Times of India - Friday 25 May 2001
Doctor claims breakthrough in tackling Parkinson's
By Huned Contractor

WHEN Sunil Gundia, suffering from the debilitating effects of
Parkinson's disease, approached neurosurgeon Dr Dinesh Garg,
it was with little hope of any miraculous recovery.

All forms of medication had been attempted. Second and third
opinions held out no new pointers for a cure in the offing.
And it was almost with a sense of resignation that Gundia
consented to a definitive treatment modality for the disease.

Imagine the happiness when he found himself almost born again,
after a unique transplant carried out by Dr Garg. This involved the
modification of umbilical cord blood cells into brain cells and replacing
the degenerated and damaged nerve cells in the brain stem of Gundia.

"The recovery has been 100 per cent and Gundia is now capable of all
physical movements which had been earlier hindered due to Parkinson's
disease," claims the city-based Dr Garg.

It may be a path-breaking discovery and Dr Garg is all set to present a
research and case study paper on the same. "This is the first time that
cells have been taken from the umbilical cord of a new born child and
transplanted with success into the brain. That apart, I have also devised
an ingenious method of cooling only the brain and spinal cord by using
the cerebrospinal fluid which bathes the central nervous system. This
enables the transplanted cells to take residence with the native cells and
the rejection rate is therefore reduced," explains Dr Garg, who has done
his post-graduation medical studies in the United States of America and
has also obtained a Ph.D. in neurosurgical pathology.

World-wide, Parkinson's disease continues to be a challenge in terms of
established treatment methods. "Mostly, patients are treated with
stimulation techniques using electrodes in the hope that the living cells
surrounding the damaged or dead cells in the brain may be activated to a
degree upwards of normal so that they may kick-start the other cells.

While this method does yield positive results for a period of two to three
months, it cannot be said to have any permanent benefits. In fact, I
would go so far as to say that patients are being fooled by the use of
this technique," states Dr Garg.

In that sense, full-fledged success lies in the replacement of the dead
and damaged cells, which Dr Garg has proved that can be done. In this
particular case, the patient was referred to him by Dr Jasbir Kathpal of
Chothiram Hospital, Indore. After obtaining his informed consent,
Gundia was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic by Dr Dilip Kiyawat of Jehangir
Hospital. Next, Dr Garg recovered a portion of the umbilical cord blood
after a baby's delivery and separated the stem cells at Sassoon Hospital.
These cells were modified into brains cells in a tissue culture facility
provided by Dr Avinash Phadnis at the Shree Clinic, following which
they were transplanted after conducting the Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) stereotactic localisation of the implantation site in the
brain stem.

In view of all the parameters involved, the treatment costs an
approximate Rs 2 lakh which, Dr Garg informs, is due to the high cost of
transforming the brain cells and the cooling process apart from
incidentals like MRI and the anti-rejection drugs required. "What I have
devised is a concrete mode of treatment. Elsewhere, neurosurgeons are
still grappling with the trial and error methods," says Dr Garg, hoping
that the world will take note of this innovative surgery and give a new
direction to the researchers.

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