Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

Yesterday, I focused on how stem cells from another person's bone marrow can save lives.  However, today, I want to tell you that bone marrow stem cells aren't the only game in town anymore.  Now, more and more people are donating their babies' cord blood after birth.

More cord blood banks are being created.  More people are giving. This is great.   It gives people like Lita Jempson, a chance to live. Before, a stem cell transplant from another donor  was a leukemia patient's only option.  However, if a matching bone marrow donor is not found, unfortunately, the patient would pass away.

Such was the case with Lita Jempson, of Kent, England.  Lita, suffering from leukemia needed a bone marrow stem cell donor.    Doctors looked for a matching bone marrow donor, but none could be found.  The only option was more chemotherapy.  Well, as I said before, there is now another option-  cord blood stem cells:

What makes this particular blood so valuable is that it contains large amounts of stem cells, which the body uses to make blood cells.

Removing the blood is painless; it is collected immediately after birth by a doctor or midwife and takes only a few minutes.

About five teaspoons are taken from the cut cord and placenta, using a needle connected to a sterile bag. But lack of storage facilities has meant this life-saver often ends up in hospital incinerators.

This is what Lita was offered and given- cord blood stem cells.  And the stem cell treatment seems to have worked:

Then five months ago, Lita was offered a cutting-edge treatment using a special type of blood - taken from a newborn's umbilical cord.

'So far it seems to have worked,' she says. 'I'm clear of cancer, back home and, while not fully recovered, I'm feeling a lot better.'

That is the power of Repair Stem Cells aka Adult Stem Cells.

This greater effectiveness has been boosted by the discovery that it's possible to give patients blood from two cords, as happened in Lita Jempson's case.

'Previously, we used only one because of concerns that blood from different immune systems could cause a deadly immune reaction,' says Professor Mufti.

In fact, stem cells from only one of the donations starts producing new blood cells - the blood from the other cord seems to help this process, but it's not clear how.

The greater tolerance of stem cells means they may be used to treat a range of other conditions. Already animal studies show they can dramatically reduce the problem with rejection that affects all transplant operations.

'Besides stem cells, cord blood contains chemicals and proteins that can damp down immune reactions to the new organ, so patients won't have to take immune- suppressing drugs for life,' says Dr Sergio Querol, director of the new cord blood bank.

'The idea is to give an extract of these substances to patients before they receive a transplant.'

Auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes are also likely to benefit from cord blood stem cells' calming effect on the immune system.

If you are having a baby soon, please think about saving the baby's cord blood stem cells.  You could save someone's life.  Similarly, you can register your own blood at www.marrow.org and save someone's life another way.

Read the whole thing here

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

In late July, I posted on Chloe Levine, a cerebral palsy patient who had been infused with her own umbilical cord blood stem cells in an experimental treatment at Duke University.   This will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog-  the Repair (aka Adult) Stem Cell therapy worked.  This is a good sign for parents of cerebral palsy children who are seeking adult stem cell treatment overseas like Thomas Bourke, whom I covered last week.

This is a very happy story filled with good information on cord blood stem cells.   There is nothing controversial about these stem cells taken from an umbilical cord (not an embryo).  Chloe was helped by her own Repair Stem Cells.   Chloe's mother put it best at the end of the article with this quote:

"Chloe was put here to teach the medical community and families about their options," she said. "The worst thing that could happen was that nothing would happen. And the complete opposite happened."

Read more about this miracle:

Stem cells: Small wonders

With a nearly paralyzed right side, Chloe Levine was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 1. A year later, she can say her nickname and is walking normally and jumping on beds.

By Michael Booth
The Denver Post

With one simple word from the back seat of a car cruising between North Carolina and New York, 2-year-old Chloe Levine signaled a great leap forward.

"Coco," the Colorado toddler said, uttering her nickname for the first time.

Those two syllables marked a milestone in stem-cell therapy, helping prove that infusing a baby with its own stem cells can repair a brain ravaged by cerebral palsy.

Before a one-time treatment at Duke University in May, Chloe had speech problems, and the right side of her body was nearly paralyzed. Now she's jumping off beds, applying doll barrettes with her right hand and learning new words every day. The Duke experiments expand again the remarkable range of bodily failures that stem cells can repair.  - Note from DM-  He should have said "that adult stem cells can repair, embryonic stem cells can't help anything."

Just two days after Chloe's stem-cell infusion, "things started happening that she could never do before, and we finally let ourselves stop thinking it was a coincidence," Levine said.

"It's exciting," said Dr. Brian Freed, director of the University of Colorado Cord Blood Bank at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. When the treatment works, the Duke study has been gratifying to parents, Freed said, because "this one is a bit more dramatic" than other stem-cell treatments. "You can see the benefits."

Once there, scientists still aren't sure how the stem cells work to fix cerebral palsy. Some think the cells may be able to rebuild brain tissue itself. Others think there is more evidence that the stem cells repair blood vessels and flow damaged by a stroke, bringing crucial blood that in turn repairs brain tissue. Either way, doctors told the Levines, expect fast results if the new therapy was meant to help Chloe. They drove from Duke to Jenny Levine's family in New York, and that's when Chloe dropped her little "Coco" bomb.

The Levines immediately noticed Chloe's clenched right hand relaxing, and instead of dragging her right leg, she began walking normally.

Chloe can now raise both arms over her head and is eating and picking things up with both hands. Her therapy is down to once a month to check foot tendons for continued mobility.

"I still see new improvement every day," Levine said. She believes most of the effects of the cerebral palsy are gone and that any remaining tightness in Chloe's body will disappear with time and therapy.

