What is autism? What differentiates autistic people from others? What causes autism? There are hundreds of questions on people’s minds when it comes to this condition. What is it really?
Autism is a mental condition that remains present from the earliest days of childhood and lasts a lifetime. It is characterized by difficulties from minor to major in social interaction and in the elaboration of abstract concepts of language. And the critical part is that it is incurable. However, a new study shows that stem cell therapy can show great improvement in children with autism.
It is the story of Gracie Gregory, one of 25 autistic children who participated in the study at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, which involved stem cells to attenuate problems associated with autism. The idea behind the research was to find out if a transfusion of one’s own umbilical cord blood with the rare stem cells can cure autism or at least reduce the severity.
Gracie was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. When Gracie’s mother first learned of her research, she immediately signed her up not knowing what to expect and what not to expect. Such was the difficulty; they were in front of her autistic son. There was a time when Gracie’s sister, Ryleigh, was afraid of her due to her uncontrollable behavior, such as punching and kicking. But now that Ryleigh thinks Gracie is “very sweet and kind.” And it was only possible after stem cell therapy.
Gracie was on the mild to moderate scale for autism. During the trial, Gracie, then 5 years old, began with the same symptoms, including kicking, spitting, yelling, and even hitting her therapists. It was almost impossible to make her sit in one place.
The results were beyond what Gracie’s parents expected! Her parents remember how difficult her life was back then when taking care of her occupied 75% of her daily life and now, after therapy, she only consumes 10% of her daily time. When asked to rate her improvement on a scale of 1-10, her parents proudly rated it 8/9.
Now he attends regular school, plays with his sister and enjoys life to the fullest, something his parents would never have thought of.
According to her father, “We’ll say we don’t think it’s cured her. You still see some of the little idiosyncrasies she has. But then again, I think it’s supercharged her learning curve. It’s pushed her to do things she normally wouldn’t.” . Her mother added: “She got better, and we’re thankful for that, whether it’s the stem cells or not. We’re thankful for the changes that have happened.”
Two-thirds of the children involved in the study showed great improvement. These are the results of the first phase of the study, and a larger second level is on the way, promising long-term treatment for autistic children.
Skeptics keep saying that no matter what, autism cannot be cured and there are quite a few unanswered questions that need to be addressed before they go crazy. Even the Duke researchers acknowledge that the study is at a very early stage and there is still a long way to go. But for families like Gregory’s, it’s a life-changing experience.