New Stem Cell Treatment, Successful in Mice, May Someday Cure Type 1 D

When his infant son Sam was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two decades ago, Doug Melton made himself a promise: He would cure it. When his daughter Emma was diagnosed with the same autoimmune disease at 14, he redoubled his efforts.

Finally he can see the finish line. In a paper published Thursday in the journal Cell, Melton announces that he has created a virtually unlimited supply of the cells that are missing in people with type 1 diabetes.

By replacing these cellsand then protecting them from attack by the body's immune systemMelton, now a professor and stem cell researcher at Harvard, says someday he'll have his cure.

"I think we've shown the problem can be solved," he said.

In type 1 diabetes, which usually starts in childhood and affects as many as three million Americans, the person's immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas. Melton used stem cellswhich can turn into a wide variety of other cell typesto manufacture a new supply of these beta cells, which provide exquisitely fine-tuned responses to sugar levels in the blood.

When you eat, beta cells increase levels of insulin in your blood to process the extra sugar; when you're running on empty, the cells dial down insulin levels.

Since the 1920s, people with type 1 diabetes have been kept alive with insulin injections, though many still face nerve damage, slow wound healing, and even blindness because even the best pumps and monitors are not as effective as the body's beta cells.

The only known cure for type 1 diabetes is a beta cell transplant, which takes the cells from someone who has recently died. But the procedure is complicated, and the patient must remain on drugs forever to prevent the immune system from destroying the cells.

Fewer than 1,000 beta cell transplants have ever been done, said Albert Hwa, senior scientific program manager for beta cell therapies at the diabetes research organization JDRF, which has helped fund Melton's work for more than a decade.

Hope From Stem Cells

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New Stem Cell Treatment, Successful in Mice, May Someday Cure Type 1 D

Successful stem cell treatment in mice could one day help cure type one diabetes

On Thursday important research on stem cells and type 1 diabetes, done by professor Doug Melton, was published in the journal Cell. The results of this study have both wide and very personal implications.

Two decades ago, National Geographic reported, the current Harvard professor and stem cell researcher vowed to cure type 1 diabetes. His infant son had just been diagnosed with the disease. Professor Meltons efforts redoubled when, at age 14, his daughter was also diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder.

With the publication of this research he may have taken a step towards helping cure this disease. According to National Geographic, Melton has created a virtually unlimited supply of the cells that are missing in people with type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, which is often diagnosed in children or young adults, affects around three million Americans. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy, according to Mayo Clinic. This is due to the fact that the bodys immune system attacks beta cells in the pancreas, which control insulin production.

Professor Melton, along with a whole host of graduate students over 15 years, used stem cells to create replacement beta cells for mice, and human testing will begin in the next two years with government approval.

National Geographic explains:

The researchers started with cells taken from a days-old human embryo. At that point, the cells are capable of turning into any cell in the body. Others have tried to make beta cells from these human embryonic stem cells, but never fully succeeded. Meltons team spent a decade testing hundreds of combinations before finally coaxing the stem cells into becoming beta cells.

The procedure can also be done with non-embryonic stem cells, to avoid the sometimes controversial destruction of an embryo. Adult cells are turned back into stem cells and then into beta cells.

The next step is to create a protective coating for these cells so that the bodys immune system does not attack the beta cells.

MIT professor Daniel Anderson is helping Melton with a method of protection, which would work like an inkjet printer coating the cells with algae that prevents them from being attacked. This device would be implanted into patients. Two other companies are also working on strategies to coat the beta cells.

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Successful stem cell treatment in mice could one day help cure type one diabetes

Scientists Coax Human Embryonic Stem Cells Into Making Insulin

Insulin is produced by the green cells that are in clusters about the same size as the islets in the human pancreas. The red cells are producing another metabolic hormone, glucagon, that prevents low blood sugar. Harvard University hide caption

Insulin is produced by the green cells that are in clusters about the same size as the islets in the human pancreas. The red cells are producing another metabolic hormone, glucagon, that prevents low blood sugar.

A team of Harvard scientists said Thursday that they had finally found a way to turn human embryonic stem cells into cells that produce insulin. The long-sought advance could eventually lead to new ways to help millions of people with diabetes.

Right now, many people with diabetes have to regularly check the level of sugar in their blood and inject themselves with insulin to keep the sugar in their blood in check. It's an imperfect treatment.

"This is kind of a life-support for diabetics," says Doug Melton, a stem-cell researcher at Harvard Medical School. "It doesn't cure the disease and leads to devastating complications of the disease."

People with poorly controlled diabetes can suffer complications such as blindness, amputations and heart attacks.

Researchers have had some success transplanting insulin-producing cells from cadavers into people with diabetes. But it's been difficult to procure enough cells to treat large numbers of patients. So scientists have been trying to figure out how they could get more cells more easily.

