Super Stemmys, Doris and the Supercells is the first ever children’s story on stem cells. A stem cell named Doris and her stem cell friends must all join forces and work together to repair an ailing heart and defeat Morbidus the Vile.
100% of the proceeds from sales of
Super Stemmys, Doris and the Supercells
go to the Repair Stem Cell Institute (RSCI) to help patients.
.
RSCI is the only public service institute in the world dedicated to help patients connect with the top 2% of the world’s stem cell treatment centers. Patients looking to shed the debilitating symptoms of once-untreatable diseases no longer have to wait.
In the latest episode of Gilligan’s Island, we have the stunning headline:
“Embryonic stem cell breakthrough –
treatment for age-related macular degeneration”
gillians-island-mobile-car coconut bamboo ginger professor
Why Gilligan’s Island? Because on the show from the 70’s the brilliant Professor was able to make a car or a radio or a submarine out of coconuts, shells and bamboo. Pretty nifty skill to have but the only problem was; there was no gas for the car, no batteries for the radio, etc. All of these devices had to rely on Gilligan to power them and because he was… Gilligan … he always ended up “driving the same way that Woodstock flies” and the car invariably ended up sinking in the lagoon.
This latest triumphant headline of the “Embryonic stem cell breakthrough” is a Gilligan’s Island project. The “breakthrough” looks and sounds good, the science that went into it’s making seems strong and over all, it seems ready to take the world by storm…until you look more closely. Upon more rigorous inspection it becomes apparent that this breakthrough is really, like the Gilligan’s Island car, made of coconut husks, bamboo and shells.
Take for example that scientists haven’t figured out a way around the tumor causing qualities of embryonic stem cells (ESC). Consider also that ESC transplants require immunosuppressive drugs to counter rejection issues (autologous ASC do not). Also, and this is no minor point when you consider a “breakthrough” announcement; the article states that these results and treatments are not available today, but MAY possibly be available 7 years down the road.
“Breakthrough” indeed. I think Gilligan needs to get his hands on a compass…
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We interrupt this episode of Gilligan’s Island with a word from our sponsor, “Two Face.” “Two Face” is the evil nemesis in “Batman Forever” who is always of two minds on any given subject. He chooses to bring about good or evil based upon the outcome of a coin flip (a philosophy called creatively enough, Flipism) and he apparently rules the media in regard to stem cells with a “fixed” variation of the Flipism decision theory.
2-face-batman-forever tommy lee jones
I know, I’m on a bit of a tangent here. Bare with me, I promise it will all get tied together. So, before I lose you completely, let me spell it out in plain English.
For 6 years the media has used a coin toss to determine their coverage of and response to stem cell victories. But the coin they used was fixed.
On one side was “adult stem cells” and when a story came out on ASC there was either no coverage or highly negative coverage.
On the other side was “embryonic stem cells” and when a story came out on ESC the coverage was either positive or in the often times scenario when there was very little positive to say, incredibly optimistic and forward looking.
ESC = good, ASC = bad…
regardless of what the actual story or science or results had to say.
Do you want proof? OK. You really don’t have to work hard to see the obvious duplicitous and blatant denial, deception or ignorance that is at work here. If you want bragging rights we encourage you to be the first kid on your block to question this “historic embryonic breakthrough”. How, you ask? It’s easy and works every time on virtually every disease! Just Google the name of the disease (any disease) and the words “stem cell”.
Do you know what you get when you Google “macular degeneration” and “stem cell?”
Mixed in with this “amazing embryonic breakthrough” (I still don’t understand how it can be a breakthrough if it is only going to “maybe become a reality in 7 years.”) you will find articles dating back to 2002…that speak to the therapeutic benefits of treating AMD with adult stem cells (ASC).
Now here’s the clever part. How do they know it will take 7 years? It’s easy. WHEN did ASC treatments of macular degeneration first took place? You got it! 7 years ago! And today they are virtually common place. So 7 years seems like a good guess for how long it will take ESC to develop treatments. There aretwo big differences which are really quite large flies in their ointment though. ASC never had to cure cancer or rejection issues before their treatments could be considered a success; ESC do.
Regardless, 7 years from now embryonic stem cells MAY BE able to treat macular degeneration. Of course, the third fly in their ointment is that by then, ASC will have a 14 year history of treating AMD.
the not so proverbial fly-in-the-ointment
So we must ask the question:
Why is it that ASC treat thousands successfully with 130+ diseases and all you see are words like, “unproven”, “snake oil”, “more research needed”? Why is it that when there are monumental ASC treatment successes you see the credit going to “timing”, “physical therapy,” “dietary changes” or “a side effect of the treatment itself” (I still don’t understand that one!)? Or when they really get their back against the wall, they pull out their trump card and accuse people who are pro- ASC of being either religious zealouts or Ludites (anti-progress).
Well, I’m no zealot and I’m no Ludite; I just focus on the results.
When ESC show the remotest possibility of treating something, the horns are sounded, the confetti comes out and the balloons and the doves are released. But is it REALLY a reality? Maybe, in 7 years. But only IF they cure the rejection and tumor issues. Well then check back with me in 7 years. ASC will have cured every disease under the sun by then. But the ESC practitioners can go ahead and launch new products or a new company based on a 7 year old treatment derived from ESC.
This all just goes to illustrate the blatant two faced double standard between the media treatment of proven safe and effective ASC and the mere possibility of ESC treatments that MIGHT happen 7 years out and only if they overcome some huge obstacles.
double standard...get it?
If the media is going to be so incredibly duplicitous to the point of fraudulent claims and outright deception, they should do us all a favor and at least get better at it. These heavy handed and obvious attempts at obfuscation and misdirection are worse than watching a magician try to pull a drunk rabbit out of a hat while wearing a thick pair of wool mittens.
The sick and suffering people around the world deserve better and the truth is…
We can all “see” right through this 2 faced farce.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Israel have created a method that can eliminate the tumor risk of using stem cells as the cure for various diseases. According to the scientists, this development may revolutionize the field of stem cell therapy and save many lives worldwide.
Survivin (Credit: Protein Data Bank)
Survivin expression appears to be especially high in undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells and in their derived tumors. The research team was able to suppress the survivin activity in the embryonic stem cells as well as in the tumors, thus initiating programmed cell death (apoptosis) in those cells.
Although inhibiting survivin expression close to stem cell transplantation should minimize the risk of tumor formation, the researchers remain apprehensive. There are still major safety concerns about the use of (EMBRYONIC) stem cells and a combination of strategies may be needed to make the process safe and easy to use.
First Menstrual blood bank promises easy source of stem cells
New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) For the first time, the country will have a menstrual blood bank which would be used for developing stem cells for treating various disorders.
Scientists say menstrual blood discarded from the female body once a month, considered impure and unhygienic for a long time, is a rich source of stem cells.
Chennai-based LifeCell International which brought cord blood banking to India plans to launch its new project “menstrual stem cell banking” in the month of July.
“We are planning to launch the project in the month of July. It is a richer source of stem cell in comparison to bone marrow as it regenerates every month,” Mayur Abhaya, Executive Director, LifeCell International said.” Women can store their blood by paying a fee and this can be used when they need it for any treatment.
Menstrual blood can be used to develop nine different types of cells including heart, nerve, lung, muscle, liver, pancreatic, fat, bone and nerve cells that form the lining inside the blood vessels.
“It is a painless non-invasive manner as compared to some other stem cell sources such as bone marrow,” Dr Ajit Kumar, chief scientific officer, LifeCell International said. PTI
WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) — Research on stem cells in the United States is facing an uncertain future as a result of new regulations put into place by the government, an expert says.
Wow! Is there anything that adult stem cells can’t do?!?! -dg
Genetically Engineered Stem Cells Target Cancer Cells
May 20th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Anti-cancer protein has the ability to cause the death only of cancer cells.
Genetically engineered stem cells from bone marrow showed promise as a potential new way to deliver a cancer-killing protein to tumors, British researchers said.
Doris is a repair stem cell with some very special qualities. Her will and persistence is vigorously challenged in her quests to overcome adversity and improve the health of a damaged heart.
Come join the adventure and discover the natural healing capabilities of the repair stem cells residing in all of us. Don’t wait! Dive right in to the exploits of SUPER STEMMYS!
Researchers at the University of Louisville have discovered that stem cells extracted from bone marrow can restore damaged retinal tissue by generating new …
If a senator or president-elect takes a definite stance on anything, it costs them votes. Politicians who make best friends with ambiguity project the …
Stem Cell Innovations proprietary, human pluripotent stem cells, known as PluriCells, have the potential to aid in drug discovery, toxicology, and cell…
CHENNAI: In a few months, two centres in India will join the multi-centric global stem cell research where heart attack victims undergoing a by-pass surgery …
The membership of the society, which includes a substantial number of scientists working with stem cells as potential treatments for central nervous system …
Patterson learned that doctors in Peru are using stem cells from umbilical cords of newborn infants to treat brain injuries, so she researched it. …
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SUPER STEMMYS
are coming!!
Doris is a repair stem cell with some very special qualities. Her will and persistence is vigorously challenged in her quests to overcome adversity and improve the health of a damaged heart.
Come join the adventure and discover the natural healing capabilities of the repair stem cells residing in all of us. Don’t wait! Dive right in to the exploits of SUPER STEMMYS!
I’m not sure if I find it more ironic or more serendipitous that I wrote this today at 2:15pm -
“I’m surprised that we haven’t heard more about this recently. There are articles going back to 2004 (like this one) showing the successful use of stem cells to generate hair. Five years later, it is still not available?”
Ask and ye shall receive. -dg
Unlocking the Mechanism of Hair Stem Cell Regeneration and Regrowth
Elaine Fuchs, head of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at Rockefeller University, is researching how stem cells in hair follicles are able to regenerate — research that may one day lead to the promised land of stem cell cloning techniques for hair loss. “Throughout our lifetime, each hair follicle undergoes cyclical bouts of growth, destruction and rest through an intrinsic stem cell population,” Dr. Fuchs told Science Daily recently. “It provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the molecular process of tissue regeneration and stem cell self-renewal.”
For a new round of hair growth to begin, stem cells in the hair follicle must receive a signal to divide. In response to this signal, the hair follicle regenerates first by growing downward through the skin’s middle layer, the dermis, and then producing the specialized cells that form the hair. After a period during which the hair grows longer, stem cells stop dividing, and the hair follicle gradually retracts again. There is then a period of rest and the cycle repeats.
Fuchs and her team have for several years been exploring the infrequently dividing stem cells located near the base of the hair follicle in a compartment known as the bulge. This time they focused on a much smaller cluster of often-ignored cells called the hair germ, located at the very bottom of this structure. Although little is known about the hair germ, scientists postulate that it emerges from the bulge at the end of the destructive phase of the hair cycle.
In their work, to be highlighted in the February 6 issue of Cell Stem Cell, Fuchs and her team scrutinized the hair cycle through the resting phase and discovered that during most of this time, both the bulge and the hair germ remain dormant. By isolating cells from both the hair germ and the bulge, they also confirmed that the two are molecularly very similar, suggesting that the germ does indeed originate from the bulge. The researchers believe, however, that toward the end of the resting phase, the hair germ gets activated to proliferate before the bulge. Moreover, the team showed that the activating signal comes from a structure known as the dermal papilla.
Doris is a repair stem cell with some very special qualities. Her will and persistence is vigorously challenged in her quests to overcome adversity and improve the health of a damaged heart.
Come join the adventure and discover the natural healing capabilities of the repair stem cells residing in all of us. Don’t wait! Dive right in to the exploits of SUPER STEMMYS!
Once again, US research and especially the US media (Forbes) is years behind the rest of the world on stem cell progress!
The headline in Forbes reads, “Stem Cells May Offer New Way to Treat Blocked Arteries.” Here is where the rest of the world stands on cardiac and arterial treatment with stem cells.
1998 – Dr Doris Taylor takes stem cells from the thigh of a rabbit, injects them into scar tissue in the animal’s heart and repairs the damaged muscle. The research was published in Nature Medicine.
1998-1999 – French researchers transplanted muscle cells into a human heart.
2000 – Human studies and trials using adult stem cells to regrow muscle tissue, including cardiac muscle tissue, are performed in many countries around the world.
2002 – Dr Taylor herself witnessed in Rotterdam the first patient in the world to get stem cells injected through a catheter into the wall of the heart. Encouraging results began to come in—improved ejection fractions, reduced diameters, thicker muscle tissue.
2004 – The first-ever commercial stem cell treatment center in the world was regrowing human cardiac muscle tissue in hundreds of patients in Thailand! Stem cells are recognized as “smart,” going to where they were needed most, creating micro-vessel bypasses around blockages that were existing, those that were removed previously and in areas where stents were implanted.
2005 – Dr Taylor rinsed rat hearts with detergent until the cells washed away and all that remained was a skeleton of tissue translucent as wax paper. She then injected the scaffold with fresh heart (stem) cells from newborn rats. Four days later, “We could see these little areas that were beginning to beat. By eight days, we could see the whole heart beating.” The experiment, reported in the journal Nature Medicine, marked the first time scientists had created a functioning heart in the lab from biological tissue.
2009 – Present day. There are currently dozens of stem cell treatment centers around the world who are using adult stem cells to treat cardiac disease in human patients and regrow both cardiac and skeletal muscle tissue and more.
CATCH UP!!
Stem Cells May Offer New Way to Treat Blocked Arteries – 05.19.09, 04:00 PM EDT
Injections into heart restore blood flow in small study
TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) — Injecting bone marrow cells into the heart’s muscular wall restored blood flow to hearts with blocked arteries for which conventional treatments had proven ineffective, Dutch physicians have reported.
“I think this is very good news for patients who are at the end of the line and have no options left,” said Dr. Douwe E. Atsma, an interventional cardiologist at Leiden University Medical Center and an author of the study, which appears in the May 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The 50 people in the study, 43 of them men, were experiencing angina, or severe chest pain, because of blockages in their heart arteries. All had undergone several artery-opening procedures, such as angioplasty or bypass surgery, to restore blood flow, but such measures would no longer help them, Atsma said.
Half of the participants received injections of cells taken from their own bone marrow, and the others received inactive cell injections. After three months, the responses were varied, with some participants reporting complete relief and others with partial benefits.
“The most important thing is that the amount of ischemia [artery blockage] was halved” in those given the marrow cells, Atsma said. “The amount of tissue with ischemia was reduced, heart function improved significantly in a small way and their grades of quality of life were higher.”
Two earlier and smaller trials of bone marrow cell therapy for heart disease had produced conflicting results, Atsma said. “We are the largest trial to date and the first to demonstrate a decrease in ischemia,” he said.
The results were so good, Atsma said, that the participants who had gotten the dummy injections have since been given bone marrow cell therapy, and “we now consider it an option for patients in the same condition,” he said.
The study excluded people with heart failure, which occurs when the heart muscle has become too weak to pump blood properly. But Atsma said that a trial of bone marrow cell therapy for people who have blocked arteries as well as heart failure is planned.
The bone marrow cell injections help restore blood flow by promoting the creation of new blood vessels, Atsma said, but it’s not clear how this happens. “It could be that the cells that are injected become part of the vasculature, the blood vessels,” he said. “Even better, the injected cells may secrete proteins that stimulate angiogenesis, formation of blood vessels. Or it might be a combination of those two things.”
Whatever the reason for the benefit of bone marrow cell therapy, “we are fairly enthusiastic, considering that these patients had no alternative,” Atsma said. “They had all the surgery and angioplasty they could have.”
Dr. Amit Patel, director of cardiovascular regenerative medicine at the University of Utah, described the finding as “definitely a step forward in the treatment of chronic angina.” But he had some cautionary comments.
It was a small study, with just 50 participants, he said, adding that “to make it a more reproducible therapy, you would have to do at least a couple of hundred patients.”
Also, the follow-up period was relatively short, at three months, he noted. “Something positive happened, but you would have to follow these patients further to see how long it would last,” Patel said. Future studies to determine whether there would be an overall improvement in heart function would also be welcome, he said.
Doris Taylor, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Cardiovascular Repair, also had qualified praise for the results.
“The good news is that it is more mechanistic in that it gives some insights into perfusion,” she said. “It reinforces the evidence that bone marrow cells are safe and effective. It also reinforces the prevailing wisdom that it is not a home run. The results are positive, but it is not the panacea we hoped it would be.”
To further the baseball analogy, Taylor said that “for the people who feel better, I would consider it a double.”
More studies are needed to learn about the value of cell therapy “across the complete spectrum of cardiovascular disease,” she said. “We need to understand what we need to do differently. I hope these data provoke that conversation.”
There are many many articles about the use of stem cells for animals. (see the list at the bottom of this article)
Beneficial results have been shown in dogs, horses…even mountain lions.
The joke is definitely on us that Rover, Mr. Ed and…(what’s a name for a mountain lion??)…will get treated for their diseases while we humans can not…
except for outside of the US of course. -dg
Stem Cell Research on Horses Holds Promise for Human Athletes
DAVIS, Calif. (KCBS) — The repair of horses’ tendons, bones and ligaments with stem cell injections now being carried out at the Regenerative Medicine Lab at UC Davis holds promise for treating human athletes.
The limbs of human beings and horses have many biological similarities, meaning the breakthrough in veterinary medicine could someday help athletes heal from similar injuries much more quickly, said a leading stem cell researcher, Dr. Jan Nolta.
Listen KCBS’ Dave Padilla reports
“The results that we get from treating the horses can be almost directly applied to human athletes,” she told KCBS reporter Dave Padilla. Once the horse study is completed, the team would then petition the FDA to test a similar treatment in humans.
Cupertino show horse owner Dick Randall had a horse with a serious ligament injury that had threatened the animal’s career. But within just 30 days of receiving the treatment, he said the horse showed drastic improvement.
“He was ready to go back to the show within 90 days,” said Randall.
Neither the treatment nor the research involves human embryonic stem cells. The UC Davis lab is one of four university-based veterinary stem cell labs in the United States.
I’m surprised that we haven’t heard more about this recently. There are articles going back to 2004 (like this one) showing the successful use of stem cells to generate hair. Five years later, it is still not available?
Who cares, you ask? Forget for a moment about men going through mid-life crisis, buying red sports cars and driving fast down roads with the top down and the wind blowing through what used to be a full head of hair…(random fact – Propecia pulls in about $100 million per year and Rogaine pulls in another $50 mill.)
I want this to be available for those who have gone through the ravages of chemo. Men, women and children who have lost their hair and a perceived degree of their dignity on top of losing their health.
And for those of you that prefer to sport a bald or tightly shaved dome, good for you! http://www.brotherhoodofbaldpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10162 -dg
Stem Cells: A hair club for mice?
It was a great day for follicularly challenged rodents: With the help of lab-grown stem cells, some totally bald mice sprouted luxuriant new tufts of fur.
Scientists had seen hints that some blank-slate stem cells normally live inside hair follicles to regenerate hair and skin. So Elaine Fuchs and her colleagues at Rockefeller University in New York took a single stem cell from a furry mouse’s hair follicle and grew it into millions of cells in a dish. After grafting the cells onto genetically hairless mice, they soon saw new skin, oil glands, and impressive patches of fuzzy fur.
The report, out last week in the journal Cell , is the best demonstration yet that a single adult stem cell can regenerate all the structures in a solid tissue, raising hopes for made-to-order replacement body parts. “That is the extraordinary advance,” says Fuchs. She now wants to compare these cells with other kinds of stem cells, like those in embryos. And yes, the work may, someday, lead to human hair growth. But don’t expect Fuchs to race for a baldness cure: “That’s not the driving force that makes me do my science.” -Nell Boyce
Independent – Apr 23, 2006 He may be about to announce what for bald men is the Holy Grail – a way of making hair grow again, using stem-cell technology. …
CBC.ca – Jun 13, 2007 … stem cell therapy, hair surgery, and even hirsutism or excessive hair growth. … Scientists are also researching whether implanting the cells into bald …
San Francisco Chronicle – Mar 7, 2008 For those hoping for a new technology that will carpet a bald scalp like Astroturf, … Oro, who studies hair stem cells at Stanford, said work on the …
FOXNews – Oct 13, 2008 In a related study, Swedish researchers have found a gene in stem cells which can re-grow hair follicles on mice. In a lab setting, the researchers were …
msn.com – Jan 29, 2008 They weren’t trying to cure baldness, but they say that they may have, by combining stem cells with a secret compound. This is different from hair loss …
Telegraph.co.uk – May 17, 2007 Rather than turning on stem cells, as thought, the method works by reactivating genes used during development of the embryo. If researchers can control hair …
Pay-Per-View – Los Angeles Times – ProQuest Archiver – Apr 17, 2006 Cancer: Each hair follicle contains a set of adult stem cells that divide … Her findings might lead to drugs to help bald people grow more hair — or to …
NEWS.com.au – May 19, 2007 IT could be the answer to the prayers of millions of bald men. Scientists have coaxed stem cells into growing hair for the first time. …
North County Times – Jan 13, 2008 The affected hair follicles become small and drastically slow down hair production. But since the stem cells that continually supply the follicle with new …
Free with registration – San Jose Mercury News – AccessMyLibrary.com – Jun 19, 2007 Good news, bald men of America! All is not lost. (Except your hair, of course. Ha ha! … “From a guy living on Propecia and hoping for the day of stem cell …
In the movie 300, King Leonidas rallies his troops for the clash with the insurmountable odds of the Persian forces. Just before the armies slam into each other, Leonidas shouts: “Give them nothing! But take from them everything!”
Imagine an army of brilliant doctors who oppose the seemingly insurmountable forces of both Multiple Sclerosis AND the regulatory boards that refuse to allow patients to receive adult stem cell treatments in the US.
-
Their battle is a difficult one and not all patients will benefit from the treatment (~74% do) so the doctors must “promise them nothing.”
-
But the doctors WILL give the patients the beneficial treatments, WILL give them their own stem cells, NONE shall stand in the way of treating their patients and MOST patients will be SYMPTOM FREE and get their lives back…in short, they will be given EVERYTHING!
-
“Promise them NOTHING,
but give them EVERYTHING!”
-
Multiple Sclerosis Patients Promised Nothing But Are Symptom Free After Stem Cell Treatment | Culture11
By Don Margolis
May 11, 2009
Multiple Sclerosis Patients Improve After Stem Cell Research and Therapy Preston Walker and Richard Humphries are shining examples of how stem cell research using Adult Stem Cells are improving lives right now. Preston and Richard were the first two Multiple Sclerosis patients to receive stem cell treatment with their own cells derived from their fat. Stem [...]…read more
Pfizer is pumping $100 million into its international stem cell development program.
They are going to us embryonic stem cells and see if they have any potential in treating cardiac muscle. They want to make drugs from the stem cells.
$100 million
into a science that is at worst, a dead end for creating treatments and at best, will not produce treatments for 20-50 years.
to develop drugs (instead of using the stem cells themselves)
for a disease that has been treated successfully with adult stem cells since early 2000
So what if embryonic research has been 100% fruitless (in regard to generating treatments) for well-funded and government supported scientists around the world for the last 11 years.
So what if Dr James Thomson, father of embryonic research said about embryonic research: “…embryonic stem cells are not being used in any clinical applications yet, while alternatives such as adult stem cells figure in scores of therapies.”
So what if Dr Oz said on national TV “the stem cell debate is dead,” recognizing the lack of potential in embryonic stem cells to produce cures.
So what if Ian Wilmut, who led the team that cloned Dolly the sheep, abandoned his license to attempt human cloning, saying that the researchers “may have achieved what no politician could: an end to the embryonic stem cell debate.”
So what if Dr. Bernadine Healy, director of the National Institutes of Health under the first President Bush, wrote in U.S. News & World Report that these recent developments “in the first six weeks of Obama’s term, several events reinforced the notion that embryonic stem cells, once thought to hold the cure for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and diabetes, are obsolete….. In fact, adult stem cells, which occur in small quantities in organs throughout the body for natural growth and repair, have become stars despite great skepticism early on.”
ADULT STEM CELL TREATMENTS VS EMBRYONIC STEM CELL TREATMENTS
by Dr Centeno
We’ve all heard about embryonic stem cells (ESC’s). They have been in the news and the focus of controversy for a decade. We’ve seen far less media coverage of adult stem cells. Adult stem cells (ASC’s) are found in everyone’s body and they are capable of repairing a host of tissues. In fact, the research on adult cell lines has surpassed embryonic.
My search begins at the National Library of Medicine, looking at all embryonic stem cell published papers vs. the total on all adult stem cell lines. For every one ESC paper, there were at least two ASC papers.
In addition, the research on ASC’s is vastly more mature, focusing on animal models of tissue healing, dosing, early human cases, medication interaction with cells, possible complications, etc… The ESC research is more test tube and review articles on what might be possible someday. Looking in specific categories, I found the following:
Cartilage Repair: 230 articles on embryonic vs. 1,113 for just one adult stem cell line (mesenchymal stem cells)
Myocardial Infarction: 186 for embryonic stem cells vs. 341 for adult mesenchymal stem cells, 69 for endothelial progenitor cells
Wound Healing: 114 for embryonic stem cells vs. 330 for adult mesenchymal stem cells, 565 for adult epithelial stem cells
For a more detailed analysis, take a look at the American Stem Cell Therapy Assocition (ASCTA) white paper on adult stem cells vs. embronic stem cell research. Summary? Adult stem cell research is much farther ahead. In addition, as I have posted on before, if the cells are autologous (from the same patient), they also have a much lower risk profile. While one day embryonic cells may rule the day, for now, adult stem cells are beating the pants off ESC’s in practical research.
To delve further, the first 20 references for myocardial infarction for adult stem cells are almost all devoted to actual animal models of treatment, advanced concepts such as dosing, etc…
Almost none of the 20 references in the same search for embryonic stem cells reveal any animal testing; the focus being review articles what about might be theoretically possible. The conclusion, adult stem cells are much farther along in their development with regard to real world treatments.
What have these actual animal and early human models shown that adult stem cells are capable of healing?
Hayley Pelletier had been legally blind since birth due to her Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. However, thanks to the wonders of stem cell research using Adult Stem Cells, these days Hayley can now see and in the words of her mother “Basically, her whole quality of life was just bumped up 110 percent.”
No Medications, No Treatments, Nowhere To Go
Before the stem cell research that changed her life occurred, Hayley was learning how to read Braille and how to get around with a cane due to the Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, a leading cause of blindness in children where the optic nerve fails to develop.
Until an amazing new stem cell treatment developed in China using cord blood stem cells, there was no drugs, no treatments that could improve Optic Nerve Hypoplasia.
Cord Blood Stem Cells- Only Treatment Available
Hayley and her mother Heather went to China for the stem cell treatment in November 2008. And the results have been amazing. Before, Hayley could barely only make out the difference between light and dark, but now-
“It’s been incredible,” Pelletier said. “Basically, her whole quality of life was just bumped up 110 percent. She’s so much happier.”
Her self confidence has soared, too. Pelletier managed to say a few words at a Lions Club banquet, but she admits she was intimidated by the hundreds of people in the room. Hayley wasn’t.
“I brought a different child home from China. She stood on a chair and told them all about her experiences there,” said Pelletier, astonished. “Then she thanked them for honoring her with their support.”
Hayley Joins the Stem Cells for Optic Nerve Hypoplasia Club
Hayley now becomes the latest addition to our “club” of children who have been to China for stem cell therapy for their Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and the closely related Septo-Optic Dysplasia and then come back to the United States, UK and Canada with better vision and other benefits to their development.
Just last week, we added Dakota Clarke , her mom said “It’s been worth every single penny to see the changes in her.”
A few weeks ago we added Macie Morse who can now see well enough to drive after her stem cell therapy.
And before that Coby Fend’s mother said ““We are talking about going back — we’d almost be crazy not to, because right now it’s the best thing going in the entire world.”
And we also had Connor Corkern – He’s doing great. He is doing wonderful. It’s like we’ve got a totally new baby, Coye Corkern said
We had Cameron Petersen – Grandma Petersen said “There was nothing for Cameron before this treatment. Now, his world is limitless.”
Lydia Black- From her father – “the treatment is already having a huge effect on her life, and he is glad that she was able to receive stem cell treatment in China. ”
Savannah Watring – “She said hello to herself in an elevator (after seeing her reflection). It blew everyone away. We weren’t expecting that.”
Xavier Carballo-Xavier’s ophthalmologist, Dr. Jack Guggino of Tampa, said he did a baseline exam on the boy before the trip to China and after his return. He said before the treatment Xavier could only detect hand motion at 1 to 2 feet, and after the treatment he could count fingers at 3 to 4 feet.
“As far as Xavier is concerned, there has been definite and measurable improvement, neurologically and ophthalmologically,” Guggino said.
If you or someone you know has a similar condition or perhaps another disease, please go to our Repair Stem Cell Institute website and we will provide stem cell treatment information.
Here we have a (COMPLETELY B.S.) Australian stem cell breakthrough…
mouse-science-muscle-stem-cells
The claim:
The article states that Australian scientists, on May 6, 2009, are the FIRST IN THE WORLD to regrow muscle tissue in mice using adult stem cells.
Stem cells regrow muscleWednesday, 06 May 2009, By Fiona MacDonaldFor the past 40 years scientists have been telling us that stem cells will revolutionise medicine, but we’ve yet to see that potential materialise. That may soon be about to change – after decades of groundwork Australian scientists at the University of New South Wales have become the first in the world to regrow muscle tissue in mice using adult stem cells…
This is TWENTY MONTHS behind the US stem cell scientists who regrew muscles cells in mice in Sept of 2007…and the US is behind most of the rest of the world!
