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Stem cells for sports injuries; gastric bypass and the gut biome

By Stem Cell Treatment

Q: My daughter plays college soccer and ruptured her ACL. The coaches mentioned stem cell injections that some big-name athletes have used to recover from injuries. Should we consider them? Paige R., Chicago

A: Professional athletes are always looking for the fastest way to heal their injuries. In 2010, Yankees pitcher Bartolo Colon was treated for a torn rotator cuff with injections of fat and bone marrow adult stem cells; he's playing for the Mets this season. And in 2011, Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning opted for injections of his own fat stem cells to try to get over a neck injury. Two years later, he had a record-breaking season and took the Broncos to the Super Bowl. But does this mean the injections worked? Nope.

Colon's agent attributes the pitcher's career turnaround to a re-dedication to the game, not the injections, and Manning followed up his stem cell treatment with major surgery and intense rehab (done in secret).

There's just no solid evidence yet that injections of adult bone marrow (or fat) stem cells effectively regenerate and repair damaged tendons or ligaments, and you cannot be certain of what the injections contain or their side effects. They often are delivered in an unregulated environment and aren't FDA-approved.

We suspect your daughter is headed for reconstructive surgery and six months of rehab. Then she needs to learn new ways to move so she reduces stress on her knees. One metastudy found that two ACL-injury-prevention regimens were effective: Sportsmetrics promotes leg and core strength, increases vertical jump height and may improve speed and agility; the Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program, makes a big difference in the flexion strength of the knee. Both improve athletic performance tests and reduce injury rates. Rehab is tough, and there are no shortcuts, but we bet your daughter has the grit to do it!

Q: I had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery last year, and my blood glucose levels were almost normal even before I lost any weight. How is that possible? Marty Z., Jupiter, Florida

A: Congrats, Marty. We hope you're continuing to have such good results. It is amazing that bypassing part of your stomach and intestine could have such an immediate effect on your blood sugar levels, and just recently researchers have figured out why that happens sometimes. It seems to have something to do with the bacteria that live in your digestive tract, also called your gut biome.

Roux-en-Y surgery bypasses most of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum. That's where a lot of your gut bacteria live and where they influence gut hormones that regulate appetite, insulin use, glucose levels and more. So right away, the surgery decreases levels of hormones that regulate appetite; you can eat less without being hungry. That alone lowers glucose levels and increases the effectiveness of your body's insulin supply.

Also, when you have diabetes, your gut bacteria are thrown out of balance; the bad guys overwhelm the good guys (like bifidobacteria and lactobacillus). And that means the hormones that affect how cells get and use glucose can't do their job. The glucose stays in your bloodstream instead of being used as fuel by your cells. But once a lot of the bad gut bacteria are bypassed, your gut biome snaps back into balance and the bacteria and hormones work together to regulate blood sugar levels.

So we suggest you keep your gut biome balanced and happy with a healthy diet of five or more servings of fruits and veggies a day. Asparagus, garlic, cooked onions and dandelion greens deliver prebiotics that help good-for-you gut bacteria thrive. Fermented foods like nonfat kefir and kimchi contain healthful probiotics. Also, avoid saturated fats and added sugars they just make your biome miserable. And we like daily spore probiotic supplements containing bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 and lactobacillus GG.

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Stem cells for sports injuries; gastric bypass and the gut biome

46 2 Ning -spinal cord injury of C4-C5 (male, 26-year-old) – After stem cell treatment – Video

By Stem Cell Treatment


46 2 Ning -spinal cord injury of C4-C5 (male, 26-year-old) - After stem cell treatment
Ning, a 26-year-old guy, happened to fall down from a high level in September, 2006, which led to his spinal cord injury of C4-C5 and remained quadriplegia, incontinence of urination and bowl...

By: Stem Cells

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46 2 Ning -spinal cord injury of C4-C5 (male, 26-year-old) - After stem cell treatment - Video

AFL approves stem-cell treatment

By Stem Cell Treatment

An Australian-based biomedical company has been given approval from the AFL to use stem-cell therapy on players recovering from injury.

Sydney-based Regeneus has revealed it was recently given permission for its HiQCell treatment on players suffering from such issues as osteoarthritis and tendinopathy.

The treatment is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency if it is performance-enhancing but allowed if it is solely to treat injuries.

Regeneus commercial development director Steven Barberasaid the regenerative medicine company had sought approval from the AFL for what the company says is "innovative but not experimental" treatment.

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"In 2013, Regeneus sought and received clearance from ASADA [Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority] for its proprietary HiQCell therapy for use with athletes who participate in sporting competitions subject to the WADA Anti-Doping Code. The AFL is one of many professional sports bodies which applies the WADA Anti-Doping Code within its regulations for players," he said.

