Results of a recent study have shown that cells taken from umbilical cord blood could be used to repair some of the brain damage caused by stroke. Researchers found that cells collected from umbilical cord blood migrated to damaged areas of the brain and helped to make up for the cells that had been destroyed or damaged. The study showed that rats injected with the umbilical cord blood cells the day after their stroke made dramatic improvements and began to regain many of their lost abilities after just 14-26 days treatment with the cells. The effect of the injections lasted for 6-8 weeks, suggesting that regular injections of the cells could provide humans with a long-term treatment for stroke damage.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Stroke 2001; 32