Ive had Seder in isolation, and this is my message of hope – The Jerusalem Post

This will not be my first Seder night in isolation. I hope my experience over a decade ago will offer some hope and encouragement for those approaching this coming Passover with understandable trepidation. More than 10 years have passed, but I can still smell the bleached sterility of Rambam Hospitals bone marrow transplant ward. I still see the tilted-headed sympathetic looks of the incredible nurses and doctors. But most of all, I recall the deep sense of horror I and my family were enduring.Diagnosed with a relapse of the blood cancer lymphoma, not yet 30, and with two small children at home, I arrived at the hospital a week before Passover to undergo a stem-cell transplant. It was a procedure that at best would see me hospitalized for a month, and in isolation for nothing less than two weeks. The treatment would include severe chemotherapy, and carried the risk of any infection likely being fatal. However, it offered the chance of remission from cancer. Such are the pros and cons of life and death decisions. Accompanied by my husband, I entered my hospital room and examined the confines of what was to be my only view for some time. My mind drifted longingly home, where we had left my parents, freshly flown in from London, and my two young boys whom I had kissed goodbye, maybe for three weeks, maybe for a month, maybe forever. But there was no turning back.I remember that Passover every year. And as I hug my children close, I recall that Seder night in isolation. I remember the uncertainty and the apprehension. This year, these fears resonate more than ever. I find my mind drawn back to the last time Passover was not as it should be, without family on Seder night. The last time the joy of the Feast of Freedom was soured by more than bitter herbs, but by concern and distress. This year, however, these fears are not solely mine. They are shared by thousands as, all over Israel and the Jewish world, families are facing the reality that grandparents will be alone on Seder night. We wont all get to hear grandchildren ask the Four Questions, join them singing Seder songs, or see them rummaging under the table for the afikoman. It is heart-breaking and distressing to even contemplate.But because these are demons I have faced, I want to share a message of hope. Even when not surrounded by family, even when faced with the enormity of my situation, Passover that year brought me strength. I was not able to be with my children but it served as a reminder to value every moment that we are together. It inspired me to push forward, to overcome, and to survive. Seder night has that power. Passover has that power. People and the Jewish People especially have the power to bring light where there is dark. We didnt just go through the motions of the Seder, or just rush through the Haggadah that year, instead we found new meaning in the texts and rituals. We found purpose. We found hope.To add to the inspiration of that lonely, special night, we were blessed with an unexpected guest. A fellow patient, who from a distance was able to join us for Seder in the isolation ward. With the nurses permission, she sat with us, and we spoke about how Moses led the Jews from slavery, and shared how the doctors were leading us from cancer. Both, to be clear, with the strong arm and outstretched hand of God.It occurred to me then, as it occurs to me now, that we were not separated because of hate an experience our people have known all too well but instead because of love. We are apart to keep us safe, to be sure that we may be able to be together again, soon.That said, there is no doubting that Passover, and especially Seder this year, will be very tough. But I hope it will serve as a source of inspiration for us all, and as we always say, Next year in Jerusalem.The author immigrated to Israel from the UK in 2006, and lives in Modiin with her husband and three sons.

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Ive had Seder in isolation, and this is my message of hope - The Jerusalem Post

Coronavirus can cause loss of smell and scientists think they know why – ZME Science

One of the strangest things about COVID-19 has to do with anecdotal accounts of the loss of smell. Many people who suddenly couldnt sense otherwise pungent odors such as garlic later tested positive for COVID-19. Now, a new study draws a possible causal biological mechanism that might explain this odd symptom.

British ear, nose and throat doctors first sounded the alarm a week ago that loss of smell, technically called anosmia, may be linked with coronavirus infection.

According to the British doctors, at least two ear, nose, and throat specialists from Britain have been infected with the novel coronavirus after examining, unbeknownst to them, COVID-19 positive patients that came to check on their sudden loss of smell. Both doctors are now in critical condition.

In Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the pandemic, early reports warned that ear, nose, and throat specialists were getting infected and even died in large numbers under suspicious circumstances. These are not the doctors you go to see when you suspect you might have a coronavirus infection.

Previously described coronaviruses are thought to account for 10-15% cases. It is therefore perhaps no surprise that the novel COVID-19 virus would also cause anosmia in infected patients, theENT UK statementsaid.

