Adult Stem Cells May Act As Spinal Cord Nerve Repair System!

Posted 23 July, 2008 in THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

This probably isn’t news to our Dr. Carlos Lima, but it may be good news for spinal cord injury victims coming across this blog or website for the first time.  -  MIT researchers along with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm have found that spinal cord stem cells that are grown/multiplied in a lab and then reintroduced into the injury site can restore some physical function in paralyzed rodents and primates.

More:

“We have been able to genetically mark this neural stem cell population and then follow their behavior. We find that these cells proliferate upon spinal cord injury, migrate toward the injury site and differentiate over several months,” study author Konstantinos Meletis said in an MIT news release.

This isn’t too surprising to me as it seems they have proven (or on the way to proving) that adult stem cells do their job of repairing when introduced into an injury  site in a large amount.

For more on stem cells for spinal cord injuries- click here

For the full article mentioned above- click here

Repair Stem Cells Ready to Heal Broken Bones!

Posted 26 June, 2008 in THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

Another “works on mice” study using repair (adult) stem cell therapy and you all know I don’t like to chronicle these studies until they begin to work in humans, but this one sounds more promising than most and this study  surprises me not in the least:

Medical researchers at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill announced recently that they have made strides in the technology to rebuild damaged bone tissue using stem cells.  The research team, led by Dr. Anna Spagnoli, an associate professor of pediatrics at the university, derived the stem cells from bone marrow samples to locate and repair broken bones in mice. Now the work is poised to move to humans.

It’s a field that is generating possibilities. A recent case in Germany, in which a man lost his jaw to an aggressive tumor, was reported in the journal Lancet in 2004. In that instance, German scientists used a titanium jaw prosthesis as a scaffold in which they planted stem cells extracted from the patient’s bone marrow. The scaffold served as a mold for a new jawbone to grow from the cells.   (This is one of my favorite repair stem cell stories ever!- DM)

But how do the stem cells know where to go when they are injected into the body? Spagnoli’s team noticed that a certain molecule in the stem cells was the key to homing in on the fracture. The molecule, called CXR4, was responding to a chemical signal sent out by the damaged bone.

“Nobody knew if the stem cells would even go to the place where they were needed — the fracture,” Spagnoli said

“We put the mice in a dark box and we saw the light, and we could see it was going to the right place,” Spagnoli said.

“It’s like the fracture is sending out a message that says ‘please come here, there is help needed here,’” Spagnoli said.  (And that is the precisely the reason why I call them repair stem cells! The body cries for help and the repair stem cells listen and respond-DM)

Click here to read the whole thing

Repair Stem Cells Help Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Patients- Again

Posted 16 June, 2008 in ADULT STEM CELL VICTORIES!, THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

More and more stories are popping up showing that repair (adult) stem cells are improving MS patients! This one I present today is just the latest(Thank you Adult Stem Cell Awareness and the honorable Wesley Smith for this):

All patients appeared to respond to treatment”, reported Dr. Ionova. Improvement was seen in 62.3%, and stabilisation occurred in 37.7% of patients. Progression after improvement occurred in 7.1% and progression after stabilisation in 11.8% of patients.

Out of 26 patients included in the quality-of-life analysis, 24 exhibited a response and preserved a good quality of life during the follow-up. No unexpected treatment-related adverse events were observed.

According to Dr. Ionova, immunosuppressive therapy plus autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation appears to be a safe and effective therapy for multiple sclerosis, Dr. Ionova concluded.

Wonderful news? Yes, definitely. However, let’s not forget the many MS sufferers who are unaware of adult (repair) stem cell treatment or it is not yet available for them. See the tragic example of an English woman with MS who is fighting for her right to assisted suicide. It is going to be a long struggle to get repair stem cells available to all and studies like this one are just the beginning.

Click here to see how repair stem cells are helping MS patients.

Repair Stem Cells Allow 6 People to See Again!

Posted 15 June, 2008 in ADULT STEM CELL VICTORIES!, THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

Six people can see again after receiving repair stem cell treatment! Being blessed with good eyesight, I don’t really know what it is like to be blind. Therefore, I can only imagine the joy these six people in London must have felt when they had their vision restored thanks to repair stem cells:

Six blind patients have had their eye-sight restored after undergoing pioneering stem cell transplants.

Researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London treated the patients as part of a clinical trial on patients who have lost their sight from chemical accidents or a rare genetic disease.

She said: “Before the surgery the patients were barely able to recognise when someone was waving a hand in front of their face but we have restored their vision to the point they can read three to four lines down the eye chart.“

The patients were chemical burn victims or sufferers of a rare genetic disease known as aniridia. They had injuries to the limbal cells in their eyes, which are under the eye lid and maintain the transparent layer on the outside of the cornea.

