Girl Benefits from Experimental Cerebral Palsy Treatment
A two-year-old girl has made “remarkable” progress since undergoing an experimental cerebral palsy treatment at Duke University in May. The treatment involved the use of the toddler’s own umbilical cord blood, which her parents had stored with a private company after she was born.
Chloe Levine was diagnosed with hemiplegic cerebral palsy after her parents noticed she was dragging her right leg while trying to crawl and having difficulty holding her bottle in her right hand.
When the family heard about the experimental research at Duke University, they decided to enroll Chloe. As part of the treatment, doctors injected Chloe with her own stem cells to repair damaged brain tissue. The results, according to her parents, were almost immediately apparent.
“She can walk, run and do sign language with her right hand,” her father said. “Her therapist said she’s made a 50 percent recovery.”
Cord blood contains a certain type of stem cell, which researchers are looking into for possible therapeutic properties.
