Stem cell therapy is growing in popularity globally particularly for neurological disorders and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease. Clinics offering stem cell therapy are now accessible globally and with costant advancements in stem cell technology, there is significant hope that it will be the ‘magic bullet’ in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. However, to date there is no reliable evidence to suggest that any available stem cell therapy can cure Parkinson’s disease. This, however, does not mean that stem cell therapy cannot offer some improvement in the condition.

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Although in the early stages, the potential use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) holds tremendous possibilities for the future. A significant amount of research is still necessary and the practical application of such a treatment option is probably still a long way. However, the promise of acquiring an undifferentiated stem cell from the patient’s body and then stimulating differentiation into a nerve cell may make this sort of therapy one of the more exciting developments in recent years.

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Significant research and several clinical trials have been done regarding the efficacy of gene therapy in Parkinson’s disease (PD). While many claims have been made involving numerous wonder cures for PD, gene therapy may hold the exciting possibility of not only delaying disease progression but also halting it completely.

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Surgery may be contemplated in a Parkinson’s disease patient either to control symptoms of the disease or for some cause unrelated to Parkinson’s disease, such as a hip replacement or prostate gland removal. The risks associated with surgery need to be analyzed so as to decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks and if surgery is justifiable in such patients. Considerations such as age of the patient, type of surgery, and the stage of Parkinson’s disease should be kept in mind before arriving at a decision.
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Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disease of the brain where there is progressive depletion of dopamine producing neurons in the substantia nigra, located in the brain. Stem cell therapy may possibly offer a solution as it aims at treating this disease by growing new cells to replace the older degenerated ones.

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