For Melton, who led the work at Harvard, this has been a personal quest. His son, Sam, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 6 months old, and his daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with the disease when she was 14.

"I do what any parent would do, which is to say, 'I'm not going to put up with this, and I want to find a better way,' " he says.

And now Melton and his colleagues are reporting in a paper being published in this week's issue of the journal Cell that they think they have finally found that better way.

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Scientists Coax Human Embryonic Stem Cells Into Making Insulin

Fighting CP through stem cell therapy

Can brain damage caused during birth be ever reversed? Is it possible to repair the damaged brain tissues among children, who suffer from Cerebral Palsy (CP)?

So far, the treatment option for CP is to manage the symptoms of the ailment. However, in recent times, scientists and researchers worldwide have started to explore stem cell therapy as a potential treatment option for CP patients.

Can stem cells reverse the brain damage, which is the sole cause for CP among children? Our research on over 100 CP patients and stem cell therapy has been very encouraging. The patients, who underwent stem cell therapy, have displayed huge improvement in CP symptoms, says Professor and Head of Neurosurgery, LTM Medical College, Mumbai, Alok Sharma.

The neurosurgeon, who is taking part in an international conference on CP in Hyderabad this weekend, said that doctors are not concentrating on treating the brain damage.

The current treatment options available to help patients are only to mange symptoms and nobody tries to repair the underlying damage to the brain tissue. Therefore, developing a standard therapeutic approach for CP through stem cells is the need of the hour, he said.

The results from the stem cell therapy on CP patients conducted by Dr. Aloks team were recently published in Neurogens chapter on Stem cell therapy for cerebral palsy A Novel Option in a book titled Cerebral Palsy Challenges For the Future. According to the neurosurgeon, the patients after therapy had improvements in their speech, balance, upper and lower limb activity and movement.

While for stem cell research, many prefer cord blood banking, Dr. Alok pointed out that they have used stem cells from the adults derived from the bone marrow. The transplanted stem cells have the ability to migrate to the area of the damaged tissue in the brain and home-in on those affected areas to help repair the damage. Stem cells release substance that stimulates natural growth, which decreases the process of damage of the brain, Dr. Alok explained.

The researcher, who has started NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute in Mumbai to conduct stem cell research, pointed out that stem cell therapy and other rehabilitation programmes should be encouraged for the benefit of CP patients. The positive changes that we recorded in our patients were not just restricted to their symptoms but also constructive change in brain metabolism observed through PET-CT scans, he explained. Dr. Alok Sharma can be reached at: alok276@gmail.com

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Fighting CP through stem cell therapy

Could this stem cell breakthrough offer an end to diabetes?

Research into a cure for diabetescould result in an end to insulin injections It has beenhailed as the biggest medical breakthrough since antibiotics Harvard researcher Doug Melton promised his children he'd find a cure Treatment involves making insulin-producing cells from stem cells Scientistshope to have human trials under way within a 'few years'

By Fiona Macrae for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:41 EST, 9 October 2014 | Updated: 04:45 EST, 10 October 2014

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Scientists have hailed stem-cell research into a cure for diabetes as potentially the biggest medical breakthrough since antibiotics.

It could result in an end to insulin injections, and to the disabling and deadly complications of the disease, such as strokes and heart attacks, blindness and kidney disease.

The treatment, which involves making insulin-producing cells from stem cells, was described as a 'phenomenal accomplishment' that will 'leave a dent in the history of diabetes'.

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Could this stem cell breakthrough offer an end to diabetes?

Arthritis of shoulder; results four years after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D. – Video

Arthritis of shoulder; results four years after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D.
Heavy discusses his outcome four years out from his first bone marrow stem cell treatment for his arthritic shoulders and torn rotator cuffs by Harry Adelson, N.D. http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Arthritis of shoulder; results four years after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D. - Video

Stem cell treatments surging into clinic

Michael Scott, a ViaCyte vice president, holds the VC-01 device that holds progenitor cells that will mature to make insulin and other hormones.

More than ever before, stem cell therapies appear poised to transform medicine potentially curing heart disease, diabetes and paralyzing injuries, among other ailments.

But its also clear that such innovations will be very expensive.

How the government, insurers and patients will pay for what could be a flood of these new treatments drew the attention of more than 700 biomedical and health-care executives Tuesday at the 2014 Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa.

The annual conference, held on La Jolla's Torrey Pines Mesa, will run through Thursday. It brings together the business and academic worlds of cell therapy, including but not limited to stem cell treatments.

In California alone, 131 clinical trials are taking place with stem cells, according to Clinicaltrials.gov, a government website that tracks clinical trials. Patients are being treated for conditions such as blindness from retinal diseases, HIV, leukemia, sickle cell disease, stroke and aging of skin.