Myoendothelial cells identified as new human source of stem cells with potential to repair muscle Published: Wednesday, 5-Sep-2007…A thousand myoendothelial cells (adult stem cells) transplanted into the injured skeletal muscle of immunodeficient mice produced, on average, 89 muscle fibers, compared with 9 and 5 muscle fibers for endothelial and satellite cells, respectively. Myoendothelial cells also showed no propensity to form tumors, a concern with other stem cell therapies…http://www.news-medical.net/?id=29538
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Argument #2:
1998 – Dr Doris Taylor takes stem cells from the thigh of a rabbit, injects them into scar tissue in the animal’s heart and repairs the damaged muscle. The research was published in Nature Medicine.
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Argument #3:
1998-1999 – French researchers transplanted muscle cells into a human heart.
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Argument #4:
2000 – Human studies and trials using adult stem cells to regrow muscle tissue, including cardiac muscle tissue, are performed in many countries around the world.
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Argument #5:
2002 – Dr Taylor herself witnessed in Rotterdam the first patient in the world to get stem cells injected through a catheter into the wall of the heart. Encouraging results began to come in—improved ejection fractions, reduced diameters, thicker muscle tissue.
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Argument #6:
2004 – The first-ever commercial stem cell treatment center in the world was regrowing human cardiac muscle tissue in hundreds of patients in Thailand!
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Argument #7:
2005 – Dr Taylor rinsed rat hearts with detergent until the cells washed away and all that remained was a skeleton of tissue translucent as wax paper. She then injected the scaffold with fresh heart (stem) cells from newborn rats. Four days later, “We could see these little areas that were beginning to beat. By eight days, we could see the whole heart beating.” The experiment, reported in the journal Nature Medicine, marked the first time scientists had created a functioning heart in the lab from biological tissue.
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Argument #8:
2009 – Present day. There are currently dozens of stem cell treatment centers around the world who are using adult stem cells to treat human patients and regrow both cardiac and skeletal muscle tissue and more.
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Conclusion:
This Australian breakthrough is not only based on the blatant ignorance or disregard of almost a decade of medical history and successful treatments around the world…it is also completely irrelevant to the current state of the technology!
This is like Ford Motors announcing today that they have invented seat belts. (Volvo had the first safety belts in 1849.)
It is time to put a stop to these erroneous, misinformed or purposely deceitful articles about stem cell facts, history and available treatments.
In research recently published in the journal Immunity, Prof. Ronen Alon and his research student Ziv Shulman of the Weizmann Institute’s Immunology Department show how white blood cells advance along the length of the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels. Current opinion maintains that immune cells advance like inchworms, but Alon’s new findings show that the rapid movement of the white blood cells is more like that of millipedes…
Stem Cell Row Grows As Scientist Says Embryonic Treatment Supporters’ Claims Are Fantasy
Article Date: 24 Apr 2009 – 0:00 PDT
One of the UK’s leading stem cell research scientists says a deluge of claims and speculation over future stem cell implant treatment is causing deep confusion amongst both scientists and the general population.
“Ever since President Barack Obama lifted US government spending restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, my in-box has been inundated with all sorts of claims and speculation about imminent breakthroughs in stem cell treatment,” said Dr Peter Hollands, a senior lecturer in biosciences at the University of Westminster, and a director of Smart Cells International (SCI).
“The true potential in stem cell treatment lies with cord blood stem cell collection, not embryonic. I need to put it in perspective: We have the technology to grow potatoes on the moon. We could fly everything out there at a cost of billions – and it would work. The alternative, however, is to grow them in our back garden.
“Embryonic stem cell collection and treatment is untested, unproven and currently unusable – in some cases complete science fantasy – and burning cash at an enormous rate; Cord blood stem cell collection and treatment is proven and in use, and has the most imminent and massive development potential. It has momentum.
“Embryonic stem cell collection is difficult and controversial; cord blood stem cells can be collected from the umbilical cord during the 129 million births there are each year on Earth.
“Anybody would think that the restriction has been lifted on simply talking about embryonic stem cell collection and treatment, because while the talk has been free-flowing and voluminous, the potential for embryonic stem cells is as far behind as ever...
ScienceDaily (Apr. 25, 2009) — University of British Columbia researchers have discovered a “molecular key” that could help increase the success of blood stem cell transplants, a procedure currently used to treat diseases such as leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and aplastic anemia.
During a blood stem cell transplant, donor blood stem cells – which can produce red and white blood cells and platelets – are injected into the recipient to produce new blood. The stem cells then need to travel to the thymus – an organ near the heart – and produce T-cells, a type of white blood cell that orchestrates the body’s immune system.
A common problem with blood stem cell transplants is the failure of stem cells to repopulate the thymus and generate T-cells. Without T-cells the patient is unable to fight infection and post-transplant prognosis is poor.
Now Prof. Hermann Ziltener and his research team at UBC’s Biomedical Research Centre have identified a molecule called S1P that can tell the thymus to “open the gates” and accept more stem cells.
“This discovery gives us a handle on determining whether the thymus will be receptive to migrating stem cells,” says Ziltener, a professor in the Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. “By treating patients with drugs that control S1P, scientists can now manipulate the thymic gates to either open or close.”
The same team had previously identified a number of molecules that function as the thymic gates for migrating stem cells. The new study, published in the April issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine, is the first to hone in on the “key” molecule that can open the thymic gate.
Next steps in the research include finding the mechanism T-cells in blood use to control S1P formation. Researchers estimate that it would be at least five years before the discovery can be translated into a clinical test
I, for one, fully applaud her strength and determination. No doubt, without them this amazing accomplishment wouldn’t have been possible.
And yet, out of respect to the thousands of other SCI patients who have illustrated the same amount of strength and determination, I feel it is my duty to add: maybe, just maybe…the adult stem cell therapy that she received 7 times in 3 years might have had something to do with her recovery?!?! -dg
GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM)- The strength and determination of a West Michigan woman have helped her overcome paralysis. Kadi DeHaan was injured from the chest down in a bad car accident four years ago. But Wednesday night she got out of her wheel chair and walked into her 21st birthday party.
“I always knew that I was going to walk again. That was my attitude from the get go,” said DeHaan.
Doctors told Kadi she would never walk after a car accident four years ago.
“It was a rainy night and I was driving and I hydro-planed into oncoming traffic and then a car hit me and then I flew out of the windshield,” she said.
Kadi’s parents found a therapy for her in Russia. They’ve been there seven times in three years. Doctors take her adult stem cells and put them in her spine to regrow neuro pathways in her spine.
“We also knew of a couple other people who have been to Russia and were getting results back, but Kadi is getting remarkable results,” said Bonnie DeHaan.
The idea to walk into a bar at 21 started as a fun motivator one year ago, but Kadi took it as a serious challenge.
“She works at night time, she works on the weekends and then she’ll come and work with us. She’s definitely a hard worker,” said Kadi’s physical therapist Sandy Burns.
“Maybe I could have done it with just therapy but I wouldn’t have gotten this far but the stem cells definitely pushed me further and I probably wouldn’t have been where I am today without them,” said DeHaan.
Where she is today is far beyond the odds that were stacked against her.
“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to us. This is it today,” said Bonnie DeHaan.
Since she already made this year’s wish come true, Kadi’s on to next year when she hopes to ditch that wheelchair for good.
via http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=108384&catid=48
From a recent press release on macular degeneration treatments:
“Researchers…used embryonic eye stem cells to replace the layer of damaged eye cells. While Pfizer is backing the British push to bring the therapy to patients… Adult Stem Cell treatments will be available both much sooner and much cheaper…
Actually, they already are available…but it is nice to see something in print that (almost) recognizes the disparity between available, successful and safe adult stem cell treatments and the feet dragging pharma run 7-50 years out embryonic stem cell treatments. -dg
Stem Cell Research Provides Help for Breast Reconstruction
Irene MacKenzie had a lumpectomy for her early stage breast cancer leaving her with a hollow in her breast. The lumpectomy took care of the cancer, but what about her breast? Well, Irene was the first person in Britain to reap the benefits of Stem Cell research using Adult Stem Cells for breast reconstruction.
Feeling Self-Conscious After the Lumpectomy
After the lumpectomy, Irene didn’t feel good about the way her breast looked. She looked for options. A friend referred her to Eva Weiler-Mithoff who is a consultant plastic surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Dr. Weiler-Mithoff who had been approached with a new Adult Stem Cell process asked if Irene would be interested in becoming the first woman in Britain to receive this new stem cell treatment for breasts. Irene didn’t hesitate and said “YES!”
Process of Stem Cells for the Breast
Approximately one pint of fat extracted via liposuction from her stomach.
Half the fat was put aside. Adult Stem Cells were extracted from the other half of fat.
The Adult Stem Cells were then mixed with the first half of fat.
The Stem Cell mix was injected into the hollow in her breast.
3 months later- the stem cell therapy treated breast looked and felt like a normal breast
Up until now, the only option has been to fill the hollow with the liposuctioned fat (without adding the Adult Stem Cells). The Adult Stem Cells create new blood vessels thus giving the newly added fat some blood supply so it does not die.
11 Breast Patients Treated With Stem Cell Therapy So Far
Dr. Weiler-Mithoff says that they have treated 11 patients so far in this stem cell clinical trial, but that she is very pleased with the results so far.
This stem-cell enriched fat also seems to restore the softness of the breast tissues. It almost uncrumples the skin, undoing some of the radiotherapy damage, and women are reporting that their pain has eased, too – possibly because it makes the skin more supple.
I feel this technique will have a significant impact on breast reconstruction. Patients don’t need a big operation and there are no scars.
I recently covered a similar story approximately a month ago about this breast reconstruction in Britain although that story focused more on how this exact same procedure could be used for breast enlargement.
Also, last week, I covered a company in China that is using this same technique of getting Adult Stem Cells from the fat and then injecting them into the face as an alternative to a facelift.
Stem Cell Research Shows Adult Stem Cells Help Stroke Victims
Posted 20 April, 2009 in Stroke |
Stem Cell Research Study Reveals Stroke Patients Helped by Own Stem Cells
A new stem cell research study/trial recently completed shows that implanting a person’s own Adult Stem Cells helps stroke patients overcome partial paralysis. Dr. Kameshwar Prasad of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will present his stem cell study at the European Stroke Research Conference in May, 2009.
Stroke Victims Own Adult Stem Cells Used
In the stem cell study that took place in New Delhi, India, 12 stroke victims had their own stem cells implanted within 1 month after a stroke. Also, 3 stroke patients were used as a control group and were not given any stem cells.
Process of Stem Cells for Stroke
Adult Stem Cells extracted from patient’s bone marrow
Stem Cells are then purified
Patient’s own stem cells are then reintroduced intravenously into the antecubital vein (in the forearms, near the elbow)
Stem Cells migrate to area of injury (in this case- the brain)
Adult Stem Cells enhance repair process and reduce brain damage
The Stem Cell Treatment Results
At the beginning of the stem cell study, none of the 12 stroke patients were able to carry out daily activities, use the toilet, take a bath, dress and eat independently.
However, within 1 year, 70% (I assume 7 or 8 of the patients) were able to overcome their handicaps and successfully return to previous activities like playing golf, working in the office and cooking.
Only 1 out of the 3 stroke patients in the control group were able to go back to their normal routine.
No Side Effects From Your Own Stem Cells
From the stem cell article: “The stem cells had excellent safety profile. After carrying out Pet scans and MRIs thrice in a year on patients who received stem cells, we found no side-effects. This study shows that stem cells are a safe and feasible therapy in acute stroke. This holds promise and needs to be confirmed in a bigger study,” Dr Prasad said.
Of course there were no side effects, the trial used the patient’s own cells. Rejection isn’t an issue. As I say time and time again, the patient has everything to gain and nothing to lose. There is no downside to this treatment. It is a shame this isn’t being put to use in the United States and made available to everyone who may need it.
These same doctors will follow up this stem cell clinical trial for stroke with a 120 patient trial in the next 3 years. Hopefully, this will speed things up for Adult Stem Cells to be accepted sooner rather than later.
Related Stem Cells for Stroke Success Stories
The results of this study comes just after I covered this stem cell trial for stroke in Texas. Also, earlier this year, I covered the stem cell tea bag which helped a German stroke victim as well.
“The report predicts mergers and acquisitions will grow in the next few quarters in the stem-cell arena, following President Obama’s executive order allowing use of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.
Let’s not forget that Obama gave the responsibility of establishing the US position on stem cell funding to the NIH…and they came back with limited funding for embryonic and full funding for adult stem cell and ips cell research.
Could this be because the know that adult stem cells have worked for over 6 years and iPS cells may have a lot of potential…whereas embryonic has huge limitations and obstacles and a decade long timeline prior to generating treatments? – dg
Venture capitalists and large drug makers seeking to boost their stem-cell research capabilities are likely to invest in the field, according to the report.”
Report: Pharma Deals In 1Q Exceed Whole Of 2008
By Linda A. Johnson, AP Business Writer
Manufacturing.Net – April 20, 2009
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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The burst of drugmaker mergers announced in the first quarter is worth nearly 50 percent more than all the industry deals announced in 2008, according to a new report.
Deals in the quarter had a combined value of $166 billion, more than 10 times the value of deals announced in last year’s first quarter and well over the $114 billion in deals announced in all of 2008.
That’s according to a report released Monday by The Mergermarket Group of New York and London.
First-quarter deals include three involving the 10 largest drugmakers.
The Roche Group bought the 44 percent of Genentech Inc. it didn’t already own for $47 billion. Pfizer Inc. is buying Wyeth for $64 billion and Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough Corp. for $43 billion. Those deals are set to close in the fourth quarter.
According to the report, some insiders don’t see any more megadeals on the horizon and instead expect more “mid-market transactions” and deals valued below $5 billion.
One was announced Monday morning, in fact, with British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC saying it will pay $2.9 billion to buy American dermatology business Stiefel Laboratories Inc.
Glaxo and some other major drugmakers, including Sanofi-Aventis SA and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., have been telling investors and analysts that they prefer to make smaller, targeted acquisitions that fit with their particular growth strategies.
The report predicts mergers and acquisitions will grow in the next few quarters in the stem-cell arena, following President Obama’s executive order allowing use of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.
Venture capitalists and large drugmakers seeking to boost their stem-cell research capabilities are likely to invest in the field, according to the report. One potential target for big drugmakers is International Stem Cells Corp., which is doing early-stage testing of treatments using stem cells.
iPS cells are regular old skin cells that a scientists has changed into something else. They take a skin cell, induce it (manipulate certain genes to express themselves) and end up with a stem cell. There is a lot of fuss abut iPS because they are pluripotent (can become any cell in the body) and they don’t require any embryos in the process.
More research is required and their use in treatments is unknown at this point but many believe iPS have:
all the promise of adult stem cells for treatments
all the promise of embryonic stem cells for pluripotency
none of the embryonic controversy
A bit more info:
iPS cells were discovered in mice in 2006 and humans in 2007. Here are 3 articles about iPS cells if anyone is interested.
Bear in mind that the more educated pro embryonic people will tell you that iPS cells ALSO do carry SOME risk of tumor formation. Fear not.
Dr James Thomson is the father of embryonics who gave up embryonic research because of it’s limitations to become one of the world’s most brilliant iPS scientist. On March 27th, 2009 he was able to turn skin cells…foreskin cells to be exact, into induced plutipotent (iPS) cells with no viruses or tumor potential.
Btw, whereas iPS have what looks to be a bright future, adult stem cells are still the gold standard for treatment Adult stem cells have treated over 130+ diseases successfully over the past 6 years and they also have a prior history of safe use as bone marrow transplants for Leukemia and a number of other cancers to counter the effects of chemotherapy for ~40 years.
“I hope I speak for a majority of alumni (Class of ‘77) when I proclaim pride in my Notre Dame for extending the invitation to President Obama. The university president, the Rev. John Jenkins, has emphasized that the invitation to Obama neither condones nor endorses his positions … regarding abortion and embryonic stem cell research. The invitation, instead, reinforces commitment to the mission of this distinguished Catholic university, to nurture intellectual pursuit and uninhibited debate. Are we to simply ban speakers with whom we disagree?
– Steve”
“Did you ever hear the scripture that says that light and dark can’t and don’t mix? I believe that any music that does not glorify our lord is not blessed by him.”
– “A Soldier,” on a favorable Associated Baptist Press review the new U2 album
Chemical structure of cytosine, one of the four nucleotide bases that make up DNA. New research shows that two additional nucleotides — 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine — can sometimes replace cytosine in the DNA double helix to regulate which genes are expressed.
The rise of epigenetics in the past decade has drawn attention to a fifth nucleotide, 5-methylcytosine (5-mC), that sometimes replaces cytosine in the famous DNA double helix to regulate which genes are expressed.
And now there’s a sixth: 5-hydroxymethylcytosine.
In experiments published online by Science, researchers reveal an additional character in the mammalian DNA code, opening an entirely new front in epigenetic research.
The work, conducted in the Nathaniel Heintz Laboratory of Molecular Biology at The Rockefeller University, suggests that a new layer of complexity exists between our basic genetic blueprints and the creatures that grow out of them.
“This is another mechanism for regulation of gene expression and nuclear structure that no one has had any insight into,” says Heintz, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “The results are discrete and crystalline and clear; there is no uncertainty. I think this finding will electrify the field of epigenetics.”
…And still another way the diabetes orgs are in denial is their fervent support for embryonic stem cell research. They are hopelessly left behind in the hype of the 90’s as science marches forward. For example, results from one trial using patients’ own stem cells and chemotherapy, allowed some participants with diabetes Type 1 to go 4 years without the use of insulin, while the average was almost 3 years. Interestingly, it appears that most of the American Diabetes Association research grants have been awarded to research using non-embryonic stem cells (at current viewing).
Given that embryonic stem cell research has not been banned in the US, one wonders why the ADA has not thrown their money at embryonic stem cell research? Perhaps they actually don’t have that much faith in it, afterall? Perhaps they’d prefer that you and I pocket the iffy research and they can keep their donors happy by funding the studies with the solid outcomes . . . maybe?
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research seek to keep bans out of House budget
By Corrie MacLaggan | Friday, April 17, 2009, 10:24 AM
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research this morning called on the Texas House not to adopt budget language that would ban use of state money for the research. Such language is in the Senate version of the budget.
At a Capitol press conference, Emma Garrett, a volunteer with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said she hopes embryonic stem cell research could help find a cure for diabetes. Her 2-year-old daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before her first birthday.
“For me, it’s incredibly urgent that a cure for diabetes is found,” Garrett said.
State Reps. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston; Mark Homer, D-Paris; and Rick Hardcastle, R-Vernon, said that budget amendments aren’t the right place to make policy on stem cell research.
“There’s been no testimony, no input from institutions and no opportunity to hear from the public,” Cohen said.
The House is debating the budget today. For Hardcastle, who has multiple sclerosis, the fight to keep stem cell language out of the budget will be personal, he said.
“My goal today is to make sure that none of these harmful amendments get on,” he said.
ALWAYS LOOKING UP BY MICHAEL J. FOX (Ebury Press £18.99)
By Harry Ritchie, Last updated at 1:25 PM on 17th April 2009
As Michael J. Fox readily admits, he is only the second most famous Parkinson’s sufferer in the world, easily outshone by Muhammad Ali.
michael j fox always looking up
But the former Hollywood star has done more than even The Greatest to promote understanding of the condition and to help the search for a cure.
Always Looking Up is the sequel to Lucky Man, Fox’s mega-selling memoir that described his life as a star and then his battle with Parkinson’s after he was diagnosed at the age of 29 in 1991.
This update starts with Fox still a star actor, on TV rather than film, in the hit series Spin City. But the strain of hiding his symptoms from the camera is proving too much. On holiday in the Caribbean, Fox is hit by a moment of clarity – it’s time for him to retire.
After a 25-year career as one of Hollywood’s top-earning stars, and with such a terrible, exhausting and debilitating disease to cope with, Fox thoroughly deserved to take it easy for the rest of his life.
That’s exactly what he doesn’t do. Only a few months after his farewell episode of Spin City, he is hosting the launch of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Nor is this to be some self-indulgent, self-seeking effort for charity. Fox and his foundation immediately began to raise serious sums of money – millions and millions of dollars.
It soon became the second biggest funder of research into Parkinson’s disease, after the U.S. government. To date, the foundation has raised $200 million.
Not only that, the foundation has used its financial clout to take enlightened control of the way Parkinson’s research is carried out in the U.S., so there is much more openness and accountability among the university labs and pharmaceutical companies.
This is, of course, absolutely marvelous, but it’s rubbish material for a book. It could have been a 278-page boast about the author’s magnificent contribution to mankind. But Fox avoids that fate.
First, because his campaign and his foundation take up only part of a book that is also about his work and his family.
Glory days: Back To The Future (1985) Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd
Second, because he lives in the U.S., where what would be the most unimpeachable project in less fundamentalist countries is, in fact, controversial and highly politicized.
The problem is that by far the best hope of finding a cure for Parkinson’s is by using embryonic stem cells – and that is anathema to the U.S.’s powerful and vocal religious Right-wing.
As Fox explains, there’s no logic to this. The religious Right is afraid that the men in white coats will be farming eggs, creating clones in test-tubes and killing them a week later – but the embryos that researchers use are two, four, or eight-cell clusters that already exist, the leftovers of in vitro fertilisation.
Very mindful of that religious Right-wing idea, George W. Bush imposed a freeze on stem-cell research. Then, when Congress voted in favour, he used his presidential veto to maintain his ban.
Fox’s politics are strictly single issue and he is happy to support pro-research politicians of any party. But the religious Right regarded him as a baby-killing Democrat-with-a-cause, especially after he appeared in campaign adverts for a pro-research Democratic candidate.
The trouble was that the adverts were brilliant – dramatically moving footage of Fox, still recognisable as the once boyish star of Back To The Future.
He was smartly dressed, making his endorsement while suffering his usual symptoms, jerking and twitching uncontrollably – symptoms that would, a few days later, have him approached in the street by a heroin dealer asking if he needed to score.
Michael J. Fox and wife Tracy Pollen, 2007
The appalling Right-wing talk-show host Rush Limbaugh accused Fox of exaggerating and even faking his symptoms. Then Limbaugh impersonated Fox on TV.
‘I was slack-jawed,’ says Fox. ‘He flapped his arms and wiggled his fingers, while rocking his body, rolling his shoulders and bobbing his head.’ There was going to be only one winner in the Limbaugh-Fox contest: Limbaugh was vilified; Fox became even more adored.
And, as he spends much of the book explaining – entertainingly enough and not at all mawkishly by Hollywood standards – Michael J. Fox can count the blessings of his wife and children and his work.
Plus, he can end the book celebrating the advent of Barack Obama, who immediately repealed Bush’s ban on stem-cell research. Like most sequels, this second book can’t repeat the impact of the first.
But it’s well-written, unfailingly cheery and warm-hearted and, in the pages where he describes his battle with Rush Limbaugh, truly gripping.
My only complaints are that his chapter reassuring us about his (actually vague and not at all strong) faith will seem completely redundant to non-American readers.
And though it’s a fairly understandable mistake for a North American writer to make, someone at Ebury Press really should have known there’s no such place in England as Lancastershire
The National Institutes of Health is issuing draft guidelines on steps scientists must take to conduct embryonic stem cell research with taxpayer money.
WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama eased limits on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away.
Draft guidelines released by the National Institutes of Health reflect rules with broad congressional support, excluding more controversial sources such as cells derived from embryos created just for experiments.
“We think this will be a huge boost for the science,” said Acting NIH Director Raynard Kington. “This was the right policy for the agency at this point in time.”
But the limit will disappoint some researchers who had hoped to use a broader variety of cells.
Scientists are trying to harness embryonic stem cells — master cells that can morph into any cell of the body — to one day create replacement tissues and better treat, possibly even cure, ailments ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s to spinal cord injury.
Emory study yields evidence of processes that erases epigenetic signals
Friday, 17 April 2009
An Emory University study shows some of the first direct evidence of a process required for epigenetic reprogramming between generations – a finding that could shed more light on the mechanisms of fertilization, stem-cell formation and cloning. The journal Cell published the results of the study on the nematode C. elegans in its April 17 issue.
“We believe that we have demonstrated one of the processes that erases the information in a fertilized egg, so that the offspring can begin life with a clean slate,” says David Katz, lead author of the study. Katz is a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of William Kelly, associate professor of biology at Emory and a co-author of the study.
“One of the most fundamental mysteries in biology is how a sperm and egg create a new organism. By looking at the process at the molecular level, we’re gaining understanding of this basic question of life,” Katz says.
How do you call a proven history of safe successes over a time span of 6-10 years a “fast cure”?? http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/stem-cells-%e2%80%98can-treat-diabetes%e2%80%99-is-obscured-by-wet-blanket/
-dg
Experts caution over “fast cures” based on stem cells
AABB SmartBrief | 04/17/2009
Recent developments, including President Barack Obama’s decision to lift funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, have boosted programs focusing on stem cell treatments. However, some scientists remain cautious about how research in the field should proceed given the lack of understanding and the risks associated with such treatments. In the haste to meet certain expectations, some worry that funding may be prioritized for immediately applicable research aimed at faster cures, leaving little for more revolutionary work. SF Weekly (San Francisco) (04/14)
Wow, weird feeling of deja vu…oh, yeah. This news is 3 years old. Catch up America!
Dr. James Thomson (U.S.) and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka (Japan), both of whom have our highest admiration, independently reached the conclusion in 2006 that it was preferable to re-direct research to development of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC).
SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 (UPI) — U.S. scientists say they have, for the first time, returned adult mouse cells to their embryonic pluripotent state, meaning they can become any cell type.
The University of California-San Francisco researchers said they used tiny molecules called microRNAs to reprogram the cells.
The achievement suggests scientists will soon be able to replace retroviruses and even genes currently used in laboratory experiments to induce pluripotency in adult cells. The researchers said that would make potential stem cell-based therapies safer by eliminating risks posed to humans by these DNA-based methods, including alteration of the genome and risk of cancer.
House budget chief Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, put language in the House budget that bans the use of any state funds to support embryonic stem cell research, and it passed.
After an emotional debate, an amendment offered by House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, to salvage the possibility of state funding for embryonic stem cell research in Florida just went down.
Florida is now one of the states where unused embryos found at in-vitro fertilization clinics will be destroyed rather than used to help make people’s lives better through stem cell research.
Stroke Patient’s Own Stem Cells Used In Trial For First Time…IN THE US
ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2009) — For the first time in the United States, a stroke patient has been intravenously injected with his own bone marrow stem cells as part of a research trial at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
Roland “Bud” Henrich, 61, was transferred to Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center on March 25 after suffering a stroke while working on his farm in Liberty. He arrived too late to receive tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the only treatment for ischemic strokes. He became the first patient in the trial.
The Phase I safety trial, funded with a pilot grant from The National Institutes of Health and support from the Notsew Orm Sands Foundation, will enroll nine more patients who have suffered a stroke and can be treated with the stem cell procedure within 24 to 72 hours of initial symptoms.
I am continuously amazed at the wet blanket attitude that is projected by so many in light of significant stem cell breakthroughs.
First they say: “stem cell treatment has enabled patients with type 1 diabetes to go for as long as four years without insulin injections”
…pretty awesome huh?
Then they say: “the team warned the treatment may only work in those very recently diagnosed”
…oh, really…bummer.
Let’s just overlook that “recently diagnosed” actually means “recently developed symptoms” (I am fairly sure they don’t mean a 75 yr old grandmother who was “recently diagnosed” as having lived with diabetes for 55 years.) and as my friend the actuary likes to say: “Let’s just concentrate on the numbers.”
Diabetes Prevalence – Total: 23.6 million children and adults — 8.0% of the population — have diabetes. The total prevalence of diabetes increased 13.5% from 2005-2007.
Diagnosed: 17.9 million people
Undiagnosed: 5.7 million people (24%!)
Pre-diabetes: 57 million people
1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2007.
2007 – 15,000 children and adolescents in the United States are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and about 3,700 youth are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes each year. – http://www.news-medical.net/?id=26975
———————–
Ok, those are the numbers….So how SHOULD this article have been written?
How about…
World celebrates as new results prove diabetes pandemic can be stopped in it’s tracks with early detection! Government to spend 10 million on improved early diabetes detection. (wait, where would they get the money…oh!) Money to be saved from not having to spend 100 million on late stage diabetes treatments.
Or….
5.7 million undiagnosed diabetes victims can now be saved from the trials of diabetes, amputation, blindness, kidney disease…etc with a single blood test.
Maybe you can come up with a different slant?
Point is; this is HUGE news! Can we now cure every diabetic in the world? No. But we can potentially cure MILLIONS and this is a time for celebration for those people…and a time for optimism for the potential cures for others who are more advanced (as the science improves)…not a time for warnings of limitations.
But no, they stick to the glass is half empty position and say:
“It would be wrong to unnecessarily raise the hopes of people living with diabetes about a new treatment for the condition on the back of the evidence provided in this study.”
But you know what I think?
I think caution is good…but we are talking about people who are living with diabetes! In my book, that makes them pretty damn tough already. They are not little kittens and they don’t have to have their hopes “managed” or “spoon fed” to them. In fact, raising their hopes may be EXACTLY what they need to survive through one more day of diabetes related pills and insulin, threats of blindness and amputation, reduction of lifespan, kidney and liver disease…etc. etc.
SO celebrate the victories, embrace the hope and ALWAYS remember:
“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
And as far as false hope, there is no such thing. There is only hope or the absence of hope-nothing else. – Patti Davis
Stem cells ‘can treat diabetes’
A young woman injects herself with insulin
One patient was able to go for four years without insulin injections
An experimental stem cell treatment has enabled patients with type 1 diabetes to go for as long as four years without insulin injections, researchers say.
A US-Brazilian project with 23 patients found most were able to produce their own insulin after a transplant of stem cells from their own bone marrow.
Even those who relapsed needed less insulin than before.
But writing in the journal JAMA, the team warned the treatment may only work in those very recently diagnosed.
Britt’s fight against multiple sclerosis hits home for UNCW
Published: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 5:38 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 5:38 p.m.
