Q: My brother-in-law has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and the doctors say it is in its very early stages so they are not giving him any medication. Since we keep reading about medical breakthroughs, we understand that stem cell therapy could help him. Is it true? If so, where in India is it done and is it legal? We heard that there is a stem cell bank in Madras; is that true and if so could you please help us and tell us how to contact them?

A:Stem-cell therapy is still in an experimental stage. It is not available at any scientific institute in India. Once the technique has been successfully tried out in animals, it will have to undergo stringent clinical trials before it can be made available as a safe form of treatment.