Dr Daniels said: “Their cornea becomes opaque, blood vessels grow across it and their eyes become inflamed and they can’t see anymore. It is very painful.

“By replacing the limbal stem cells, the cornea begins to clear up as the cells are replaced with the healthy transparent layer again.

Repair (adult) stem cells do it again! Hopefully, I now have six new readers of this blog. 

Click here to read this eye-opening story!

Repair Stem Cell Research Makes Advances!

Posted 13 June, 2008 in THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

A couple days ago, I posted on the Australian scientists who took repair stem cells from human noses and then implanted the repair stem cells into rats which helped their Parkinson’s.  Well, today, Dr. David Prentice, one of the United States’ leading experts on stem cell research weighs in on that study:

Prentice says the press has paid little attention to the Australian study or the six other stories that have come out in the past few days about adult stem cells.

But the FRC spokesman notes adult stem-cell research simply involves taking “normal repair cells” and convincing them to work on a different “repair problem” within the body.

Hey Dr. Prentice!  You are starting to sound like me.  Don’t get too depressed Dr. Prentice, at least I didn’t say you looked like me :).

But seriously folks-  I see Dr. Prentice (and many other leading doctors/scientists) are starting to use this terminology such as describing adult stem cells as repair stem cells because that is what adult stem cells are– repair cells that fix damage in the body.   Hopefully, using this terminology will help educate the public more about the differences between adult (repair) stem cells and embryonic stem cells.

Click here to read more on Dr. Prentice and the Parkinson’s study 

Stem Cells from the Nose Used to Treat Parkinson’s!

Posted 11 June, 2008 in THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

Again, I usually don’t get excited about “rat studies” where the scientist in question says “lots of potential here, but more research needs to be done.” However, I think this one may have a little more to it. In Australia, it seems scientists have taken stem cells from human noses and implanted them into rats and it has helped with the rats’ Parkinson’s.

Now, I read that article and I thought “Hey! Dr. Lima in Portugal has had remarkable success treating spinal cord injuries in humans using the same repair stem cells- from the nose,” so I spoke with Dr. Lima and I’ll try to summarize what he explained:

The nose seems to be the only (or the best) place outside of the brain to get stem cells that can become neurons. Neurons are used to transmit signals to, through, and from the brain.

Most neurological diseases have neuron problems– neurons are the transmitters of signals, but if they are deficient, the signal gets choppy. For example- In Parkinson’s, people seem to shake when what is really happening is that the person’s brain tells the arm to move, but the signals are broken- so the arm moves choppy. Similar to a cellphone, when your voice gets choppy or breaks up. So when Dr. Lima implants the nose stem cells into the break point of a spinal cord, the repair stem cells stay there and grow until eventually they are strong enough to transmit data to and from the brain, and then the stem cells replicate more and more and until the spinal cord injured patient is walking again.

Any scientist or layman who wants to explain more clearly, please feel free to leave a comment- DM.

Repair Stem Cells Now Treating Crohn’s Disease!

Posted 10 June, 2008 in THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

Repair stem cells (aka adult stem cells) are now being used to treat Crohn’s Disease- in Topeka, Kansas.  They have just begun a double blind study to determine the effects of adult stem cells on Crohn’s Disease-  and the Margolis fearless prediction is “Of course, it will work!”:

 The trial is using stem cells harvested from healthy adult donors. Dr. Robert Braun of Cotton-O’Neil Digestive Health Center says the adult stem cells are able to modulate the inflammatory response. He says the cells can go to the site of active inflammation and turn down the inflammatory response, giving patients relief. (The stem cells are doing what they are supposed to do- repair!- DM)

Look how repair stem cells can help change someone’s life:

37-year old Veronica Sherer is among those taking part in the trial. Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease three years ago, she says it’s had a dramatic impact on her life. She says she’s had a lot of pain and must make frequent trips to the restroom. She also has no energy to keep up with her year-old daughter.

Click here for more on how repair stem cells are helping Crohn’s Disease

Adult Stem Cells Repair Injured Man’s Back

Posted 6 June, 2008 in THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | 1 comment

More good news for people with bad backs and who may require surgery:

Dr. Christopher Centeno, medical director of Westminster-based Regenerative Sciences, the company that grew the cells, said the surgery could change the way future back operations are handled.

“I think this is the beginning of a new era of surgery,” Centeno said Tuesday. “We usually take out the offending piece but do nothing to repair the small damage we just created. This allows you to do both.” (I like that word “repair” because that is what adult stem cells are- repair stem cells)

Adult stem cells have been injected into patients’ backs and joints to promote tissue growth, but it’s the first time stem cells have been injected during a spinal surgery, he said.