There is already good evidence from South Korea, China and Italy that significant numbers of patients with proven COVID-19 infection have developed anosmia, the statement said.

In Germany, there have been reports of 2 in 3 confirmed cases having anosmia. In South Korea, where testing has been more widespread, 30% of patients testing positive have had anosmia as their major presenting symptom in otherwise mild cases. In some cases, loss of smell is present alongside loss of taste (ageusia).

Researchers from the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School were very intrigued by this odd symptom.

They investigated genetic datasets in order to identify which cell types in the olfactory tissue might express molecules that can allow the coronavirus to infect cells.

The researchers found that in both mice and humans, olfactory sensory neurons do not express two key genes (ACE2 and TMPRSS2) that allow SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19) to infect cells.

Instead, they found that support cells and stem cells found in the olfactory tissue express both of these genes. These are the same genes found in cells in the nasal respiratory tissue, which is the prime target and site of viral multiplication for the novel coronavirus.

Taken together, these findings suggest possible mechanisms through which CoV-2 infection could lead to anosmia or other forms of olfactory dysfunction, the Harvard researchers wrote in a study published in the pre-print server bioRxiv.

This study has its limitations, though. It hasnt been peer-reviewed nor have the findings been validated by experiments. Nevertheless, it is valuable to have a potential biological mechanism that might explain this odd but common symptom of COVID-19.

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Coronavirus can cause loss of smell and scientists think they know why - ZME Science

Former England footballer Geoff Thomas backs Mirror campaign to give NHS heroes a medal – Mirror Online

Former England footballer Geoff Thomas never doubted his sister Kay was a hero after she saved his life as he battled leukaemia.

Geoff was given just three months to live before a stem cell transplant from his big sister helped him make a miraculous recovery in 2004.

Now nurse Kay is ready to save even more lives by caring for coronavirus patients.

The 59 year-old has been a district nurse and cared for sick babies, but underwent special training to treat coronavirus patients alongside her NHS colleagues in Manchester last week.

Inspired by her example, Geoff is backing the Daily Mirrors campaign for all NHS staff to be honoured with a medal for their sacrifice during the coronavirus pandemic.

Geoff, 55, who captained Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final, said: I wouldnt be here without Kay. I think she was more nervous about the transplant than I was.

For me it was an opportunity, a second chance I didnt think I would have. For Kay it was a huge responsibility, because she was scared it wouldnt work and she didnt want to let me down.

We should be so grateful to all our doctors and nurses for taking on a similar responsibility now, caring for people with coronavirus. They deserve a medal when this is done.

Geoff was given the devastating news he had chronic myeloid leukaemia by telephone as he sat in a traffic in 2003. He underwent treatment to wash away the huge numbers of defective white bloods cells his body produced, which were slowly suffocating him, followed by chemotherapy.

But the only cure was a stem cell transplant. While Kay was not a perfect match for her brothers, doctors hoped Geoff would be able to endure the transplant due to his active career and lifestyle.

Geoff underwent his transplant in early 2004 and spent five weeks isolated in a room at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham as doctors had to destroy his immune system with full body radiation to stop it rejecting Kays cells.

He said: I was pushed to the brink. There was one night I wasnt sure I was going to get through it, but the next morning my cells levels started to rise.

Geoff then spent months recuperating at home with little human contact outside his family, to protect his fragile immune system as he recovered. At that stage a minor illness could have proved fatal, indeed a bout of shingles show him rushed back to hospital.

As a result, he has plenty of experience and some helpful tips when it comes to self-isolating.

Geoff, who lives with his wife Julie and mum Renee in Worcestershire, said: You have to remember why you are doing this. That was easy after my transplant, but the same applies now.

People donate to charities to save lives, but the fact is you can save lives right now by staying home. You could save someone you love or a complete stranger and you are helping the doctors and nurses on the frontline who are working so hard to keep us safe.

Another important thing is routine. When I was in hospital, my routine revolved swapping jokes with the nurses, trying to eat what they gave me, even though I didnt really feel like it, and looking forward to seeing Julie she was the only visitor I was allowed. It kept me going.

Set yourself little goals to help you stay positive, then look to build on that the next day. I always did that as a footballer and it helped me get through my recovery and self-isolation.

Stay in touch with your friends and family because social media has made that easier than ever, and try to appreciate the little things. Leukaemia teaches you to do that. Exercise is important too.

