A Japanese man who was completely paralyzed can now stand by himself after getting an innovative new stem cell treatment. He was one of four people in a groundbreaking study led by stem-cell scientist Hideyuki Okano at Keio University in Tokyo. Another person in the study got some movement back in his arms and legs, while the other two didn't see much improvement.
The treatment involves injecting two million developing nerve cells into each patient's injury site, using special donor cells that can turn into any cell type. Patients took medicine to prevent their bodies from rejecting the new cells and were checked a year later to make sure there weren’t any serious side effects.
Before the study, all four men had the most severe type of spinal cord injury, with no feeling or movement below their injury. One patient improved to the point that he can move some muscles, while the other can stand now. Okano calls the recovery "dramatic" and says this person is currently working on relearning to walk.