Stem cell research in Taiwan helps stroke patients walk again Staff Reporter 2014-04-13 17:01 (GMT+8) A medical team injects concentrated stem cells into a patient's brain. (Photo/ Lin Shinn-Zong) Lin Shinn-Zong, a Taiwanese physician, has used peripheral blood stem cells to help 30 patients who were left partially paralyzed by stokes to walk again, report our Chinese-language sister paper China Times. Lin, chief of the China Medical University's Beigang Hospital in Yunlin, southern Taiwan, collected the patients' peripheral blood stem cells and injected the concentrated stem cell fluid to the damaged regions of the patients' brains. The patients were partially anesthetized during the one-hour procedure. One of the patients surnamed Huang has participated in Lin's research since 2009 after he became wheelchair-bound after a stroke affected his right arm and foot. Huang found that he could move his little finger a month after he received the injection. Half a year later, he can walk slowly without the aid of his wheelchair and he can even jog slowly on a treadmill. Originally, only half of the 30 patients received the injection, with the rest receiving only rehabilitation therapies. However, Lin found the former made significant and rapid improvements and decided to include the latter group in the injection trial. Now all of the patients are able to walk and do not have to use wheelchairs. The research will be published in the US journal Cell Transplantation: The Regenerative Medicine Journal. Lin said he plans to carry out further research using stem cells from umbilical cord blood on 12 stroke patients aged below 80. The effects of peripheral blood stem cells on patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease, stroke or other neurological disorders remain disputed, said Tang Jih-Luh, head of the Tai Cheng Stem Cell Therapy Center at the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei. Most stroke patients regain their body functions naturally so it is difficult to tell whether stem cells contribute to their recovery, Tang added. Jeng Jiann-Shing, an assistant professor at the university's Department of Neurology, said Lin's research appeared to be effective but it still has a long way to go before it become a common treatment. Many countries have used stem cells obtained from different sources to treat stroke patients but their effect varied according to the type of stroke and physical state of the patient, according to Jeng.
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