Stories of Hope - Stem cells from umbilical cord blood offer hope for autism

Stories of Hope - Stem cells from umbilical cord blood offer hope for autism

What is Autism? What distinguishes autistic people from others? What causes autism? There are hundreds of questions in people's minds when it comes to this condition. What is it actually?

Autism is a mental illness that has been present since early childhood and lasts throughout life. It is characterized by minor to major difficulties in social interaction and the formation of abstract language concepts. And the critical part is, it is incurable. However, a new study shows that stem cell therapy can make big improvements in children with autism.

It's the story of Gracie Gregory, one of the 25 autistic children who took part in the study at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, that used stem cells to alleviate the problems associated with autism. The idea behind the research was to find out whether a transfusion of umbilical cord blood with the rare stem cells could cure autism or at least reduce its severity.

Gracie was diagnosed with autism at age 2. When Gracie's mother first learned about the research, she signed up immediately, not knowing what to expect and what not to expect. That was the difficulty; they faced their autistic child. There was a time when Gracie's sister Ryleigh was afraid of her because of her uncontrollable behavior such as hitting and kicking. But now Ryleigh thinks Gracie is “very sweet and kind.” And it only became possible after stem cell therapy.

Gracie was on the mild to moderate scale of autism. During the process, Gracie, then 5 years old, began experiencing the same symptoms of kicking, spitting, screaming and even hitting her therapists. It was almost impossible to keep them sitting in one place.

The results exceeded Gracie's parents' expectations! Her parents remember how difficult her life was back then when it took up 75% of her daily life and now after therapy she only uses 10% of her daily time. When asked to rate her improvement on a scale of 1 to 10, her parents proudly rated her 8/9.

Now she attends mainstream school, plays with her sister and enjoys life to the fullest, something her parents never imagined.

According to her father: "We will say that we don't think it has cured her. You still see some of the little quirks that she has. But I think it has accelerated her learning curve. It has made her do things that she normally wouldn't do." Her mother added: "She got better and we're just grateful for that - whether it's the stem cells or not. We're just grateful for the changes that have happened."

Two-thirds of the children involved in the study showed great improvement. These are the results of the first phase of the study and a broader second-level pathway is in preparation that promises long-term treatment for autistic children.

Skeptics still say that no matter what happens, autism cannot be cured and there are some unanswered questions that need to be addressed before going gaga about it. Even Duke researchers admit that the study is still in its early stages and has a long way to go. But for families like Gregory's, it's a life-changing experience.

Inspired by Richa Verma