Bryan Britt is foremost on the minds of us who know him. We remember his prodigious home runs, first at Laney High School and later at UNC-Wilmington, where he holds both the career and single season records.
It is also why we also are saddened as he suffers from multiple sclerosis, which erodes the immune system and is considered irreversible.
From a special that aired on Today on NBC, Britt learned of an experimental treatment for MS, using bone marrow for a stem cell transplant to reset the immune system. Treatment also involves chemotherapy.
According to a Reuters story, 81 percent of patients in the early studies exhibited improvement.
According to the Reuters story, another study of 17 patients in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, also with MS in the aggressive stage, showed signs of remission two years following transplants.
If only there was a stem cell children’s book available, geared towards stem cell education and awareness with a fun theme and an impartial stance. If only…
Wait, there is! In 2 weeks, that exact book will be available on about a dozen sites including Amazon!
Be the first on your block to get one!
-dg
Hearing on Stem Cell Education Measure Coming Up
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Legislation designed to make stem cell education a part of California’s state public school curriculum will be considered on April 29 by the state Senate Education Committee.
The measure, SB 471, cites the California stem cell agency and its research efforts as the impetus for for the proposal.
LONDON (Reuters) – A stem-cell repair technique that has already been used to fix hundreds of injured race horses is to be tested for the first time in people with damaged Achilles tendons.
Privately owned British biotech firm MedCell Bioscience said on Wednesday it would start clinical tests within 12 months and planned to run a larger confirmatory study at several European hospitals in 2011.
Patients will receive injections containing millions of their own stem cells, which have been extracted and multiplied up in a laboratory, and can regenerate new tissue to repair damaged regions.
More than 1,500 race horses have been treated using the same process and follow-up data suggests a 50 percent reduction in re-injury over a three year period, compared with conventional treatment.
“The move from clinical veterinary to human medicine is inspiring and unusual — we normally see the translation happening the other way around,” said Nicola Maffulli, an orthopaedic surgeon and leading expert in sports medicine, who will help conduct the trial.
Don’t worry Mr Stem Cell, we’ll explain it to them together!
Why I am Special – by Mr Stem Cell
We are often saddened to see that many people and even journalists do not differentiate between the different types of stem cells. There is a lot of use of the generic terms of “stem cells” and “stem cell research” or “stem cell treatment” which results in an indiscriminate attack on embryonic stem cells AND adult stem cells AND induced pluripotent stem cells, etc. with no regard for their success, history, differences or presence of a moral or ethical controversy rank.
“Stem cell” is a generic term derived from research done by the scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 60’s. The term “stem cell” can be applied to any of dozens of cells found all over the body, but make no mistake. There are many different kinds of stem cells, with different limits and capabilities and only one of those dozens is the “embryonic stem cell” associated with all of the controversy and debate in the US and a history of generating tumors after their use in treatments. By contrast, only “adult” or “repair” stem cells have an almost 10 year history of proven safe and successful treatments around the world.
One author recently attacked “stem cell treatments” with seemingly no understanding that he meant to refer to only embryonic stem cell treatments (of which there are no successful treatments) and not adult stem cell treatments (which have been used successfully for over 40 years and treat over 130 diseases to date around the world).
I offered to get him up to speed with a few articles…
Check them out, think about all the different issues and types of stem cells. “Stem cells” are an amazing and diverse group with many things that make each type of stem cell different and special and there are more types of stem cells being found all the time. After reading the the above articles, if you like, feel free to contact me to discuss the differences further.
Patient Movement Forms in Opposition to FDA Position that the Patient’s Own Stem Cells are Drugs
A patient movement, called Safe Stem Cells NOW! was formed in response to the FDA’s position that the patient’s own adult stem cells are drugs and should be regulated as such. The patient group believes that this misclassification of adult stem cells will dramatically slow the availability of therapies without adding any significant patient safety.
Broomfield, Colorado (PRWEB) April 9, 2009 — The American Stem Cell Therapy Association (ASTCA) announced today the on-line publication of its patient web-site, www.safestemcells.org, which reflects the activities and opinions of patients driving the Safe Stem Cells NOW! movement. The patient movement was formed in response to the FDA’s position that the patient’s own adult stem cells are drugs and should be regulated as such. The patient group believes that this misclassification of adult stem cells will dramatically slow the availability of therapies without adding any significant patient safety.
Adult stem cells in culture
Barbara Hanson, the co-founder of www.stemcellpioneers.com, stated “Adult stem cells are cells from our own body. They are very safe. There are no moral or ethical issues. They are safer than taking aspirin and yet the FDA has classified our own stem cells as drugs that require regulation. This means that prolonged investigations, including lengthy clinical trials, will be required for each and every disease and application that adult stem cells could be used for. This could take years and years. It smells of big pharma to me and many others.”
A critical initiative for the ASCTA and the Safe Stem Cells NOW! movement is to bring public awareness to the FDA’s position so consumers, and those who stand to benefit from safe stem cell therapies, have the opportunity to be heard. “We get letters and calls every day from people suffering from a variety of conditions and diseases that have no known cure who are eager to access stem cell therapies.”, Hanson adds. “Many of them are forced to look outside the U.S. for treatment, which involves prohibitive travel and procedure costs.”
One of those patients is Beverly Lessard, a 71-year-old patient from Florida, who has been diagnosed with end stage emphysema. Her late-stage condition prohibits extensive travel and the estimated cost of $12,000 to $50,000 is unaffordable. “At 71 years of age there is little interest on my part or anyone else’s to opt for lung transplants. I think this is disgraceful for our FDA to prohibit the use of autologous stem cells except in a very narrow concept so that people are forced to seek relief outside the USA,” wrote Lessard.
Adult stem cells are ready for early clinical use now and can be processed with the same techniques commonly used in existing in-vitro fertilization labs. “Classifying them as drugs will not add to patient safety, but it will delay treatment to patients who don’t have 1-2 years to wait, let alone 5-7 years,” stated Christopher J. Centeno, M.D., a founding physician member of ASCTA. “ASCTA has established lab guidelines which will allow the safe use of the patient’s own adult stem cells under the supervision of doctors,” continued Dr. Centeno.
Adult stem cells are different from embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells are found in the human body in various tissues. In order to obtain enough to treat a condition or disease, they often need to be cultured, similar to today’s fertility treatments. Adult stem cells have undergone much more research than embryonic stem cells and thus are closer to real world treatments. These adult stem cells are taken from the patient’s own body (autologous) and ASCTA believes that they are therefore safest for use in treating patients.
About Safe Stem Cells Now!
The Safe Stem Cells NOW! Movement was started by the American Stem Cell Therapy Association and driven by its patient members. The movement’s goal is to inform patients and physicians that their ability to access safe stem cell treatment is being heavily restricted by pharmaceutical industry agendas and by the FDA. For more information, visit www.safestemcells.org.
About ASCTA
The ASCTA is a physician group comprised of various medical and surgical specialties whose goal is to bring safe stem cell therapy to patients by establishing laboratory and clinical guidelines. Christopher Centeno, M.D. is a board certified pain management specialist in Colorado who utilizes The Regenexx Procedure, an innovative adult stem cell therapy that helps patients avoid the need for more invasive orthopedic surgery. Dr. Centeno has published numerous medical research papers on the clinical application of adult mesenchymal stem cells. For more information, visit www.stemcelldocs.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Holly Hamann
media (at) stemcelldocs (dot) org
Now all they have to do is resolve the cancerous tumors issues that embryonic stem cells turn into….and address the associated transplant rejection that requires immunosuppressive drugs for life. OR…they can go to any of the 5 stem cell treatment clinics around the world that use adult stem cells to make MS sufferers symptom free for years. Are they once again missing the forest for the trees? Yes. -dg
Map of MS prevalence throughout the world
Stem Cell Breakthrough May Lead to MS Treatments
04.08.09, 08:00 PM EDT
Efforts produce human cells that might someday help repair damaged nerves
THURSDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) — U.S. scientists say they’ve coaxed human embryonic stem cells into generating cells that might someday be used to repair nerves damaged by multiple sclerosis.
The researchers pushed the stem cells to grow into critical nervous system support cells called oligodendrocytes, according to a report released Thursday.
Oligodendrocytes produce the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibers like wire insulation. The findings represent an important step toward embryonic stem cell-based therapies in general, experts say, and also for cell-based therapies for myelination disorders such as MS in particular. At the very least, the findings should lead to a laboratory model of the illness’ pathology.
“They are definitely laying the groundwork for being able to apply these cells in terms of a therapeutic application,” said Timothy Coetzee, executive director of Fast Forward, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which partially funded the study.
Yet at the same time, he added, “It illustrated for me the critical importance of not assuming that because you can do something with a mouse cell, that a human cell is going to behave in the same manner.”
…so that the potential of pluripotent stem cells can be explored without violating human dignity or demeaning human life:
Section 1. Research on Alternative Sources of Pluripotent Stem Cells.
(1a) …shall conduct and support research…of stem cells that are…derived without creating a human embryo for research purposes or destroying, discarding, or subjecting to harm a human embryo or fetus.
(1b-ii) prioritizes research with the greatest potential for clinical benefit;
Obama effectively revoked research of stem cells that are non-embryonic and revoked the prioritization of research with the greatest potential for clinical benefit.
With this one unpublicized action, which was not covered by any significant media source, Obama assassinated any hope of Stem Cell Treatments in US for at least 10 years. Is it coincidence that this happened just when the US was waking up to the benefits of ASC and iPSC and their ability to treat illnesses?
Some may argue that the NIH has 120 days from March 9th to “issue new NIH guidance on such research” but there are at least two problems with this argument:
1. Obama effectively limits the power of the NIH by mandating the guidelines be “consistent with this order.”
2. The FDA’s position is: adult stem cells are drugs, subject to FDA regulation and requiring clinical trials.
You can NOT get adult stem cells in the US today even if they are from your own body. By FDA definition, you can only get drugs derived from stem cells and seeing as how the typical drug development process takes 7-12 years and ½ a billion dollars…
Florence Dethy, Published Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The economy may be down, but for 12 Yale researchers, things are looking up.
A dozen Yale researchers have received $3.9 million in grant funding for research on human embryonic stem cells, The Connecticut Department of Health announced April 1st.
Indeed, after weathering federal cuts to research under former President George W. Bush ’68, stem cell research may be on the rise nationally, though Yale stem cell researchers say they have faring well for some time. On March 9 President Barack Obama retracted the federal stem cell ban enacted. While the repeal will open up a significant new source of federal funding, researchers interviewed said, they added that at Yale they have been benefiting for four years from a 2005 Connecticut law designed specifically to circumvent the federal ban.
Saving Stem Cells – Banking Stem Cells – From your teeth
Kristin Lowman
Megan Brown is no stranger to surgery. At 10 years old, Megan had a brain tumor
Megan says, “two surgeries to get the turmor out, now, I’m fine.”
So today’s wisdom teeth removal is nearly a walk in the park for Megan and her family.
But this procedure is special, because one day, it could save her life.
Megan says, “its been a recent discovery that your wisdom teeth contain stem cells. So I’m going to bank them.”
Dr. Robert Carpenter says, “in teeth, particularly dediuous baby teeth and wisdom teeth there is a tremendous quality of stem cells.”
There are two sources of stem cells, embryonic and adult. Obtaining embryonic stem cells is quite controversial while adult stem cells can be found in many organs and tissues in the body, including your teeth.
Living stem cells in extracted teeth are usually thrown out, but now, research shows saving those cells, could help with medical treatments down the road.
Dr. Carpenter uses a service called Stem Save, to harvest the stem cells.
Stem Save also tests the viability of those cells and cryogenically freezes them until they are needed.
Dr. Carpenter says, “you’re getting your own stem cells so there is no chance for rejection, no disease, and you can personalize them for any use you need throughout your life.”
Right now, dental stem cells are being used to treat MS, Parkinson’s, even liver and heart disease. Several hundred clinical trials are also underway around the world.
In just over a year, around 200 dentists across the country are using this service alone.
For Megan and her parents, its a safety net they are glad to have.
They start up cost for the service is around $600. Thats for testing the cells and for the first year of storage.
Right now, Dr. Carpenter says the service is not covered by insurance
In May 2008, I went for an adult stem cell treatment for my MS. My symptoms included fatigue, depression, a cognitive “cloud” and heat intolerance. The treatment consisted of 5 intrathecal injections, 5 physical therapy sessions, a mini-liposuction where they removed my stem cells from the fat and later injected them into me intravenously.
Today, nearly a year later the only symptom left is an occasional cognitive “cloud” moment. I talked to as many media outlets as would listen. You can google “Preston Walker MS” and find some of the coverage. I am a police sergeant in Fort Worth, TX and am still employed!! I am very lucky the disease was caught early. There is a great deal of hope in the treatment. I won’t say I am cured but symptom free!!
Preston Walker
Congrats Preston! You are a tribute to the power of adult stem cells to repair and heal. Thanks for the testimony! Keep up the good work of spreading the word and let me know if there is anything I can do for you! -dg
Both men felt improvement immediately after the stem cell treatment. And they still seem to be doing well- almost 9 months after the treatment. They are gaining a following among Multiple Sclerosis patients who are well aware of their exploits. Both Preston and Richard have become role models for others suffering from Multiple Sclerosis
And now, Preston was featured on his local Fort Worth/Dallas Television Station:
In 2001, Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, suffered from chronic fatigue, and began losing the use of his legs.
“I felt like my cognition was declining at a rapid pace,” Walker said. “I really felt at the end of last year that I wouldn’t be employed any longer because the cognition just wasn’t there.”
That feeling changed after his Adult Stem Cell therapy in Costa Rica:
For the first time ever, doctors took samples of their fat, drew stem cells from it, and reinjected it. By the second injection the results were obvious. The men had more energy than they’d had in years. By the end of the treatment Humphries no longer needed a cane to walk.
The fatigue and leg problems were a thing of the past for Walker. “I don’t suffer from any of those symptoms we talked about,” he said. “The depression, the fatigue, the cognitive cloud¦ I mean it will still raise its ugly head occasionally, but it’s nowhere near everyday and every moment of everyday like it was.”
And hearing about Preston’s story is nice enough but read this part too:
Humphries admits there were risks in being test patients for the treatment. “If we or somebody doesn’t become a guinea pig than how can that benefit others?” Humphries asked.
Since their treatment, dozens of others have followed in their footsteps to receive the benefits of stem cell transplants.
I think this Rep has been reading my blog and drinking the kool-aid! Only a few corrections to what he wrote. -dg
Adult Stem Cells Are What Work
by Rep. J. Randy Forbes, 04/07/2009
Prof. Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University is hardly a household name. However, most people would recognize his Nobel-Prize-winning scientific development. Prof. Wilmut was the individual who led the team that created the cloned sheep Dolly and pioneered a technique many would want to use for a type of embryonic stem-cell research. His action resulted in both uproar and applause all over the world and was instrumental in bringing the discussion of cloning and stem-cell research from the laboratory to the dinner table.
For years, the moral and ethical issue of destroying human embryos for scientific experimentation has been the biggest argument against embryonic stem-cell research.
(besides causing tumors and severe rejection issues -dg)
But now there is a new argument against embryonic stem-cell research: science.
Just recently, President Obama signed an executive order lifting the ban on the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research, an act based more on politics than it was on science. (Private funding for this research has never been banned.) His action reignited the contentious issue for many individuals in the U.S. — it also ignored the miracles we’ve seen in advancing science.
Adult stem-cells are derived from umbilical cords, wisdom teeth, amniotic fluid, and various tissues, and they don’t hold the same ethical concerns that stem-cells taken from human embryos do. Over the years, adult stem cells have resulted in 73 successful treatments
(it’s up to 130+ now – dg)
for various diseases like Alzheimer’s, Type 1 Diabetes, Parkinson’s, and various forms of cancer.
A U.S. doctor, Amid (Amit – dg) Patel, has used adult stem cells to successfully treat over 1,800 patients who suffered from severe heart failure, dramatically increasing their quality of life and chances of survival. Two years ago, I met a man named Stephen Sprague, who had been treated for leukemia through the use of adult stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood. There are success stories like Dr. Patel’s and Stephen Sprague’s scattered across the globe where individuals have been treated for their diseases by adult stem cells, and the hope for future breakthroughs seems limitless. On the other hand, despite millions of dollars of research, not one — not one — embryonic stem-cell trial has resulted in the successful treatment of a human patient.
Perhaps most incredibly, though, is the fact that scientists have just recently figured out how to reprogram adult stem cells
(actually adult skin cells but they are turned into iPS and some argue that they must pass through an adult stem cell state while doing so – dg)
to the point where they function exactly like an embryonic stem cell. These cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), can do everything an embryonic stem cell is capable of, only without having to destroy a human embryo. Because of this development, there is likely no medical benefit that can come from embryonic stem-cell research that cannot be obtained from adult stem cells.
(this is way to broad a generalization. how can we determine what we can learn from something unless it is studied? – dg)
IPS cells also have a greater advantage because they can be derived from a person’s own cells, so a patient’s body is less likely to reject the stem-cell treatment.
(while this is true, many IPS cells are from other peoples cells. recent iPS cells come from foreskins of other people or allogenic cells as opposed to autologous cells – dg)
Science is truly outpacing the embryonic stem-cell debate. Scientists across the world who were once advocates of this research have reversed course. They overwhelmingly say the future of stem-cell research lies in iPS cells and adult stem cells. Dr. James Thompson, known as the father of embryonic stem-cell research, has said that “it’s probably the beginning of the end for that controversy.” In fact, even the sheep-cloning Prof. Wilmut has abandoned embryonic stem-cell experimentation saying that the use of iPS cells is “extremely exciting and astonishing” and shows more promise for the future.
but they have been treating MI with adult stem cells successfully in thailand, germany, china for almost 10 yrs now. Catch UP! -dg
On March 30, Dr. Roger Gammon, a cardiologist with Austin Heart cardiology group treated the first patient in the world( a 58-year-old Central Texas man) enrolled in a groundbreaking Phase II study. It is one of the nation’s first hospitals to test the new therapy.
The stem cell treatment is administered intravenously and typically takes less than an hour to complete.
The Austin Heart Hospital is one of the 40 hospitals in the nation to conduct this groundbreaking adult stem cell trial, and they are excited enough to lead the way in this important research.
The aim of the study is to test the effectiveness and safety of administering adult stem cells intravenously to repair damaged heart tissue after a heart attack.
patients are injected with donated adult stem cells from the bone marrow of others. The stems cells are purified by Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., which markets them as a product called Prochymal.
Prochymal is being evaluated for its ability to treat heart damage caused by a heart attack. The active ingredient in the new treatment is adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs). MSCs have the ability to develop into other types of cells and generate new tissue, including heart muscle.
Patients who are interested to participate in the study must receive the treatment within seven days of a heart attack.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2009) — A new study finds previously unidentified fibrocartilage-forming progenitor cells in degenerating, diseased human cartilage, but not in cartilage from healthy joints. The research, published in the April 3rd issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, provides valuable insights into the reparative potential of cartilage and may lead to development of regenerative therapies for arthritis.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is an incurable degenerative disease caused by a progressive deterioration of the cartilage that cushions and protects joints. “OA is the most common musculoskeletal disease in the elderly and is likely to be the fourth-leading cause of disability by the year 2020,” explains senior study author Dr. Nicolai Miosge from Georg August University in Goettingen, Germany. “This is our motivation for the further exploration of OA treatment options, including regenerative cell biological therapy.”…
Embryonic stem cell research has taught us an incredible amount and we have much more to learn from them. Unfortunately, embryonics have overshadowed the advances of adult stem cell treatments.
Both will continue, in addition to iPSC and epSPC research, and will do so accompanied by the hysteria, controversy, misinformation and confusion that they have been surrounded by for the past 10 years. My only hope is that the uneven focus on embryonic research does not continue to overshadow the successes of adult stem cells, thereby depriving more millions of Americans from receiving treatments that are available to them just a plane trip away.
Visualize the surreal image of Oprah Winfrey, Michael J Fox and Dr. Mehmet Oz, wearing purple surgical gloves, sitting on stage around a human brain. Dr. Oz explains the absence of Nigro-Striatal Neurons in the brain of Parkinson’s patients while lifting out partially dissected chunks of brain and placing them into Michael’s shaking hand.
The camera zooms in as Dr. Oz steadies Michael’s hand in his. Dr. Oz weaves an intimidating, steel needle between Michael’s gloved and trembling fingers and illustrates the procedure for injecting stem cells into the brain by plunging it both into and through the quivering cerebellum. Michael’s legs spasm and contort and my stomach clenches empathetically with what I sense is Michael’s extreme discomfort, but is really a symptom of his condition.
And yet, NOTHING could have prepared me for what happened next as Dr. Oz, unbelievably and without prelude or warning, makes the stunning statement:
“I think, Oprah, the stem cell debate is dead.”
“The problem with embryonic stem cells is that embryonic stem cells come from embryos, like all of us are made from embryos, and those cells can become any cell in the body, but it’s very hard to control them and so they can become cancer.”
While astonished by his public announcement, I soon began to wonder: “why did Dr Oz only briefly allude to the potential of iPS cells and the proven benefits of adult stem cell treatments?” And then it became clear.
Dr Oz recognizes that the average person on an American street is led to believe, “a stem cell is an embryo is a stem cell”. Due to years of misleading media saturation, as far most Americans know, there are no other stem cells besides embryonic. Walk down the street and ask someone “what is an adult stem cell…what is an iPS cell”, and your inquiries will surely be met by blank stares.
So in retrospect, what Oz DID do, was truly…amazing.
Shunning the history of the love/hate affair Americans have with Embryonic stem cell research and ignoring the majority of US media over the past 5 years, the decrees of President Obama’s funding policies, the positions of the FDA and AMA and the fruitless decade long public pursuit of embryonic cures undertaken by Michael J Fox (with the benevolent and optimistic spirit of Christopher Reeve hovering over him) and before the bewildered eyes of Michael, Oprah and ~7.2 million viewers, Dr Mehmet Oz nailed the coffin shut on ESC treatments:
“I think, Oprah, the stem cell debate is dead.”
With this one simple statement on national TV, Dr Oz has taken the first step towards educating the American public about the current insurmountable limitations of embryonic stem cells and cracked open the door to the American collective mind-set regarding the potential of iPS cells and the reality that Repair stem cells (RSC) have been treating diseases around the world successfully for a decade. Despite the fact that thousands of American doctors refer to RSC as “snake oil,” more and more American patients are realizing that the US medical system is faltering, dated and just not working while the greatest medicine the world has ever seen is available just beyond the borders of their own country.
The seeds planted by Dr Oz will take a long time to find purchase in the collective American mind-set. There is too much embryonic momentum, media and drama, and America loves drama. Embryonic stem cells will not go away and like Romeo and Juliet, this love/hate affair may have to run its course for most, despite Dr Oz stealing the “distilled liquor” and Romeo’s poison and dagger in an attempt to avoid all of the deaths at the end of this play.
One step at a time we will climb this mountain and slowly open American eyes to improve their knowledge of treatment options so all can intelligently exercise the freedom of choice in their individual medical care. One inch at a time, Oz wisely created a pathway to an amazing new world of available medical treatments for what were previously believed to be incurable diseases and are in fact treating patients successfully around the world.
Dr Oz took this first step and it was a HUGE first step!
So from where I am sitting, I would like to express my heartfelt and sincerest appreciation for Dr Oz’s bravery, statements and actions. Thank you, Dr. Oz and thank you Oprah; for allowing this sage doctor the forum to break the walls restricting millions of Americans from the knowledge of the medical treatment options they so unquestionably deserve.
The questions finally ended for Glenn Heer last August. Now the fun really begins.
High Point Central’s senior golfer celebrated his 18th birthday last week immersed in work for his senior project. Beset by an unknown and life-threatening immune system disorder nearly his entire life, Heer has turned to the game he loves to raise money for research that just became a whole lot more meaningful.
“In all the excitement over the new future for embryonic stem cell, it seems investors have forgotten about adult stem cell products,” notes growth stock specialist Dave Dyer.
In his Dave Dyer’s Newsletter, he explains, “In fact, there are adult stem cell products either already on the market or in late clinical trials. We view this as an excellent opportunity.” Here, he looks at NuVasive (NASDAQ: NUVA).
“Stem cells can grow into any type of organ or tissue and the promise is that damaged organs may be repaired or even replaced with spare parts grown from stem cells. This amazing potential could revolutionize the life sciences.
“NuVasive is a rapidly growing company with unique technology for minimally-invasive back surgery; named Osteocel, it is a stem cell-based product used to help with bone grafts done as a part of spinal surgery.
“This is one of the first regular commercial application of a product based on human stem cells. We note that this product is based on adult stem cells from bone marrow, not embryonic stem cells.
“Osteocel, was sold to NuVasive by Osiris in exchange for a stream of payments based on specific milestones. Nuvasive expects Osteocel to provide $28 million of new revenue for NUVA in 2009, up from $10 million in 2008, so this is a serious product.
“The spinal fusion market — NUVA’s focus — is about $4.2 billion per year. They are a small player, with about 6% of the market, but that is up from 4% last year, for a 50% increase in market share. Not too bad.
“NUVA’s products support a type of minimally-invasive back surgery in which small incisions are made in the side rather than large ones in the back. It provides surgeons with a combination of technology, software, and consumables that bring in about $12,000 per operation.
“Many of their products are based on proprietary patent-protected technology. They have 52 U.S. patents issued and 189 pending.
“Overall, their approach results in less time in the operating room, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery. That is probably why they are growing so rapidly. For the last eight quarters, revenue has grown between 50% and 70% per quarter.
“While profits have not grown as rapidly, both 2007 and 2008 were profitable years. In addition, they have no debt.
“A long term chart shows that they had a super 450% gain after their IPO in 2004, but were brought down by the recent bad market. There does not seem to be any fundamental reason behind the drop. It appears that NUVA is now moving in the right direction again.”
Jacksonville – Sen. Steve Ogden, a Republican from Texas, has potentially derailed not only government funding for embryonic stem cell research, but also has a attempted to derail President Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget. The rider states “No funds appropriated under this act shall be used in conjunction with or to support research which involves the destruction of a human embryo.”
The rider was passed by the Senate Finance Committee 6-5, with some members absent. The Senate is debating the budget and as of the time of this writing there is not news on whether it has passed with the addition of the stem cell rider.
President Obama had reversed George W. Bush’s executive order banning embryonic stem cell research. The controversial medical research involves using stem cells from embryos donated by parents who had In Vitro Fertilization and has extra embryos which otherwise would be destroyed. For many parents, donating these embryos to science makes them feel good. Others actually pay to have the embryos frozen forever, or allow them to be “adopted” by others for IVF.
Stem cells based medical research, including adult stem cells as well as embryonic stem cells are thought to hold the potential to treat or cure many diseases including Deafness, Paralysis, Diabetes, and Crohn’s Disease. When President Obama reversed Bush’s executive order, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) was given 120 days to come up with a set of guidelines for any Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Since these guidelines are not yet completed, no new embryonic stem cell research is specifically marked for funding in this year’s budget and this budget rider would make it impossible for any of the health agencies to make further determination of with funds allocated in this years budget.
Some of the issues the National Institute of Health will consider when writing guidelines for the use of embryonic stem cells in research are making sure the parents who donate embryos sign informed consent forms to show that they understand and approve of the research methodology. It is speculated that there may be additional language added to the guidelines restricting any embryos used to the products on fertility treatments. As well, it is expected that there be some separation set up between doctors who do fertility treatments and doctors who do stem cell research, to limit any conflict of interest.
Many in the medical and patient advocacy communities are very concerned that the budget will pass with this rider slipped in by a largely absent subcommittee. It is speculated that Sen. Ogden, who is said to be in his last term in office, is attempting to derail the Democrat’s budget vote by adding this controversial rider.
call me conservative but I think they all go under the list of things not to fool with when they may have gone bad. I’ll wait for the next batch, thanks. -dg
HOT DOG GONE BAD?
Stem cells stored in broken freezer given OK for use in N.L. cancer patients – Winnipeg Free Press
THE CANADIAN PRESS
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest health board says stem cells stored in a freezer that broke down last year can still be safely used for transplants in cancer patients.
Last September, a freezer storing the stem cells of 29 cancer patients set at -150 C had begun to rise in temperature. The cells were transferred to two other freezers – one set at -150 C, the other at -85 C.
Hematologist Dr. Kirsty Tompkins of the Eastern Health authority said today that a sample of the transferred cells was sent to the University of Alberta to determine whether the cells were damaged in the transferral process.
Tompkins says the retesting has led Eastern Health to conclude that the cells are still safe to use for transplants.
She says the patients have been notified of the results of the retests.
Six of the 29 cancer patients have since died, but their deaths are not related to the malfunctioning stem cell freezer.
Both the stem cell vocabulary and the scientific advancements seem to be growing at an almost logarithmic pace!
Stem Cell Acronym for the day: epSPCs = ependymal stem/progenitor cells
Ependyma is the thin epithelial membrane lining the ventricular system of the brain and the spinal cord. Ependyma is one of the four types of neuroglia in the central nervous system. It is involved in the production of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). wiki -dg
Injured spinal stem cells effectively differentiate into nerve cells
Publish date: Apr 1, 2009
WEDNESDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) — Spinal stem cells taken from adult rats with an injured spinal cord are effective at differentiating into oligodendrocytes and motor neurons and can reverse paralysis when transplanted into rats with a spinal cord injury, according to a study published in the March issue of Stem Cells.
Victoria Moreno-Manzano, and colleagues from the Centro de Investigacion Principe Felipe in Valencia, Spain, studied the characteristics of ependymal stem/progenitor cells (epSPCs) from adult rats with a spinal cord injury and from uninjured adult rats. Ependymal cells line the central canal of the spinal cord and can regenerate the injured spinal cord in lower vertebrates; mammalian turnover of epSPCs declines during the postnatal period but can proliferate in response to injury, the study authors note.
