Alzheimer's Treatment with Stem Cells
With stem cell therapy, the progression of Alzheimer's disease can be slowed down and regressed, and even stopped completely. The success rate of the treatment is proportional to the patient's age, the duration of the disease and the patient's condition. If the disease has severely progressed, treatment may need to be repeated more than once.
- The treatment of Alzheimer's disease with stem cells is recognized as a new method that scientists are working on.
- Stem cells have the ability to turn into brain cells when they touch these cells, and that being the case, they are used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
- Stem cell therapy is used in autoimmune system diseases because it has the effect of improving, triggering and regulating the body's autoimmune (defense/immune) system. Since the regulation of the autoimmune system has positive effects in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, stem cells are once again important in the treatment of the disease.
- Stem cells are used in the treatment of aged and weakened organs in the body as well. Therefore, they are also effective in treating organs with impaired functions due to aging or Alzheimer's.
- The size of the administered stem cells is small enough to pass through the brain cells. Therefore, the success rate of the treatment increases significantly in early diagnosis. The treatment protocol is precisely determined according to the patient's condition and a different protocol is applied for each patient.
- Previous studies reported a very high percentage of positive results with stem cell therapy. This treatment significantly prevented progression to further phases of the disease in 75% of the patients and helped to resolve the existing serious condition.
What is Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common types of dementia (diminished mental skills due to disease). Although the cause of the disease has not been fully identified, Alzheimer's is caused by premature death of brain cells or by shrinkage of these cells, resulting in them losing their activity.
Exactly as in the case of dementia, Alzheimer's is a disease progressing from disruption of daily activities to failure of the patient to express himself/herself, impairment of his/her relations with the environment, deterioration of his/her calculation judgment skills and perception in further stages, which causes personality changes, a number of psychological symptoms in later stages.
In later stages of the disease, the patient becomes unable to even take care of himself/herself. S/he may become bedbound and fail to fulfill his/her daily needs and become a completely dependent patient.
What are the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?
Initial symptoms of the disease;
- As the nerve cells in the brain begin to die, short-term forgetfulness occurs as well. (the patient cannot remember what s/he did and what s/he ate the day before).
- She/he can't remember words, dates, or directions he/she already knew.
- She/he begins to find it hard to make calculations and practical thinking.
- She/he forgets the places of things (puts them in elsewhere)
- As the disease progresses, he/she cannot complete his/her daily routine and he/she asks the same questions again and again, and begins not to recognize his/her relatives.
- His/her character traits change and s/he may start blaming people.
- The patient whose psychology deteriorates becomes introverted.
- She/he avoids assuming responsibility.
- She/he cannot meet his/her needs such as speaking, walking, going to the toilet, and becomes bed bound.
Causes of Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease occurs when the brain cells die earlier than programmed, the cause of which is not fully understood. (Every person experience brain cell death with age, but in Alzheimer's disease, this process occurs very quickly and earlier than expected). Although it is seen very rare (in approximately 5 out of 100 patients), it has genetic forms as well.
Although the exact cause of the disease is not known, a number of conditions causing risk include age, past depression, vascular diseases, and serious head injuries in the past.
Alzheimer's Treatment
The effects of the Alzheimer's can be slowed down with the medication currently used for this disease. This increases the use of mental functions of Alzheimer's patients, delaying them to live in a dependent state. However, since there is no definite treatment of the disease with drugs, it is very important that people with Alzheimer's disease and their relatives receive support services.
Treatment of Alzheimer's with Stem Cells
Stem cells have the ability to turn into brain cells when they touch dying brain cells, and that being the case, they are used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The size of the cells given is small enough for them to penetrate into the brain tissues and therefore, the recovery rate increases significantly in early diagnosis.
The number of cells to be administered is determined according to the age and weight of the patient. Treatment is carried out using mesenchymal stem cells (derived from the patient's own adipose tissue or bone marrow). The treatment of the patient is decided according to the condition of the patient. It can be performed in 3 sessions 45 days apart or in 3 consecutive days.
The treatment protocol is precisely determined according to the patient's condition and a different protocol may be applied for each patient. The most obvious and lasting effects of the treatments were obtained in the initial stage of the disease, in which neurological and mental symptoms have appeared (in 90% of the cases). Positive results were also obtained in patients with organic brain lesions (atrophy of the frontoparietal lobes). If the disease is too advanced and no adipose tissue can be removed from the patient, using "fetal stem cells" may be recommended for treatment.
As a result of application of stem cells in patients with significant mental disorder, the quality of life of the patients significantly increased (general condition, sleep, appetite, etc.) as well.
This disease can be treated at our GenCell Stem Cell Treatment Center in Kiev, Ukraine.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Alzheimer's a Genetic (Hereditary) disease?
Genetic factors are known to play a role in Alzheimer's disease. 30% of the patients have dementia in their families. This factor is more effective in patients diagnosed at a younger age (under 65 years old).
Are there any precautions to avoid Alzheimer's disease?
It is known that doing sports is important to avoid Alzheimer's. It is believed that doing physical exercise three times a week reduces the chance of dementia by 70%. Not smoking, consuming vitamin B12, taking vitamin D, reducing alcohol consumption and brain exercises are some of the measures that can be taken against Alzheimer's.
How is Alzheimer's diagnosed?
The most important symptom of Alzheimer's disease is the patient's forgetfulness. However, it is not right to consider all forgetfulness as Alzheimer's. Many people experience forgetfulness in their daily lives, but continue to live without Alzheimer's.
Patients considered to have Alzheimer's disease should be evaluated with neurological examinations, laboratory tests and neuropsychological tests. To people at high risk, EEG, i.e. cortical mapping, MRI and PET scans may also be recommended.
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES:
- Hunsberger, J. G., Rao, M., Kurtzberg, J., Bulte, J. W., Atala, A., LaFerla, F. M., ... & Doraiswamy, P. M. (2016). Accelerating stem cell trials for Alzheimer's disease. The Lancet Neurology, 15(2), 219-230.
- Duncan, T., & Valenzuela, M. (2017). Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and stem cell therapy. Stem cell research & therapy, 8(1), 111.
- Sugaya, K. (2005). Possible use of autologous stem cell therapies for Alzheimer's disease. Current Alzheimer Research, 2(3), 367-376.
- Ager, R. R., & LaFerla, F. M. (2016). Stem cell therapy for alzheimer's disease. Reviews in Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine.
- Kang, J. M., Yeon, B. K., Cho, S. J., & Suh, Y. H. (2016). Stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s disease: A review of recent clinical trials. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 54(3), 879-889.
- Kim, H. J., Seo, S. W., Chang, J. W., Lee, J. I., Kim, C. H., Chin, J., ... & Kim, S. T. (2015). Stereotactic brain injection of human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells in patients with Alzheimer's disease dementia: a phase 1 clinical trial. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, 1(2), 95-102.