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Calcutta News.Net Sunday 10th June, 2012 (IANS)

Simran Kaur, 42, was suffering from cerebellar ataxias, a rare genetic disorder, which left her wheelchair bound, incontinent, with slurred speech and no chances of improvement. Her family then came to know about human embryonic stem cell therapy. A few weeks of treatment later her condition improved, giving a new ray of hope to the family.

Simran is among the few people from 43 countries who are undergoing human embryonic stem cell therapy in a Delhi-based hospital, Nutech Mediworld, which claimed to be the first facility in the world providing treatment for incurable diseases through this therapy.

In embryonic stem cell therapy, cells are taken from a discarded embryo during in-vitro fertilization (IVF), cultured and injected into the body of a person suffering from terminal disease.

Embryonic stem cells can divide and grow into any body part and cell following the normal division that is initially inherent in an embryo.

Over the last ten years, the technology developed by Geeta Shroff, the medical director of Nutech Mediworld, has been used to treat more than 1,000 patients, one-fourth of them from abroad, suffering from conditions labelled as incurable or terminal.

"I have been on a wheelchair for the last 10 years and with time, the condition was becoming worse. I was not able to talk, walk or do any routine work on my own. Doctors had told my family that for the rest of my life, I would be wheelchair bound," Simran told IANS.

While searching online for any possible cure, Simran's brother who lives in Canada came to know about the treatment offered by Shroff, and the family approached her two months ago. The results of two months of treatment have left the family with hope of Simran becoming self-dependent if not recovering fully.

"I was injected with human embryonic stem cells two months back and I can feel the change. I can talk much clearer and move my limbs a little bit," said Simran, who has been enrolled for 18 months of treatment at a cost of Rs.8 lakh.

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Embryo stem cell therapy brings hope to those with incurable diseases