Stem Cells Show Potential in Treating Cerebral Palsy in Children

Denver, COIn a move that could mean expanded medical testing with controversial genetic material, stem cells taken from an umbilical cord have shown great success in treating a three-year-old girl born with cerebral palsy.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">When she was nine months old, Chloe Levine had restricted motor function and a tightly clenched right fist due to a stroke she suffered while still in the womb, as reported on DisabilityScoop.com. In anticipation of potential blood diseases or cancer, Chloe's parents saved samples of stem cells from the young girl's umbilical cord and attempted a radical new procedure to re-infuse the hyper-adaptive cells into the girl's blood stream.

After the 15-minute procedure, the now three-year-old Chloe improved quickly. Her right fist loosened and the Levines noticed a notable improvement in her clarity of speech only days later.

"Umbilical cord blood cell therapy for traumatic brain injury has a lot of pre-clinical work that has been done, suggesting that it's beneficial," chord cell specialist Dr. Charles Cox tells Fox News. "I believe that cord blood is equivalent or better than bone marrow-derived cells."

Cells taken from one's umbilical cord have no risk of rejection as they come from the same source, a noted advantage over more traditional sources of stem cells like bone marrow.