"I've never seen anything turn around this fast," said Dottie Waldo, Chloe's physical therapist in northern Arizona, where the family lived before the stem-cell procedure.

Waldo saw Chloe a month ago and was shocked at the recovery of movement in her hands and arms. "I'm a believer," Waldo said. "I think it was the right thing to do, and I hope it helps a lot of kids in the future." -  I hope so too Ms. Waldo.

"The worst thing that could happen was that nothing would happen. And the complete opposite happened."-  I like that statement.  Chloe Levine had nothing to lose from implanting adult stem cells and everything to gain. And it paid off!  - DM

Click here to read more on this cerebral palsy miracle

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

In July, I posted a story about Granton Bayless, the "bubble" baby suffering from severe combined immunodeficiency in Kansas City, who had just received a cord blood transplant that initially improved him that he was able to leave the ICU at the hospital.

Now, a couple months later, I am very happy to find out that the Repair (Adult) Stem Cells had helped Granton so much, that he is now out of the hospital!  It seems Granton isn't out of the woods yet, he and his family will remain in a sanitized apartment at the Ronald McDonald house for a couple of months to allow his immune cells to mature more, but it looks very promising.

Cord blood stem cells or a bone marrow transplant are believed to be the only cure for severe combined immunodeficiency.

Read on-

Despite the dreary gray weather, Thursday turned into one of the brightest days so far in the life of tiny Granton Bayless.

Eleven-month-old Granton rolled out Children's Mercy Hospital's front door in a bright blue wagon wearing the cowboy boots his parents bought months ago in hopes that this day would happen.

The Bolivar, Mo., infant was born with a rare condition severe combined immunodeficiency that prevents his body from producing enough T cells to fight off disease.

The condition often is referred to as the “bubble boy disease because its victims are so vulnerable to infectious diseases that some must live in protective bubbles. Experts estimate that it occurs once in every 500,000 births. The cure is either a bone-marrow or a cord-blood transplant.

What made Granton's recovery remarkable was how gravely ill he was when he underwent a cord-blood transplant June 10. At the time, the baby was on a ventilator fighting multiple infections.

As you may have suspected, his mother and father were thrilled:

“It's feels wonderful, Jenni Bayless said. “It feels awesome.

Click here to read this fantastic story

And you can read the Bayless family's blog about their son

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

Repair Stem Cell Institute Chairman-  that's me- Don Margolis!  I was just interviewed by The Wall Street Transcript (TWST)about my views on adult stem cells (aka Repair Stem Cells) and embryonic stem cells and how they both fit (or in the case of embryonic stem cells, don't fit) in the scheme of things in the world of investment.

The full interview is only available to  TWST subscribers (Sorry, I gave them my word).  However, I can share our press release regarding this interview:

According to Mr. Margolis, stem cell research companies that store
umbilical cord blood cells for future use will have "the best shot at
making the first profits once the public becomes aware how well these stem
cells work." The RSCI Chairman is the founder of TheraVitae, the first stem
cell company in the world to successfully treat dying heart patients with
Repair Stem Cells.

Update:  Early November 2008, Happily, I was wrong.  Osiris just received $130 million of what can potentially be 1.3 billion.

Among the other predictions Mr. Margolis made in this TWST financial
news interview were the following:

-- Wall Street has been discounting Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) company
stocks from 2004 through this summer when these stocks hit new lows;

-- There are 2100 Adult Stem Cell clinical trials listed at
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov right now "for more diseases than I can count" said
Margolis, "and these clinical trials means two things: First, thousands and
thousands of human beings either have been treated, will be treated, or are
being treated in these clinical trials by the only stem cells with a chance
to improve their lives. Second, many powerful financial and investment
leaders are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fund these trials.
They know that Repair Stem Cells are the future of medicine."

-- Margolis stated that "Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) clinical trials are
somewhere in the distant future, waiting for someone to discover an ESC
which can be safely implanted into a human being." Six such attempts can be
found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, but no treatments are even being
considered.

I have more good stuff in the press release--

Click here to see the full press release on this fresh interview on stem cell profits

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

4 year old, Taja Harris, a  girl suffering from Leukemia could NOT find a matching donor for a possible bone marrow stem cell transplant that would save her life. Her mother, Jo Ann didn't have many options to save her, but she did have one-JoAnn decided to get pregnant to see if she can make a match with the resulting stem cells from the umbilical cord of her new child.

It worked! And it was a perfect match! Right after her brother's Adyn's birth, the cord blood which is rich in stem cells, was taken from the severed umbilical cord and later implanted into Taja in the first sibling cord blood transplant in Hawaiian history.

That was 3 years ago. Let's see how Taja is doing now:

Taja, now a healthy and happy 7-year-old, loves to run, tumble and play with her older sister and younger brother, now 2, whose blood DNA she shares.

"She is doing wonderfully," said Dr. Kelley Woodruff, pediatric hematologist oncologist. "There's still no evidence that the cancer has come back. ... She's a delight.

"I expect her to live until old age and healthy and cancer-free," said Woodruff, who performed the transplant.

"It was like a new life was born with the baby being born, and Taja was given new life," she recalled.

And here is a brief summary of how the stem cell treatment works:

Taja received high doses of chemotherapy, which killed off her own bone marrow and stem cells. When she was infused with the cord blood, the stem cells, like homing pigeons, went to the bone marrow and remained there to create new blood cells and will remain her whole life to keep propagating new blood cells. Now Taja shares her brother's blood DNA, even having XY cells because they are from a boy.

Jo Ann hopes that her family's story will encourage other women to donate cord blood. "For every one that's thrown out, that's a life that could have been saved," she said.

Click here to read the whole happy story