The investigators found that epSPCs taken from injured rats proliferated 10 times faster in vitro than epSPCs from uninjured rats. Neurospheres derived from epSPCs from injured rats were more effective in differentiating into oligodendrocytes and functional spinal motor neurons. Transplantation of epSPCs from injured rats into a rat model of severe spinal cord contusion led to significant recovery of motor activity one week after injury, the researchers report. The transplanted cells migrated from the rostral and caudal regions of the transplant to axons in and around the lesion.
“Our findings demonstrate that modulation of endogenous epSPCs represents a viable cell-based strategy for restoring neuronal dysfunction in patients with spinal cord damage,” Moreno-Manzano and colleagues conclude.
Having a child with a single ventricle heart, I’m always on the look-out for exciting advances in the field. This recent report from Pediatric Cardiology proposes the use of engineered autologous (made from one’s own cells) tissue as an alternative to heart transplantation and radical reconstructive surgeries for heart kids. This has been on the horizon for a long time, but now it’s appearing in field standard journals . . . “the future” is getting closer and closer every day.
Cardiac Tissue Engineering: Implications for Pediatric Heart Surgery
Received: 4 February 2009 Accepted: 26 February 2009 Published online: 25 March 2009
Abstract: Children with severe congenital malformations, such as single-ventricle anomalies, have a daunting prognosis. Heart transplantation would be a therapeutic option but is restricted due to a lack of suitable donor organs and, even in case of successful heart transplantation, lifelong immune suppression would frequently be associated with a number of serious side effects. As an alternative to heart transplantation and classical cardiac reconstructive surgery, tissue-engineered myocardium might become available to augment hypomorphic hearts and/or provide new muscle material for complex myocardial reconstruction. These potential applications of tissue engineered myocardium will, however, impose major challenges to cardiac tissue engineers as well as heart surgeons. This review will provide an overview of available cardiac tissue-engineering technologies, discuss limitations, and speculate on a potential application of tissue-engineered heart muscle in pediatric heart surgery.
And of course, adult stem cells and autologous tissues have turned out to be impressively effective for adult hearts, too: Improved exercise tolerance for angina patients, ASC heart failure trials, plus more – use our blog search button for “heart” and “cardiac”.
Senate to kick embryonic stem cell fight to budget conferees
1:29 PM Wed, Apr 01, 2009
CAPITOL ALMANAC.JPGThe Senate decided to punt the embryonic stem cell research controversy to House-Senate budget negotiators, according to Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco.
In their lunchtime huddle behind closed doors, senators decided not to try to rewrite today the embryonic stem cell research funding ban, Averitt said. As passed by the Finance Committee, 6-5, last week, the provision bars using funds in the budget for research that involves destruction of human embryos. Averitt said had he been present last week, he would have voted against and the provision would have died on a tie vote — assuming Ogden couldn’t find another “aye” vote.
Also being sent on to conferees, and not fixed on the floor today: A provision that would expand a managed care approach in Medicaid, to rural areas. It supposedly would save the state $7 million but would cost safety net hospitals in rural Texas as much as $200 million in federal matching funds for hospitals treating a lot of poor, uninsured people.
Posted 1 April, 2009 in Stroke |Stem Cell Research Paying Dividends to Stroke Patient
Thanks to advances in stem cell research, stroke patients can now be helped with their own Adult Stem Cells. Doctors at University of Texas Medical School in Houston treated a stroke patient for the very first time in the United States using the patient’s own stem cells.
Patient’s Own Adult Stem Cells Used for Stroke
Roland Henrich was the first American (in the United States) to be treated with his own Adult stem cells. From the stem cell article:
A University of Texas Medical School at Houston team last week injected stem cells taken from bone marrow of the trial’s first patient (Roland), who arrived at Memorial Hermann Hospital’s emergency department too late to receive tissue plasminogen activator, the clot-busting drug proven to treat stroke if given promptly.
Doctors say Roland is doing well although it is too early to tell if it is because of the stem cell treatment.
Adult Stem Cells for Stroke- Available to the Masses in 2019
Note this date April 1, 2009– if this treatment using his own stem cells is effective (and it should be) , it will take approximately 10 years before this stem cell treatment becomes available to the general population of the United States because of the FDA’s stance that says your own Adult Stem Cells are drugs.
Because- Unfortunately, this is only a part of a Phase I trial to demonstrate safety- Savitz said it should take about a year to enroll its 10 patients, who must arrive at Memorial Hermann more than three hours after suffering a stroke but within three days.
This goes to my point about the FDA classifying your own Adult Stem Cells as drugs–
About 1 year to enroll all the patients, another year to follow up on the results, then probably another year before the FDA says “OK, you can do a Phase II trial which will take even longer than the first one— and if that works out, ok, you can do a Phase III trial. And then, when that is finally completed, the FDA may then take their time before approving it as a treatment. 10 years from NOW. Although the treatment is safe and no side effects because it is your own stem cells.
As I said before here in this post about US Doctors Challenging the FDA , just because it is in the trial phase does not mean it will be able to be used in the United States anytime soon.
Now, I am familiar with stem cell clinics all around the world that are having success using Adult Stem Cells to help stroke patients now. But because of these ridiculous FDA rules- Americans will have to wait 10 years for this treatment for stroke. Think how many stroke victims will needlessly suffer during that time.
Other Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke Stories
This follows that “Stem Cell Tea Bag” that was used to treat (and help) a German stroke victim.
3 times I have fielded understandable questions from very wise people who want to know why Dr Oz did not go into detail about adult stem cells and iPS cells. Here is my answer to them.
“you have to understand that you know more about stem cells than 99% of the people in the US. to them , stem cells = embryos = babies. as far as they know, there are no other stem cells.
walk down the street and ask someone what an adult stem cell is. ask them what an iPS cell is. you will only get blank stares.
what Oz did was truly amazing. shunning history, media, obama’ s funding, the FDA and the AMA…not to mention the fruitless decade long pursuit of embryonic cures undertaken by the always cute michael j fox with the shadow of chris reeves hovering over him…
Oz slammed the door on embryonics.
one step at a time we will educate the masses and introduce them to the fact that adult stem cells have been treating diseases around the world successfully for a decade. one step at a time…and this was a huge first step!
So from where I am sitting, I want to express a huge amount of appreciation for what he did. Thank you Dr Oz!
Adult Stem Cells Increase Blood Flow after Heart Attack
Own bone marrow stem cells increased circulation within the heart
Monday, 30 March 2009
Patients treated with their own bone marrow stem cells after a heart attack experienced increased circulation within the heart, a study by Emory University School of Medicine physicians has found.
Principal investigator Arshed Quyyumi, MD, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, presents the results Monday at the American College of Cardiology conference in Orlando.
“These results show that treatment with a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells has the potential to reduce long-term complications after a heart attack,” Quyyumi says.
“We are encouraged by these results and are planning to conduct a more extensive study.”
World’s Leading Scientists Meet to Examine Barriers for Stem Cell Therapies to Cure Spinal Cord Injury
Following President Barack Obama’s decision to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, medical and scientific experts will converge at the University of Georgia to discuss how recent advances in stem cell research can be translated into cures for spinal cord injuries.
The second Spinal Cord Workshop, a program of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, will be held on Saturday, April 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences.
Every year close to 11,000 people sustain spinal cord injuries in the United States, while more than 200,000 Americans live each day with a disability caused by them.
“Because spinal cord injury usually occurs in otherwise healthy, young adults, it is an especially attractive candidate for a cure for stem cell therapy,” said Ann Kiessling, director of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation. “The big question is whether a ‘moon shot’ approach will produce a cure, or if there is still too much basic science yet unknown.”
The workshop is hosted by UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center. Additional support is provided by the UGA Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, and Millipore, Inc.
“The University of Georgia is fortunate to team up with the Bedford Foundation to host these leading experts in spinal cord therapies to discuss and develop new paths forward for spinal cord injuries,” said Steven Stice, director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center. “In addition, Georgia’s recent legislation aimed at restricting stem cell research makes this workshop an especially timely one.”
Created in 1996, the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation is a Massachusetts-based public charity and biomedical institute that exists to conduct stem cell and related research for diseases and conditions that currently have no cure.
The Regenerative Bioscience Center brings UGA’s expertise, resources and accomplishments in human embryonic stem cell research under one umbrella, while contributing to the University’s educational and outreach missions with student research experiences and public lectures, symposia, and workshops communicating the benefits and risks of regenerative bioscience.
The event serves as a follow-up to the inaugural Spinal Cord Workshop held at UGA in March 2008, titled “Spinal Cord Injury: What Are The Barriers To Cure?”
Workshop faculty this year include:
Hans Keirstead, Ph.D, associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology, University of California at Irvine, Reeve-Irvine Research Center; Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology, molecular biology and immunology, and director, John Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center; John W. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., director, International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Kennedy Krieger Institute; Steven L. Stice, Ph.D., professor, GRA Eminent Scholar, director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center at the University of Georgia and CSO, Aruna Biomedical Inc; Keith Tansey, M.D., Ph.D., director, Spinal Cord Injury Research, Shepherd Center; Scott Wittemore, Ph.D., professor and vice chairman for research, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville; Wise Young, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University, and director, W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience.
Registration information for the 2009 workshop, as well as video from the 2008 workshop talks, is available online at: http://www.spinalcordworkshop.org
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ —-For the first time, scientists have shown that amniotic fluid (the protective liquid surrounding an embryo) may be a potential new source of stem cells for therapeutic applications. The study was prepublished online on February 12, 2009, in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.
“Building on observations made by other scientists, our research team wondered whether stem cells could be detected in amniotic fluid. We looked at the capacity of these cells to form new blood cells both inside and outside the body, and also compared their characteristics to other well-known sources of stem cells,” said senior study author Marina Cavazzana-Calvo, MD, Ph.D., of INSERM, the national French institute for health and biomedical research. Isabelle Andre-Schmutz, Ph.D., of INSERM, also a senior author of the study, added, “The answer was a resounding ‘yes’ – the cells we isolated from the amniotic fluid are a new source of stem cells that may potentially be used to treat a variety of human diseases.”
RSCI’s Chairman expressed his concern that since few people can afford to travel outside the country for medical treatments, America needs to put more focus on approving ultra safe adult stem cell treatments to alleviate the suffering of millions diagnosed with so-called untreatable diseases.
Bangkok, Thailand (PRWEB) March 31, 2009 — Don Margolis, founder of the world’s first stem cell treatment company and chairman of the Repair Stem Cell Institute, today issued a statement which took strong exception to Washington’s emphasis on embryonic stem cells over both Repair (Adult) Stem Cells and induced Pluripotent stem cells (iPS).
Don Margolis – the world’s leading Adult Stem Cell advocate
Margolis said, “This leads to one key question which no one in America seems to ask: Why is the FDA, which indiscriminately rushes unproven deadly drugs to AIDS patients, forbidding six million dying heart patients access to long-proven SAFE stem cell therapy?” Is it because heart patients don’t count in politics while AIDS patients do? Or is there another reason why they allow drugs such as Vioxx and forbid risk-free stem cells?
Margolis added that Repair Stems Cells are right now, every week, improving dozens and dozens of lives all over the world. He emphasized that “Patients stricken with disabling diseases such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, ataxia, autism, COPD, emphysema, Crohn’s, and optic nerve disorders, among 100+ other conditions, are receiving successful stem cell treatments today on every continent but North America!”
“When the President lifted the partial ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research stem cell research, he did not mention that Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC) have never worked on humans or animals and never will,” Margolis said. “He also didn’t mention that Embryonic Stem Cells, when injected into your body, can cause deadly tumors as they have in thousands of lab animals.”
Mr. Margolis pointed out that just five days before the ESC announcement, Dr. Bernadine Healy, former director of the National Institutes of Health, published an article in U.S. News & World Report which states, “To date, most of the stem cell triumphs that the public hears about involve the infusion of adult stem cells.” Healy concluded that “during the first six weeks of Obama’s term, several events reinforced the notion that embryonic stem cells . . . are obsolete.”
In support of Dr. Healy’s point, Margolis quoted three world-class embryonic research scientists. First was Dr. James Thomson, the godfather of embryonics: “It is more than ironic that the scientist who first isolated and cultured ESC once said ‘embryonic stem cells are not being used in any clinical applications yet, while alternatives such as adult stem cells figure in scores of therapies.’” Margolis went on to note that “Dr. Thomson’s observation is even truer today. The number of diseases treatable with RSC is rapidly approaching 200, while the ESC count still sits on zero, despite the efforts of a thousand ESC researchers on four continents not hindered by the Bush era regulations.”
Margolis then discussed the recent extraordinary discovery of induced Pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which can easily replace the need for ESC. “The potential of iPS is so big,” Margolis said, “that even Dr. Ian Wilmut, who led the team that cloned the famous Dolly the sheep, abandoned his license to attempt human cloning, stating that researchers ‘may have achieved what no politician could: an end to the embryonic stem cell debate.’”
“And end it we must,” Margolis added, “before billions more dollars are wasted while millions of patients are forced to sit on Death Row, waiting for 21st century alchemy to magically transform embryonic stem cells into repair stem cells.”
In closing, Margolis quoted Dr. Colin McGuckin, a noted UK embryonic research leader at Newcastle U. before departing for more useful RSC research in France: “The best estimates of the embryonic scientists here at Newcastle is that embryonic stem cells may not be able to help people this side of 50 years. That’s my lifetime. We can’t wait that long.’”
Mr. Margolis agrees: “The real cost of embryonic research is not the wasted billions, but 50 more years of unnecessary suffering by those who can be helped today.”
About The Repair Stem Cell Institute: The Repair Stem Cell Institute’s mission is to educate and inform everyone about the rapid advances being made in Repair Stem Cell research, so all can intelligently exercise freedom of choice in medical care. If you, or a loved one, are seeking treatment for your “untreatable” medical condition, visit http://www.repairstemcells.org for our list of the eight most experienced and successful stem cell treatment centers in the world, as well as the standards we apply to them.
SCIENCE: FIRST STEM CELL BANK FOR PRIVATES OPENS IN ZAGREB (ANSAmed) – ZAGREB, MARCH 11 – The first stem cell for personal use in Croatia was opened at the Institute for Blood Transfusion at the Zagreb Hospital and Clinical Centre. The new stem cell bank, as South-Eastern Europe Times online reports, will allow parents to store stem cells from the umbilical cords of their newborns for 2,000 euro. The cells will be stored for years and, if necessary, can later be used to treat certain types of disease. (ANSAmed). 2008-03-11 17:21 http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME07.YAM17211.html
Visualize the surreal image of Oprah Winfrey, Michael J Fox and Dr. Mehmet Oz, wearing purple surgical gloves, sitting on stage around a human brain. Dr. Oz explains the absence of Nigro-Striatal Neurons in the brain of Parkinson’s patients while lifting out partially dissected chunks of brain and placing them into Michael’s shaking hand.
The camera zooms in as Dr. Oz steadies Michael’s hand in his. Dr. Oz weaves an intimidating, steel needle between Michael’s gloved and trembling fingers and illustrates the procedure for injecting stem cells into the brain by plunging it both into and through the quivering cerebellum. Michael’s legs spasm and contort and my stomach clenches empathetically with what I sense is Michael’s extreme discomfort, but is really a symptom of his condition.
And yet, NOTHING could have prepared me for what happened next as Dr. Oz, unbelievably and without prelude or warning, makes the stunning statement:
“I think, Oprah, the stem cell debate is dead.”
“The problem with embryonic stem cells is that embryonic stem cells come from embryos, like all of us are made from embryos, and those cells can become any cell in the body, but it’s very hard to control them and so they can become cancer.”
While astonished by his public announcement, I soon began to wonder: “why did Dr Oz only briefly allude to the potential of iPS cells and the proven benefits of adult stem cell treatments?” And then it became clear.
Dr Oz recognizes that the average person on an American street is led to believe, “a stem cell is an embryo is a stem cell”. Due to years of misleading media saturation, as far most Americans know, there are no other stem cells besides embryonic. Walk down the street and ask someone “what is an adult stem cell…what is an iPS cell”, and your inquiries will surely be met by blank stares.
So in retrospect, what Oz DID do, was truly…amazing.
Shunning the history of the love/hate affair Americans have with Embryonic stem cell research and ignoring the majority of US media over the past 5 years, the decrees of President Obama’s funding policies, the positions of the FDA and AMA and the fruitless decade long public pursuit of embryonic cures undertaken by Michael J Fox (with the benevolent and optimistic spirit of Christopher Reeve hovering over him) and before the bewildered eyes of Michael, Oprah and ~7.2 million viewers, Dr Mehmet Oz nailed the coffin shut on ESC treatments:
“I think, Oprah, the stem cell debate is dead.”
With this one simple statement on national TV, Dr Oz has taken the first step towards educating the American public about the current insurmountable limitations of embryonic stem cells and cracked open the door to the American collective mind-set regarding the potential of iPS cells and the reality that Repair stem cells (RSC) have been treating diseases around the world successfully for a decade. Despite the fact that thousands of American doctors refer to RSC as “snake oil,” more and more American patients are realizing that the US medical system is faltering, dated and just not working while the greatest medicine the world has ever seen is available just beyond the borders of their own country.
The seeds planted by Dr Oz will take a long time to find purchase in the collective American mind-set. There is too much embryonic momentum, media and drama, and America loves drama. Embryonic stem cells will not go away and like Romeo and Juliet, this love/hate affair may have to run its course for most, despite Dr Oz stealing the “distilled liquor” and Romeo’s poison and dagger in an attempt to avoid all of the deaths at the end of this play.
One step at a time we will climb this mountain and slowly open American eyes to improve their knowledge of treatment options so all can intelligently exercise the freedom of choice in their individual medical care. One inch at a time, Oz wisely created a pathway to an amazing new world of available medical treatments for what were previously believed to be incurable diseases and are in fact treating patients successfully around the world.
Dr Oz took this first step and it was a HUGE first step!
So from where I am sitting, I would like to express my heartfelt and sincerest appreciation for Dr Oz’s bravery, statements and actions. Thank you, Dr. Oz and thank you Oprah; for allowing this sage doctor the forum to break the walls restricting millions of Americans from the knowledge of the medical treatment options they so unquestionably deserve.
—————————-
Here is the actual transcript based on my ears and fingers and a lot of patient rewinding:
“I think, Oprah, the stem cell debate is dead.”
“The problem with embryonic stem cells is that embryonic stem cells come from embryos, like all of us are made from embryos, and those cells can become any cell in the body, but it’s very hard to control them and so they can become cancer.”
“I can take a little bit of your skin, take those cells, get them to go back in time so they are like they were when you were first made, and then they will start to make that dopamine & I think those cells, because they won’t be as prone to cancer & because they’re your genes will be the ones that are ultimately used to cure Parkinsons.”
“I think we are single digit years away from making a big impact in the lives of Parkinson’s disease but also diabetics, heart disease, people who have had a lot of problems.”
HEALTH: GREECE’S 2ND STEM CELL BANK TO OPEN IN THESSALONIKI (ANSAmed) – ATHENS, APRIL 23 – A public research stem cell bank will be founded at Thessalonikìs Papageorgiou Hospital. The announcement was made today by Greek deputy Health Minister Athansios Yannopoulos who was speaking at the 22nd Medical Congress in Northern Greece. According to the deputy health minister, a special committee will outline the specifications that are necessary for a stem cell bank to operate, for which relative legislation will be based. The Athens Academy stem cell bank is the only such bank currently in operation in Greece. Stem cells are primal cells common to all multi-cellular organisms that retain the ability to renew themselves through cell division and can differentiate into a wide range of specialized cell types. The stem cells can be taken only in the case of in vitro fertilization and clinical tests made so far were aimed at treating people with cancer. (ANSAmed). 2007-04-23 16:44 http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME06.@AM16435.html
Shinya Yamanaka among international researchers who will receive ‘baby Nobels’ in Canada this year
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail,March 31, 2009 at 6:00 AM EDT
SCIENCE REPORTER
Shinya Yamanaka, the Japanese researcher who transformed skin cells from the wrinkled face of an 81-year-old man into stem cells, is one of this year’s winners of the prestigious Canada Gairdner Awards for medical research.
The awards, to be announced today, will be presented in Toronto in October. They are known as the “baby Nobels” because 73 winners over the past 50 years also became Nobel laureates.
Dr. Yamanaka discovered a way to reprogram adult cells so they regain the superhero-like abilities of embryonic stem cells, which give rise to every type of cell – blood, bone, brain and 250 other specialized cells that make up the human body.
Please help me help this family that is getting the run around from the government. Help this family out and sign the petition and PLEASE pass it around! The more signatures the better!
Thanks all!
Delanie Ceretti has autism. So does her twin sister, Mackenzie. As of December 30, 2008, Delanie, who is just 5-years-old, will lose her funding for her IBI therapy. WHY? The Government needs to cut back on IBI funding. They are willing to write this child off at AGE 5, while her sister will continue to benefit from therapy. We have seen first hand that she has so much potential. We cannot let this happen. Please support our fight to help Delanie keep her funding.
By combining myoblasts and microcarriers in a bioreactor, researchers can greatly increase the number of stem cells. They can then easily separate them from the myoblasts.
The first three micrographs in this gallery show cells called myoblasts (a type of muscle cell) attached to spherical microcarriers. The microcarriers allow for the growth of the stem cells (shown in green), which, in this case, have been isolated from skeletal muscle. Photo: Douglas Cowan, Children’s Hospital Boston.
The first three micrographs in this gallery show cells called myoblasts (a type of muscle cell) attached to spherical microcarriers. The microcarriers allow for the growth of the stem cells (shown in green), which, in this case, have been isolated from skeletal muscle. Photo: Douglas Cowan, Children’s Hospital Boston.
GREECE: FIRTS STEM CELL BANK INAUGURATED IN ATHENS (ANSAmed) – ATHENS, DECEMBER 12 – A stem cell bank inaugurated at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) on yesterday represents the first public-private partnership in biotechnology applications in the country, the head of the NHRF Prof. Dimitrios Kyriakidis announced in a press conference. The partnership, as Kathimerini reports today, involves the private biotech firm Biohellenika SA and the NHRF, which join forces to ensure the safe storage of stem cells and ways to encourage stem cell research and its application in clinical practice… http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME03.@AM12003.html
HEALTH: TUMORS, STEM CELLS BIOBANK CREATED IN ITALY (ANSAmed) – PAVIA, JANUARY 21 – It is the only one to have stem cells of lung tumours, and moreover has collected stem cells of colon tumours, ovary, melanoma of breast and brain: this is the Italian biobank of stem cells which nourishes the tumours and are reason for development of metastasis, created in Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) and is one of the largest in the world… http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME03.YAM17231.html
ScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2009) — In a genetic engineering breakthrough that could help everyone from bed-ridden patients to elite athletes, a team of American researchers—including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi—have created a “switch” that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal.
For humans, this work could lead to a genetic switch, or drug, that allows people to grow new muscle cells to replace those that are damaged, worn out, or not working for other reasons (e.g., muscular dystrophy). In addition, this same discovery also gives researchers a new tool for the study of difficult-to-treat muscle cancers.
There are six reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick Americans.
Reason 6: Follow the Money, not the Science
There is just no way that anyone can make money, in the long run, from the disaster known as embryonics. Sure, in the short run there can be some old boy network exchanges of cash between funders and research facility executives, but once the word got out that embryonic stem cells can cause cancer or destroy immune systems, the money train was diverted, as seen by Geron (GERN) stock: $75 in 2000, $1.95 in 2008 until Wall Street, seeing Obama about to win, started its own profiteering, ripping off investors to the tune of $43,000,000. See “Geron Marches On” in our March 5 Special Newsletter:
The dead end research of embryonics protects the huge profit margins of Big Medicine’s profitable drugs, no matter how deadly (Vioxx et al); profitable medical machines, no matter how toxic (drug eluding stents); profitable tests no matter the risk (mammograms); and profitable hospitalizations, no matter how useless (too numerous to mention). Support for the real cure of RSC could ravage those profits. Small wonder that the money and their controlled media have been attacking the only stem cells that actually work, calling RSC “snake oil.”
As Sharon Begley points out in her recent Newsweek article, “Doctors have long resisted having science guide their practice.” Add to that the list of science-resisting profiteers: pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers, health insurance companies and health management organizations, and it becomes much clearer why ESCs, which will never cure anything and affect profits, have been heavily promoted, while RSCs, which can diminish the current outrageous profits, have been heavily disparaged. Just another reason why the American Medical System has been proven the worst in the developed world. See “Why Not the Best” at:
There are six reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick Americans.
Reason 5:induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC)
There are many ways of creating embryonic-like stem cells good for lab research by using what our Institute heartily endorses – adult cells. Dr. Bernadine Healy calls iPSC “a blockbuster discovery made in 2007.” iPSC are created by reprogramming DNA from adult skin; therefore, they bypass the need for embryos or eggs. As such, they have the advantages of significantly lower costs, ease of production, genetic identity with the patient, and no ethical dilemmas. Even the most respected pioneers of embryonic stem cell research, Dr. James Thomson (U.S.) and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka (Japan), both of whom have our highest admiration, independently reached the conclusion in 2006 that it was preferable to re-direct research to development of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC). But despite their heroic efforts, all the ESC profiteers care about is money, and the real money is in government funding, huge grants, and not one cure really expected.
There are six reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick Americans.
Reason 4: Real Scientists really prefer to research Adult Stem Cells.
It’s kind of the “Field of Dreams” branch of science based on the hypothesis that “if you build it, they will come.” How well does that work? Just ask ES Cell International (ESI), a company established in 2000 in Singapore, which was the most embryonic- stem-cell-friendly country in the world.
ESI built tremendous facilities and gave jobs to almost any Western ESC researcher who wanted one. But, in 2007, down hundreds of millions of dollars, they did what Wall Street did in 2000 – they chucked embryonics into the trash bin as “unworkable.”
Alan Colman, ESI’s chief executive at the time of its demise, reasoned that “the likelihood of having products in the clinic in the short term was vanishingly small” and admitted to “a tinge of disappointment.”
Or, just ask Dr. Colin McGuckin, until recently a professor of regenerative medicine at Newcastle University (U.K.) and one of Europe’s leading embryonic researchers. He left Newcastle for France where the research atmosphere is much more receptive to adult stem cell research. It was reported by Times Higher Education that when leaving, McGuckin claimed that “A vast amount of money in the UK from the Government has gone into embryonic stem-cell research with not one patient being treated [italics added], to the detriment of (research into) adult stem cells, which has been severely underfunded.”
Take the recent case in California, which had almost $300 million of stem cell funding to distribute, but no researcher worthy of receiving it. Not surprisingly, the money went to powerful and well-connected friends to build new facilities to “attract scientists.” As Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels might have said 75 years ago, “Once you have “them” believing the Big Lie, you can get away with anything.” In this case, sell “them” cures which will never come and give the money to your friends.
There are six reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick Americans.
Reasons 2 & 3: Embryonic Stem Cells are bad medicine.
Actually, they’re very badmedicine. Nicholas Wade, the well-respected scientific reporter, editor and author who writes for the Science Times section of The New York Times, wrote in his article, “Rethink Stem Cells? Science Already Has,” the day after Obama’s announcement: Embryonic stem cells have their drawbacks. They cause tumors and the adult stem cells derived from them may be rejected by the patient’s immune system. Furthermore, whatever disease process caused the patient’s tissue cells to die is likely to kill induced cells as well.
Causes cancer (reason 2).
Starts a war with your immune system (reason 3).
That’s really about as bad as it gets! And, to date there are a lot of guesses, but no successes, as to how to combat these inevitable results. Recent studies at the Stanford University School of Medicine show that embryonic stem cells transplanted into mice were dead within ten days after inducing immune system rejection. That was actually the best news you can find about ESC. The mice didn’t die in that war, the cells did!
Dr. Bernadine Healy of US News and World Report, concluded just ten days ago that “the worst they [RSC] seem to do after infusion is die off without bringing the hoped-for benefit.” Maybe that’s not good medicine, but it certainly isn’t bad – or fatal. Gee-a medicine which can help the majority of those treated and not harm anyone? For sure, we have never heard of such a medicine before—not even aspirin—unless you include “an apple a day!”
There are six reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick Americans.
Reason 1: Quite frankly, there is no need.
What? Is this blasphemy? For years, we have read in newspapers and magazines, or heard about on TV special reports, that embryonic stem cells will allow us to live healthy and potentially endless lives. Are you saying this is not true? That we have been lied to? You betcha! Science itself will destroy the illusion of embryonic stem cells, while adult stem cells, which we call Repair Stem Cells (RSC), are widely recognized as the most powerful medicine the world has ever seen, capable right now of treating over one hundred so-called “incurable” diseases and improving the quality of life of millions of patients.
Anthony Hollander, a professor of rheumatology and tissue engineering at the University of Bristol (U.K.) was clear about this issue: “With the [adult stem] cells we can really make a difference to patients’ lives, and we can do it now, not in ten year’s time as promised for embryonic stem cells.”
Even more to the point is Dr. Bernadine Healy, M.D., in her article in the March 4, 2009 U.S. News & World Reports: “There is a markedly diminished need for expanding these [embryonic stem] cell lines for either patient therapy or basic research. . . . Even as the future of embryonic stem cells has dimmed, adult stem cell research has scored major wins evident just in the past few months. . . . To date, most of the stem cell triumphs that the public hears about involve the infusion of adult stem cells.” [italics added] We wonder why “most” was used instead of “all.”
If you disagree, send us an ESC triumph on a human patient and we shall humbly apologize.
On Monday, 09 March 2009, President Barack Obama spoke the words that many had longed to hear: “Today . . . we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: We will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research.”
