Like many new parents these days, my husband and I made a point to collect and store our children’s cord blood in the event we would need it in the future.  We realized that there was a lot of research to be done regarding the benefit of stem cells in curing ailments, and we shuddered a bit at the price of storing those cells, but we determined it was worth it.  Science is advancing rapidly, and there was a good chance those stem cells would come in handy in the future.

We could never have known that, five hours after his birth, our younger son’s potential need for stem cells would come to fruition.

According to DW-World.de, scientists may have found that stem cells have a positive impact on rats and sheep in whom a stroke has been induced.

While I’m not an advocate for animal testing as it carries with it unspeakable cruelty, I found myself torn upon reading the article.

In a study involving injecting rats who had suffered a stroke with stem cells, “rats without the injection were not able to balance on a small bar whereas treated rats ran back and forth without a problem” (Researchers hope stem cell therapy will reverse stroke effects).

While over time, the success rate of stem cells in increasing motor function in rats and sheep appeared to decrease “as scientists started to conduct blind studies in which scientists do not know whether a sheep was treated with a stem cell injection” (Researchers hope stem cell therapy will reverse stroke effects), the potential for stem cell use in treating stroke damage still remains.

As a parent of a child who suffered a stroke – and one who pays good money to store that cord blood – this is heartwarming news.

For more information, please visit the full article, Researchers hope stem cell therapy will reverse stroke effects.

How do you feel about the potential stem cells hold in helping stroke survivors?