Formula 1’s most decorated driver, Michael Schumacher is set to undergo an experimental stem cell procedure in a fresh bid to repair his nervous system.
Schumacher is still in recovery after a skiing accident in 2013 which saw him put in a medically induced coma for six months. The seven-time Formula One champion is being cared for at home in Switzerland.
While the Schumacher family has been guarded about his health and condition, reports in the Italian media said that the former driving ace was set for another procedure with French cardiologist Dr Philippe Menasche, who is understood to have operated on Schumacher late last year.
Menasche has pioneered a technique for grafting stem cells on to the heart, replacing damaged cells with healthy ones. The procedure is believed to be safe but there is no evidence it would have any effect on the brain.
Jean-Michel Décugis, a journalist at French newspaper Le Parisien, reported that Schumacher had been admitted to hospital in Paris last year.
The Times reported Décugis as saying: “Our sources say that Michael Schumacher is receiving stem cell perfusions that … produce a systemic anti-inflammatory effect.
“That is to say they reach the whole body and you could imagine that they reach Michael Schumacher’s brain.
“It’s quite mysterious. Officially [Professor Menasché] works only on the heart.
“He is carrying out experiments with [secretome] that is made by a laboratory from new stem cells and injected into veins, until now only on animals.”
A spokesperson for the Schumacher family told the Guardian that the family would still maintain its tradition of keeping issues concerning Schumacher’s health private.
According to the same publication, experts were unconvinced that the procedure would happen, with neurosurgeon Dr Nicola Acciari saying.
“The goal is to regenerate Michael’s nervous system,” she said.
“Over the past 20 years, science has made enormous progress with stem cell treatment. But that does not change that we still do not know much about the brain. We are not able to say what the results will be.” Daily Mast
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