The recent proliferation of clinical trials marks great progress toward the ultimate goal of getting new treatments to patients, said stem cell researcher Jeanne Loring, who directs the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.

Its been a sea change from last year, said Loring, who is working with some colleagues in planning their own stem cell trial to treat Parkinsons disease.

Theyre developing replacement neurons grown from artificial embryonic stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells. The process begins with cells derived from the skin of patients to be treated.

Home-grown milestone

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Stem cell treatments surging into clinic

BrainStorm : FDA Grants Fast Track Designation To NurOwn For Treatment Of ALS

By RTT News, October 07, 2014, 07:19:00 AM EDT

(RTTNews.com) - BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. ( BCLI ), a developer of adult stem cell technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, said that the United States Food and Drug Administration or FDA has designated NurOwn as a Fast Track product for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease).

NurOwn consists of autologous mesenchymal stem cells that have been induced to secrete neurotrophic factors, and is currently being studied in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 clinical trial in ALS patients.

"We are pleased that the FDA has granted Fast Track status for NurOwn as this will allow us greater and more frequent dialogue with the Agency as we continue the development of this ground-breaking cell therapy for the treatment of ALS," said Tony Fiorino, Chief Executive Officer of BrainStorm.

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In 1985, Ayatollah Kohmeini issued a fatwa in favor of transgender people. Today, Iran's government pays for half of the cost of gender reassignment surgery. (AFP/File)

In 2007, when former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejaddeclaredduring a Columbia University appearance, In Iran we dont have homosexuals like in your country, many chuckled. It seemed to verify the average persons preconceptions of the country as being primitive and socially backwards.Ahmadinejad was obviously wrong and his response spotlighted the fact that homophobia is a major issue in Iranian society. The event wasnt meant to facilitate a productive discussion on the Islamic Republics many failings though, it was meant to reassure Columbia students and faculty of their own progressiveness. Ahmadinejad got a podium. The audience got a way to criticize his ideological beliefs.

Orientalist thinking like this obviously has consequences in how we discuss and view Iran. It isnt just that we have trouble discussing the many problems that do exist in the country, such as human rights violations. We are also prevented from recognizing when Iran is doing things more or less right. Iran is actually far more progressive than many people realize on a number of issues. This is especially apparent when it comes to: organ donations, family planning, transgender surgery, drug rehabs, stem cell research, and HIV prevention.

Organ Donations

Iran is one of the few countries that permits the selling of an organkidneys to be preciseto another individual if they are undergoing organ failure. It wasnt until theIran-Iraq Warthat organ donations became a commonprocedurein the country, causing kidney transplants in particular to jump drastically, thanks to wartime and a dwindling supply of dialysis machines. Here is how itworks: two non-profits regulated by the Iranian governmenttheCharity Foundation for Special Diseasesand the Charity Association for the Support of Kidney Patients (CASKP)implement a number of rules andregulationsfor the purchase and sale of organs. The charities are designed to find vendors and introduce them to recipients, checking the compatibility of a possible donation and ensuring a fair trade.

Rulessuch as physicians being able to give a medical assessment of the potential surgery, without being allowed to undertake the procedure itselfgo leagues in ensuring that a donation is compatible and that there is a fair trade. The government then reportedly pays a sum of about $1,200 as well as medical coverage to the donors. Through a non-profit, recipients are said to pay a few thousand dollars more. Interestingly, kidney donations themselves are banned from non-Iranian citizens, as well as international organ trading.

Accordingto CASKPs director Mostafa Ghassemi, In 2010, a total of 2,285 kidney transplants took place in the country, of which 1,690 kidneys were supplied from volunteers and 595 from those clinically brain-dead. The policy is a bit unnerving and controversial, but it has still been wildly successful. As of 1999, Irans kidney transplant waiting list no longer exists. As the CATO Institute points out, if a decades worth of reports in the transplant literature are to be believed, only one country in the world does not suffer from an organ shortage: Iran. Although Iran clearly does not serve as a model for solving most of the worlds problems, its method for solving its organ shortage is well worth examining.

Family Planning

While the United States begins a renewed debate on the use birth control and organizations like Planned Parenthood every so often, Iran was once known to have one of the premier family planning systems in the world. After the Iran-Iraq War came to an end in 1988, the country saw a jump in population growth thatcausedAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue fatwas or religious edicts so that contraceptives could be obtained free at government clinics, including thousands of new rural health centers.

In addition, Health workers promoted contraception as a way to leave more time between births and help reduce maternal and child mortality. Couples intending to marry were required to receive counseling in family planning. Irans family planning system was such an important stepforwardthat it was internationally acclaimed, and the then-Minister of Health ended up receiving the 2000 United Nations Population Award.

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