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South Korean Doctors Successfully Restore Nerves With Stem Cells
BBC Monitoring Newsfile
14 December 2005
(c) 2005 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.
Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap
Seoul, 14 December: A South Korean medical team said Wednesday [14 December] it has successfully conducted nerve-restoration surgery on an American woman by injecting adult stem cells into paralysed parts of her body.
The medical team led by Han Chang-hwan, a doctor at St Mary's Hospital in Taejon, said the surgery was conducted on Michelle Farrah, 36, who has been paralysed from the waist down since a car accident two years ago.
"The surgery is a success and we are waiting to see how she is recovering," a hospital official said.
Doctors quoted the patient as saying that she started to regain feeling in her legs.
The medical team said it will take more time and treatment to determine the extent of her recovery from the paralysis.
Adult stem cells are regarded by some scientists as an effective alternative to embryonic stem cells, which are engulfed in a sizzling ethical controversy.
St Mary's Hospital in Taejon, about 160 km south of Seoul, opened an adult stem cell treatment centre in October, spearheading clinical trials of adult stem cells on 10 patients with hard-to-cure illnesses such as Alzheimer's and paralysis.
Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0252 gmt 14 Dec 05
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