After recovering, Geoff was determined to help more people survive the deadly disease and began raising funds and awareness for Cure Leukaemia, a charity set up by Professor Charlie Craddock CBE, the doctor who oversaw his care in Birmingham.

He rode the Tour de France route with a team of volunteers ahead of the professional riders in 2005, earning him a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award.

Geoff will repeat that feat for the fifth and final time to raise 1 million for the charity this year. He will be accompanied by a team of 18 fundraising cyclists and is being supported by Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, whose son George survived leukaemia as a baby.

He said: We have come such a long way since that first ride. It's quite exciting in the world of blood cancer at the moment, because there are so many potential treatments identified.

The crucial things now is getting them to the bedside to help patients in hospital.

But in another way, nothing changes. We know we need to carry on raise money to fund the nurses who do such a fantastic job and the research fellows working to find a cure.

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Former England footballer Geoff Thomas backs Mirror campaign to give NHS heroes a medal - Mirror Online

Roma woman tells of her ‘life-changing’ MS treatment – Whitsunday Times

THERES a 70 per cent chance youre going to get a mum without MS for the first time.

Those were the words Amanda Weyman-Jones told her daughter before they hopped on a plane, in a last ditch-attempt for Amanda to take her future back.

In January, Amanda and daughter Chloe travelled halfway across the globe to Moscow, Russia for a life changing and experimental treatment in hopes it would effectively stop her three decade battle with multiple sclerosis in its tracks.

The trip was made possible with the support from the Roma community who banded together to help Amanda raise $80,000 to pay for the treatment only available in the Russian capital.

And according to Amanda, she has already seen a massive improvement with her condition.

Im walking and I would say I have improved 70 per cent already, and its only expected to get better as time goes on, the 58-year-old mother of six said.

They say that the treatment gives you an 80 per cent (chance) of curing your MS and at the moment, I feel like Im in that 80 per cent Im feeling really good about my chances.

Amanda underwent an experimental procedure called Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHSCT) treatment, which rebuilds the patients immune system.

Seven weeks on and Amanda says she feels like a new person, and has been walking around the football field everyday, which she states is a miracle as she couldnt even walk to the field before the treatment.

Ever since returning to Roma from Russia in February, all she has wanted to do is shout from the rooftops that others living with MS can also have their lives changed.

I heard about a man on a property in Blackall with MS and hes young so I want him to know he doesnt have to have this disease, you can get better, Mrs Weyman-Jones said.

This treatment gives you that infinity with people. Its life saving stuff.

Amandas brother Hayward and sister Diana were both diagnosed with MS too; Hayward died last year, and Diana is now in a wheelchair.

All too familiar with the devastating effects of MS, Amanda is determined to not become a burden on her loved ones.

Amanda who has Primary Progressive MS was given an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 4.5 which notes a limited walking mobility to approximately 300m without aide prior to treatment. With no action taken, she would probably have continued to progress until she was wheelchair bound. The EDSS is scored zero to 10, with 10 marking a person has died from MS.

Now, with more improvements expected to continue in the next six to 12 months, Amanda is hopeful her quality of life will improve and once her immunity has built up, to continue working at the family-owned-and-run Overlander Motel.

I will be forever grateful to Dr Frederinco, the brilliant medical team in Russia, Roma, its local businesses and the wider community for blessing me with a new life, Amanda said.

Through the generosity and support by all, I have realised how lucky I am to be surrounded by such a caring community.

Amanda said she knew that while there is a long road ahead of her, every passing day she is more feeling more hopeful.

I was told that recovery can be like a rollercoaster, so I will accept the bad days and make sure I remember the good, she said.

My walking is slowly getting safer and less hazardous to myself . and to all other pedestrians. Every morning I wake up, knowing that every days a better day.

I am a new person, it is just a miracle.

Stats about MS

With MS Queensland aware of nearly 4000 people living with Multiple Sclerosis in Queensland and over 25,600 people in Australia living with the neurological condition.

Most people with MS in Australia experience their first symptoms between 20 and 40 years of age, with about three quarters of people living with MS, female.

MS is not considered a classic genetic disease in that there is not one single gene that causes the condition. Rather, there are more than 200 different known genetic factors which contribute to the risk of developing MS. It has been estimated that genes may account for around half of the risk for MS, and those with a family history of MS are at greater risk than the general population. Even so, the majority of people with a family member with MS will not develop the disease so genes on their own are not enough.

