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Meet for creating awareness of stem cell therapy

PUDUCHERRY: Doctors at a seminar on stem cell therapy stressed the need for creating more awareness of the treatment procedure, especially among medical practitioners.

Led by surgeon J.S. Rajkumar of Lifeline Multi Speciality Hospital, Chennai, doctors from the hospital presented a detailed account of stem cell therapy, an emerging treatment method, and about medico-legal issues involved in the procedure.

Dr. Rajkumar described the therapy as an advancement towards the treatment of patients with irreversible damage caused to organs. The procedure was now widely practiced in treating medical conditions such as cancer, liver failure, irreversible neurological condition, spinal cord damage and cardiovascular diseases, Dr. Rajkumar said.

Stem cells are “smart cells” of the human body, normally present in the bone marrow. The cells drawn from the bone marrow or peripheral blood are made to undergo purification process before being injected back into the patient, he said. Out of 300 patients who had undergone stem cell therapy so far, around 80 of them are keeping well, he said. Even though the success rate varies from 25 to 50 per cent, depending on the medical condition of the patient, the treatment appeared to be the “last hope for a patient suffering from irreversible damage to organs.”

The guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research are being followed in treating patients through stem cell therapy procedure, he added.

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