"In March this year, the AFL introduced a Prohibited Treatments List as an additional level of scrutiny over and above the WADA code for player treatments. In light of this, Regeneus made a submission to the AFL to confirm that our specific treatment is not prohibited under that list. Subsequently, the chief medical officer of the AFL has recently communicated with our primary Melbourne-based HiQCell medical practitioner that the treatment is not prohibited and can be administered on a case-by-case basis to players.

"We anticipate documented confirmation of this outcome in the near future from the AFL.

"To our knowledge, the permission is specific to HiQCell and not necessarily to cell-based therapies in general."

The AFL confirmed it had given approval on a "case-by-case" basis.

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AFL approves stem-cell treatment

AFL approves stem-cell therapy

By Stem Cell Treatment

Aug. 24, 2014, 2:09 a.m.

An Australian-based biomedical company has been given approval from AFL to use stem-cell therapy on players recovering from injury.

An Australian-based biomedical company has been given approval from the AFL to use stem-cell therapy on players recovering from injury.

Sydney-based Regeneus has revealed it was recently given permission for its HiQCell treatment on players suffering from such issues as osteoarthritis and tendinopathy.

The treatment is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency if it is performance-enhancing but allowed if it is solely to treat injuries.

Regeneus commercial development director Steven Barberasaid the regenerative medicine company had sought approval from the AFL for what the company says is "innovative but not experimental" treatment.

"In 2013, Regeneus sought and received clearance from ASADA [Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority] for its proprietary HiQCell therapy for use with athletes who participate in sporting competitions subject to the WADA Anti-Doping Code. The AFL is one of many professional sports bodies which applies the WADA Anti-Doping Code within its regulations for players," he said.

"In March this year, the AFL introduced a Prohibited Treatments List as an additional level of scrutiny over and above the WADA code for player treatments. In light of this, Regeneus made a submission to the AFL to confirm that our specific treatment is not prohibited under that list. Subsequently, the chief medical officer of the AFL has recently communicated with our primary Melbourne-based HiQCell medical practitioner that the treatment is not prohibited and can be administered on a case-by-case basis to players.

"We anticipate documented confirmation of this outcome in the near future from the AFL.

"To our knowledge, the permission is specific to HiQCell and not necessarily to cell-based therapies in general."

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AFL approves stem-cell therapy

Experts dispute doctor’s stem cell breakthrough claim …

By Stem Cell Doctors

By David Fitzpatrick and Drew Griffin CNN Special Investigations Unit

SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic (CNN) -- This Caribbean city already known for cigars, furniture, chocolate and coffee may become a magnet for Americans seeking controversial stem cell therapy for life-threatening illnesses if a Florida cardiologist has his way.

Dr. Zannos Grekos, a Florida cardiologist, says he's had success with stem-cell therapy in the Dominican Republic.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved this stem cell therapy in the United States because no clinical trials to prove its effectiveness have been done. But Dr. Zannos Grekos says his company, Regenocyte Therapeutic, has successfully used adult stem cells to treat patients with heart and lung disease.

Grekos said he and his associates draw blood from a patient in Florida and then send it to a laboratory in Israel that produces what his company calls "regenocytes." The company defines regenocyte as "a stem cell that has been activated to become a target organ."

"These procedures work," he told CNN, standing inside a hospital room at the Clinica Union Medica del Norte in Santiago. "And it's substantiated by objective data that we are collecting."

But Grekos' procedures have not been reviewed by other researchers, and leading scientists involved in U.S. stem cell research efforts say Grekos is simply wrong. Dr. Irving Weissman, president-elect of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, told CNN, "There is no such cell. There is nothing called a 'regenocyte.' "

"As a stem cell scientist who works in the field of regenerative stem cells, I am disappointed and shocked that somebody would prey on a family that has an untreatable disease with the promise of a therapy that has no scientific or medical basis," Weissman said.

Grekos has a busy practice in Bonita Springs, Florida, outside Naples, and runs a company that promotes and administers stem cell therapies in Santiago, a noisy, crowded industrial city in the central Dominican Republic.

He told CNN that in the past 18 months, about 100 patients have received adult stem cell therapy at a Dominican hospital. Most of them have been patients with severe heart disease, while the rest have suffered from chronic lung illnesses, he said.

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DO STEM CELL TREATMENTS WORK? | The Stem Cell Blog

By Stem Cell Medicine

ADULT, amputat, clinical trial, CURE, DIABETES, fda, heal, heart, MS, multiple sclerosis, PALSY, RESEARCH, stem cell, stroke, therapy, TREATMENT

DO STEM CELL TREATMENTS WORK?

