Bengaluru: Thirteen-year-old Paranav was diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) which is one of the autism spectrum disorders when he was two.
“His autism was from mild to moderate and we tried several therapy options and medications, including ayurveda, DAN! Protocol, Stress Inoculation Therapy and others. They benefitted him little, but not much improvement was seen in his cognitive and social behaviour,” said his father Sunil, who went ahead with the advanced stem cell therapy at a brain and spine institute in Mumbai.
More than two-and-a-half years of stem cell treatments have passed and Pranav has shown marked improvement, his father said. “Along with the stem cell therapy, he also underwent a customised rehabilitation programme to develop his cognition and understanding,” his father said, adding that his son is now studying at a learning disability school along with homeschooling.
Dr Nandini Gokulchandran, Deputy Director and Head, Medical Services, Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute, said, “Stem cell therapy is emerging as one of the newer treatment options for autism. It has the potential to repair damaged neural tissues at the molecular, structural and functional level.”
She said they have successfully treated 3,000 patients in over 40 countries. Sadly, the IT City is yet to share such success stories. “Centres in Bengaluru are much better, but we do need some clarity from the government to go ahead with the clinical part of it,” said Dr Venkataramana N.K., founder and Chief Neurosurgen at Brains Neuro Spine Hospital.
He said that Manipal Institute for Neurological Disorders, at Manipal Hospital, National Centre for Biological Sciences and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) are a few names doing phenomenal research on autism.