MS is caused by a complex interaction between a persons genetics and environment factors.

Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHSCT) is an immunosuppressive chemotherapy treatment combined with reinfusion of blood stem cells to help rebuild the immune system.

AHSCT has been used for decades for the treatment of blood cancers. However in the past ten or so years a number of international observational studies of several hundred patients have been published with some patients being followed for five to eight years.

The treatment consisted of four days of stimulation before the stem cells were collected and then Amanda was pumped full of high dose chemotherapy.

Amanda then had a rest day, and on January 29, her harvested stem cells were returned to her MS ravaged body, signalling the rebirth of her immune system with no memory of MS.

After that she was given daily steroid infusions and was put into isolation for six nights before one final dose of chemotherapy.

Response from MS Queensland about the treatment

CEO of MS Queensland Zane Ali said MS Queensland and MS Research Australia are continuing to support Australian research in the use of AHSCT to treat multiple sclerosis.

Rigorous evidence for the efficacy and safety of AHSCT in relation to other MS therapies, and the most appropriate circumstances for its use, is required for Australian hospitals and clinicians to provide this intervention with equity and with greater confidence in the potential outcomes, he said.

Australian hospitals and doctors are likely to recommend AHSCT as a possible treatment only if the other approved MS therapies are not working for an individual with MS or cannot be used in an individual for other reasons.

Despite Amandas MRI revealing her Central Nervous System was so progressed (with 35 lesions or more on the spine), she met the criteria for the treatment because of her mobility.

You have to be at a very healthy besides having MS, patients are tested from head to toe when they first arrive in hospital to ensure that they dont have any cancers or illnesses that could effect the viability of the treatment, said daughter Chloe.

The doctor was surprised after he saw how mobile mum still was considering the damage that he saw in her brain.

People arent accepted all of the time, some are told before they go and some are only told after all of the testing is completed in Moscow, then they are then sent home. International studies also suggest AHSCT does not halt or reverse progressive forms of the disease, and is therefore unlikely that

AHSCT would be recommended as a treatment for patients with secondary progressive or primary progressive MS.

Currently the treatment is provided in Australia through two observational clinical trials, at St Vincents, Sydney and Austin Health, Melbourne and by a small number of other centres on a case-by-case basis.

These centres have strict eligibility requirements that have been set by the hospital ethics committees and may only apply to limited numbers of patients with MS, Mr Ali said.

It is for this reason patients need to be referred to these centres by a neurologist, who can provide a detailed clinical history and MRI findings, Mr Ali said.

Mr Ali said that data from the large European Bone Marrow Transplant Registry suggests that in approximately 55 per cent of people with MS, treated with a range of different chemotherapy regimens, at three years of follow-up, inflammatory disease is halted with no evidence during the follow-up period of relapses, active brain lesions or disability progression.

After five years approximately 45 per cent of people remain progression free.

This case series included patients with both relapsing remitting and progressive disease, he said.

Other smaller studies have shown similar results, with remission of disease seen in these studies in at least 63 per cent of patients followed for a minimum of three years.

Most studies also show that the risk of disease activity returning gradually increases over longer periods of follow-up.

Mr Ali said in some but not all, of the people with MS who respond to AHSCT, some reversal of disability has been noted in some studies.

Other patients may continue to experience disease activity and disability progression (worsening) despite treatment with AHSCT, he said.

In people with progressive forms of MS or relapsing remitting MS of longer duration, the benefits of the procedure have been much less clear and accumulation of disability usually continues.

Amanda said they chose Moscow for the treatment because despite other countries offering the experimental procedure, after thorough research they found Russia had the highest rate of treatment success.

They accept advanced progressive MS where most of the other clinics offering it only treat relapsing remitting MS, she said.

I was still on my feet (only just) but people went over in wheelchairs, walkers, walking sticks and many were older than me.

For Chloe, who is training to become a nurse and who spent every spare moment researching AHSCT treatment said while they mostly compared the options available in Mexico and Russia, Russia stood out to them because it was cheaper and they had more experience.

One of the major influencing factors was that in Mexico patients stayed in a complex with they carer and in Russia patients stayed in a hospital, so we felt more reassured knowing that mum would have 24 hour care provided to her at the touch of a buzzer, she said.

Great lengths of a loving daughter

Although Amanda has lived with MS for 34 years, she feels like she is one of the lucky ones.

