In a major breakthrough, local researchers have transplanted stem cells into the brain to reverse the ravages of stroke and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The scientists from the Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) GK Goh Centre for Neuroscience grew neurons, or nerve cells, from immature stem cells and used them to repair the brains in mice which had ischaemic strokes induced.
Within a month of the transplant, the mice were moving about normally, in contrast to when they had the strokes. Ischaemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks or plugs an artery leading to the brain, cutting off blood supply and killing brain cells. It can have serious, even life-threatening, consequences. According to the Ministry of Health, stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death in Singapore, with a prevalence of 4 per cent among adults aged 50 and above