Stem cell therapies and treatments hold great promise for the treatment of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Here is some basic information about some of the better known neurological diseases and disorders, and how stem cells may help in treating and healing the damage that accompanies them.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disorder that is caused by cell death in several different areas of the brain. The death of the cells disrupts the brain’s functioning and leads to memory loss and diminishment of cognitive abilities. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Stem cell treatments offer the best chance in diseases in which there is a specific and easily recognized type of cell that needs to be replaced or repaired. In Alzheimer’s, the cells affected are of several different types, and there may be other problems getting any transplanted stem cells to integrate into the existing tissues.

However, there’s a possibility that stem cells could be modified to deliver substances to the brain to stop cells from dying and improve the function of the remaining cells. At least one recent clinical trial has shown this approach to be beneficial to patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Parkinson’s Disease

Most people are familiar with Parkinson’s disease through the actor, Michael J. Fox. The disease is caused by the loss of the nerve cells that create dopamine. As the dopamine neurons die off, people with Parkinson’s lose functions. Over time, they have difficulty moving freely, holding a position, talking or writing.

Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s is caused by the death of one specific type of cell, making the disease an excellent candidate for treatment with stem cells. The goal of these treatments would be to repair damaged cells and replace cells that have died. Recent advances in reprogramming adult stem cells offer even more hope for patients suffering from Parkinson’s.

Multiple Sclerosis

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that patients with neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis have been helped by treatment with stem cells from umbilical cord blood and adipose-derived stem cells. As recently as 2009, medical authorities were warning that effective, reliable treatments for neurological disease like MS were far in the future. In 2012, researchers at several colleges and universities in the U.S. succeeded in treating mice with MS-like neurological disease with stem cells made from their own skin cells. Human clinical trials using this method have already been approved and are planned to start in 2015.