None of this would have been possible without Chloe. Her drive and determination surprises me every day, she said.

Researching, booking, fundraising and organising the whole trip, proves to me that I am the luckiest mum on earth.

Chloe was the driving force behind the push for treatment and the GoFundMe campaign which raised over half the $80,000 goal was with her mum every step of the journey.

I have found spending a month in Russia very interesting, the first couple of weeks for easy, but after that I just wanted to come home to Australia, the 19-year-old said.

Every day I would go and visit Mum in the morning and stay there with her until dark and then head on back to the hotel, I basically just did that every day.

I made some great friends with some other patients carers and so often we would catch up at the end of the day to recuperate and support each other.

Although the month spent away from her loved ones began to take its toll, Chloe has high hopes for the future.

It was very draining being over there, I felt like I wasnt doing much but I was just always so tired, she said.

Its amazing to see how quickly mum is healing after the treatment, but it will take some time to see what the true outcome for her is going to be.

In the end, we dont know what the future holds for mum and her MS, we are just thinking positively and hope that we see improvements over the next 12 months.

We feel very lucky that we had the opportunity to go over and are now advocating for other people to have the treatment as well.

Chloe and Amanda Weyman-Jones sightseeing in Moscow before the treatment began.

During the treatment.

Amanda Weyman-Jones with Greta and Theresa who were also going through the treatment.

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Working Together Working Together: Indianapolis couple offers Airbnb to healthcare workers Nicole Griffin 1:41 PM – WRTV Indianapolis

Working Together is a new WRTV initiative that focuses on telling impactful stories highlighting the wide range of cultures, areas and people that make central Indiana the place that it is. Through our Working Together initiative, we will share the stories of our communities and carry their voices forward. Were Working for You by Working Together.

INDIANAPOLIS The coronavirus outbreak is causing a major impact on those who host Airbnbs. What could have been an busy month is ending with virtually no business for an Indianapolis couple.

Jacks Von Liria and his husband Michael Hoster estimate they are out around $2,000 this month, so instead of letting their Holy Cross apartment sit empty, they wrote a Facebook post saying they know there are doctors and nurses that are busy saving lives and they want to offer their apartment to any healthcare worker who needs a place to stay for free.

"The business has been wiped out because there was no traveling no events, no restaurants," Von Liria said. "The stories they were telling us we're so heartbreaking we got overwhelmed. There are nurses sleeping in their cars because they can't go see their children."

Alison Isenhour, an X-ray technician for IU Health, said on Tuesday she was informed she was exposed to a person who had contact with a positive coronavirus patient. Her son, Adam, has leukemia and had a stem cell transplant in June 2019, and she has been advised to not go home.

"I was planning on just staying at the hospital for the weekend," Isenhour said. "It was nice to be able to get out and go somewhere else and decompress. I can't mess that up if I were to go home and said they were to happen to him whether it was my fault or not I would never let myself let it down.

While her husbands takes care of the kids, Isenhour now has a safe place to spend the weekend before returning to work Monday.

"I'm really glad that others will be able to have this moment as well. It's needed. I was tired when I got here yesterday. My legs hurt, I was mentally worn out, I was just fried from being there all week," Isenhour said.

Airbnb is currently helping 100,000 COVID-19 responders by connecting healthcare providers, relief workers and first responders with clean, convenient places to stay.

"Especially all the stories we've heard and knowing they need out there," Hoster said. "I'm hoping someone will watch this and want to help, too."

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Working Together Working Together: Indianapolis couple offers Airbnb to healthcare workers Nicole Griffin 1:41 PM - WRTV Indianapolis

Smith trying to turn the corner on cancer battle – Johnson City Press (subscription)

Now hes counting on skilled doctors along with an army of family and friends to help him fight a major battle with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Smith has been at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for the last couple of months. The longtime physical therapist, who is well known for treating athletes throughout Carter County, is currently in isolation because of treatments and the coronavirus pandemic. He received good news this week when his wife was allowed to join him in isolation.

They shut the hospital down to outside people coming in, said Dannys son, Justin, who followed in his dads footsteps at Physical Therapy Services in Elizabethton. But I think they changed their policy because people wanted a family member in the room, understandably so. She is basically in quarantine with him.

Justin said the family is hopeful Danny will be released from the hospital Tuesday. He would then stay in Houston, close to the hospital, for a week and return each day for testing.

