Treatment of Autism with Stem Cell Therapy
When Autism patients are treated with Stem Cell Therapy, the progression of the disease to a further extent is prevented and the current state is improved. After the treatment, cognitive development, increased learning capacity, being more adequate and diligent, information retention and retention for a longer period of time, increased environmental compliance, gastrointestinal (digestive) function development, and immune system development are observed.
- Stem cells have the ability to turn into nerve, brain and muscle cells they have touched, and that being the case, they are used in the treatment of autism. The stem cells transplanted into the patient are stem cells that genetically do not carry this disorder. Therefore, they replace the damaged cells and they may slow the progression of the disease, completely stop it and make it regress.
- The number of stem cells to be administered is determined according to the age and weight of the patient. The treatment is performed in 3 sessions 45 days apart or in 3 consecutive days.
- The treatment protocol is precisely adjusted according to the patient's condition and a different protocol is applied for each patient.
- Stem cell therapy has shown very positive results in patients with autism. This treatment significantly prevented progression to further phases of the disease in 85% of the patients and helped to resolve the existing condition.
What is Autism?
It is a congenital neurobiological disorder which is considered to be the result of different structure or functioning of the brain and nervous system, characterized by communication and social interaction problems, limited interests and repetitive behaviors.
Autism, which prevents a person from interacting with others and causes him/her to be confined to his/her inner world, usually manifests itself in the first 3 years of life and adversely affects the social communication, interaction and behavior of individuals. It is possible to minimize the effects of the disease with rehabilitation programs and treatments.
What are the symptoms of autism?
- Acting as they are not aware of others
- Inability to make eye contact
- Being slow in speaking compared to peers
- Insomnia, restlessness, sleep disorders
- Incompatible behavior
- Overreacting to the change of routine
- Sensory indifference to noise in the early years or excessive disturbance of noise
- Looking dull and empty
- Unresponsiveness to pain, ache and cold
- Repetitive behaviors such as shaking his head or body
- Low muscle tone
- Using fewer facial expressions
If these symptoms occur, a specialist should be consulted for the assessment of autism. Research shows that autism can be diagnosed even at the age of 14 months, and treatment methods can be applied to reduce the effects of the disease.
What Causes Autism?
Autism spectrum disorders are thought to arise from neurological causes. Scientific researches have shown that autism spectrum disorders are not related to the characteristics of child upbringing or the socio-economic characteristics of the family.
There are certain indications showing that autism spectrum disorders may be hereditary; however, their gene or genes have not yet been found. Sibling and twin studies confirm this opinion as well. The risk of autism in the sibling of an autistic child is 50-100 times higher than the general population. In maternal twins the rate of autism in both twins is much more than fraternal twins. There are findings suggesting that environmental factors are also effective.
According to the latest data, autism spectrum disorders affect approximately one in every 150 children and their prevalence is four times higher in males than females.
Treatment of Autism
The primary aim of the treatment is to reduce the disorders of the patient and distress experienced by the family and to increase the quality of life and functional independence of the patient. Autism does not have a single treatment and is usually customized based on the needs of the child. Intensive and continuous education programs and behavioral therapies help children to take care of themselves and gain social and work skills. Effective approaches include applied behavior analysis, developmental models, structural teaching, speech and language therapy, social skills therapy and occupational therapy.
Many medications are used to treat problems related to ASD.
Although there are so many alternative therapies and intervention methods in addition to drugs, only few of them are supported by scientific researches. Treatment approaches have little experimental support in terms of quality of life, and many programs focus on achievement criteria that do not include predictive validity and real-world compliance.
Treatment of Autism with Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells are natural healers that make up all tissues and organs in our body, have the ability to turn into cells they touch and have the ability to divide without any limit, and regenerate and treat our entire body. Therefore, they can be used in the treatment of autism.
The success rate of the treatment is proportional to the patient's age, the duration of the disease and the patient's condition and in 90% of cases, 85% success rate is achieved in slowing the progression, stopping and regressing the disease. The results of the patient are evaluated according to the positive increase in 1 year. If the results are positive, the success rate is increased by repeating the treatment.
