A breakthrough in the treatment of Cerebral Palsy was announced today. The safe and non-invasive procedure was performed on 19-year-old Gabor from Hungary using neural stem cells. The treatment was administered at Tiantan Puhua Neurosurgical Hospital which is famous for its world leading treatments for stroke and Parkinson

An American citizen inflicted with debilitating Parkinson’s disease became one of the first in the world to be treated successfully with stem cell therapy at Tiantan Puhua Neurosurgical Hospital in Beijing. 52 year old Penny of Hawaii has seen remarkable improvement in her condition is being treated with the unique procedure specifically designed for Parkinson’s patients. The announcement comes after hospital staff monitored Penny’s progress to ensure the procedure was a success after the initial stages of treatment were completed.

“I was on the verge of dying” says Penny. “Now, I feel that I have my life back after this new stem cell treatment. My body has calmed down, I can walk fluidly, I can hold a knife and a fork and cut my food by myself, I can get out of bed on my own, brush my hair, and even do Yoga. I feel like a kid again,” she said.

The ground breaking treatment causes patients to naturally produce Dopamine by introducing ‘Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial cells’ (hRPE) to their bodies. This enhances Dopamine levels in the brain. Patients do not need to take supplementary drugs during the treatment because the use of hRPE cells means that patients do not have immunosuppressive reactions. Specifically, hRPE cells are introduced into the region of the brain where the damaged cells reside, and medications that “fertilize” the area are taken which help the cells survive.

“Our medical solution gives a new ray of hope for all patients around the world suffering from formerly untreatable neural diseases like Parkinson’s disease, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. We are all very happy for Penny and are excited to see the improvement in her condition,” said Dr. Sherwood, Vice President of Tiantan Puhua Hospital.

When nerve cells in the brain die or become damaged, the brain disorder Parkinson’s disease is the result. Dopamine is an essential chemical which is responsible for smooth and coordinated movement of the body. The normal function of the nerve cells in the brain is due to the production of Dopamine. Damaged nerve cells result in a lack of Dopamine, and ultimately cause the Parkinson’s symptoms of slow movement, freeze ups, balance difficulties, shaking (tremors) and the stiffness of the muscles.

4 years ago Penny was diagnosed with Parkinson’s by doctors in the USA. She has since experienced ever single symptom of the disease. Penny often experienced “freeze ups” while walking whereby she would stop and not be able to continue her motion. She had given up reading and writing and operations most people take for granted, such as holding a telephone, getting dressed, brushing her hair or even turning her neck, she had extreme difficulty performing. She experienced severe difficulty getting out of a bed or chair by herself, she had constant shaking in her hands, and could only eat if her food was prepared for her in a way that allowed her to use a spoon or her fingers. Her muscles were very tense, yet extremely weak.

Penny said she got her life back after two months of stem cell therapy, which included rehabilitation and neurological nutritional balancing. Penny’s shaking was greatly reduced, her strength increased, her freeze ups stopped, her movement became more fluid, and her muscle tension disappeared. She can now get out of bed immediately without any assistance.

To date, over 20 Parkinson’s patients have been treated using the hRPE cells. All cases have exhibited increased dopamine in their metabolism and improved control of movement. Long term follow up information has not yet been released but the outlook of continued progress is most likely. Penny is the only known American citizen treated for Parkinson’s using this type of stem cell treatment.

Mary and her family, in the midst of another two dozen families, met with President George Bush before he signed two bills and vetoed another connected to stem cell research.

During a 15 second photo op, Mary tried to tell the story of her 3-year-old son. Ryan who suffers from mild cerebral palsy, she told the president, was the first child in the nation to be injected with stem cells from her own umbilical cord blood.

Her son received the infusion and immediately showed significant signs of improvement. Since October, the Batavia mother has tried to spread the story of her son to the masses, and now she had the chance to tell President Bush.

“I said, ‘My son is symptom-free now,’ and he just was floored. He just was speechless,” Mary said. “His mouth went open and he said, ‘What? Really?'”

Bush was quite interested in what Mary had to say, judging by the way he tried to follow her before he was pulled back by his staff, Mary stated.

A year prior to their child’s birth, Mary and her husband Steve decided to bank her cord blood and save Ryan’s umbilical cord after learning the significance of stem cells. One of Mary’s family members had died of leukemia because they were unable to find a compatible match of bone marrow, another source of stem cells.

Stem cells derived from cord blood (a rich source for stem cells), have revealed that they can differentiate into other varieties of cells in the body. Cord blood, used for many years as a cancer treatment was used in unique circumstances. Ryan’s case was the first where the stem cells were being used to treat a neurological disorder such as cerebral palsy.

Since there is no way to track if the stem cells are in fact the cause of health improvements, physicians and researchers are tentative to endorse the procedure says Mary. She finally went to an agreeing physician at Duke University in North Carolina after months of probing and rejection for the treatment from other clinics and doctors.

“Now he talks fine, he has no feeding issues, he has all his mobility back. There’s no need for occupational or speech therapy — he’s signed up for swim class,” she said.

Ryan no longer has the disorder according to evaluations by the Easter Seals and neurologists, Mary said.

“I’m grateful every single day. He isn’t even aware of what he was missing and what he’s gotten back. It’s so cool he’s got all these options and abilities in life now,” his mother said.

Anxious to get the word out, she has called legislators and “raised some eyebrows,” landing her an invitation to speak at a press conference about stem cell research in Washington, D.C., last month. Mary met with several senators, and Ryan’s story was brought up on the Senate floor by both Senators Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

In her pursuit to accomplish her goal of informing families around the nation about the magnitude of cord blood, she looked at her meeting with the president as the first step in her journey.

“For my family, they were awestruck. For me, it was, ‘This is my chance, this is my 15 seconds to get the message out for these families and these kids,'” she said. “I was on a mission.”

Upon returning Batavia, Mary plans to work on launching her foundation — www.neurocordblood.org — which will supply information about cord blood banking.

“The abilities you can have with this are just astounding,” she said. “It’s going to help so many kids.”