Dannys faith has been at the forefront of his battle.

Its 100 percent faith based, said Justin. He has kept a positive outlook.

It wasnt the pandemic that initially forced Danny into isolation, Justin said. It was because his white blood cell count was so low after a stem cell transplant. His count should have been between 12 to 14, but it was zero.

He would have to be careful anyway, but hes more cautious now, Justin said. He was being cautious even when he was in chemo.

Smith was diagnosed last fall and found he had a rare form of the cancer, and it was aggressive.

You dont ever want aggressive cancer, but the good thing is they caught it early and were able to treat it, which is wonderful, said Justin.

Smith went through four rounds of chemo. Two of them came during Elizabethtons historic run to the Class 4A state football championship.

Because the chemo did so well, it made him a candidate for a stem cell transplant, Justin said. They do it because the long-term survivability with a stem cell transplant is like 86 percent.

Dannys well-known smiling face has been on a lot of peoples minds in the Elizabethton area. Justin said the support Danny has received has been nothing short of incredible.

It has been absolutely amazing, Justin said. Living in a small town has its plusses and minuses, this being one of the plusses. Everybody knows what is going on. Weve heard from so many people, even from as far away as Hawaii. The prayers, love and support have been amazing.

Part of the reason for that support is Dannys excellent work helping others, Justin said.

Excellent is the result of caring more than others think its wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible, he said.

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Smith trying to turn the corner on cancer battle - Johnson City Press (subscription)

Adam Castillejo ‘feared dying of cancer more than Aids and considered ending it all at Dignitas’ Daily Mail – westofthepond.com

Dailymail.co.uk

Adam Castillejo (pictured), 40, was known only as the London Patient when doctors revealed his success story last March after a stem cell transplant to treat his cancer.

