Cerebral palsy (CP) cannot be cured, but certain improvements are possible with stem cell treatments and they are individual, Dr. Aleksandar Antović, medical director of the Bio Save Group, which, among other things, provides stem cell preservation services, told "Vijesta".
Cerebral palsy treatment does not exist in any regular health care system in the world. Antović explains this by the inability of states to provide citizens with such treatments through insurance costs.
"Campaigns for treatment are mostly initiated by private clinics and there is not a single person with CP who, even after trying stem cell treatment, went public and proved or demonstrated his cure," says Marina Vujačić, an activist for the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD).
Children with CP from Montenegro are mostly referred to Turkey, to the Liv clinic, for treatment, and the funds that are collected, says Vujacic in the text "Contradictory reality" (marinavujacic.me), "are in the amount of good apartments nowadays." . She believes that it would be more valuable to provide people with CP with modern aids and assistive technologies, which would significantly facilitate their functioning.
"Cerebral palsy is not a disease, but a condition, and the degree of damage, physical or mental, depends on the degree of brain damage. Treatments with stem cells are in the domain of scientific research, which can only bring about certain improvements, in situations where the habilitation and rehabilitation treatment is started on time and when it is done continuously, which also implies some other regimes, such as the regime of nutrition and use and others treatment, such as physical activity", she told "Vijesta".
Unproven stem cell treatments, she says, cost a lot of money and are often without results, and the end result is mostly disappointment, due to wasted time, effort and resources.
"How valuable it would be if these people and their families were to be able to access the apartment and the environment in which they live," adds Vujačić.
Ana Kotur Erkić is an activist for the rights of people with disabilities and a journalist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who has cerebral palsy since birth.
"When I was growing up, we also encountered the idea of magical healing. Then it was enough for the treatment to be far away, expensive, somewhat similar to plastic surgery or science fiction, so let's believe it. Stem cells are the future of medicine, but I think we are still a long way from the image of the Beast turning into a charming prince, because one tear fell or a used cell that only the younger ones have stored, and all the rest of us who were born 20, 30 or 50 years ago we don't have that option", she told "Vijesti".
Kotur Erkić adds that, according to her knowledge, in extremely severe physical damage, "even the most advanced medicine and all the technology in the world do not change the diagnosis, but improve and partially restore some vital functions".
"Her biggest success is maintaining a good, high-quality condition as long as possible, and that's where I think stem cells are something that can help. A life without spasms, with as little dependence on others or aids as possible is success, even if it does not mean that you can match the stereotype of beauty, health and acceptability that is imposed on us".
"Vijesti" interviewees add that, not only with CP, but also with other conditions, the most important thing is for a person to accept disability as an integral, inseparable part of himself.
"This means that, first of all, we must know that disability is the right to diversity, that disability by its definition is the interaction of a person who has a physical and/or sensory and/or impairment and an unsuitable environment, and that each of us has the right to the opportunity . Unfortunately, this understanding of disability is still the exception, not the rule, especially in the general population," says the journalist.
In this sense, adds Kotur Erkić, the support of the family is helpful, which should encourage a person with CP to achieve the highest possible degree of independence, encourage him to make decisions and be what he wants.
"This means encouragement in education, employment, autonomy for the rest of life. For years, my parents explained to me that I can't pass the driving test, that we don't have money, that it's 'better for me' to have someone drive me, but my decision was to do what I can - to pass the driving test". Vujačić adds that the most important thing with CP is to detect it at the earliest age, and that the families of people with CP should be provided with support from the system and society.
"Then I can accept the condition of CP in the right way, and then provide support that will aim for the greatest possible degree of independence for a person with cerebral palsy."
Tumors, leukemias are successfully treated with stem cells...
According to Antović, the results of stem cell treatment for conditions such as CP and autism are very individual.
"It is a new field of medicine, only four or five years old and still developing. We will only have the full potential of these therapies in 10 to 15 years. That's why we say that stem cells are a pledge for the future," he said.
In children with CP who are on stem cell therapy, improvements in cognitive functions, bladder and bowel control, and improvements in spasticity have been recorded so far.
According to the Bio Save Foundation, stem cells are successfully used to treat malignant tumors, leukemia, some types of anemia, asthma...
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