By combining stem cell and routine therapies, the following successes can be achieved;
- Cognitive development.
- Development of increase in learning capacity
- Development of being more adequate and diligent
- Development of remembering information in a shorter time and keeping it in memory for longer
- Environmental and adaptation development
- Gastrointestinal (digestive system) function development
- Immune system development
This disease can be treated at our GenCell Stem Cell Treatment Center in Kiev, Ukraine.
Method of Administration:
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) or fetal stem cells. 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 adjusted according to the patient's condition and a different protocol may be applied for each patient.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Success Rate of Stem Cell Therapy?
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. 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 85% of the patients and helped to resolve the existing serious condition. 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). The results of the patient are evaluated according to the positive increase in 1 year. If the results are positive, the success rate of the treatment is increased by repeating the treatment.
How is Autism diagnosed?
Autism can be detected from the 14th month. Detection of the condition may be so early in some cases however it may not be detected until 2-3 years of age in some cases. Parents who are well-aware and conscious will notice the signs of their children early on and accelerate early diagnosis.
When the assessment is carried out in terms of infancy, particular attention should be paid to social symptoms regarding the early diagnosis of autism. Not making eye contact, no imitation, dullness of the facial expressions and unusual motor findings are particularly important until the 15th month.
What are the most prominent developmental characteristics to be considered in early diagnosis?
- 1st Month: Looking at faces
- 2nd month: Smiling
- 2nd-3rd Months: Tracking objects
- 2nd-6th Months: Reaction to audible stimuli
- 3rd-6th Months: Grip skills
- 4th-7th Months: Differentiate facial expressions
- 6th Month: Spelling
- 7th Month: Imitate speaking sounds
- 8th-10th Months: Choosing caregivers
- 12th month: Unresponsiveness to separation from caregiver
- 12th-24th Months: Not pointing, not showing the object to the adult, not responding to the name, not showing appropriate gestures, unresponsive to social stimuli
- If there is no babbling in the 12th month, no word in the 16th month, no sentences with spontaneous two words in the 24th month then having the child evaluated by a specialist is critical.
What are the types of autism?
Asperger Syndrome:
Asperger syndrome is a category of autism spectrum disorder which is milder than autism. The difference from autism is that there are no problems in language development in patients. Asperger syndrome presents significant problems in social interaction, and there are limitations and obsessions in interest and behavior.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder:
With the onset of the disorder after 2, previously acquired abilities are rapidly lost. The mental skills of most children diagnosed with childhood disintegrative disorder are advanced to the level of mental disability. In a few years, these children become very similar to those diagnosed with advanced autism. Childhood disintegrative disorder is very rare.
Rett Syndrome:
Rett syndrome starts between 6 and 18 months of age. This syndrome is hereditary and almost only occurs in girls. With the onset of the syndrome, all mental, social, communicative, and motor skills regress, and additionally, balance disorders occur.
Atypical Autism:
Atypical autism is a general term used for PDD-NOS: Pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified. Cases who show some properties of autism or Asperger syndrome and do not show other properties of these conditions are diagnosed with atypical autism. For example, if a case shows mild autistic symptoms or high-functioning autism, that case is usually diagnosed with atypical autism.
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES:
- Siniscalco, D., Sapone, A., Cirillo, A., Giordano, C., Maione, S., & Antonucci, N. (2012). Autism spectrum disorders: is mesenchymal stem cell personalized therapy the future?. BioMed Research International, 2012.
- Ichim, T. E., Solano, F., Glenn, E., Morales, F., Smith, L., Zabrecky, G., & Riordan, N. H. (2007). Stem cell therapy for autism. Journal of Translational Medicine, 5(1), 30.
- Acab, A., & Muotri, A. R. (2015). The use of induced pluripotent stem cell technology to advance autism research and treatment. Neurotherapeutics, 12(3), 534-545.
- Lv, Y. T., Zhang, Y., Liu, M., Ashwood, P., Cho, S. C., Huan, Y., ... & Hu, X. (2013). Transplantation of human cord blood mononuclear cells and umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in autism. Journal of translational medicine, 11(1), 196.