The second person to be cured of HIV has revealed how he was more fearful of dying from cancer than Aids and considered ending his life at Dignitas.Adam Castillejo, 40, was known only as the London Patient when doctors revealed his success story last March after a stem cell transplant to treat his cancer.He remained anonymous until he decided he wanted to be seen as an ambassador of hope after struggling with his health for almost two decades.Mr Castillejo, who was born in Venezuela and moved to London in 2002, was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012, having already lived with HIV since 2003.His last hope of cancer survival was a bone marrow transplant from a donor with HIV-resistant genes that could wipe out his cancer and virus in one fell swoop.But in a powerful interview with The Sunday Times,Mr Castillejo admitted that he was more fearful of dying from stage 4 Hodgkins lymphoma than Aids.Calling the second diagnosis another death sentence, the sou-chef revealed that he panicked because cancer can kill you faster than HIV.Adam Castillejo, 40, was known only as the London Patient when doctors revealed his success story last March after a stem cell transplant to treat his cancerMr Castillejo embarked upon a gruelling treatment regime that left him physically emaciated and pushed the Venezuelan to the mental edge.Both illnesses became one because you had to deal with the anti-retroviral medications not interfering with thechemotherapy regime and vice versa, he said.By the end of 2014, he said that he had given up on battling the two illnesses, and had made up his mind to end it all at Dignitas in Switzerland.Around this time,Mr Castillejo disappeared, and was found four days later outside London psychologically broken. He does not remember this period.Doctors gave him six months to live, before a switch flicked.At that time I accepted straight away, because what choice have I got? I would rather die fighting, he explained.Within days, he met with Dr Ian Gabriel at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, who advised that he could attempt a bone marrow transplant.The procedure in May 2016 meantMr Castillejo was cleared of both cancer and HIV.But he lost five stone and took 60 pills a day, revealing: I told my doctors there werent enough hours in the day to take all the medication I needed.Mr Castillejo, who was born in Venezuela and moved to London in 2002, was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012, having already lived with HIV since 2003An American man treated in Germany 12 years ago called Timothy Ray Brown (pictured) the so-called Berlin Patient also survived the transplantHe also developed mouth ulcers which inhibited his ability to eat, and his anti-retroviral medication had to be crushed and washed down.Mr Castillejo also claimed that he felt victimised and guilty when he told people that he was suffering from HIV, saying: This is a punishment for you.The Venezuelan chef is the second person to have survived the life-threatening technique and come out the other side HIV-free.An American man treated in Germany 12 years ago called Timothy Ray Brown the so-called Berlin Patient also survived the transplant.He was put into an induced coma for six months, however.Experts have hailed the treatment as a milestone in the fight against HIV, but are urging caution when calling it a cure so early on.In the context of HIV infection, the term cure means there are no virus-carrying cells left.Anti-retroviral therapy is very effective at reducing the viral load in the blood of infected individuals so that it cannot be transmitted to others.Unfortunately, the Berlin and London Patients cases do not change the reality much for 37 million HIV patients.The treatment is unlikely to have potential on a wider scale because both Mr Castillejo and Mr Ray Brown were given stem cells to treat cancer, not HIV.Stem cell and bone marrow transplants are life-threatening operations with huge risks. Patients can suffer a fatal reaction if substitute immune cells dont take.In his private life, Mr Castillejo likes to walk the streets of Shoreditch and travel.Kat Smithson, director of policy at National AIDS Trust, said: We applaud the London Patient Adam Castillejo for sharing his unique experience of having his HIV cured following a bone-marrow transplant to treat cancer. Mr Castillejo has been through a long and extremely challenging journey with his health, within which HIV is just one part.His decision to speak about his experience without anonymity can only enrich our understanding of his experience on a human level, and we thank him for this.Theres still a great deal of stigma around HIV which can make it harder for people to access the services and support they need and for people to talk openly about HIV.His story helps raise much-needed awareness of HIV, but broader than that its a story about incredible resilience, determination and hope.How a stem cell transplant cured the Berlin and London Patients and how it can go badly wrongUsually, HIV patients expect to stay on daily pills for life to suppress the virus. When drugs are stopped, the virus roars back, usually in two to three weeksThe vast majority of humans carry the gene CCR5.In many ways, it is incredibly unhelpful. It affects our odds of surviving and recovering from a stroke, according to recent research.And it is the main access point for HIV to overtake our immune systems.But some people carry a mutations that prevents CCR5 from expressing itself, effectively blocking or eliminating the gene.Those few people in the world are called elite controllers by HIV experts. They are naturally resistant to HIV.If the virus ever entered their body, they would naturally control the virus as if they were taking the virus-suppressing drugs that HIV patients require.Both the Berlin patient and the London patient received stem cells donated from people with that crucial mutation.WHY HAS IT NEVER WORKED BEFORE?There are many reasons this hasnt worked, Dr Janet Siliciano, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com.1. FINDING DONORSIts incredibly difficult to find HLA-matched bone marrow [i.e. someone with the same proteins in their blood as you], Dr Siliciano said.Its even more difficult to find the CCR5 mutation.2. INEFFECTIVE TRANSPLANT LEADS TO CANCER RELAPSESecond, there is a risk that the bone marrow wont take.Sometimes you dont become fully chimeric, meaning you still have a lot of your own cells.This means they will not defeat the cancer if it returns again.3. THE OLD IMMUNE SYSTEM ATTACKS THE NEW ONEThe other most common reason this approach has failed is graft-versus-host disease: whenthe patients immune system tries to attack the incoming, replacement immune system, causing a fatal reaction in most.4. UNKNOWN QUANTITIESInterestingly, both the Berlin patient and the London patient experienced complications that are normally lethal in most other cases.And experts believe that those complications helped their cases.Timothy Ray Brown, the Berlin patient, had both his cancer returned and he developed graft-versus-host disease, putting him in a coma and requiring a second bone marrow transplant.The London patient had one: he suffered graft-versus-host disease.Against the odds, they both survived, HIV-free.Some believe that, ironically, graft-versus-host disease might have helped both of them to further obliterate their HIV.But there is no way to control or replicate that safely.

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Adam Castillejo 'feared dying of cancer more than Aids and considered ending it all at Dignitas' Daily Mail - westofthepond.com

Cell and gene therapy startup ElevateBio raises $170 million – Yahoo Lifestyle

While economic conditions and the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic may not make for the best atmosphere for raising funding, some companies are still announcing round closures with significant money committed. Cambridge-based ElevateBio, for instance, revealed a $170 million Series B funding on Monday, with participation from new investors The Invus Group, Surveyor Capital, EDBI, and Vertex Ventures, along with existing investors F2 Ventures, MPM Capital, EcoR1 Capital, Redmile Group and Samsara BioCapital.

