Unfortunately, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, and those who suffer from the condition can only treat and manage symptoms.

However, new developments in stem cell therapy offer improvements for those with Parkinson’s disease and could serve as the key to unlocking a cure.

What Is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder, or neurodegenerative condition. Symptoms of Parkinson’s begin gradually, often with slight tremors in the hands. However, as the condition progresses, patients can lose the ability to walk, swallow, and speak normally. 

One of the markers of Parkinson’s disease is a lack of dopamine. As a component of Parkinson’s disease, dopamine-producing nerve cells, or neurons, are targeted and killed. 

Since dopamine sends messages to the parts of the brain that control movement and some cognitive functions, the defining symptoms of Parkinson’s are related to movement.

What Is Stem Cell Therapy?

Stem cells serve as the raw materials for all cells in the body. Stem cells are present in the body from the blastocyst stage (three to five days after conception), and as they divide, they can create more stem cells, called daughter cells, or specialized cells, like brain cells or blood cells. 

No other cells in the body can differentiate into various types of cells.

In stem cell therapy, researchers utilize these differentiated cells to administer to patients to help manage their symptoms, repair and replace damaged tissues, and help to slow down progression of their condition. For example, a patient with heart disease could have healthy, mesenchymal stem cells administered to help repair and replace the damaged heart tissue cells. 

How Can Stem Cells Help Manage Parkinson’s Disease?

While the cause of Parkinson’s is unknown, the cells and areas of the brain that the disease affects are clear. Since Parkinson’s originates with dysfunction of one type of cell in a specified brain location, it’s considered an optimal candidate for stem cell therapy.

Treating Parkinson’s with stem cell therapy focuses on restoring the dopamine in the brain. Since a lack of dopamine-producing neurons serves as the cause for most of the visible symptoms of Parkinson’s, replacing the cells may delay the disease’s progression and eventually offer a long-term solution.

While early clinical trials using stem cells to treat Parkinson’s disease offered promising though inconsistent results, further attempts are underway to determine the methodology that yields the best results. 

However, scientists are excited about the new treatment options that could offer a strategy to slow or even stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease. 

This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine, also known as Stem Cell Therapy in St Petersburg Florida. Regenerative medicine seeks to replace tissue or organs that have been damaged by disease, trauma, or congenital issues.