Do not take one step further in your plans for treatment or read one more word about stem cells anywhere else until you believe that we have answered this question, unequivocally and without a shadow of a doubt:

Ask most US doctors if repair stem cell treatments work and they will tell you NO! You may also get condescending retorts, misinformation and derisive abuse. But if you press them on the question, eventually they will give you the reason why they believe repair stem cells dont work. The top answer WHY STEM CELLS DONT WORK is (Survey Says!):

There have been no clinical trials to date that prove they do work.

When all is said and done, in the end, there is nothing that will convince a western doctor of the effectiveness of stem cell treatments besides clinical trials. So have there been any stem cell clinical trials? Is all of the evidence supporting the benefits of stem cell treatments anecdotal as virtually every western doctor says? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! Have there been clinical trials? The answer is a resounding YES!

According to the National Institutes of Health, there were and are ~2600 stem cell clinical trials around the world http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

Lets look at (only) a few of those ~1300 clinical trials:

Other stroke articles:

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DO STEM CELL TREATMENTS WORK? | The Stem Cell Blog

The Ice Bucket Challenges stem cell controversy

By Stem Cell Medical Center

Because life is precious and human dignity needs to be respected, of course now anti-choice groups are now coming down on the Ice Bucket Challenge.

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to question the unlikely philanthropic viral sensation of the summer from its gimmicky premise to the way it overshadows our own governments slashing of medical research funding but its hard to argue with the more than $13 million raised for ALS so far, or the awareness the stunt has raised for the vicious and so far incurable degenerative disease. But the story has taken a new twist as religious groups are now beginning to discourage followers from participating because ALS research at times relies on embryonic stem cells.

This week, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati specifically asked Catholic school leaders at 113 schools to immediately cease any fundraising plans connected to the challenge, because the ALS Association funds at least one study using embryonic stem cells in direct conflict with Catholic teaching. Speaking to Religion News Service Tuesday, ALS Association representative Carrie Munk said, Currently, The Association is funding one study using embryonic stem cells (ESC), and the stem cell line was established many years ago under ethical guidelines set by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); this research is funded by one specific donor, who is committed to this area of research. The project is in its final phase and will come to an end very soon. She added that donors can stipulate where their money goes and can ask that it not pay for embryonic stem cell research.

But thats still not acceptable to some. Archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco explained to Cincinnati.com Thursday that We appreciate the compassion that has caused so many people to engage in this, Andriacco said. But its a well established moral principle that a good end is not enough. The means to that ends must be morally licit. The Archdiocese suggests people who want to do the challenge contribute to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute, where the research is only conducted using adult stem cells. Similarly, Father Michael Duffy, in a post for Patheos, wrote earlier this month, While I cant donate to the ALS Association, I will certainly pray for those that suffer from this disease. Ill also be on the lookout for a charity that doesnt violate the Sanctity of Human Life. And LifeNews this week warned that If you give to the ALS Association your money may end up supporting clinical trials that use aborted fetal cells. The reference is likely to a four-year-old clinical trial involving eight-week-old fetal tissue taken from a single source of spinal cord cells: cells that were extracted from fetal tissue, which was donated. The provenance of the source has not been disclosed, but the results of the FDA approved trial were reported last year as extraordinary.Fetal tissue research has existed in the U.S. for decades.Early polio research included the use of embryonic tissue. Thechickenpox, rubella, hepatitis A,shingles and one rabies vaccine all derive from fetal embryo fibroblast cells cultivated in the 1960s and Catholic leadership has wrestled with the ethics of using those vaccines.

Not all religious leaders are opposed to the Ice Bucket Challenge. Don Clemmer of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called the Cincinnati decision a local matter, and the National Catholics Bioethics Center plans to issue its own statement on the moral controversy that has arisen soon. And evangelical pastor Greg Laurieand Texas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakeshave jumped in, as has Catholic Paul Ryan.

Researchers investigating many other conditions, including Parkinsons, also have been known to use embryonic stem cells. The National Institutes of Health notes that embryonic stem cells are derived from donors and created in vitro and not derived from eggs fertilized in a womans body. And the ALS Association, while acknowledging that stem cell research raises a great deal of ethical questions also calls it a major medical breakthrough.

Medical research almost always inspires moral questions, and those questions need to be asked and debated. There are also plenty of reasons to opt out of the ice bucket challenge and choose to put ones time and money somewhere else; there are reasons to have conversations about embryonic stem cell research and fetal tissue research. But ignorance helps no one, and if youre going to take a stand on an issue, at least do your own soul searching and get the facts straight first.

