital Director, said that the stem cells camefrom the baby's bone marrow. They were injected into his blood andspinal cord to replace or support the injured brain tissue.
Fourdays after the injection, Bui Duy still had muscle contractions, butthey were less serious and frequent. He is scheduled to have a secondinjection of bone-marrow cells on March 28.
Stem-cell therapy hasbeen widely used in many countries to treat cerebral palsy. Researchesin the United States and Europe said that 60-70 percent of those treatedshowed improvements in mobility and linguistic capabilities.
Followingthe stem cell breakthrough in treating diseases, the Vinmec hospital isunderway preparing to treat another once incurable brain ailment,autism, which often leave children unable to communicate properly.
Accordingto Liem, clinical trials of stem cell therapy on children with autismhave been conducted in America, India and China. Results show that up to70 percent showed varying degrees of recovery. This is consideredpromising as many as 200,000 Vietnamese children suffer from autism.
The cost of stem-cell treatment ranges from 120-150 million VND (5,800-7,200 USD).-VNA
The operation, whichalready appears to be working, was the first of its kind performed inVietnam. Doctors will continue the therapy, until, hopefully, the infantstarts to recover.
The boy, simply known as Bui Duy, has beensuffering from the ailment since he was 10 months' old. The symptoms ofthe ailment are mainly a lack of body movement.
Cerebral palsy isneither genetic nor an infectious disease and thus is not contagious.Most cases arise at or about the time of birth.
The baby wasfirst treated for sepsis (blood poisoning), which was accompanied bydiarrhoea, high fever and convulsions. Doctors thought that the boymight never recover.
The blood poisoning left him with a brainstarved of oxygen, which caused body stiffening, breathing difficulties,problems in eating and sleeping as well as communicating - in otherwords, cerebral palsy.
"The doctors said that my son was tooyoung for acupuncture or traditional medicine, the usual forms oftreatment in Vietnam. Stem-cell therapy became his last hope forrecovery," said Tuan, the baby's father.
The boy received his first injection of stem cells on March 21.
NguyenThanh Liem, Vinmec Hospital Director, said that the stem cells camefrom the baby's bone marrow. They were injected into his blood andspinal cord to replace or support the injured brain tissue.
Fourdays after the injection, Bui Duy still had muscle contractions, butthey were less serious and frequent. He is scheduled to have a secondinjection of bone-marrow cells on March 28.
Stem-cell therapy hasbeen widely used in many countries to treat cerebral palsy. Researchesin the United States and Europe said that 60-70 percent of those treatedshowed improvements in mobility and linguistic capabilities.
Followingthe stem cell breakthrough in treating diseases, the Vinmec hospital isunderway preparing to treat another once incurable brain ailment,autism, which often leave children unable to communicate properly.
Accordingto Liem, clinical trials of stem cell therapy on children with autismhave been conducted in America, India and China. Results show that up to70 percent showed varying degrees of recovery. This is consideredpromising as many as 200,000 Vietnamese children suffer from autism.
The cost of stem-cell treatment ranges from 120-150 million VND (5,800-7,200 USD).-VNA