Sounds good, doesn’t it? At last, those who are totally lost in the haze of Alzheimer’s Disease will be able to think for themselves again. Finally, the victims of spinal cord injuries will once more – in the words of Christopher Reeve – be able “to walk to the door to greet you.” Once and for all, diabetics will no longer have to fear incipient blindness and amputations. In the near future, cancer will be but a footnote in medical textbooks.
As President Obama said, there will come “a day when words like ‘terminal’ and ‘incurable’ are potentially retired from our vocabulary.” We can compare this new-found bliss in the relationship between government and science to a young couple, once head-over-heels in love, unfortunately split apart by forces beyond their control, then after 8 years, finding each other, getting married, and living happily and healthily ever after into their golden years.
What could be better? This is great a great story. In fact, it’s a terrific story! And, it’s all possible because American scientists will finally be able to develop the much-publicized panacea of embryonic stem cell (ESC) treatment.
Sadly, though, it’s not so terrific for you and me. It’s Big Pharma and its collaborators in the super-lucrative medical industries that caught the bride’s bouquet with its fragrant, green-colored blossoms. You and I, on the other hand, we must share the bouquet made of blank paper, shot full of holes. We are not Cinderella, and ESC is not our Prince Charming, come to awaken us to a sun-drenched world of everlasting health. ESC treatment is an illusion, a myth, a well-crafted Grim Fairy Tale.
There are six reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick Americans.
STEM CELLS: THRIVING BUSINESS IN SPAIN ***
STEM CELLS: NOW A MILLION EURO BUSINESS IN SPAIN ***
(ANSAmed) – MADRID, JANUARY 28 – The stem cell business has become a global industry. According to a study published in El Pais today, just in Spain, 26,500 couples have sent umbilical cords abroad, paying between 1,300 and 2,000 euro to preserve them for 20 years…
When you couch the argument as one in which we are looking for treatments only; this is a difficult position to argue against.
Embryonic stem cell research is a waste of money
March 30, 2009, Gayle Atteberry
President Obama’s recent decision to fund embryonic stem cell research with millions of taxpayer dollars is … completely unnecessary.
Embryonic stem cell research has a proven 100 percent failure rate.
Ten years of extensive research with embryonic stem cells in America and worldwide has produced not one human cure. Development of tumors in test animals has negated any progress made in animal trials…
Diabetes Hope – Successful Pilot Study of Immature Adult Stem Cells
March 28, 2009
(ChattahBox)-A recent study published in the Journal of Cell Transplantation, offers new hope to the 24 million people in the US who suffer from type 2 diabetes and its harmful affects. The University of Miami Diabetes Research Institute, is conducting its first phase of human clinical trials, using immature adult stem cells from a patient’s own bone marrow. After treatment, symptoms significantly lessened, with increased insulin production, lower blood-sugar levels and a reduced need for those dreaded insulin injections.
University researchers conducted the successful pilot study with 25 sufferers of type 2 diabetes. Once they removed the stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow, it was purified and concentrated, and then injected into arteries near the pancreas. The pancreas is responsible for producing the insulin our bodies need.
The next phase of the novel treatment is right out of science fiction. The patients were enclosed in hyperbaric oxygen capsules for 10 hours, blasting their bodies with pure oxygen, at more than twice the amount of normal levels. The hyperbaric chambers are similar to ones used to treat divers with the “bends.”
Researchers found that the high levels of pure oxygen drew additional stem cells from the bone marrow, which joined up with the new cells injected near the pancreas, renewing the pancreas’ ability to make insulin on its own. Research director, Dr. Camillo Ricordi, believes this groundbreaking new treatment could eventually lead to wiping out type 2 diabetes. At the very least, it can ease the painful symptoms and the serious complications of type 2 diabetes.
The University of Miami is expanding its study to the countries of Argentina, Sweden and research centers in Asia. Over the next four years of further clinical trials, researchers are hopeful of obtaining FDA approval to offer the experimental treatment to more patients.
What if someone said
Promise lies ahead
Hopes are high in certain scientific circles
Life won’t have to end
You could walk again
What if someone said
Problems lie ahead
They’ve uncovered something highly controversial
The right to life is strong
Can’t you see it’s wrong
Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for a cure
Turn to the light
Don’t be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breaths
Ethic inquisitions breed
Antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
A labyrinth of rules
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Taking life to save life
Life to save life
This embryonic clay
Wrapped in fierce debate
Would be thrown away
Or otherwise discarded
Some of us believe
It may hold the key
To treatment of disease
And secrets highly guarded
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Life to save life
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for the cure
Turn to the light
Don’t be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
We’re reaching
But have we gone too far
Harvesting existence
Only to destroy
Carelessly together
We are sliding
Someone else’s future
Four days frozen still
Someone else’s fate
We are deciding
Miracle potential
Sanctity of life
Faced against each other
We’re divided
Should we push the boundaries
Or should we condemn
Moral guilt and science
Have collided
Turn to the light
We defy our own mortality these days
Turn to the light
Pay attention to the questions we have raised
Stem Cell Research Information and Events
By Don Margolis, March 19, 2009
Fundraiser for Spinal Cord Injury Patient for Stem Cell Treatment
Friends and family of Chuck Melton are holding a “Chuck Melton Benefit Raffle” on March 28th, 2009. Chuck was paralyzed in 2002 in a diving accident and went to China for Adult Stem Cells in January 2007. The stem cell research and resulting treatment gave Chuck a better quality of life- so much so that he is trying to raise money so he can return to China for more stem cell therapy (Adult Stem Cells of course) in hopes for even more improvement.
I featured Chuck Melton here last month focusing on the benefits of his first stem cell treatment which gave him the ability to sweat again, better bladder control, easier breathing and more feeling in his legs. Chuck and his doctors feel that another treatment with the cord blood stem cells (Adult Stem Cells) would help him improve even more…
Punta Gorda, Florida, March 22, 2009- There will be an Adult Stem Cell rally this Sunday at Gilchrist Park on Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda from 1pm- 5pm. The goal is to raise awareness of how Adult Stem Cells are helping people in the other parts of the world and to help bring Adult Stem Cell therapy to the United States. Attendance is FREE.
This rally will also act as an “Optic Nerve Hypoplasia Family Reunion” as well. It will unite ONH patients in the United States who traveled to China for Adult stem cell research and therapy. Until the stem cell therapy in China, these children had no options for treatment and were destined to a life of blindness. However, thanks to the Adult Stem Cells, these children can now see better and have a better quality of life. You can find their individual stem cell stories here
This is from Carol Petersen’s Stem Cell Aware website, one of the organizers of this talk:
The words “Adult Stem Cell” are no longer ‘dirty’ words. Adult stem cell therapy, with roots tracing back to bone marrow transplants in the ’50s, is coming into its own. Available outside the USA for several years now, an ever-growing body of US residents travel to distant locations to receive these treatments.
We are a body of patients who have chosen to make this journey and receive these treatments. We have not been scammed by hucksters in foreign lands and we were not subjected to bizarre treatments. For many of us our only option given was to sit at home and suffer. Adult stem cell therapy has offered us the chance to see some improvement in our condition.
We recognize that this is no cure. But improvements in quality of life are valuable nonetheless.
If you are an adult stem cell patient and wish to join our organization please submit an email to us.
Everybody is welcome. The doctors from China responsible for this treatment will also be there. Some of the older children helped by the stem cell treatment will give speeches. Therefore, if you are in the Florida area and wish to learn something new and meet some great people, get down to Punta Gorda on Sunday. You can contact Carol Petersen for more information or if you want to join their group at carolptrsn@msn.com
Stem Cell Treatment and Therapy Talk in Dallas
Dallas/Ft. Worth Area, March 21, 2009- Preston Walker wanted everyone to know that Dr. Neil Riordan, Ph.D.,the CEO of Cell Medicine in Costa Rica, will be giving a talk in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas this Saturday, March 21 between 3pm and 6 pm at the Westin Hotel.
Preston Walker and Richard Humphries (who will both be in attendance at the Westin) were the two (now famous) Multiple Sclerosis patients who made the trek from the United States to Costa Rica for the Adult Stem Cell research and treatment last year.
Here is the latest update from Preston Walker himself:
“Richard Humphries and I went to Costa Rica in May 2008 with relapsing-remitting MS (Richard had secondary progressive MS) . At the time I suffered from fatigue, depression, a cognitive “cloud” and a staggered walk.
Since the treatment, I’ve had one poor day with the depression returning with a vengeance!! That was ONE time.
I recently found this site and have been reading feverishly.
The only thing still lingering is an occasional “cloud” moment. the cognitive cloud. I want to say it doesn’t exist because it is normally just a faint memory, but it’s still there. I have RRMS. Richard had SPMS. Dr. Riordan believes his MS may have been reduced to RRMS because of this (stem cell) treatment.”
Since Richard and Preston went to Costa Rica, many others, particularly MS patients from Texas have followed in their footsteps to reap the benefits of Adult Stem Cell research outside of the United States.
Both Preston and Richard will be attending the talk at the Westin Hotel. For more information on the event at the Westin, or if you are not in the area and wish to correspond with Preston and Richard you can email Preston at pwalker2644@sbcglobal.net You can also email Richard at rdhforegolf@hotmail.com
A published stem cell research study shows that Adult Stem Cells implanted into Spinal Cord Injury patients is not only safe, but also improves their quality of life.
Published in the new issue of Cell Transplantation (Vol. 17 No.12), doctors in Ecuador did 8 individual case studies of Adult Stem Cell treatment for Spinal Cord Injury patients.
Different Ways to Deliver the Adult Stem Cells
The stem cells were implanted 3 different ways:
* Into the spinal column
* Into the spinal cavity
* Administered intravenously
The 8 patients (4 acute and 4 chronic) were followed for 2 years using MRI scans to assess any changes in the spinal cord. From the stem cell article abstract:
Comprehensive evaluations demonstrate improvements in ASIA, Barthel (quality of life), Frankel, and Ashworth scoring. Moreover, in order to assess bladder function, we designed a simple numerical clinical scoring system that demonstrates significant changes in bladder function following BMSCs administration.
Patient Quality of Life Improved- No Adverse Events
Dr. Silva, one of the authors of the study says “To date, we have administered BMCs into 52 patients with SCI and have had no tumor formations, no cases of infection or increased pain, and few instances of minor adverse events. We also found that patient quality of life improved.”
For patients with spinal cord injuries- these improvements, especially in bladder function makes a big difference in their quality of life.
Stem Cell Treatment in Ecuador, Not the USA
The stem cell treatment is being carried out by Dr. Luis Geffner at the Luis Vernaza hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We first heard about Dr. Geffner after he treated Michael Flounders who was extremely pleased with his stem cell therapy in Ecuador as he traveled all the way from the United Kingdom:
“It has broadened the horizons of my recovery; it has given me a sense of hope. Everyday things are changing; the feelings in my legs are becoming a lot more powerful.”
Effects of Adult Stem Cell Research Explained
“Autologous stem cell transplantation of BMCs (Bone Marrow Cells) can promote the growth of blood vessels and, therefore, represent an alternative therapy,” said Dr. Silva.
“BMCs are well known for their ability to grow blood vessels,” explained Dr. Silva. “This angiogenesis is necessary for wound healing and establishing a growth permissive environment. We hypothesized that improved blood flow and oxygen supply could contribute to functional improvements for SCI transplanted with autologous BMCs.”
More Stem Cell Research for Spinal Cord Injury Information
Please see our archives for more patients who have been helped with stem cells for SCI
Dr. Carlos Lima, the pioneer of stem cell research for Spinal Cord Injury, implanting Adult Stem Cells taken from the patients’ noses.
It is 5 minutes prior to Super Bowl XLIII and the MCL sprain of Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver Hines Ward (MVP of Superbowl XL) may keep him out of the game. And then, just before kickoff, the NBC sportscaster announces that Ward received cells from his own body to reduce his recovery time dramatically and will indeed be playing! Cells from his own body? Were they adult stem cells? Well…yes and no. -DG
Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver Hines Ward did in fact have a platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment. This was confirmed by BloodCure.com. He was apparently treated with PRP for a medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain. The specific form of PRP has yet to be declared but it is apparent that he was treated with plasma that contained an increased concentration of platelets. This by the definition proposed by Dr. Marx, is indeed platelet rich plasma.
Previously, PRP has been used to treat the same injury in major league soccer players. On the second play of the game, Mr. Ward caught a 38 yard pass and contributed significantly to the Steelers’ Super Bowl win.
PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) therapy produces growth factors and stem cell production increasing joint space and eliminating pain with movement.
Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP is blood plasma with concentrated platelets. The concentrated platelets found in PRP include growth factors among the huge reservoirs of bioactive proteins that are vital to initiate and accelerate tissue repair and regeneration. These bioactive proteins increase stem cell production to initiate connective tissue healing, bone regeneration and repair, promote development of new blood vessels and stimulate the wound healing process.
http://drjamesbaum.com/prp
So Hines Ward did not technically receive adult stem cells, but the PRP he did receive increased his stem cell production, reduced his recovery time and strengthened his medial ligament so he could make a major contribution to the Steelers 27-23 win over the Cardinals. – DG
Controversial hybrid embryos ‘are no use to science’ new research suggests
Attempts to mix human and animal cells together to make hybrid embryos for medical research may be doomed to failure, new research suggests.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:59PM GMT 03 Feb 2009
Researchers who tried to use mouse, cow and rabbit eggs to make human clones said the effort failed to produce workable embryos, a blow described as “very disappointing” by a leading British scientist.
Although the human-animal hybrids looked normal under the microscope, they were genetically flawed, meaning they may be of little use to medicine or science.
Sir Ian Wilmut, the British cloning pioneer who was involved in the 1996 creation of Dolly the sheep – described the findings – as ‘very disappointing’.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, have discovered stem cells in the esophagus of mice that are able to grow into tissue-like structures and form parts of an esophagus lining when placed into immune-deficient mice.1
“The immediate implication is that we’ll have a better understanding of the role of these stem cells in normal biology, as well as in regenerative and cancer biology,” stated senior author Anil Rustgi, MD, professor of medicine and genetics and chief of gastroenterology at Penn. “Down the road we will develop a panel of markers that will define these stem cells and use them in replacement therapy for diseases like gastroesophageal reflux disease [GERD] and to understand Barrett’s esophagus, a precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma, and how to reverse that before it becomes cancer.”
A “MIRACLE” four-year-old who owes her life to pioneering stem cell treatment is spearheading a drive which doctors hope will revolutionise bone marrow transplants.
As Sorrel Mason celebrates the second anniversary of her ground-breaking operation, the Suffolk youngster is to star in a video marking a UK medical milestone which experts believe will save many children and adults from almost certain death.
Her proud father, Robert Mason, who lives with his family at Great Wratting, near Haverhill, said he was happy with the filming to go ahead to help “give something back” to the profession he owes so much.
The video is part of the first NHS scheme in the country – at Kings Hospital, London – to harvest umbilical cord cells donated by women who have just given birth.
How government policies are sending sick folks to Forest Lawn unnecessarily. Government regulations & policies and agency interpretation of those is often contradictory and even counter-progressive. As a result many folks with incurable illnesses are dying sooner than might otherwise be the case. This article lays it all out.
Experimental regimen targeting the ependyma slows disease progression in four patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Anthony G. Payne
aWeller Health Institute and Laboratory, 3103 South El Camino Real, San Clemente, CA 92673, USA
In this paper the author proposes that at least some forms of sporadic ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) arise due to the effects of neurotoxic compounds synthesized by defective ependymal cells in the brain. These cells produce cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is laden with neurotoxic compounds that bring about motor neuron die-off. Evidence is garnered from various animal studies to demonstrate the toxicity of CSF taken from ALS patients and by virtue of the proposed mechanism (defective ependymal cells).
In addition, a regimen created by the author is introduced; a regimen that has been used by four (4) sporadic ALS patients since 2005 resulting in what appears to be a slowing of disease progression. All four patients have significantly outlived best estimates of their survival tendered by their neurologists.
“…the biological equivalent of warp drive. That is, he has pioneered literally revolutionarily technology that truly is poised to send stem cell (regenerative/restorative) medicine into high orbit”
StemCell Medicine Jumps toWarp Speed:
The Flight of the Phoenix II By Anthony G. Payne, Ph.D.
As a boy I was enthralled with the premier and run of the original visionary TV series “Star Trek” (1966- 1969). Naturally I welcomed the spate of movies and the various incarnations such as “ST: Deep Space Nine” and “ST: Voyager.” Like many baby boomers, Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic science-fiction onscreen world inspired some aspect of my subsequent pursuits in the sciences. If you were similarly influenced, good for you!
Whether you are a fan of Star Trek or not, I hope you saw the movie, “Star Trek: First Contact” because it bears directly on what I am about to share. For those who have only a nodding acquaintance with ST, the focus of this particular movie is on the launch and successful flight of the first warp (faster-than-light) space craft dubbed the “Phoenix” on April 5th, 2063.
In the ST world, this ship is the brainchild of a maverick (and often inebriated) genius named Zefram Cochran, who pilots the inaugural flight despite a deep-seated dislike of flying. Following its launch and achievement of warp speed, the Phoenix’s flight is detected by an alien (Vulcan — remember “Mr. Spock”?) vessel which happens to be passing through our solar system on a routine scientific survey. The Vulcans trace the Phoenix to its launch site and wind up landing near-by and disembarking.
This epochal “first contact” meeting, of course, decisively retires the notion that our species is alone in the universe and sets in motion societal and other changes that culminate in the birth of the “Federation of Planets”.
So what does this have to do with the price of corn? I’ll tell you.
In-a-nutshell: I have the good fortune to be involved with a group of stem cell researchers which is headed up by a sober version of Zephram Cochran, Chauncey B. Sayre.
What Chauncey and his bench crew have basically come up with the biological equivalent of warp drive. That is, he has pioneered literally revolutionarily technology that truly is poised to send stem cell (regenerative/restorative) medicine into high orbit. These patent pending brainchildren of this modern day Dr. Cochran are now operational in Mexico, where the regulatory atmosphere allows warp trips much more readily than here…
CHRISTINE SCHNEIDER, RN -Sunday, February 15, 2009
• Job: Therapeutic hemapheresis supervisor,
Atlanta Blood Services -BARRY WILLIAMS / AJC Special
Christine Schneider is a therapeutic hemapheresis supervisor at Atlanta Blood Services.
• What I do: “I provide apheresis procedures (separating whole blood into its components and taking away a particular component) to patients with various blood disorders, or on donors giving blood, plasma or platelets. I also perform peripheral blood stem-cell collections on patients undergoing bone marrow transplant and donors of stem cells.
“As supervisor, I manage staff competencies and training, update standard operating procedures, schedule patients and institute new guidelines and regulations.”
• What got me interested in this: “I started out as a patient care technician, working in dialysis and renal transplant, and that inspired me to become a nurse. I loved getting to know my patients during the four to five procedures and being a part of their lives every week.
“When I moved to Georgia from New Jersey, I learned about apheresis and took a position at Atlanta Blood Services, which is affiliated with Northside Hospital. It’s not unlike dialysis, but whereas dialysis cleans the blood, we are separating it and taking out different parts.”
• Best part of the job: “I get to work on just about every floor of the hospital — critical care, intensive care, oncology, neurology, cardiac, obstetrics — and with all kinds of patients. My motto is, ‘Have wheels will travel,’ and every day is different.
“Sometimes I am one of the first people patients encounter after being diagnosed. They’re often scared and I get to provide education and help them through this difficult time. I even talk to unconscious patients. When they wake, they often say they know me. What they know is the sound of my voice.
“The diseases we treat are life-threatening, so knowing that I have just helped someone live, or that I have just provided comfort to someone, is a feeling greater than words can describe.”
• Most challenging part of the job: “A patient’s unique case can alter the outcome of the procedure. No two procedures are the same, and you may encounter a problem at any time.
“What we do is heavily regulated by different agencies, and that comes with a lot of paperwork. There is always change in this field, and that keeps me on my toes at all times.”
• What people don’t know about my job: “Most people don’t know what apheresis means or that it is a treatment option for many blood diseases. Stem-cell collection is a rescue for people receiving high-dose chemotherapy and, without it, they can’t survive.”
• What keeps me going: “My patients. They need these treatments, and I want to help.
“I was privileged to attend a bone-marrow transplant survivors’ reunion recently and it was exhilarating. I got to meet patients and their families from six years ago. Their gratitude will forever live in my heart.”
• Preparation needed: Most people who work in apheresis are registered nurses with dialysis or bone marrow transplant experience.
You’ve been in a car accident and your family is rushing to your side from all over the country. You’re on oxygen and you may be brain damaged and the question arises: is their blood circulating in your brain or are you brain dead? Your organ donor card is in the hands of “”organ procurement agent” who is hovering impatiently. What happens next?
The hospital shuts off your oxygen for 10 minutes to see if you can begin breathing on your own. While they wait and watch, your brain cells start dying…first in small numbers and then in the millions as brain necrosis (death) sets in. After ten minutes of oxygen deprivation, your brain is pronounced officially dead and the organ procurement agent steps forward…
Does this sound like a gruesome fairy tale? It’s not. This is the standard “apnoea test” based on the need to determine “brain death”, adopted world-wide and developed at Harvard University in 1968…and due to this test “The lives of thousands of human beings, including children, adolescents and young adults, are lost every year in each country” (Dr. Coimbra) – DG
Does this sound unbelievable? Read on…
“Brain Death” Test Causes Brain Necrosis and Kills Patients: Neurologist to Rome Conference
By Hilary White – Rome correspondent
ROME, February 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the medical world’s key diagnostic tools for determining “brain death” preliminary to organ retrieval, actually causes the severe brain damage it purports to determine, neurologist Dr. Cicero Coimbra told attendees at a conference held in Rome last week. With the so-called “apnoea test,” Coimbra said, brain damaged patients who might be recoverable are deprived of oxygen for up to ten minutes, rendering the injuries to the brain irreversible.
“Diagnostic protocols for brain death actually induce death in patients who could recover to normal life by receiving timely and scientifically based therapies,” Dr. Coimbra, head of the Neurology and Neurosurgery Department at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, told the participants at the “Signs of Life” conference on “brain death.”
Addressing an assembly of about 170 physicians, philosophers, ethicists, lawyers, students, journalists, and clergy, including two Catholic cardinals, Dr. Coimbra said that it is the apnoea test, routinely applied to patients who have suffered acute brain injuries, that frequently causes “brain necrosis,” or permanent and irrecoverable brain damage that is accepted as “brain death”.
The test is applied in emergency rooms or ICUs, often with an “organ procurement agent” standing by to ask relatives for approval for organ retrieval. A patient who needs assistance breathing is removed from the ventilator for up to ten minutes, cutting off oxygen to the brain and slowing the heart rate. If the patient fails to begin breathing without assistance after this time, he is declared “brain dead” and his organs may be legally removed.
Since the world-wide adoption of the “brain death” criteria, developed at Harvard University in 1968, Dr. Coimbra said, “The lives of thousands of human beings, including children, adolescents and young adults, are lost every year in each country.”
From Blind to Driving A Car- Stem Cells Give Colorado Girl the Gift of Sight
Posted 18 February, 2009 in Optic Nerve Hypoplasia | No comments
Macie Morse, a 16 year old from Colorado, has made dramatic improvement in her eyesight after receiving Adult Stem Cells taken from cord blood to treat her Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. In yet another victory for stem cell research, Macie now has her driving learner’s permit after being almost totally blind before the stem cell therapy.
Macie before stem cells:
* 20/4000 vision in one eye and in the other eye she only had light perception- she could only make out light
* Could only watch TV with her nose pressed against the glass
Macie after stem cells:
* 20/80 vision in one eye and the other is 20/400+
* Driving her family’s van and enjoying her new driving permit
Now after the Adult Stem Cell research has helped her, Macie is realizing her dreams:
“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to lay on the couch and watch TV,” she said. “It looked so comfortable.”
“I always wondered what it would be like to see my friends,” she said.
Macie was treated with Adult Stem Cells taken from umbilical cord blood (not Embryonic stem cells) by Beike Biotech in China. Macie joins our ” Optic Nerve Hypoplasia Club” with others who have made similar improvements from this stem cell research. Others such as Cody Fend, Cameron Petersen, Lydia Black, Lydia Olmsted and Rylea Barlett, Savannah Watring, Xavier Carballo, and Connor Corkern all have made great strides since receiving cord blood stem cells for their Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and Septo-Optic Dysplasia in China.
For more information about this stem cell treatment, you can contact Beike Biotech’s Medical Director Dr. Kara Zhang directly at dr.zhang@beikebiotech.com
CB013130Patients with disorders that can be treated by stem cell therapy may find that they can’t find treatments in the US. Some of them end up traveling overseas to try experimental stem cell therapy procedures that aren’t legally offered in the United States. These treatments can be dangerous because these unproven treatments may lack appropriate oversight or patient monitoring. And clinics targeting medical tourists may use poorly characterized cells.
You can to live chat today with Macie Morse, who’s in China for receiving stem cell therapy to improve her vision. She’ll be on this website at 3:15 p.m. MST (Colorado time). Viewers can log on to Coloradoan.com and watch a live interview with Morse, as well as chat and ask her questions. You can also submit questions in advance to halliewoods@coloradoan.com.
International Committee Meets In Amsterdam to Plan World Congress of Families V
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The International Planning Committee for World Congress of Families V met in Amsterdam last week to put together a program for the Congress. Meetings took place at Amsterdam’s RAI Convention Centre, also the site of WCF V (August 10-12, 2009).
Sessions were co-chaired by Larry Jacobs (WCF Managing Director) and Simon Polinder (head of the Local Organizing Committee). Dr. Patrick Fagan of The Family Research Council acted as moderator.
The Congress will include keynote speeches such as: “How Traditional Are Modern Families In The Netherlands?,” “The Family As The Fundamental Unit of Society,” “The Value of Marriage As The Basis of Family Life,” “The Family as The Foundation of Social and Economic Development,” “The Future Depends on Human Life,” “Effects of Government Policymaking on the Family,” and “The Influence of International Law on the Family.”
Break-out sessions include titles such as: “The Role of The Family In Overcoming Addiction (Drugs, Gambling and Pornography),” “Demography and Declining Birthrates Worldwide,” “Sexuality: Faith, Family and Freedom of Speech,” “Barriers to Adoption: National and International,” “Human Trafficking,” “How Biotechnology Affects The Family (Abortion, Euthanasia and Embryonic Stem-Cell Research),” and “The Family And The Future of Nations.”
BETH KALVIN, Director of Communications/Regenocyte Therapeutic -6:00 p.m., Monday, February 16, 2009
After the inauguration of President Barack Obama, those on both sides of the stem cell research debate are expecting President Bush’s curb on federal funding to be lifted.
Geron Corp. announced it had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the world’s first study of a human embryonic stem cell therapy, testing its product on patients with acute spinal cord injury. The company reported it has spent “at least $100 million on embryonic stem cell research” and it isn’t alone in its quest.
So while the majority of public and private dollars are poured into embryonic stem cell research, advocates of other stem cell therapies are lobbying for a share, with strong clinical results behind them. The chasm between types of stem cells is nearly as wide as the divergence of opinion on the political and ethical issues. The impacts of a legislative change may depend heavily on the current administration’s — and the public’s — understanding of the science that is now becoming medicine.
Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell of the body, and scientists have long hoped to harness them for creating replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases. But to date no successful human treatment has been found using embryonic cells. The treatment research has been controversial because human embryos must be destroyed. Plus, the pluripotent quality of the cells poses many risks for adverse effects.
Cord blood cells, when saved or “banked,” can address many serious diseases and are considered much safer than embryonic cells because they are autologous, meaning cells belonging to the patient, and the body will not reject its own cells. However, the availability of cord blood cells is limited and tissue matching is required.
Adult stem cells circulate throughout our bodies and act as natural healers. They have vast potential and limitless capabilities. As a treatment option, they are considered extremely safe because they are also autologous, coming directly from the patient’s own blood, bone marrow, skin or fat. For more than 40 years, adult stem cells have been used to treat cancers, particularly leukemia.
Recent advancements in adult stem cell therapy have meant thousands of patients around the world have been helped for serious health conditions outside of cancer. The process begins with drawing of the patient’s blood or marrow. The stem cells are then extracted in a biotechnology lab.
Bio-agents like growth factors are applied to expand the stem cell population and direct the cells to repair and regenerate specific tissue damaged by disease.
Just a few days later, the newly engineered cells are reintroduced to the patient’s body by injection or through a catheter into the blood vessels. The patient generally returns home in one to two days and the regeneration process within their body begins.
Southwest Florida-based Regenocyte Therapeutic released data last month to the World Congress on Regenerative Biomedical Technologies on patients treated for heart, vascular and pulmonary diseases that were studied through one year after Adult Stem Cell Therapy. The report showed measurable improvement in congestive heart failure class status, breathing and kidney function. PET scans confirmed that adult stem cells have the ability to engraft themselves into areas damaged by heart attacks and turn into viable, new heart muscle.
Dr. Héctor José Rosario, professor of cardiology at Pontifical Catholic University School of Medicine and director of cardiovascular therapy for Regenocyte’s Dominican division, stated in the report that “three months after treatment, cardiac nuclear scans of the areas treated reveal reversal of damage.” The company’s medical adviser, Athina Kyritsis, M.D., explains: “Regenocyte has been able to take patients off the transplant list, and we have been doing it consistently.”
Dr. Kyritsis explains the potential to revolutionize medicine is great: “I believe we have only begun to discover what adult stem cells can accomplish in altering the course of diseases currently believed to be untreatable, with not only better clinical results than embryonic cell studies offer, but a long-term financial savings to society.”
Regenocyte Therapeutic is using adult stem cell therapy to treat congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, kidney disease, ischemic heart disease, pulmonary diseases and hypertension, and early senile dementia. The U.S. Clinical Center with complete diagnostic capabilities and its own catheterization lab is located in Bonita Springs, where there are 39 employees and associates. Physicians, treatment and laboratory facilities are also located in Israel and the Dominican Republic.