Just another use for adult (repair) stem cells.

Click here to read the full article

Stem Cells for Dogs

Posted 12 May, 2008 in ADULT STEM CELL VICTORIES!, THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

ANOTHER DOG SAVED WITH THE HELP OF STEM CELLS THANKS TO THE GOOD FOLKS AT VET-STEM.

THIS IS A FANTASTIC STORY BY THE WRITER, KEITH GOLDBERG. NOT ONLY DOES HE DESCRIBE A WONDERFUL FEEL GOOD STORY ABOUT HOW STEM CELL THERAPY IS NOW HELPING DOGS (AND CATS AND HORSES), BUT HE ALSO DESCRIBES THE STEM CELL PROCEDURE IN GREAT DETAIL AND HE DELVES INTO THE BACKGROUND OF VET-STEM AS WELL WHICH IS SOMETHING I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERED ABOUT. MOST WRITERS WOULD HAVE JUST CONCENTRATED ON THE JOYFUL RESULTS OF THE STEM CELL THERAPY, BUT I GIVE A GOLD MEDAL TO KEITH GOLDBERG FOR GOING THE EXTRA MILE AND GIVING US A LITTLE MORE TO CHEW ON:

FIRST, THE FEEL GOOD STORY-

Six weeks have passed since Dasha’s treatment. Her limp is just about gone. She no longer takes pain medication.

She’s still working on climbing the stairs.

Her doctors say it will be several more months until they can see the treatment’s full effect.

But when Anne Marie saw Dasha climb the fence one afternoon, she screamed with joy.

A neighbor had just stopped by, and the dog greeted her by putting her front legs on the backyard fence and standing on her hind legs — the same legs she dragged around like anchors just weeks earlier.

“She’s never done that before,” Anne Marie says. “Every day, I see something new.”

 Click here to read the whole article including the procedure and background information

Adult Stem Cell Therapy for Peripheral Vascular Disease

Posted 8 May, 2008 in ADULT STEM CELL VICTORIES!, THE LATEST ASC SCIENCE | No comments

NOW WE HAVE MORE PROOF THAT ADULT STEM CELL TREATMENTS ARE HELPING WITH CRITICAL LIMB ISCHEMIA (CLI) PATIENTS.  HARVEST TECHNOLOGIES PRESENTED PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A DOUBLE BLIND STUDY THEY PRESENTED IN BERLIN RECENTLY.

THESE ARE PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE IE. THERE IS  A LACK OF BLOOD FLOW IN THEIR LEGS DUE TO BLOCKAGES IN THE ARTERIES.  ADULT STEM CELLS SEEM TO HAVE HELPED WITH THIS PROBLEM.  LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE RESULTS OF THIS TRIAL USING ADULT STEM CELLS:

Dr. Ludermann presented results on the first 12 of 90 patients who completed the BONMOT-2 study protocol—six from the control group who received a placebo treatment, and six from the treatment group who received an injection of a concentrate of their own bone marrow (ADULT) stem cells. The stem cell concentrate was produced at the point of care (concentrated at the patients’ bedside) using the Harvest Technologies BMAC™ System. The treatment group showed a 100 percent improvement in perfusion (0.3 to 0.62) as measured by the ankle-brachial index (“ABI”) compared to the control group, which exhibited only a non-significant change in ABI (0.4 to 0.5). Increased blood supply was also confirmed by an increase of oxygen pressure in the foot, which showed the treatment group having an 18-point increase compared to a seven-point increase in the control group. The treatment group also showed an improvement in a standardized quality-of-life assessment over the control group, and also a significant improvement of 30 meters in pain-free walking compared to an increase of 10 meters for the control group.

THIS FURTHER SHOWS THAT ADULT STEM CELLS CAN CREATE NEW COLLATERAL BLOOD VESSELS EITHER IN THE HEART AREA OR IN THE LEGS.  THE INCREASE IN BLOOD FLOW GIVES THESE PATIENTS A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE.  AGAIN, I ASK-  WHY IS IT THAT A THERAPY THAT USES A PERSON’S OWN CELLS (MEANING VERY LITTLE RISK) NOT AVAILABLE TO PATIENTS WHO NEED THEM?  THIS ISN’T A MEDICINE WITH POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS.  HERE’S HOPING THAT HARVEST  (AND OTHERS) KEEP PUSHING FOR APPROVAL SO PATIENTS IN DANGER OF AMPUTATION CAN HAVE THIS ADULT STEM CELL TREATMENT AVAILABLE TO THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE