NAME: Laura

COUNTRY: Romania

AGE: 7

DIAGNOSIS: Rett Syndrome

REASON FOR COMING FOR TREATMENT:
Laura was born with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic disease that causes a neurodevelopmental disorder which is marked by loss of purposeful use of the limbs, balance difficulties and language and socialization developmental problems similar to Autism. Like other children with Rett Syndrome Laura seemed like a healthy child for the first year of her life. By the time she was one year old, she was starting to talk and was able to move around by herself. However in the second year of her life, she started to regress. Both her motor and linguistic skills started to get worse and Laura largely lost most of the abilities she had learned.

TREATMENT: Umbilical cord stem cell and nerve growth factor injections with rehabilitation therapy

BEFORE THE TREATMENT:
Before the treatment started, Laura's condition was similar to that of a highly autistic child. She no longer used the words she had previously learned, and did not respond to other people who talked to her. Her parents felt that she had lost all her linguistic skills and that her memory was very poor. Along with the linguistic deficiencies, she had many motor control problems as well. Her balance became worse and worse and she started to constantly make stereotyped motions with her hands. She could not walk without help, and could not move up stairs or inclines at all.

AFTER THE TREATMENT:
After coming to China twice for stem cell treatments Laura's parents believe her condition greatly improved. They believe physically her balance became much better. She could stand with less of a wide stance, could walk on her own for short distances and could walk up stairs and incline with a little help from her parents. Linguistically and mentally Laura also made great progress. She began to start speaking a few words and became more responsive when other people were talking to her. They also felt her memory improved greatly and she could recognize people that she had seen before.