An educational seminar, “Turning Stem Cells into Medicine: Current Clinical Applications and Case Studies,’’ will be held Saturday, March 7, at 1 p.m. at the Collier Regional Library headquarters on Orange Blossom Drive in North Naples. The program is free and open to the public, featuring Zannos G. Grekos, MD, who is director of Cardiology & Vascular Disease for Regenocyte Therapeutic. Dr. Grekos also is associate clinical professor of cardiology for Nova Southeastern University. In 2007, he was invited to brief the U.S. Senate Health Advisory Committee on the current state of stem cell research and has since lectured at international physician conferences from Washington to Dubai, U.A.E.
Parkinson’s Patient Helped by Adult Stem Cell Research- A Published Case Study
By Don Margolis -February 17, 2009
Due to advances in Adult Stem Cell research, Dr. Dennis Turner was helped by his own stem cells to treat his Parkinson’s Disease. Treated by Dr. Michael Levesque of NeuroGeneration, in 1999, Dr. Turner’s “motor scales improved by over 80% for at least 36 months.” Read more at Adult Stem Cell Research
In another event showing that Adult Stem Cell research in India is truly ahead of the curve, Adult Stem cells implanted into a woman in a coma from a brain stroke have partially revived her. This stem cell therapy partially waking up a woman is believed to be only the second time in history this has been done with stem cells. The woman is now moving….. Read more at Adult Stem Cell Research
The procedure will transplant cells onto the cornea
A new surgical treatment offering hope to patients with corneal blindness is to be trialled in Scotland.
Doctors in Edinburgh and Glasgow will work together using an innovative technique involving adult stem cells.
About 20 patients will take part in the initial tests, using cells cultivated before being transplanted onto the surface of the cornea.
Millions of people worldwide suffer from corneal blindness, 80% of whom are elderly.
Stem cells are a source of great scientific interest as a result of their ability to renew and multiply indefinitely, potentially regenerating entire organs from only a few cells.
On a larger scale, it’s a significant problem
Prof Bal Dhillon
Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion
Unlike the more controversial embryonic stem cell research, the technique takes stem cells from dead adult donors.
The trial is being led by Prof Bal Dhillon at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, working with the Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow.
Prof Dhillon said: “This study is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and it is exciting to be involved in such groundbreaking work.
“I probably see two or three new cases of corneal disease every month. On a larger scale, it’s a significant problem.”
The trial will hope to emulate the success of a similar study in the US in September last year.
In trials at the University of Pennsylvania, subjects with inherited blindness experienced dramatic improvements in vision after a corrective gene was injected into the eye.
America is trialling it, Barack Obama is about to endorse it, Scottish doctors think it could cure a form of blindness, and a toddler is going all the way to China for it. Over the last month, it’s been hard to miss all the news stories about stem cell therapy. We know that therapies based on stem cells are likely to be extremely beneficial to all sorts of disabled people in the future, but where are we with it all right now? I think it’s time for a bit of a recap …
What is stem cell therapy?
Stem cells, magnified in extreme close-up
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells – lacking qualities that make them different or unique – which are capable of developing into any of the 200 different types of cell in the human body. They are derived from embryos, from the umbilical cord or, with greater difficulty, from the scarce stem cells in adults or children.
Stem cells can be used to grow tissues for transplantation – for example, heart muscle or brain cells or liver cells. They can also be used as models for disease, which can then be used in research – meaning better knowledge or less reliance on animal experimentation. This has recently been achieved for spinal muscular atrophy.
Who might be helped by these therapies?
People who have diseases or impairments which are caused by tissue damage or degeneration can potentially be helped by stem cell therapy. For example, people with diabetes, liver disease and Parkinson’s, maybe even people with spinal cord injury.
A new trial is exploring whether stroke survivors could benefit too, whilst the latest news suggests that stem cells from patients’ own bone marrow could help reverse the early signs of MS.
Most of these therapies are only at the stage of initial trials in humans – for example, studies on corneal blindness and spinal cord injury are just starting.
Does it work?
Stem cell treatments have been successful in treating Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) and a few other conditions in research settings. While stem cell therapy sounds good in theory, in practice it is very hard to grow specific cell types and control their growth safely. The children cured of SCID went on to contract a form of leukaemia. Research continues to understand why, and to improve safety and effectiveness.
When might therapies be available?
The first clinical trial of an embryonic stem cell therapy has just been authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Clinical trials can take up to 10 years, so even if a therapy is shown to be successful, scientists or pharmaceutical companies then have to prove that it is safe. Animal trials have shown that therapies for spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy and other conditions have great potential, but effective treatments are still a long way off. Therapies may be beneficial in the early days after a spinal cord injury, but not benefit those who have been injured for a long time.
What’s the ethical issue here?
Embryonic stem cell therapy depends on destroying embryos – usually surplus embryos from IVF treatment. Those who believe that life starts at conception will equate this to murder. The Vatican reaffirmed its opposition to embryonic stem cell research in December, but permits research using adult stem cells.
Another controversy is over somatic cell nuclear transfer, otherwise known as therapeutic cloning, which would enable stem cell tissues to be matched to the patient, but bring us closer to the possibility of reproductive cloning.
Under President Bush, creation of new embryonic stem cell lines was forbidden in America. President Obama is expected to permit a more liberal approach to research.
What’s the political issue?
For those who take a pure social model approach to disability, the problem for disabled people is not their impairment but the barriers and discrimination within society. Stem cell therapy is offered as a cure for disability, whereas activists often deny their need or desire for cure.
Moreover, promises of scientific breakthroughs and wonderful medical treatments have been made for over fifty years, and there is scepticism about the current stem cell hyperbole. Superman actor Christopher Reeve was so convinced that stem cell therapy would cure spinal cord injury that he said that barrier removal and disability rights was unnecessary. Most others disagree.
So is it just a load of hype?
There is definitely lots of media excitement about stem cell therapy, as well as the occasional irresponsible announcement from a scientist. There are also big commercial interests involved: stories of miraculous stem cell treatments in less regulated countries such as China, Thailand, India and Russia are questionable, with vulnerable consumers being charged an average of 21,500 dollars for unproven therapies.
In Britain, many parents have been encouraged to pay for their infant’s umbilical cord blood to be stored in private stem cell banks, with the hope that this might help with future disease. But scientists are sceptical as to whether the promised benefits will materialise.
But despite these negative stories, overall it is fair to say that leading scientists in the UK and US are responsible and very tightly regulated, and that many believe that ultimately this line of research will transform medicine.
You’ll see many more news stories in the months and years ahead, so stay tuned for more updates on ‘tailor made tissues’.
Joshua will have five weeks’ treatment in China with umbilical cord stem cells
The family of a toddler who was born blind are hoping a course of cutting-edge stem cell therapy in China could let some light into his life.
Sixteen-month-old Joshua Clark, from Caernarfon, Gwynedd, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia and his parents were told no treatment was available.
Joanna and Anthony Clark found the Chinese therapy after doing research via the internet.
An auction to help fund the £40,000 op was held on Thursday and raised £8,160.
Joshua’s grandfather Dr Kevin Doughty said his wife, Gill, a nurse who worked on an eye ward, first noticed when Joshua was three months old that his eyes did not react in the way she expected.
“It was a slow job to get the medics involved. It took a long time to get the tests that showed what he had,” Dr Doughty told the BBC Wales News website.
When Joshua was six months, he was finally given a diagnosis.
His father Anthony said: “They explained the situation and said there was nothing they could do for us.
OPTIC NERVE HYPOPLASIA
ONH is a congenital condition caused by underdevelopment of the optic nerve
It can cause anything from mild light sensitivity to total blindness
Can be part of a disorder known as septo-optic dysplasia
“We weren’t very happy with that, and about a week later we started looking it up on the internet. We were talking to people in America particularly, people who had had the treatment but also medics who knew about it.”
They launched a fundraising campaign to enable Joshua to undergo treatment at Hangzhou, near Shanghai, and have so far raised £24,500 towards the £40,000 needed.
The family will fly to China at the end of April and will spend five weeks accompanied by various relatives at different times while Joshua undergoes treatment with umbilical cord stem cells.
When he returns he will need daily treatment for a year in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which has been installed at the family’s home in order to maximise the effect of the therapy.
The family is not hoping for miracles. They know Joshua is unlikely to have normal vision, but they hope he will be able to detect light, differentiate between night and day and see colours and objects.
Mr Clark said: “We’re hoping that he can see something, light and shapes and some distance in front of him.
“We’re just hoping that we may get something from it. It may not work, and it’s hard to take so you don’t want to go out with too many expectations.”
‘Stronger relationship’
He believes the family has been drawn more closely together as a result of their experiences.
“I think it’s made myself and Joanna’s relationship stronger,” he said.
The auction, organised by neighbours of the Clarks, is being held at the Celtic Royal Hotel in Caernarfon on Thursday night.
No-one from the UK is believed to have undergone stem cell therapy for ONH in China but two girls from Northern Ireland are due to go prior to Joshua.
Glamour model Jordan’s son Harvey was born with the condition.
I FEEL TERRIBLE FOR THIS POOR BOY. THE TOP SCIENTISTS IN BOTH ADULT AND EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS HAVE FOR A LONG TIME SAID THAT EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS SEEM PREDISPOSED TO GENERATING TUMORS. HERE IS ONE CASE WHERE THEY DID. I EXPECT MORE TO FOLLOW IF THIS TYPE OF TREATMENT CONTINUES. MAYBE THEY WILL NOW USE GENE THERAPY OR ADULT STEM CELLS TO TREAT HIS TUMOROUS CONDITION SO HE CAN ACTUALLY GET BETTER. -DG
Stem cell ‘cure’ boy gets tumour
Stem cells have been linked with cancer in animals
A boy treated with foetal stem cells for a rare genetic disease has developed benign tumours, raising questions about the therapy’s safety.
The boy, now 17, received the stem cells in 2001 at a Moscow hospital and four years later scans showed brain and spinal tumours, PLoS Medicine reports.
Israeli doctors removed the abnormal growth from his spine and tests suggest it sprouted from the stem cells.
Critics say the finding is evidence against the controversial therapy.
Apart from the ethics of using cells taken from embryos, opponents say there are big safety concerns.
As well as the possibility that stem cells may turn cancerous, some researchers fear that it is possible that stem cell therapy could unwittingly pass viruses and other disease causing agents to people who receive cell transplants.
Experimental therapy
Experts are hopeful that stem cells, which have the ability to develop into other kinds of human cells, will eventually lead to treatments for some of the most intractable conditions.
Although this is just one case it does show that we need to be careful
Stem cell scientist Dr Stephen Minger
The boy in question was treated for a condition called Ataxia Telangiectasia – a genetic disease that attacks the brain region controlling movement and speech.
He received three courses of foetal stem cell injections to the brain and the fluid surrounding the spine.
Four years after his first injection he was investigated for recurrent headaches and his doctors at the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv found two tumours – one in the spine and one in the brain at the same sites the injections had been given.
A year later, when the boy was 14, the doctors removed the non-cancerous tumour from his spine and it was found to contain cells that could not have arisen from the patient’s own tissue and had in all probability grown from the donated stem cells.
Although they were unable to sample the growth in the boy’s brain, the scientists believe this probably arose from the injected stem cells too.
Donor-derived cells might have been able to spark tumours in this patient because people with Ataxia Telangiectasia often have a weakened immune system, say the researchers. It is not clear whether the stem cell therapy helped his genetic condition.
Safety fears
They say the findings “do not imply that the research in stem cell therapeutics should be abandoned.”
Nonetheless, they say more work should be done to assess the safety of this therapy.
Josephine Quintavalle of the public interest group Comment on Reproductive Ethics said: “The risks of tumour formation in association with embryonic stem cells are widely acknowledged and one reason why there are very serious concerns about the proposed use of such cells in treating spinal cord injury in the US.
“It would appear from this report that foetal stem cells are similarly unstable. These are not areas of therapy we should be rushing into, whatever the ethical debates surrounding the use of embryo or foetal tissue per se.”
Stem cell scientist Dr Stephen Minger, of King’s College London, said it was clear that the tumours had arisen from the transplanted cells.
“This is worrying and we have to be cautious. We need to have long term monitoring and follow up of the patients given stem cells and rigorous regulation of centres providing cell therapy.
“Although this is just one case it does show that we need to be careful about the cell populations we are using.” He said not all clinics used good quality cells.
CSHL researchers identify gene that helps plant cells keep communication channels open
By ScienceMode on Feb 17th, 2009 in Headlines, SM | Add story link to StumbleUpon
Plant cells communicate via microscopic channels called plasmodesmata that are embedded in their cell walls. For the stem cells in the plants’ growing tips, called “meristems,” the plasmodesmata are lifelines, allowing nutrients and genetic instructions for growth to flow in.
Developmental and environmental cues trigger changes in the structure of the tiny channels, thereby altering the flow of traffic through them. The genes and molecular pathways of the plant cell that respond to these cues, and the mechanisms that control channel structure and cell-to-cell traffic are, however, mostly unknown.
Study Shows HIV Gene Therapy Is Safe, Could Make Body Resist AIDS Virus
By Daniel J. DeNoon -WebMD Health News -Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Feb. 16, 2009 — A one-time gene therapy that puts an anti- HIV RNA weapon into blood cells is safe and, in higher doses and stronger form, could make the body resist the AIDS virus, a clinical trial suggests.
This “major advance in the field” is the largest clinical trial ever to test genetically altered cells in humans, say UCLA researcher Ronald T. Mitsuyasu, MD, and colleagues.
“This study indicates that cell-delivered gene transfer is safe and biologically active in individuals with HIV and can be developed as a conventional therapeutic product,” the researchers report in the Feb. 15 advance online issue of Nature Medicine.
San Diego’s Stem Cell Startup Reports Hair-Regrowth Results
Bruce V. Bigelow 2/17/09
San Diego-based Histogen CEO Gail Naughton is presenting encouraging preliminary results today at a stem cell conference from the startup’s first human trial of its hair regrowth treatment, ReGenica.
The company says it is in the midst of conducting a five-month clinical trial somewhere outside the United States to assess the safety of ReGenica. After 12 weeks, the company says, patients using the treatment show increased, thicker hair growth, with no adverse reactions. ReGenica is an injectable liquid product made by culturing cells from newborns and collecting growth factors, so-called wnt proteins, and other molecules that the cells secrete. In mice, wnt proteins are involved in triggering stem cells in the skin to form hair, according to Histogen’s press release.
Indicator Found That Warns Leukemia Is Progressing To More Dangerous Form
ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2009) — Scientists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, Stanford University School of Medicine and other centers have identified a mechanism by which a chronic form of leukemia can progress into a deadlier stage of the disease. The findings may provide physicians with an indicator of when this type of cancer – chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) – is progressing, enabling them to make more accurate prognoses for the disease and improved treatment choices.
Stem-cell stocks gain on sentiment for ban removal
Associated Press, 02.17.09, 02:20 PM EST
pic
Shares of several stem-cell developers jumped Tuesday in anticipation that president Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order lifting a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.
Investors seemed optimistic on the news, even though the ban did not directly affect any of the companies whose shares rose. The ban was against federal funding, not development, and several of the companies focused on adult stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells.
“I have started posting some of the different religious views on the issue of stem cells so we can all have a better understanding of the debate over embryonic stem cell use. The articles posted here do not reflect my opinions and are posted solely for the purposes of a global awareness, cultural edification and the dissemination of altering views and knowledge.”
-David
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Stem Cell Research: An Islamic Perspective
Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Question:
What is the position of Shari’ah on stem cells research according to majority of our scholars? (Aamer Mahmoud)
…It is claimed by the experts in the field that the research on stem cells has great potential to relieve human disease and suffering. If this is the case then it is not only allowed but it is obligatory (fard kifayah) to pursue this research.
The use of embryonic stem cells should be very heavily limited. Only allow isolation of stem cells from frozen embryos that were created for the purpose of in vitro fertilization and would otherwise have been destroyed. Obtain full consent from the donors. Provide safeguards against monetary compensation to embryo donors and against the creation of embryos in excess of what is required for in vitro fertilization.
Perhaps research using stem cells derived from adults will eventually prove to be most promising. We should encourage further research on the use of adult stem cells, to the point where it will be unnecessary to use embryos for this purpose. Specifically, we should find better ways to isolate existing stem cells in the human body.
Omar Sultan Haque, a Muslim theologian at Harvard Medical School, said that Islam’s views on the subject of fetal viability and ‘ensoulment’ are still evolving. -Staff photo Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office
Stem cells, through a religious lens
By Alvin Powell – Harvard News Office
Representatives of three of the world’s major religions tangled over the beginnings of human life, the disposal of surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics, and the conduct of embryonic stem cell research Wednesday (March 14) at Harvard Divinity School.
Panelists at the event, representing Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, each briefly presented their faith’s teachings about the beginnings of human life and then embarked on a lively discussion about embryonic stem cell research.
MUSLIM PERSPECTIVES ON STEM CELL RESEARCH AND CLONING
Author: Al-Hayani, Fatima Agha1 -Source: Zygon, Volume 43, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 783-795(13) -Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
Abstract:
In Islam, the acquisition of knowledge is a form of worship. But human achievement must be exercised in conformity with God’s will. Warnings against feelings of superiority often are coupled with the command to remain within the confines of God’s laws and limits. Because of the fear of arrogance and disregard of the balance created by God, any new knowledge or discovery must be applied with careful consideration to maintaining balance in the creation. Knowledge must be applied to ascertain equity and justice for all of humanity. Research in Islam must be linked to the broad ethical base set forth in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Whether embryonic stem cell research or cloning is ethically acceptable in Islam depends on the benefits derived from such applications. What is most important for the scholars is to adhere to the concepts of compassion, mercy, and benefit to everyone.
UCLA Gets (Embryonic) Stem Cell Grant -February 9, 2009
The Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA has been awarded nearly $4 million from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine to renew a grant to train young scientists to conduct stem cell research. The three-year grant will fund the training of 16 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and physicians conducting stem cell research each year…
The story by Caroline Gammell in the British publication, The Telegraph, seems to offer more than promise. If one could use their own stem cells to repair damaged organs it would be one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of all time. No long would there be a need for organ donors and sometimes risky transplant surgery. Also true is the fact that because a patient would use his or her own stem cells there would be no danger of rejection and therefore no need to take often toxic anti-rejection drugs that transplant patients must take for the rest of their lives. To quote from the story; “It is believed that British patents could take the pioneering treatment, in which a patient’s own cells are extracted and grown in a laboratory, in as little as a year. Scientists have worked out a technique where human bone marrow cells are turned into human heart stem cells and then injected into the heart. Laboratory grown heart stem cells were initially extensively tested on animals and trials on humans in Europe are due to start later this month (February 2009). “
President Obama Will Soon Force Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research -by Steven Ertelt -LifeNews.com Editor -February 16, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A top advisor to President Barack Obama confirmed again that the president will soon be issuing an executive order to lift the limits President Bush put in place on embryonic stem cell research. Bush protected taxpayers from being forced to fund research involving the destruction of human life.
Recently, many people are asking me: “what does this mean for me? for my child with autism? for my mother with alzheimer’s?”
my personal opinion is that there may be opportunities for embryonic stem cell treatments opening up in the future in the US but they are going to be in the form of clinical trials. clinical trials have very select criteria for inclusion and in many, 1/2 of the patients receive a placebo (double blind). there will not be treatment centers anytime soon because of a few reasons.
1. too date, there is no FDA approval for the use of adult or embryonic stem cells in the US for treatment.
2. the US is a decade behind many other parts of the world in their stem cell research.
3. the pharma companies have expressed a desire to make drugs out of embryonic stem cells. they don’t seem interested at all in creating a process by which adult stem cells can be administered so your body can heal itself, as is the process in many other parts o fthe world. the reason for this is, they can patent a drug, ensuring and locking in a market of patients and a steady income flow to fund the next clinical trials for the next drug in the pipeline which typically costs 250-500 million and takes 7-12 yrs to develop and even more to market and lobby. they can’t effectively patent a transplant process. someone will always put a new twist on it and compete with you.
so I guess the question you have to ask yourself is:
do you want your son’s/mother’s/aunt’s body to be given the resources it needs to heal itself for life now, with minimal to no side effects, in the form of adult stem cells, by going where they are available and have been proven to work for a long period of time…
or do you want to wait for an embryonic derived drug that is 10 years down the road (in a best case scenario) to 50 years down the road (as stated by many of the top embryonic scientists in the world) that will most likely have many side effects and the patient will have to be on for the rest of their life?
WASHINGTON (Reuters)- President Barack Obama’s aides warned Americans on Sunday not to expect instant miracles from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill he will sign this week, but said it would help eventually. Obama is due to sign the bill passed last week by Congress in Denver on Tuesday. It was the first major legislative victory of his young presidency, which could rise or fall with its success or failure.
Obama to lift ban on stem cell research soon: aide
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order lifting an eight-year ban embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, a senior adviser said on Sunday. “We’re going to be doing something on that soon, I think. The president is considering that right now,” Obama adviser David Axelrod said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Director to visit Europe, Mideast -By Tom Henderson
Randal Charlton, executive director of TechTown, will hit the ground running this week as he tries to lure stem cell researchers and companies from around the world to establish a presence in the Stem Cell Commercialization Center that Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced in his State of the County speech last Thursday.
The center, which will be housed in TechTown’s Tech One building on Burroughs Street just north of Wayne State University, is an outgrowth of the passage of Proposal 2 by Michigan voters last November. The proposal allows embryonic stem cell research in the state.
President Barack Obama’s efforts to end former President George W. Bush’s restrictions on the number of stem cell lines could be supported by increased federal funding through the economic stimulus package.
“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and U alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” – Bob Moawad
“Today, considerable progress has been made in adult stem cell research, including the successful use of stem cells derived from human skin cells, wisdom teeth, and umbilical cord blood. These cells have been used to successfully treat patients who had suffered from Type 1 Diabetes, Leukemia and other forms of cancer, Parkinson´s Disease, Alzheimer´s, and heart diseases, while maintaining ethical standards.”
Congressional Desk -February 15, 2009
Washington, D.C. – Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04), along with Congressman Daniel Lipinski (IL-03), today announced that they have reintroduced the Patients First Act, H.R. 877, in the 111th Congress. The bill would intensify research and human clinical trials using stem cells that are ethically obtained and that show evidence of providing near-term clinical benefit for human patients. Additionally, the legislation would promote the creation of pluripotent stem cell lines without the creation, destruction, or discarding of human embryos.
“Even just in recent weeks, we have seen the debate over stem cell research become increasingly more divisive. However, when human lives are at stake, divisiveness is not a luxury we can afford. Advancing scientific development and protecting life do not have to be opposing forces. The Patients First Act allows us to put the political debate aside, unlock the potential in adult stem cell research, and focus on the common goal on both sides of the stem cell debate – curing and treating patients,” said Forbes.
“The Patients First Act offers hope for millions of Americans,” said Lipinski. “This bill bridges the political divide by focusing our energies on the common goal of finding cures for diseases like diabetes, and it does so without having to choose between advancing medicine and contentious life issues. As someone who has lived with juvenile diabetes for almost twenty years, I am proud to once again help introduce this important legislation.”
Today, considerable progress has been made in adult stem cell research, including the successful use of stem cells derived from human skin cells, wisdom teeth, and umbilical cord blood. These cells have been used to successfully treat patients who had suffered from Type 1 Diabetes, Leukemia and other forms of cancer, Parkinson´s Disease, Alzheimer´s, and heart diseases, while maintaining ethical standards.
The Patients First Act would specifically:
Promote the creation of pluripotent stem cell lines without the creation, destruction and discarding of, or risk of injury to human embryos;
Intensify stem cell research that may result in an improved understanding of, or treatment for, diseases and other adverse health conditions;
Promote research and human clinical trials using stem cells that are ethically obtained and show evidence of providing clinical benefit for human patients; and,
Direct the National Institutes of Health to prioritize stem cell research that has the greatest potential for near-term clinical benefits, by directing both basic and clinical research towards what is currently showing benefits in treating patients now.
The Patients First Act was originally introduced in the 110th Congress as H.R. 2807. The bill currently has 13 cosponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where it awaits further action.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Feb 16 (Bernama) — Vietnam’s first stem cell bank MekoStem opened in southern Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, offering services of cell collection, analysis and separation for medical treatment purposes.
Quoting a local newspaper, the Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported that it has capacity of storing nearly 4,000 umbilical cord blood stem cells for scientific research and medical treatment.
By Hallie Woods, Fort Collins Coloradoan -FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) ― Feb 15, 2009 6:10 pm US/Mountain
Macie Morse turned 16, got her learner’s permit and got behind the wheel.
That’s big news for any 16-year-old, but it’s a huge deal for a young girl who a year ago was nearly blind.
“It was one of the most exciting times of my entire 16 years,” Morse said, sitting at Poudre High School, where she is now a sophomore.
Until she was 15, Morse had 20/4,000 vision in one eye and only light perception in the other due to optic nerve hypoplasia, or an underdevelopment of the nerve that transmits vision signals from the eye to the brain. She could make out human figures but not see details, could only read if the paper was within inches of her eye, and could only watch TV standing with her nose pressed to the glass…
After raising $15,000 from community donations, the mother and daughter set out for China on July 4…
She received spinal injections of cord blood stem cells each week for six weeks. After her third treatment, she realized she could read and knew the treatments were working…
A starving man approaches you asking for help. In one hand you have a ham and cheese sandwich. In the other you have a bag of the most beautiful organic heirloom crop seeds.
Adult stem cells are the ham and cheese sandwich, available today, usable today and if he takes the sandwich he may just live to see tomorrow. Embryonic stem cells … are the crop seeds. With a lot of work and effort they may produce an abundant amount of food sometime in the distant future. But of no help today.
Which is he going to want? Which will he take if you offer both?
Australian Quadriplegic Thanks Maverick Indian Stem Cell Doctor for Ability to Breathe
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A man who is paralyzed from the neck down says he can now breathe on his own after having controversial embryonic stem cell treatment in India.
Perry Cross is the most high-profile patient to have traveled to India to be injected with the cells – which are banned in his own country Australia and most of the West.
He was left a quadriplegic after being injured playing rugby when just 19 years old and has no movement below his neck.
He has to be connected to a ventilator to breathe and has spent the past 14 years searching for treatment which might help him regain any movement.
During this time, Mr. Cross met Superman actor Christopher Reeve and became the actor’s ambassador for stem cell research in Australia.
Australian First For Melbourne Stem Cell Scientists – iPSC
February 1, 2009 — Melbourne scientists have created Australia’s first induced pluripotent stem cell lines. Scientists have derived the cells from skin cells, and reprogrammed them to behave as (if they had the pluripotent capability also found in) embryonic stem cells; a … > full story
January 30, 2009 — Ordinary cells have the ability to replace lost organs in plants — a function previously thought to be limited to stem cells — researchers have … > full story
August 26, 2008 — Adult stem cells are not pampered pushovers. O’Reilly et al. report in the Aug. 25 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology that certain stem cells take charge of their surroundings, molding their … > full story
April 14, 2008 — Scientists identify the c-Cbl protein as a critical repressor of hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal. In addition to establishing a key role for protein ubiquitylation in HSC development, this … > full story
November 12, 2008 — Researchers have discovered dental pulp stem cells can stimulate growth and generation of several types of neural cells. Findings suggest dental pulp stem cells show promise for use in cell therapy … > full story
Molecules Self-assemble To Provide New Therapeutic Treatments
ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2009) — Researchers in the laboratory of Samuel I. Stupp at Northwestern University have an interesting approach for tackling some major health problems: gather raw materials and then let them self-assemble into structures that can address a multitude of medical needs.
At the core of the research are peptide amphiphiles (PA), small synthetic molecules that Stupp first developed seven years ago, which have been essential in his work on regenerative medicine. By tailoring these molecules and combining them with others, the researchers can make a wide variety of structures that may provide new treatments for medical issues including spinal cord injuries, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
Ramille M. Capito, a research assistant professor in Stupp’s lab, shared an overview of this work in a presentation titled “Exploration of Novel Materials and Nanotubes in Stem Cell Therapy,” as part of the “Adult Stem Cells: From Scientific Process to Patient Benefit” symposium on Feb. 14, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Chicago.
As a postdoctoral fellow in Stupp’s group, Capito recently discovered that combining the PA molecules with hyaluronic acid (HA), a biopolymer readily found in the human body in places like joints and cartilage, resulted in an instant membrane structure in the form of self-assembling sacs. The sac membrane was found to have hierarchical order from the nanoscale to microscale giving it unique physical properties. These findings were first published last year in the journal Science (Capito et al, Science 2008; 319:1812-6).
In creating a sac, Capito took advantage of the fact that HA molecules are larger and heavier than the smaller PA molecules. In a deep vial, she pipetted the PA solution and onto that injected the HA solution. As the heavier molecules sank, the lighter molecules engulfed them, creating a closed sac with the HA solution trapped inside the membrane.
Having formed the sacs, Capito next studied human stem cells engulfed by the self-assembly process inside sacs that she placed in culture. She found that the cells remained viable for up to four weeks, that a large protein — a growth factor important in the signaling of stem cells — could cross the membrane, and that the stem cells were able to differentiate.
In a clever demonstration of self-repair, if the sac’s membrane had a hole (from a needle injection, for example), Capito simply placed a drop of the PA solution on the tear, which interacted with the HA inside, resulting in self-assembly and a sealed hole.
While the underlying, highly ordered structures of the sacs and membranes have dimensions on the nanoscale, the sacs and membranes themselves can be of any dimension and are visible to the naked eye.
These sacs can be tailored to include bioactive regions, allowing researchers to incorporate a variety of designs into one sac structure. This capability opens the door to the creation of new methods for stem cell delivery. Stem cells can be loaded in the sac, which can be tailored to release the cells at the point of injury.
