Well, it seems that there have been developments in the use of cord blood to treat cerebral palsy, or CP . Since January 2010, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two different clinical trials to investigate the effect of cord blood in patients with CP. CP is a disorder that affects the ability of a person to move and to maintain balance and posture. It is most often caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, usually before or during birth, resulting in damage to the part of the brain that controls muscle tone.
Pioneering work CP patients treatment with their own cord blood was conducted at Duke University by Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg. The results of the first study suggested that cord blood therapy improved the condition of patients with CP. The FDA recently approved the second clinical trial of Dr. Kurtzberg CP, which is designed to provide objective data on the effect of cord blood on the clinical outcome of patients with CP. Patients in this study will be between the ages of 1 and 6 years with spastic CP. They are children whose parents elected to the cord blood bank for their children to delivery.
Another test of CP is conducted at the Medical College of Georgia, by Dr. James Carroll. The aim of this study is similar to the first study of Dr. Kurtzberg, to test the safety and efficacy of cord blood perfusion in children with CP. Again, the patients in this study are the children of parents in their children cord blood bank.
The clinical trials conducted in Duke and Medical College of Georgia will involve 120 and 40 patients, respectively. Both trials are expected to be completed in 2013. The success of these tests offer hope for patients with CP, a currently incurable disorder.