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Hi. Welcome to another ColdFusion video.
This video is going to be something a little bit different. It's pretty exciting and frankly amazing.
For the longest time, it was thought that brain damage,
such as that caused by a stroke,
is permanent and irreversible.
But a recent medical breakthrough is bringing this notion into question.
Researchers at Stanford University have been blown away by the results
of a clinical trial they conducted. Among other amazing stories,
a wheelchair-bound stroke victim has regained the ability to walk
after stem cells were injected directly Into the brain.
It's all pretty crazy, but in this video, we'll take a look.
As defined By the US National Institution of Health,
a stroke is a medical condition, in which poor blood flow to the brain results in cell death.
Stanford University tested a new method for recovering damaged brain tissue.
The surgical procedure involved 18 stroke patients that were at the Plateau Stage of recovery.
At this stage, there's typically no more potential for recovery in motor coordination.
That's pretty much it, that's the best it's gonna get.
They're usually taken out of therapy because it's believed that their brains
have been damaged in key areas beyond repair.
During the trial, surgeons drilled a hole into the skull of the patients
and injected human adult stem cells around the damaged areas of the brain.
Amazingly, these stem cells then triggered the damaged areas of the brain to repair themselves.
Within days, patients could move limbs again, and begin to speak properly when they couldn't previously.
They could even be sent home on the same day as the surgery.
Here's a news report from CBS on the topic. It is amazing.
We have some remarkable video to show you tonight.
Stroke victims making incredible progress, literally overnight, thanks to a new kind of treatment at Stanford.
Five years ago, Sonia Coontz suffered a stroke that severely damaged her brain.
This is Sonia's stroke.
It partially paralyzed Sonia on her right side and she could barely speak.
Her speech was not very understandable. She couldn't order food or communicate well.
Two years later, Sonia could still hardly lift her arm, but just one day, after an experimental treatment,
- Oh my gosh.
Sonia could lift her arm over her head, and move it to the side.
- Are you kidding me?
And also to the front, and her words began to flow.
Sonia: I woke up, and immediately I could speak better
Dr. Gary Steinberg, Chair of Neurosurgery at Stanford,
led the small clinical trial.
Eighteen chronic stroke patients were involved, twelve came to Stanford, including Sonia.
Sonia: I was very excited. I think I started to cry.
In a trial, Steinberg drilled a tiny hole Into the patient's skull, and using a very fine needle
injected modified human adult stem cells around the stroke.
You put them around the stroke, and that's where
they do their thing to recover the function.
These cells don't survive for long after the surgery,
but they appear to trigger a patient's damaged brain
to begin to heal Itself.
The cells somehow jumpstart the system again.
Here's another stroke patient just before surgery
And here she is just days after receiving the stem-cell treatment.
As for Sonia, her life Is back on track. She's now married and pregnant on her first child.
Sonia: And there's a boy. Yeah [laughs]
According to Gary Steinberg, Chairperson of Neurosurgery at Stanford, one of the patients
was a 71 year old wheelchair-bound individual who could walk again after the stem cell surgery.
This event has shocked everyone on the research team.
Quote:
He goes on,
End Quote.
So, Gary seems to hint that stem cells could be used
to treat other neuro-degenerative diseases,
like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.
Alright, so that's all well and good, but let's dig a little deeper:
What exactly are stem cells?
Stem cells are a very remarkable type of cell.
They have the ability to change themselves into any other type of cell during early life and growth.
In tissues, they serve as a sort of internal repair system,
dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells, as long as the person is alive.
They can even do this after long periods of inactivity.
When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell,
or become another type of cell with a more specialized function,
such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell,
or in this case, a brain cell.
In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow,
stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn-out, damaged tissues.
In other organs however, such as the pancreas and heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.
The cells used in the Stanford surgery were SB623 stem cells.
These cells are actually a product of SanBio, Inc.
SB623, a bone marrow derived stem cells from adult donors.
The new idea here is that these special stem cells have been genetically engineered
to repair damaged cells when introduced.
According to the World Health Organization, 15 million people suffer strokes worldwide each year.
Of these, five million die, and another five million are permanently disabled.
Once knowing this, it becomes easy to see the huge potential of this medical breakthrough.
Right now, the Stanford team is now moving Into phase two of the trial, with 153 patients on the list.
They're going to see if these results can be replicated.
I'm definitely wishing Gary, and his team, all the best.
I personally think that this is really awesome to see.
These are the very early days of stem cell genetic research,
and the technology can only get better from here.
Clearly, a huge potential lies within stem cell genetic engineering. It definitely can be used for good;
and it's nice to see this technology being used in that way.
As a side point, a lot of this just shows how little we know about the human brain.
and in a way, we tend to take it for granted every day.
So what do you guys think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Anyway, I thought I'll just bring that story to you guys, so thanks for watching,
if you're new to this channel, feel free to subscribe.
This has been Dagogo, you've been watching ColdFusion,
and I'll see you again soon for the next video.
Cheers guys! Have a good one.
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