Previous work has shown that the PA molecules can be dissolved to form fibril structures with diameters of 5 to 8 nanometers. These gel structures can be used for regenerative medicine, and the research group has in vivo data for spinal cord repair, angiogenesis and bone and cartilage regeneration.
Of stem cells, what would Gandhi say?
By Pankaj Mishra
Published: MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005
LONDON: In 2001, President George W. Bush restricted U.S. federal financing for stem cell research. The decision, which was shaped at least partly by the Republican Party’s evangelical Christian base, and which disappointed many American scientists and businessmen, provoked joy in India.
The weekly newsmagazine India Today, read mostly by the country’s ambitious middle class, spoke of a “new pot of gold” for Indian science and businesses. “If Indians are smart,” the magazine said, American qualms about stem cell research “can open an opportunity to march ahead.”
Just four years later, this seems to have occurred. According to Ernst & Young’s Global Biotechnology Report in 2004, Indian biotechnology companies are expected to grow tenfold in the next five years, creating more than a million jobs. With more than 10,000 highly trained and cheaply available scientists, the country is one of the leading biotechnology powers along with Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, Sweden, Britain and Israel.
A top Indian corporation, the Reliance Group, owns Reliance Life Sciences, which is trying to devise new treatments for diabetes and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and create human skin, blood and replacement organs genetically matched to their intended recipients.
Some scientists have even more ambitious ideas. Encouraged by the cloning of a sheep by British scientists in 1996, they plan to do the same with endangered species of Indian lions and cheetahs.
excerpted from http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/21/news/india.php?page=1
* Emptiness the starting point. — “In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup. My friend, drop all you preconceived and fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why this cup is useful? Because it is empty.”
Striking Thoughts – Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living (2000) edited by John Little
This video shows James 11 months after treatment for class III heart failure (40 % left ventricle dead before). He is now a class I with only 10 percent damage or less and much better than before.
After adult stem cell treatment he can now run 1/2 mile at a time at 6 miles an hour and reach a heart rate of 150-160 comfortably.
Class III: marked limitation of any activity; the patient is comfortable only at rest.Backwarddyspnea (shortness of breath) on exertion (dyspnée d’effort) and in severe cases, dyspnea at rest. Increasing breathlessness on lying flat, called orthopnea, occurs. It is often measured in the number of pillows required to lie comfortably, and in severe cases, the patient may resort to sleeping while sitting up. Another symptom of heart failure is paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, a sudden nighttime attack of severe breathlessness, usually several hours after going to sleep. Easy fatigueability and exercise intolerance are also common complaints related to respiratory compromise.
.Compromise of left ventricular forward function may result in symptoms of poor systemic circulation such as dizziness, confusion and cool extremities at rest.Treatment (to date) focuses on improving the symptoms and preventing the progression of the disease. – wiki
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Studies to determine mortality rate among congestive heart failure:
The mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with a 6-minute walk test distance of ≤300 m than in patients with a 6-minute walk test distance of >300 m (79% vs 7%; P <0.001). The death risk was found to be significantly higher in patients with a distance of ≤300 m (P=0.005). The death risk was also higher in patients whose left ventricular ejection fraction was ≤0.30 (P=0.02).
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We conclude that a 6-minute walk test distance of ≤300 m is a simple and useful prognostic marker of subsequent cardiac death in patients with mild-to-moderate heart failure. (Tex Heart Inst J 2007;34:166–9) – http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1894714
79% mortality rate in patients who walked under 300 meters in 6 minutes.
7% mortality rate in patients who walked over 300 meters in 6 minutes.
James ran 804 meters in 5 minutes and he is improving weekly.
On a personal note, I would like to say how excited I am that the word is getting out about the repairstemcell blog. The volume of hits over the past week has increased significantly with one day more than doubling with a 210% increase. We are reaching the far ends of the world and even Russia is taking notice! (see my blog translated into Russian below!) With a little luck, more and more people will become aware of the power of adult stem cells and their options for treatment.
Cerebral Palsy -Stem Cell Treatment Detail ДЦП-Стволовые клетки Лечение Подробнее
Email the treatment center with details of the medical disease and diagnosis in question and ask if they can help. Email-центр обращения с подробной информацией о медицинской диагностике заболеваний и в вопрос, и спросить, если они могут помочь. If there are two or three different stem cell therapy clinics, email one or all of them! Если Есть два или три различных клеточной терапии клиник, адрес электронной почты одного или всех из них! No need to let us know, no need to register. Не нужно нам об этом, не нужно регистрироваться.
Thomas E Ichim1 email, Fabio Solano2 email, Eduardo Glenn2 email, Frank Morales2 email, Leonard Smith2 email, George Zabrecky3 email and Neil H Riordan1,4 email
1Medistem Laboratories Inc, Tempe, Arizona, USA
2Institute for Cellular Medicine, San Jose, Costa Rica
3Americas Medical Center, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA
42027 E. Cedar Street Suite 102 Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
author email corresponding author email
Journal of Translational Medicine 2007, 5:30doi:10.1186/1479-5876-5-30
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/5/1/30
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions whose incidence is reaching epidemic proportions, afflicting approximately 1 in 166 children. Autistic disorder, or autism is the most common form of ASD. Although several neurophysiological alterations have been associated with autism, immune abnormalities and neural hypoperfusion appear to be broadly consistent. These appear to be causative since correlation of altered inflammatory responses, and hypoperfusion with symptology is reported. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are in late phases of clinical development for treatment of graft versus host disease and Crohn’s Disease, two conditions of immune dysregulation. Cord blood CD34+ cells are known to be potent angiogenic stimulators, having demonstrated positive effects in not only peripheral ischemia, but also in models of cerebral ischemia. Additionally, anecdotal clinical cases have reported responses in autistic children receiving cord blood CD34+ cells. We propose the combined use of MSC and cord blood CD34+cells may be useful in the treatment of autism.
Transplanted stem cells restore normal behavior in brain-damaged rodents.
By Jocelyn Rice
Repairing damage: Neural stem cells, tagged green with a fluorescent dye, have been transplanted among the brain cells (red) of a mouse born with brain damage after its mother was given heroin during pregnancy. Transplants like this one seemed to effectively reverse the cellular, biochemical, and behavioral defects suffered by heroin-damaged mice.
Credit: Joseph Yanai
By injecting stem cells directly into the brain, scientists have successfully reversed neural birth defects in mice whose mothers were given heroin during pregnancy. Even though most of the transplanted cells did not survive, they induced the brain’s own cells to carry out extensive repairs.
Transplanted stem cells have previously shown promise in reversing brain damage caused by strokes, as well as by neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s. But their use in treating birth defects is relatively new. In recent years, a handful of research teams have been developing stem-cell-based therapies for rodents with real or simulated birth defects in the brain.
“All of life is a journey which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us. We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.”
There are about 6,000 Americans who need a bone marrow transplant, daily.
For many, the odds of finding an outside donor have been pretty low, but that could start to change.
At Duke University’s medical center in North Carolina, sits little Elmor Bonilla. Just shy of his second birthday, Elmor has overcome obstacles and odds most people don’t face over a lifetime.
Elmor was born with Krabbe disease, a rare and often fatal disorder that attacks the central nervous system. His best shot at survival is a bone marrow transplant – immediately.
“It is critical that those transplantations for inherited metabolic diseases is done early,” transplate specialist Vinod Prasad said.
Despite no donor matches in his family and only a 30% chance of finding a match from an unrelated donor, Elmor got his transplant – not from bone marrow, but from umbilical cord blood. It too contains stem cells patients need.
“Cord blood can be as good as bone marrow transplantation,” said Prasad.
Even better, it may be available to more patients, because it doesn’t require a close match.
A Duke University study found children who received mismatched cord blood from unrelated donors had results similar to those who received unrelated matched bone marrow transplants.
“I would expect and hope that this analysis and analysis of other centers would encourage more transplant physicians to consider mismatch cord blood as a potential source of graft for more and more patients,” said Prasad.
Elmor came through the procedure with flying colors and is now ready to tackle being two.
The Duke researchers said the findings support cord blood as the stem cell source with the greatest potential to offer a transplant to almost every patient who needs one, regardless of race.
Palestinians’ Health Care -Published: February 13, 2009
To the Editor:
Palestinians Stop Paying Israeli Hospitals for Gaza and West Bank Patients (February 10, 2009)
Re “Palestinians Stop Paying Israeli Hospitals for Gaza and West Bank Patients” (news article, Feb. 10):
The Palestinian Authority’s decision to force the removal of Palestinian patients from Israeli hospitals is a sad one.
Israel’s major hospital centers — among them, Rabin Medical Center, Hadassah Hospital and Soroka Medical Center — are on a par with the finest institutions in the United States and provide a quality of care and treatment not found in the West Bank, Egypt or Jordan. They are leaders in robotic surgery, cancer research and treatment, organ transplantation, stem cell research and therapies, and have become world renowned for trauma care.
How is it in the interest of Palestinians to be treated as medically second-class patients by depriving them of the best treatment?
If there is to be coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, what better way to work toward that goal than through the trust created by the bond between doctor, nurse and patient? Given the chance to break down stereotypes held by Palestinians and Israelis about each other, why lose that opportunity?
JERUSALEM — Scores of Palestinian patients being treated in Israeli hospitals, a rare bright spot of coexistence here, are being sent home because the Palestinian Authority has stopped paying for their treatment, partly in anger over the war in Gaza.
Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem says that for the past week, no payments have come in and Palestinians whose children it is treating have been instructed by Palestinian health officials to place them in facilities in the West Bank, Jordan or Egypt.
“Suddenly we have had 57 patients dropped from our rolls,” said Dr. Michael Weintraub, director of pediatric hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplantation at Hadassah. “We have been bombarded by frantic parents. This is a political decision taken on the backs of patients.”
The Palestinian health minister, Fathi Abu Moghli, said he was examining the entire referral procedure because he was tired of adding to what he called Israel’s “oil well,” meaning the payments for Palestinian patient care. In particular, he said, he had no desire to see the wounded from the Gaza war receive Israeli care.
“We already pay $7 million a month to Israeli hospitals,” he said in a telephone interview. “Since the first day of the Gaza aggression, I said that I will not send to my occupier my injured people in order for him to make propaganda at my expense, and then pay him for it.”
Israel has long pointed to its medical care of Palestinians as an example of its advanced skills and humanitarianism. Palestinians generally are eager to gain the benefit, but are also resentful. As relations have chilled, each side has accused the other of political manipulation.
After injuries with blood loss, the body quickly needs to restore the vital blood volume. This is accomplished by a special group of stem cells in the bone marrow. These hematopoietic stem cells remain dormant throughout their lives and are only awakened to activity in case of injury and loss of blood. Then they immediately start dividing to make up for the loss of blood cells. This has recently been shown by a group of scientists headed by Professor Andreas Trumpp of DKFZ.
Dormancy is an important protection mechanism of stem cells. First, it protects their genetic material from genetic alterations, which happen primarily during cell division. In addition, dormancy helps them escape attacks of many cytotoxins, which act only on dividing cells.
Scientists were still puzzling over which signaling molecules actually wake up stem cells from their dormancy. Andreas Trumpp and Marieke Essers from his team have now reported in Nature that interferon-alpha, a messenger substance of the immune system, acts like an alarm clock for hematopoietic stem cells. The scientists have thus shown for the first time that interferon-alpha can have a direct influence on the function of stem cells.
Interferon-alpha is released by immune cells when the organism is threatened by bacteria or viruses. The scientists triggered interferon production in mice by administering a substance that simulates a viral infection to the animals. Subsequently, there was a great increase in the division rate of hematopoietic stem cells. In control animals that were unable to process the interferon signals, the substance did not lead to an awakening of the stem cells.
The investigators obtained further proof of the effect of interferon-alpha using a drug called 5-fluorouracil, a cytotoxic substance frequently used for treating breast or bowel cancer. Dormant stem cells are resistant to the drug, which unfolds its effect only during division. However, if animals are given interferon-alpha prior to treatment with 5-fluorouracil, they die of anemia after a short time. This is because prior treatment with interferon forces quiescent stem cells into cell division, which sensitizes them for the effect of 5-FU and kills them. Thus, there are soon no more stem cells to keep up the supply of short-lived mature blood cells such as erythrocytes and blood platelets.
What researchers find particularly exciting about this finding is the prospect that the newly found working mechanism might help improve cancer treatment: “Using interferon-alpha, we might be able to wake up from dormancy not only hematopoietic stem cells but also tumor stem cells and, thus, break their frequently observed resistance to many anticancer drugs,” Andreas Trumpp speculates.
A clinical observation already suggests that this assumption is more than just wishful thinking: Patients suffering from a type of blood cancer called chronic myelogenous leukemia who are treated with a drug called Gleevec almost always relapse after drug treatment has ended. Several patients were given interferon-alpha prior to the Gleevec treatment. Surprisingly, these patients experienced long relapse-free phases without any medication. “We believe that the leukemia stem cells were awakened by the interferon administration and, thus, were sensitized to elimination by Gleevec,” Andreas Trumpp explains.
Stem Cells In Hair Follicles Point To General Model Of Organ Regeneration
ScienceDaily (Feb. 13, 2009) — Most people consider hair as a purely cosmetic part of their lives. To others, it may help uncover one of nature’s best-kept secrets: the body’s ability to regenerate organs. Now, new research from Rockefeller University gets to the root of the problem, revealing that a structure at the base of each strand of hair, the hair follicle, uses a two-step mechanism to activate its stem cells and order them to divide.
The mechanism provides insights into how repositories of stem cells may be organized in other body tissues for the purpose of supporting organ regeneration.
“The hair follicle is like a mini-dispensable organ,” says Elaine Fuchs, head of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development. “Throughout our lifetime, each hair follicle undergoes cyclical bouts of growth, destruction and rest through an intrinsic stem cell population. It provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the molecular process of tissue regeneration and stem cell self-renewal.”
For a new round of hair growth to begin, stem cells in the hair follicle must receive a signal to divide. In response to this signal, the hair follicle regenerates first by growing downward through the skin’s middle layer, the dermis, and then producing the specialized cells that form the hair. After a period during which the hair grows longer, stem cells stop dividing, and the hair follicle gradually retracts again. There is then a period of rest and the cycle repeats.
02/13/09 – 09:46 AM EST – GERN , STEM , OSI – Adam Feuerstein
A surefire way to ensure some measure of public enmity is make a public recommendation to short a stem-cell stock. That’s what I did on Jan. 26, when I added Geron(GERN Quote – Cramer on GERN – Stock Picks) as a short to the model portfolio I manage as part of TheStreet.com’s Biotech Select investment newsletter.
As I told my subscribers at that time, I’m not against stem-cell medicine, and I certainly hope one day that the field provides medical breakthroughs. I simply don’t believe Geron is going to be the company to deliver on the promise of stem cells, based on its ignominious track record of drug development so far.
In fact, the only thing Geron has done exceedingly well in its 13 years as a public company is surf the waves of stem-cell hype and use that momentum to raise lots of money.
Geron reverted to this well-worn tactic again Thursday night, when it quickly sold 7.25 million shares at a price of $6.60, a 14% discount to the stock’s Thursday closing price of $7.77. The spot-financing deal grossed Geron about $43 million.
I was the first to report Geron’s stock sale Thursday night on RealMoney.com. Geron confirmed the financing in a press release Friday morning but did not disclose the sale price. Geron said the financing will close on Feb. 19.
Geron shares were falling 14% to $6.68 in early Friday trading.
Stem Cells Cure Boy With Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) At Duke
Posted 13 February, 2009 in Bone Marrow Donations/Transplants, Cerebral Palsy, Graft Vs Host Disease, Leukemia
In what has been an amazing week for Adult Stem Cell research, Kameron Kooshesh has been cured of his Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) after receiving Osiris’ Adult Stem Cell product Prochymal in a clinical trial at Duke University.
Kameron, a young 14 year old boy had been suffering from Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) after receiving a bone marrow transplant to cure his Leukemia at the age of 9. GVHD is a disease in which the foreign cells introduced by the bone marrow transplant (taken from a human donor) attack the host’s (the patient) organs and tissues because they do not recognize them.
Kameron had a severe gastrointestinal problem due to the GVHD. It was very bad and it limited him so much he couldn’t even go up stairs.
He enrolled at a clinical trial run by Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg at Duke University. Dr. Kurtzberg is famous in this blog for the work she has done helping children with cerebral palsy with stem cells taken from their own cord blood.
At Duke, Kameron was given Prochymal, which is a stem cell product from Osiris made up of stem cells taken from the bone marrow of healthy human donors.
Here are the results:
“At one point, he couldn’t climb stairs,” His mother Janet recalled.
Now, Kameron has no problem climbing the stairs. He’s also back in school full time. His recovery started quickly after taking part in a clinical trial at Duke.
“Within three weeks – it was just incredible,” said Kooshesh. “Absolutely incredible.”
“We’ve seen more than half the children we’ve treated respond with full resolution of the graft vs. host disease which is remarkable,” said Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, Director of the Pediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Program at Duke Children’s.
A “full resolution” sounds great to me and I’m sure it sounds even better to the young man, Kameron.
Click here to see the full story and a slow loading stem cell video
Click here to see more on Osiris’ Prochymal to help GVHD
UPDATE: Osiris just came out with a press release announcing results of their trial using Prochymal to treat Heart Attack patients.
FREMONT, CA (KGO) — The first human trials involving stem cell therapy were approved just weeks ago, but a growing number of other patients are already benefitting from stem cell treatments.
Those patients are dogs and the results are reportedly encouraging.
Cris the police dog is a five-year-old German Shepherd who was a whisker away from retirement last year when he tore a muscle in his rear leg during training.
Story continues below
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“He was jumping and the next morning he came and he wouldn’t put any weight on his leg at all,” Fremont Police Officer Matt Snelson said.
Snelson is Cris’ partner at the Fremont Police Department, where the dogs are expected to do everything from sniff out drugs to chase down fleeing suspects.
“They can run three times as fast as a human. So, if we have someone running, it’s easier to use the dog to apprehend them,” he said.
Officer Snelson took Cris to Dr. Gary Brown, a veterinary surgeon who has treated dozens of injured police dogs.
“A big red flag went up because that type of injury is often repetitive,” the doctor explained.
Instead of surgery, Brown opted for an emerging treatment using Cris’ own stem cells. After removing body fat from the stomach area, Brown sent them to a lab in San Diego which extracted the cells and returned them in less than 48 hours.
“So, we sterily injected an aliquot of stem cells next to the muscle at the injury, at the other side, and some of it intravenously through a filter,” Brown said, explaining the process.
Brown then monitored ultrasounds which showed the return of normal muscle growth over several months. He says the technique is still considered experimental in dogs, but has been used for about five years in horses.
“And, at eleven weeks it’s starting to look like normal muscle; the dog is clinically normal and so we put him into rehabilitee stretching rehab,” Brown said.
Eventually, Cris was able to chase down suspects during drills. His progress continued to the point that he was able to rejoin the force two months ago.
The technology is marketed by a San Diego company called Vet-Stem, which says it is also being used to treat hip dysplasia and joint problems, so far, without evidence of complications.
We’ve heard the message: HIV is spreading rapidly, so the onus is on us to protect ourselves from getting infected in the first place…
Still, not all the recent HIV news has been bad. A new report from the New England Journal of Medicine describes a stem cell transplant that appears to have wiped out HIV in a 42-year-old patient. The transplant involved an HIV-positive man who had leukemia and received a transplant from a donor who possessed a gene mutation that provided a natural resistance to HIV. There is no sign of HIV in the patient’s blood since the transplant…
Iran celebrates 30 years of medical success Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:30:50 GMT By Patricia Khashayar, MD., Press TV, Tehran
In the three decades since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iranian researchers have made several crowning achievements in the field of medicine.
Iran is one of the 10 countries that produce human embryonic stem cells. The country has emerged as the leading stem cell researcher in the Middle East, due to its innovative scientific studies in this field.
Last year, Iranian researchers celebrated two thousand stem cell transplants and cell therapies performed at the BMT Research Center.
Iranian scientists have successfully identified and isolated human kidney stem cells, cultured and produced differentiated splenic and liver tissues in mice, and produced smooth muscle cells from human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal cells.
Iranian researchers have successfully used Schwann cell transplantation to repair spinal cord injuries, a procedure which is not routinely performed in countries other than Russia, China, and Germany.
The technique has so far been used to treat about 300 patients. The success rate was reported to be about 60 percent, whereas the success rate of the techniques used in other countries was no higher than 10 percent.
Following their latest achievements in the application of stem cells in treating patients with cardiac arrest, chronic lower extremities ulcers, limbal stem cell deficiency, liver cirrhosis, and vitiligo, the country’s first cellular therapy center was inaugurated in 2008 for the purpose of treating refractory diseases.
Please be careful when reading this article. You must understand that the stem cells being discussed here have almost nothing in common with embryonic stem cells except for their ability to become any cell in the body (pluripotent). So these stem cells are NOT “embryonic-like” but rather adult stem cells that are modified to become pluripotent…or “induced ploripotent stem cells” (iPSC). Not to be confused with the
They do not become tumorous (leading to cancer) like ESC seem to
They do not require immune suppressive drugs like ESC
I’ll say it in other words. These are modified ADULT STEM CELLS. They are not embryonic stem cells. A semantic difference for sure but the simple fact is; adult stem cells have a proven history outside the US of providing significant therapeutic benefit to human patients, embryonic don’t and now it would seem, adult stem cells can do anything that embryonic stem cells can.
-DG
Reported February 13, 2009
New Recipe Could Lead to Stem Cell Breakthrough
(Ivanhoe Newswire)- The formula scientists concocted to make adult stem cells work like embryonic-like stem cells is now much more simple to perform.
For the first time, a new report shows how neural stem cells taken from adult mice can take on characteristics of embryonic stem cells. Researchers made this discovery by adding a single transcription factor to the mix, a gene that controls the activity of other genes.
According to Hans Scholer of the Max Planck Instute for Molecular Biomedicine in Germany, the discovery sheds light on long standing questions about what distinguishes the embryonic stem cells that can trigger egg and sperm cells to develop from other body cells. The discovery might also help figure out how reprogrammed stem cells could be used to replace cells lost to disease or injury.
Stem Cell Research Uncovers Mechanism for Type 2 Diabetes
Published on 12 February 2009, 14:33 Last Update: 17 minute(s) ago by Insciences
Tags: Stem Cell Diabetes Medicine Progenitor cells
LA JOLLA, Calif., February 12, 2009—Taking clues from their stem cell research, investigators at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that a signaling pathway involved in normal pancreatic development is also associated with type 2 diabetes. Their findings, published online January 9 in Experimental Diabetes Research, could provide a potential new target for therapy.
Pamela Itkin-Ansari, Ph.D., assistant adjunct professor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Burnham; Fred Levine, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Sanford Children’s Health Research Center at Burnham, and colleagues showed that the Wnt signaling pathway is up-regulated in insulin producing cells of pancreases from adults with type 2 diabetes…
Through years of involvement in stem cells I have come to know some of the top stem cell scientists and doctors in the world. Ask me any questions about treatments that you have and I will either get an answer for you or show you how to get it yourself! -dg
Cerebral Palsy -Stem Cell Treatment Detail
Email the treatment center with details of the medical disease and diagnosis in question and ask if they can help. If there are two or three different stem cell therapy clinics, email one or all of them! No need to let us know, no need to register.
Windpipe transplant patient Claudia Castillo. CREDIT: Courtesy of The Lancet
All Things Considered, November 19, 2008 · Doctors in Spain have implanted a new windpipe into a woman whose airway was badly damaged by tuberculosis.
The pioneering operation used a section of windpipe engineered in a laboratory with adult human stem cells, according to Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, of the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain.
Engineering new tissues and organs from stem cells has long been a goal of researchers, because it would help overcome a chronic shortage of donor organs.
Multiple Sclerosis Cured by Adult Stem Cells- Video
Today, Edwin's symptoms of MS have completely disappeared.
Written by Stemcells on Feb-11-09 2:13am
From: donmargolis.com
Posted 11 February, 2009 in Multiple Sclerosis |
In yet another triumph for Adult Stem Cell research- two weeks ago, Dr. Richard Burt came out with sensational results of his study at Northwestern University treating Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with the patient’s own Adult Stem Cells. This study showed that of the 21 patients with Multiple Sclerosis treated with their own stem cells taken from their bone marrow, 16 have had their MS “disappear” . Excellent!
Edwin McClure was one of those treated and cured of his MS by the stem cell treatment . He is interviewed by CBS on their “Early Show” here. This is a great video. Edwin talks about how he was shocked when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in high school and how at first he didn’t want the stem cell treatment. I think it is safe to say he has changed his way of thinking- watch the whole video- FANTASTIC!
* ALSO NOTED: Osiris files IPO; Amgen initiates kidney disease study; and much more…
* Osiris Therapeutics blueprints $80M IPO
* SPOTLIGHT: Osiris granted orphan status
Osiris Therapeutics says its final set of two-year results from a trial for Prochymal, its cutting-edge adult stem cell therapy, met its primary endpoint on safety. Prochymal demonstrated fewer adverse events compared to placebo, showed a drop in repeat hospitalizations, reduced incidents of cardiac arrhythmia and also resulted in a durable improvement in cardiac function. The placebo-controlled study enrolled 53 patients.
“This study adds convincing long-term data to the excellent safety profile of Prochymal, having now treated hundreds of patients in trials over the past decade,” said C. Randal Mills, Ph.D., president and CEO of Osiris Therapeutics. “We are excited that Prochymal demonstrated strong evidence of efficacy beyond the best cardiac care available today. We are now advancing this program into a larger Phase II trial, focusing on patients with more severe heart damage.”
Osiris, which is developing the therapy with Genzyme, recently completed enrollment in a Phase III trial of Prochymal for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease. And in January the developer received clearance from the FDA to broaden its expanded access program for Prochymal.
Stem Cells Help Man With Congestive Heart Failure Get Off Heart Transplant List
Posted 12 February, 2009 in Fabry Disease, Heart Disease |
In yet another triumph for Adult Stem Cell research, Robert Pleva, 60, from Florida has made tremendous strides after receiving his own stem cells to treat his cardiomyopathy (heart disease) and congestive heart failure brought on by his Fabry Disease. Enough improvement to avoid a heart transplant!
Complications normally arising from Fabry Disease (a rare disease in which the patient’s enzymes fail to metabolize lipids) include increased risks of heart attacks. Robert suffered from a heart attack in 1999 and later went into congestive heart failure. With an ejection fraction of 28% and facing a heart transplant, Robert tried to see what other options he had.
That was when he found Dr. Zannos Grekos, a member of the Repair Stem Cell Institute’s Science Advisory Board, and Regenocyte’s director of Cardiology and Vascular Disease.
Robert was treated by Dr. Grekos using his own Adult Stem Cells in June 2008. In January 2009, 6 months later, Robert’s life has turned 180 degrees. His ejection fraction has improved from 28% to 44% and he is no longer facing a heart transplant:
Pleva says the improvement in his health since adult stem cell therapy has been dramatic.“I feel so good and have so much energy,” he explains. “The best part about it is being able to do things I haven’t done in a long time.”
An electrician with the Lee County, Florida School Board for the past 26 years, Pleva describes concern prior to treatment that his debilitating symptoms would soon end his career.He is now back to working full time along with riding motorcycles, remodeling his house and working in his yard.“The treatment has put me back on track,” he says.
Pleva’s wife Roxanne, who he cites as his “rock”, says in addition to his increased energy, one of the biggest changes is in the reduction in the amount of her husband’s medication.“His blood pressure has come way down, so he’s been taken off many of his prescriptions,” she explains.“We’re just taking it one step at a time…and I’m getting my husband back.”
Very nice Roxanne. I have always found that the patient’s spouse or close family can usually see the biggest changes brought on by the stem cells.
Dr. Grekos recently had this article published in Anti-Aging Medical News in which he followed 16 congestive heart failure patients treated with their own stem cells. Their ejection fraction went up an average of 21 points- from an average of 28% up to 49% after a 6 month follow up
Nature , | doi:10.1038/nature07726; Received 23 July 2007; Accepted 15 December 2008; Published online 11 February 2009
Chromatin remodelling factor Mll1 is essential for neurogenesis from postnatal neural stem cells
Daniel A. Lim1,2,3,8, Yin-Cheng Huang1,2,8,9, Tomek Swigut4, Anika L. Mirick5, Jose Manuel Garcia-Verdugo6,7, Joanna Wysocka4, Patricia Ernst5 & Arturo Alvarez-Buylla1,2
(HERE’S A GUY WHO HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS AND KEEPS COMING OUT WITH MORE SUCCESS STORIES!)
Regenocyte Therapeutic Reports Successful Treatment of Cardiomyopathy with Stem Cells
Posted : Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:07:25 GMT
Author : Regenocyte Therapeutic
Category : Press Release
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BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – (Business Wire) An international team of physicians and scientists have discovered a way to treat cardiomyopathy (heart disease) with adult stem cells, including a rare metabolic condition otherwise requiring heart transplant.
Florida based Regenocyte Therapeutic is using stem cells extracted from patients’ blood to repair damaged heart muscle, regenerate tissue, and create new vessels to improve circulation. According to the organization’s director of Cardiology and Vascular Disease, Zannos G. Grekos, M.D., by applying specific growth factors to the patient’s stem cells (in a lab) the team creates a new cell population which is educated to target the area of damage or deficiency when placed into the patient’s heart and blood vessels. “We’ve now treated close to 100 patients with their own stem cells and seen an average 22 point increase in ejection fraction (EF) with a significant improvement in heart failure classification – typically from a Class IV to a Class II status in less than 180 days,” Grekos states.