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The Ice Bucket Challenges stem cell controversy

Removing Programming Material After Inducing Stem Cells Could Improve Their Regeneration Ability

By Stem Cell Clinic

Durham, NC (PRWEB) August 22, 2014

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have great potential in the field of regenerative medicine because they can be coaxed to turn into specific cells; however, the new cells dont always act as anticipated. They sometimes mutate, develop into tumors or produce other negative side effects. But in a new study recently published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, researchers appear to have found a way around this, simply by removing the material used to reprogram the stem cell after they have differentiated into the desired cells.

The study, by Ken Igawa, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues at Tokyo Medical and Dental University along with a team from Osaka University, could have significant implications both in the clinic and in the lab.

Scientists induce (differentiate) the stem cells to become the desired cells, such as those that make up heart muscle, in the laboratory using a reprogramming transgene that is, a gene taken from one organism and introduced into another using artificial techniques.

We generated hiPSC lines from normal human skin cells using reprogramming transgenes, then we removed the reprogramming material. When we compared the transgene-free cells with those that had residual transgenes, both appeared quite similar, Dr. Igawa explained. However, after the cells differentiation into skin cells, clear differences were observed.

Several types of analyses revealed that the keratinocytes cells that make up 90 percent of the outermost skin layer that emerged from the transgene-free hiPSC lines were more like normal human cells than those coming from the hiPSCs that still contained some reprogramming material.

These results suggest that transgene-free hiPSC lines should be chosen for therapeutic purposes, Dr. Igawa concluded.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines have potential for therapeutics because of the customized cells and organs that can potentially be induced from such cells, Anthony Atala, M.D., editor of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. This study illustrates a potentially powerful approach for creating hiPSCs for clinical use.

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The full article, Removal of Reprogramming Transgenes Improves the Tissue Reconstitution Potential of Keratinocytes Generated From Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, can be accessed at http://stemcellstm.alphamedpress.org/content/early/2014/07/14/sctm.2013-0179.abstract.

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Removing Programming Material After Inducing Stem Cells Could Improve Their Regeneration Ability

A developmental biologist muses about stem cells and …

By Uncategorized

Three-dimensional printing uses modified ink-jet printers to spray cells and biomaterials into shapes that mimic human organs, tissues and structures. These three-dimensional printers have been used to make a variety of implantable structures.

Last year, Oxford Performance Materials announced that they had successfully created a 3D-printed implant that could replace 75 percent of a patients skull. This OsteoFab Patient Specific Cranial Device was made of PEKK (Polyetherketoneketone) biomedical polymer and was printed by using CAD files that had been developed to personally fit each patients specific dimensions. PEKK is an ultra high performance polymer used in biomedical implants and other highly demanding applications. The PEKK polymer has the advantage of being biomechanically similar to bone. The Osteofab skull implant was approved by the FDA in February of 2013.

The success of OsteoFab laid the groundwork for the recent FDA approval of Oxfords OsteoFab Patient-Specific Facial Device, a customizable implant for facial reconstruction.

Implants like this are known as biocompatible implants, which behave mechanically, in this case, like real bone. The techniques developed by Oxford Performance Materialsallow engineers to fabricatepieces that match an individual patients specific facial dimensions and structure in a manner thatreduces the overall cost of the procedures required to surgically reconstruct a face after devastating injury. Due to these technical advances pioneered by Oxford Performance Materials, facialimplants can be fabricatedvery quickly, which allows the plastic surgeons to get the patient into surgery sooner rather than later.

With the clearance of our 3D printed facial device, we now have the ability to treat these extremely complex cases in a highly effective and economical way, printing patient-specific maxillofacial implants from individualized MRI or CT digital image files from the surgeon, said Scott DeFelice, CEO of Oxford Performance Materials, in a statement. This is a classic example of a paradigm shift in which technology advances to meet both the patients needs and the cost realities of the overall healthcare system.

Oxfords 3D-printed Osteofab cranial implants also have FDA approval and could potentially be combined with these facial implants into a single device for treating severe cases. Although these facial implants have not yet been used in the United States, Oxford said the implants are now available to doctors and hospitals.

From artificial fingertips to airway splints that help babies breathe, 3D printing has provided the means to address complexsurgicalrepairs. The good news is that skull caps and facial bones are just the beginning of what 3D printing technologies can achieve. We may soon see FDA approval for other bones, like knee caps, hips, and even small bones in the fingers and hands.

Its all a part of a growing wave that could make 3D printers just as common as MRI machines in the tool kits used by physicians to repair and heal injured people.

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A developmental biologist muses about stem cells and ...

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