The cardiomyopathy treatment study, the first six months of which was published December 2008 in Anti-Aging Medical News, follows patients through one year post-treatment with autologous adult stem cells, also called Angiogenic Cardio-Regenerative Progenitor cells (ACP’s). Regenocyte’s chief medical advisor Athina Kyritsis, M.D. announced that, “Across the board, no adverse effects from treatment were reported by patients and function plus quality of life measurably improved.” Grekos and his team measured patients’ heart function by cardiac nuclear scans, PET scans, and echocardiographs.
An invasive cardiologist in Florida, Grekos is also an associate clinical professor of Cardiology for Nova Southeastern University.
Case Study: Cardiomyopathy from Fabry Disease
Robert Pleva of Fort Myers, Florida, age 60, suffers from Fabry disease, a rare and untreatable enzyme deficiency that leads to multiple organ failure.His heart had been damaged by an attack in 1999.In addition to cardiomyopathy, Pleva had chronic high blood pressure, pulmonary hypertension (a severe lung condition) and mitral valve issues.He was living on kidney dialysis, awaiting a heart transplant with the hope that a new heart would make him strong enough to qualify for a kidney transplant.
Robert Pleva was treated with adult stem cell therapy in June 2008.Regenocyte announced that Pleva’s ejection fraction has increased from 28 percent before stem cell treatment to 44 percent as of January 2009, six months after stem cell treatment. “This was a case where the patient’s only option for survival was heart transplant and that is no longer the case,” said Dr. Grekos.“We couldn’t be more pleased with this outcome.He’s off the heart transplant list and continuing to improve. Bob’s dialysis time has been reduced by 10 percent, so we are looking at treating his kidney function as a next step.”
Pleva says the improvement in his health since adult stem cell therapy has been dramatic.“I feel so good and have so much energy,” he explains. “The best part about it is being able to do things I haven’t done in a long time.”
An electrician with the Lee County, Florida School Board for the past 26 years, Pleva describes concern prior to treatment that his debilitating symptoms would soon end his career.He is now back to working full time along with riding motorcycles, remodeling his house and working in his yard.“The treatment has put me back on track,” he says.
Pleva’s wife Roxanne, who he cites as his “rock”, says in addition to his increased energy, one of the biggest changes is in the reduction in the amount of her husband’s medication.“His blood pressure has come way down, so he’s been taken off many of his prescriptions,” she explains.“We’re just taking it one step at a time…and I’m getting my husband back.”
Regenocyte Therapeutic is the first stem cell clinic in the United States to move beyond research and successfully treat end-stage diseases with adult stem cells.In addition to cardiac and vascular conditions, they have used adult stem cell therapy to help patients with severe pulmonary disease, early senile dementia and macular degeneration.
Paul Schwartz, Chief Operations Officer says the company’s progressive technology and stringent protocols contribute to the high level of efficacy.“The patients’ safety comes first,” he explains. “We adhere strictly to ISSCR (International Society for Stem Cell Research) and WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines, and only use FDA approved biologic factors. We believe we’ve found the right combination of biotechnology and medical expertise to advance adult stem cell therapy as the treatment that changes the future of medicine, particularly in dealing with diseases considered to be untreatable.”
To obtain more information about adult stem cell therapy, physicians and educational opportunities visit www.regenocyte.com or call Patient Services at 1-866-216-5710.
Patient interviews are available upon request.Images are available upon request.
Regenocyte Therapeutic Beth S. Kalvin, Director of Communications & Education 239-495-2252 x306 bkalvin@regenocyte.com
Associated Press Wire Feed ^ | June 27, 2002 | PAUL RECER
Posted on Thursday, June 27, 2002 3:53:16 PM by NYer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A single injection of genetically modified stem cells is all it took to cure two children of a complex form of an inherited immune system disorder often referred to as the “bubble boy disease,” researchers report.
An experimental technique that altered genes in bone marrow stem cells restored the immune systems of the children, researchers from Italy and Israel said in a study appearing in the journal Science. The children were born with what experts said was the most complex form of severe combined immunodeficiency disorder, or SCID.
“Both children have been cured but … both will be closely followed to see how it develops in the future,” said Maria Grazia Roncarolo of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan, Italy. The children, who were seven months and 2 1/2 years old when the therapy began, were released with healthy, functioning immune systems between 15 months and 24 months ago, Roncarolo said in Milan.
A seven-year-old boy kept in a “bubble” for two months has become the first person in Britain to be cured of a rare life-threatening disease with a bone marrow transplant.
By Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 4:31PM BST 03 Jun 2008
Rhys Harris, boy in a ‘bubble’, cured of life-threatening disease
Rhys Harris Photo: WNS
Rhys Harris was kept in isolation in the airtight chamber while his immune system was destroyed by chemotherapy and replaced by being given new bone marrow.
During eight weeks of treatment, his parents had to wear specially sterilised gowns and, although they could dress and cuddle their son, they were not allowed to kiss him.
Rhys was initially diagnosed with a mycobacterial infection – a “cousin” of tuberculosis – which is rare.
When doctors investigated further, they discovered that he had an underlying immune deficiency disease called Nemo, Nuclear Factor Kappa B Essential Modulator, which effectively stopped his white cells working properly.
Less than 12 people in the UK currently have the condition.
Rhys, from Newbridge in South Wales, was transferred from care in Cardiff to Newcastle General Hospital, one of two units specialising in treating such diseases.
The transplant took place last October and this week his parents Kevin, 44, and Dawn, 39, were told the procedure had been successful.
Rhys, who was left deaf after suffering meningitis as a baby, now has a “normal” immune system and is no more at risk from disease and infection than anyone else.
Mr Harris said: “We knew it was a slim chance but we had to take it. The flipside of the coin just wasn’t worth thinking about.
“Rhys just went through hell and back and back to hell again – it was a really tough time for all of us. He is really tough and resilient. He is a normal seven year old boy apart from this who loves rugby and adores his brother.”
Dr Mario Abinun, consultant paediatric immunologist at Newcastle General Hospital, said 25 similar transplants were carried out each year.
“This is the first time this operation has been carried out on a child with Nemo in the UK. When Rhys came in he was a very sick boy but now he is so much better.
“All the staff at the hospital are happy and glad to see the little boy getting better and enjoying the normal things boys should be doing – running around and being mischievous.”
New procedure brings hope to girl with ‘bubble boy disease’
By Jack Katzenell -Associated Press writer
Published: Wednesday, July 3, 2002 8:26 a.m. MDT
JERUSALEM — A 2-year-old Palestinian girl who spent much of her life in germ-free isolation met reporters Monday, showing off her functioning immune system, repaired by a new procedure that offers her and others with her disorder a normal life.
Taher and Hayyam Abu-Saed, a Palestinian couple from Jerusalem, had been childless for 10 years when their first son was born. He died soon after birth of a rare hereditary disease, severe combined immunodeficiency system, or SCID, often referred to as “bubble boy disease.”
Their second child, a girl, also had the condition, but she was cured thanks to a bone marrow transplant from a healthy baby brother.
When the couple learned that their fifth child, Salsabil, had SCID, there was no donor available for her. “We thought she was doomed,” Taher Abu-Saed told The Associated Press.
Yet a bright-eyed and healthy-looking Salsabil appeared with the pediatrician who treated her, and with scientists who developed the cure.
Salsabil was the first baby in the world to be cured of the most acute form of SCID by a new procedure developed in Israel and Italy, said Shmuel Slavin, head of the immunology department at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem.
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Another child was cured by the same treatment shortly after at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan, which collaborated with Hadassah in developing the cure.
2 YEARS AGO, A MAN WITH HIV RECEIVED AN ADULT STEM CELL TRANSPLANT. HIS DONOR HAD A NATURAL RESISTANCE TO HIV IN HIS BLOOD. WHEN HE RECEIVED THE TRANSPLANT HIS BODY TOOK ON THE RESISTANCE TO HIV AND HE HAS NOW BEEN FREE OF SYMPTOMS FOR 2 YEARS.
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OFTEN WHEN AN ADULT STEM CELL VICTORY IS IN THE NEWS, THE NAYSAYERS STATE THAT: IT WASN’T THE STEM CELLS THAT HELPED.
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A SPINAL CORD INJURY PATIENT WALKS AGAIN AND THE NAYSAYERS STATE THAT IT WAS THE PHYSICAL THERAPY THAT DID THE JOB.
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CAN THERE BE ANY DOUBT THAT IT WAS THE ADULT STEM CELLS THAT HAVE MADE THIS MAN AIDs FREE FOR 2 YEARS?!
A 42-year-old HIV patient with leukemia appears to have no detectable HIV in his blood and no symptoms after a stem cell transplant from a donor carrying a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The patient underwent a stem cell transplant and since, has not tested positive for HIV in his blood.
“The patient is fine,” said Dr. Gero Hutter of Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany. “Today, two years after his transplantation, he is still without any signs of HIV disease and without antiretroviral medication.”
The case was first reported in November, and the new report is the first official publication of the case in a medical journal. Hutter and a team of medical professionals performed the stem cell transplant on the patient, an American living in Germany, to treat the man’s leukemia, not the HIV itself.
However, the team deliberately chose a compatible donor who has a naturally occurring gene mutation that confers resistance to HIV. The mutation cripples a receptor known as CCR5, which is normally found on the surface of T cells, the type of immune system cells attacked by HIV.
The mutation is known as CCR5 delta32 and is found in 1 percent to 3 percent of white populations of European descent.
HIV uses the CCR5 as a co-receptor (in addition to CD4 receptors) to latch on to and ultimately destroy immune system cells. Since the virus can’t gain a foothold on cells that lack CCR5, people who have the mutation have natural protection. (There are other, less common HIV strains that use different co-receptors.)
People who inherit one copy of CCR5 delta32 take longer to get sick or develop AIDS if infected with HIV. People with two copies (one from each parent) may not become infected at all. The stem cell donor had two copies.
While promising, the treatment is unlikely to help the vast majority of people infected with HIV, said Dr. Jay Levy, a professor at the University of California San Francisco, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. A stem cell transplant is too extreme and too dangerous to be used as a routine treatment, he said.
“About a third of the people die [during such transplants], so it’s just too much of a risk,” Levy said. To perform a stem cell transplant, doctors intentionally destroy a patient’s immune system, leaving the patient vulnerable to infection, and then reintroduce a donor’s stem cells (which are from either bone marrow or blood) in an effort to establish a new, healthy immune system.
Levy also said it’s unlikely that the transplant truly cured the patient in this study. HIV can infect many other types of cells and may be hiding out in the patient’s body to resurface at a later time, he said.
“This type of virus can infect macrophages (another type of white blood cell that expresses CCR5) and other cells, like the brain cells, and it could live a lifetime. But if it can’t spread, you never see it– but it’s there and it could do some damage,” he said. “It’s not the kind of approach that you could say, ‘I’ve cured you.’ I’ve eliminated the virus from your body.” Health.com: 10 questions to ask a new partner before having sex
Before undergoing the transplant, the patient was also found to be infected with low levels of a type of HIV known as X4, which does not use the CCR5 receptor to infect cells. So it would seem that this virus would still be able to grow and damage immune cells in his body. However, following the transplant, signs of leukemia and HIV were absent.
“There is no really conclusive explanation why we didn’t observe any rebound of HIV,” Hutter said. “This finding is very surprising.”
Hutter noted that one year ago, the patient had a relapse of leukemia and a second transplant from the same donor. The patient experienced complications from the procedure, including temporary liver problems and kidney failure, but they were not unusual and may occur in HIV-negative patients, he said.
Researchers including Hutter agree that the technique should not be used to treat HIV alone. “Some people may say, ‘I want to do it,’” said Levy. A more logical — and potentially safer — approach would be to develop some type of CCR5-disabling gene therapy or treatment that could be directly injected into the body, said Levy.
Less invasive options to alter CCR5 could be on the horizon within the next five years, said Levy. “It’s definitely the wave of the future,” he said. “As we continue to follow this one patient, we will learn a lot.”
One drug that’s currently on the market that blocks CCR5 is called maraviroc (Selzentry). It was first approved in 2007 and is used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. Health.com: Who’s most at risk for STDs?
In 2007, an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS, and 2.7 million people contracted HIV. More than 15 million women are infected worldwide. HIV/AIDS can be transmitted through sexual intercourse, sharing needles, pregnancy, breast-feeding, and/or blood transfusions with an infected person. Health.com:What should I do if the condom breaks?
“For HIV patients, this report is an important flicker of hope that antiretroviral therapy like HAART [highly active antiretroviral therapy] is not the endpoint of medical research,” Hutter said.
By Laura Ungar • lungar@courier-journal.com • February 11, 2009
In the next couple of weeks, Louisville doctors plan to begin enrolling patients for what they are calling the world’s first clinical trial using adult cardiac stem cells to heal hearts.
(FYI – THIS IS THE 20th OR SO CLINICAL TRIAL IN THE WORLD USING ADULT CARDIAC STEM CELLS BUT THE FIRST IN THE US. – DG)
Doctors from the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare hope to treat 20 patients who are suffering from heart failure, have had a heart attack, and need to undergo cardiac surgery. They also hope to recruit 20 control subjects.
“The true protagonists of the trial are not the investigators but the patients,” study leader Dr. Roberto Bolli, Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology, said at a press conference today.
“It is the patients who generously volunteer…and ultimately advance the frontiers of human knowledge.”
The trial uses adult stem cells taken from the patient’s own cardiac tissue. A small piece of tissue that is routinely removed during bypass surgery will be frozen and sent to colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University in Boston so that stem cells can be isolated, expanded and prepared before being sent back to Jewish Hospital for use in trial participants.
After the patient recovers for three or four months, doctors will inject the person’s own stem cells directly into cardiac scar tissue using a minimally-invasive cardiac catheterization procedure that reaches the heart through a large artery in the leg. Potential side effects of that procedure include, among others, infection, bleeding, heart attack and stroke.
Doctors say side effects of the cardiac stem cells are unknown because it’s the first time they are being used, but there’s no risk of rejection because they are the patient’s own cells.
Officials said doctors will treat all those whose cardiac stem cells can be grown, while those whose stem cells fail to grow would fall into the control group.
People who want to learn more about this study may call 852-1837 or e-mail cardiactrial@louisville.edu or rbolli@louisville.edu
LONDON (Reuters) – German scientists using new imaging technology said on Wednesday they have watched a single cell give rise to blood cells, bolstering understanding of stem cells.
The findings could one day allow scientists to create blood in the laboratory that hospitals could give to patients needing transfusions, said Timm Schroeder of the Institute of Stem Cell research in Munich.
“What we are looking at is where blood really comes from during development,” he said in a telephone interview. “Blood cells are born during the embryo development and we wanted to know from what type of cells they came from.”
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature, developed technology that allowed them to track hundreds of thousands of cells in real time over a week.
Homing in thousands of endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, the researchers discovered that a subset was able to form blood cells.
“It is important to know the exact cell type that produces blood,” Schroeder said. “This is the prerequisite to tweak the system to produce blood cells from embryonic stem cells in a lab.”
Stem cells are the body’s master cells, giving rise to various tissues and the blood. Some types are found throughout organs, blood and tissue and are in immature form until they generate needed cell types.
Doctors hope to use them some day in a new field called regenerative medicine in which tailor-made transplants of tissues and perhaps organs can be grown from a patient’s own cells.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox)
I’m coming across more stories now that show that Repair Stem Cell treatments are working for Crohn’s disease sufferers. This is great news for these patients who suffer symptoms like diarrhea and continuous abdominal pain and cramps on an everyday basis.
Crohn’s disease is what plagued Billy Tytaneck, 25, of St Catharines, Canada. Diagnosed with Crohn’s at the age of 12, Billy had spent half his life battling the disease. However, he was at the end of his rope and facing a complicated bowel removal surgery. But Billy had other ideas. He had read of Repair Stem Cell treatment helping Crohn’s disease in the United States, but it had never been done in Canada. So Billy took it upon himself to seek out a Canadian doctor who had used Repair Stem Cells to treat Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis (but never Crohn’s)- Dr. Harold Atkins, at The Ottawa Hospital.
Dr. Atkins agreed to Billy’s request and Billy became the first Canadian to be treated with stem cell treatment for Crohn’s disease. How did that turn out? Let’s hear from Billy:
I’m much, much better easily 100 per cent improved from what I was last year, Tytaneck said Tuesday in a phone interview from his home in Collingwood.
“It’s not perfect yet, but my symptoms are improving all the time, he said.
He recently began working as a mechanical engineer for a firm in Collingwood a job that would have been difficult for him to do prior to the transplant.
I can go out for a day and do anything without worrying about getting sick, he said.
It’s a huge difference. I enjoy everything so much more.
Tytaneck is hopeful raising awareness about the procedure will make transplants more common for other Crohn’s patients. People don’t even know there’s an option. I want it to be an option for anyone who’s facing surgery.
Billy’s goal and my goal is very similar. That is one of the reasons I formed the Repair Stem Cell Institute- I want Repair (Adult) Stem Cells to be a known option for all of those with very little or no options.- Don Margolis
Can (ADULT) Stem Cells Block Stroke Damage? Yes, but in a Surprising Way – September 16, 2008
Instead of generating new cells as expected, they cause adult cells to protect vulnerable nerve tissue from inflammation
By Nikhil Swaminathan
STOPPING CELL DEATH: Scientists have shown how stem cells can slow down neuronal death after a stroke–and it’s not by replacing the damaged cells.
Injecting stem cells into the brains of mice that recently suffered a stroke can reduce nerve cell (neuron) damage by up to 60 percent, according to new research.
But the stem cells do not simply replace damaged tissue as previously believed. Instead, the immature cells trigger adult brain cells to switch gears and block a stroke-induced immune response that causes nerve damage.
“It is a paradigm shift,” says Sean Savitz, a neurologist at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, who was not involved in the study. “The original idea is that you put cells in there and it would reconstruct the cells that died. … The beauty of this is there’s not just one mechanism; they are acting in many different ways.”
Over the past 10 years, he says, research has shown that stem cells have the potential to reduce inflammation, morph into new nerve cells, and stimulate production of fresh blood vessels (to nourish cells) and axons (the long fingerlike projections that neurons use to send information to neighboring cells).
While the US is about 5-10 years behind much of the world in Repair (Adult) Stem Cell treatments, I do applaud the fact that the MS Society has recognized the power of these cells to benefit MS patients AND is pro-actively pursuing treatment protocols.
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Stem Cell Transplant Trial Results – Comment By The Multiple Sclerosis Society
Article Date: 30 Jan 2009 – 1:00 PST
Ahead of the publication on Friday 30 January of a paper in The Lancet Neurology reporting the results of a trial involving stem cell transplantation in people with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), please find below a comment from the MS Society:
Dr Doug Brown, Research Manager at the MS Society, said: “These are very encouraging results and it’s exciting to see that in this trial not only is progression of disability halted, but damage appears to be reversed.
“(ADULT) Stem cells are showing more and more potential in the treatment of MS and the challenge we now face is proving their effectiveness in trials involving large numbers of people.”
Background:
- Trial also uses alemtuzumab, previously shown to halt and potentially reverse disability so positive results may not be solely from the use of stem cells
- Trial originators also confirmed larger study of more than 100 is set to take place
- This further trial will distinguish what effect the use of alemtuzumab has on the overall results
The MS Society is the UK’s largest charity dedicated to supporting everyone whose life is touched by MS, providing respite care, an award-winning freephone helpline (0808 800 8000), specialist MS nurses and funds around 50 vital MS research projects in the UK.
- Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological disorder affecting young adults and an estimated 85,000 people in the UK have MS.
- MS is the result of damage to myelin – the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system – which interferes with messages between the brain and the body. For some people, MS is characterised by periods of relapse and remission while for others it has a progressive pattern.
- Symptoms range from loss of sight and mobility, fatigue, depression and cognitive problems. There is no cure and few effective treatments.
London (PTI): Scientists have discovered what they claim are two “sister” genes, which maintain the pool of adult stem cells destined to become blood.
An international team has found the two genes — the stem cell leukemia gene (Scl) and lymphoblastic leukemia gene 1 (Lyl1) — control transcription play often overlapping role in maintaining this pool of blood cell-forming stem cells.
“Both genes are involved in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. No one knew what role Lyl1 played in hematopoiesis (the formation of blood and related cells). The two of them have a functional redundancy. “If one is missing, the cell might be a little ’sick’, but it survives. If both are missing, the cells die pretty quickly. Scl has been well studied and is a paradigm for hematopoiesis.
“Lyl1 was a lost sister. Only recently have a few groups studied it,” the study’s lead author Margaret Goodell of the Center of Baylor College of Medicine wrote in the Cell Stem Cell journal.
Stem cells of any kind are defined by their eternal nature, reproducing themselves and providing a pool of cells, from which more differentiated tissues arise. Previous studies had shown that when animals lacked the Scl in the embryonic stage, they did not make progenitor cells intrinsic to the formation of the blood cells and had defects in the blood vessel system.
“Up to this point, it was believed that Scl was dispensable for maintaining adult hematopoietic stem cell function after development. Our study shows that not only it’s dispensable, but it collaborates with Lyl1, and both necessary for cell survival,” co-author George Souroullas said.
According to the scientists, the study also suggests that Scl and Lyl1 are not only important in the formation of these kinds of stem cell but also for their maintenance in adults.
“While these genes are very similar and functionally redundant in adult stem cells, some molecular differences in protein structure, supported by other data in our lab, suggest that they may have distinct functions in differentiated blood cell types,” Souroullas said.
CHINA STEM CELLS (Beike Biotech) is the World-Leader in RSC treatments for neurological and autoimmune diseases. No center in the world can match this conglomerate of hospitals for:
Number of Diseases treated, and
Number of Patients treated
The primary source of STEM CELLS used in treatments are autologous stem cells from the patient’s own body. Second is fresh cord blood stem cells that are made to order. These cord blood stem cells are never frozen as they believe that even a cryo freeze can lower the viability and quality of the Repair Stem Cells.
Here is the list of stem cell treatments offered by Beike:
Alzheimer’s
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Ataxia
Cerebellar Ataxia ( Includes Type 6 )
Hereditary Ataxias
Spinocerebellar Atrophy and Spinocerebellar Degeneration
This is a 2 part post on Muscular Dystrophy in response to the many people have recently been asking about treatments. Part 1 defines Muscular Dystrophy (by the Doctors who treat it). Part 2 supplys information on treatment techniques and parameters.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a hereditary degenerative disease of skeletal (voluntary) muscles, is considered the most prevalent form of childhood muscular dystrophy. The disorder typically is recognized from approximately age three to six years and has a relatively rapid, progressive disease course. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is initially characterized by muscle weakness and wasting (atrophy) within the pelvic area that may be followed by involvement of the shoulder muscles. With disease progression, muscle weakness and atrophy affect the trunk and forearms and gradually progress to involve most major muscles of the body.
In individuals with the disorder, initial findings may include an unusual, waddling manner of walking (gait); difficulty climbing stairs or rising from a sitting position; and repeated falling. With disease progression, additional abnormalities may develop, such as progressive curvature of the spine; wasting of thigh muscles and abnormal enlargement of the calves due to degenerative changes of muscle fibers (pseudohypertrophy); and abnormal fixation of certain joints (joint contractures) due to muscle weakness, prolonged immobility, and shortening of muscle fibers. By approximately age 10 to 12, most affected individuals require the use of a wheelchair.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is also typically characterized by additional abnormalities, including involvement of heart muscle (cardiomyopathy) and varying degrees of intellectual impairment. Affected individuals may develop an increased susceptibility to respiratory infections (e.g., pneumonia), respiratory failure, impaired ability of the heart to pump blood effectively (heart failure), or other serious findings, leading to potentially life-threatening complications by late adolescence or early adulthood.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is caused by changes (mutations) of a gene on the short arm (p) of chromosome X (Xp21.2). The gene regulates the production of a protein that is found in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Known as dystrophin, the protein is thought to play an important role in maintaining the structure of these muscle cells.
In most affected individuals, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is inherited as an X-linked recessive trait. Therefore, the disorder is usually fully expressed in males only. However, in rare instances, females who carry a copy of the mutated gene (heterozygous carriers) may develop certain, typically milder symptoms associated with the disorder. In addition, for some individuals with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, there is no family history of the disease. In such cases, the disorder may be caused by new (sporadic) genetic mutations that occur for unknown reasons.
Advocate for stem cell research speaks to local Noon Lions Club
By ANDREW POTTER, TIMES-REPUBLICAN -POSTED: February 10, 2009
Dr. Mark Anderson of the University of Iowa spoke about stem cell research to the Noon Lions Club Monday at the American Legion hall.
Dr. Mark Anderson of the University of Iowa believes there is bright future for stem cell research.
He hopes what has become more of a political issue in recent years will go back to a focus on the science side and will eventually allow more American researchers to work with stem cells.
“Stem cells provide hope to people who don’t have any hope,” said Anderson, who spoke to the Marshalltown Noon Lions Club Monday at the American Legion hall.
The director of cardiology at the Department of Internal Medicine at UI pointed out research in animals has proven the potential stem cells can provide, whether that be replacing damaged tissue or rebuilding organs.
He described research in which a heart was rebuilt in a rat using stem cells.
“The thought that an individual can grow their own heart is very exciting,” Anderson said.
The issue many have is using embryonic cells, which many feel is already a life.
He said there are several ways to get embryonic cells and in the future they may be able to create them in ways that do not involve an embryo.
Legislation in recent years has curtailed funding and drew a line on what types of stem cell research can be done. Anderson said this has been one of the reasons the United States trails other countries such as Japan, China and Germany in stem cell research.
The research is not without drawbacks and Anderson pointed out one of the potential downsides are stem cells that are put into the body and don’t “follow the script” and end up being cancerous.
Don Crowley, vice president of the Lions Club, said there had been conversations about the stem cell issue among the members of the group and they brought in Anderson to inform them about what is going on in the field.
“This was a subject that was fascinating and interesting and that our community should learn about,” he said.
Stem Cells curing dogs of Leukemia, an often deadly cancer? Using chemotherapy and stem cells taken from the dog’s bone marrow? Yes, it is true. While this blog has well documented stem cell therapy helping dogs with arthritis, torn muscles, hip dysplasia and joint problems among other conditions, this is the first I have heard of this stem cell treatment for Leukemia.
I did not know that dogs could be treated for Leukemia with a bone marrow transplant– the same way humans are. Maverick the dog, owned by Howie and Marna Altman, was cured of his Leukemia after undergoing a life saving bone marrow transplant with his own Adult Stem Cells. How does it work? From the article::
Stem cells were taken from Maverick’s blood and then returned to him after full-body radiation to kill the cancer cells in his bone marrow. He spent two weeks in isolation to allow time for the cells to regenerate. Aside from some follow up blood tests, doctors expect him to be back to normal.
“Maverick has done fantastic,” said Dr. Steven Suter, a veterinary oncologist at N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “He was hardly sick at all from the radiation. He looks fantastic, he’s doing fantastic, so it’s a great day.”
It is perhaps fitting that this is happening at North Carolina State (the only place in the US that is treating dogs with bone marrow transplants), which brings back memories of Jimmy Valvano, the basketball coach who led NC State to that miraculous basketball championship in 1983 and unfortunately lost his battle with cancer.
Who can forget Jimmy running around the court looking for somebody to hug after winning that game at the buzzer? And later on, how can you forget a dying Jimmy V’s speech of “Don’t give up, Don’t EVER Give Up“??? What a wonderful and courageous man- I miss you Jimmy V. You inspired us all.
The Headlines -COMPILED BY ARBITER STAFF -Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News -Media Credit: MCT CAMPUS
Lured by promise of stem cells, Americans head abroad for medical treatment
World
Stem cells improve damaged spines in mice
TOKYO – A team of researchers at Keio University has succeeded in improving spinal cord damage in mice by transplanting into them neural stem cells produced with human induced pluripotent stem cells, they said.
The transplant is the first of its kind in which a therapeutic effect of human iPS cells – which can be transformed into various types of cells – has been confirmed. The results of the study are expected to pave the way for a treatment for people with spinal cord injuries.
Spinal cord injuries often cause motor function loss in victims. It is generally accepted that motor function in the legs and other body parts cannot be recovered once the central nerve in the spinal cord has been cut.
(CBS) An estimated 400,000 Americans suffer from multiple sclerosis, but the findings of a new clinical trial shows promise in the fight to reverse symptoms of MS.
Researchers at Northwestern University conducted a trial using patients’ own stem cells to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis, reports Early Show correspondent Debbye Turner Bell, and although the study group was small — only 21 patients participated in it — the findings are a huge breakthrough in the fight against MS.
Edwin McClure is strong and healthy now, but just four years ago, his life was very different.
This chart illustrates how many times blog posts across the Blogosphere contained the following keywords.("Stem cell" in red, "stem cells" in blue, "adult stem cell" in orange)
The National Institutes of Health is issuing draft guidelines on steps scientists must take to conduct embryonic stem cell research with taxpayer money.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2009) — A new study finds previously unidentified fibrocartilage-forming progenitor cells in degenerating, diseased human cartilage, but not in cartilage from healthy joints. The research, published in the April 3rd issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, provides valuable insights into the reparative potential of cartilage and may lead to development of regenerative therapies for arthritis.
“In all the excitement over the new future for embryonic stem cell, it seems investors have forgotten about adult stem cell products,” notes growth stock specialist 
Senate to kick embryonic stem cell fight to budget conferees
Oz slams the door on embryonics!
Adult Stem Cells Increase Blood Flow after Heart Attack
Don Margolis – the world’s leading Adult Stem Cell advocate
Posted on: February 26, 2009
StemCell Medicine Jumps toWarp Speed: 
“Brain Death” Test Causes Brain Necrosis and Kills Patients: Neurologist to Rome Conference
Although this is just one case it does show that we need to be careful 
CHINA STEM CELLS (Beike Biotech) is the World-Leader in RSC treatments for neurological and autoimmune diseases. No center in the world can match this conglomerate of hospitals for:
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