ElevateBio, which was officially launched to the public less than a year ago, specializes in development of new types of cellular and genetic therapies, and operates by the creation of new companies under its portfolio each dedicated to the development and manufacturing of a specific type of therapeutic approach. This funding brings the total raised by ElevateBio to over $300 million, on top of a $150 million Series A round that the company announced last year, led by Swiss investment bank UBS' Oncology Impact Fund.

The biotech company has ramped up quickly, nearing completion of a 140,000 square foot facilitating in Massachusetts to focus on R&D. It also launched a company called AlloVir that's working on T-cell immunotherapy for combating viruses that specifically arise stem cell transplantations and is already in the later stages of clinical trials. Finally, it launched another company called HighPassBio, which is also aimed at helping treat stem cell-related diseases using T-cell therapies, in this case specifically around the potential relapse of leukaemia following a transplant.

As you might expect, ElevateBio is also turning the attention of some of its efforts towards research focused on mitigating the impact of COVID-19; specifically, its AlloVir subsidiary has expanding an existing research agreement in place with the Baylor College of Medicine to work on developing a type of T-cell therapy that can help protect patients with conditions that compromise their immune systems and put them at increased risk for COVID-19.

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Cell and gene therapy startup ElevateBio raises $170 million - Yahoo Lifestyle

Tom Coburn, the Dr. No of Congress, Is Dead at 72 – The New York Times

Tom Coburn, an ultraconservative Oklahoma Republican and family physician who in 16 years in Congress crusaded for limited government, using a rule-book technicality to block so many bills that frustrated legislators called him Dr. No, died on Saturday in Tulsa. He was 72.

The cause was cancer, said John Hart, his former communications director. Mr. Coburn had said in 2013 that he was being treated for a recurrence of prostate cancer, and in 2014 he announced that he would retire.

Mr. Coburn was an obstetrician who treated some 15,000 patients and delivered 4,000 babies in a maternal and family practice in Muskogee, Okla., before embarking on his political career three terms in the House of Representatives (1995-2001) and, after a four-year hiatus, two terms in the Senate (2005-15). He retired two years before the end of his second term because of deteriorating health.

A visceral foe of Washington long before such disaffections coalesced into the Tea Party, Mr. Coburn swept into Congress with the class of 1994, when Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years and installed Newt Gingrich as speaker and his Contract With America agenda to shrink government, cut taxes and promote welfare reforms and business activity.

Mr. Coburn soon set about displeasing everyone, including the constituencies most politicians covet: his own partys activists, donors, leaders and congressional colleagues. He battled with Mr. Gingrich often, charging that he was drifting to the political center and away from his contractual pledges to the nation. He openly vented his disdain for career politicians.

His contempt for them is genuine, bipartisan and in many cases mutual, The New York Times reported years later. He once prescribed a spinal transplant for 70 percent of the Senate, and another time said his colleagues had reproductive organs the size of BBs.

As if separating himself from the pack, Mr. Coburn continued to deliver babies as a member of the House. (He gave up his obstetric moonlighting only after a dispute with ethics officials when he entered the Senate.) But he won grudging respect as a political maverick and was admired by some colleagues as one of the toughest fiscal and social conservatives of his era.

For the sake of smaller government, he voted against nearly all spending bills, particularly pork-barrel allocations for the pet projects of legislators. He opposed gay rights, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research and abortions except those to save a womans life. He denied that global warming was real. He favored term limits for elected officials and pledged to abide by them himself.

In the House, he supported gun rights and favored the death penalty, even for doctors who performed abortions. He also wrote laws aimed at protecting infants from AIDS and expanding medical care for the elderly. He helped reform welfare and other federal entitlement programs, and led workshops for young staff members on sexually transmitted H.I.V. infections.

He caused a stir in 1997 when he protested NBCs decision to televise, in prime time and without editing, Schindlers List, Steven Spielbergs Oscar-winning Holocaust film. He called it televisions all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity, adding, I cringe when I realize that there were children all across this nation watching this program.

He was heavily criticized, including by the American Jewish Congress, which said: This isnt Melrose Place, Mr. Coburn. This is the Holocaust. He apologized to all those I have offended, but insisted that the film should have been aired later in the evening.

Keeping his campaign pledge to serve no more than three consecutive terms in the House, Mr. Coburn did not run for re-election in 2000. He resumed his medical practice, and in 2002 was appointed by President George W. Bush as a co-chairman of his advisory council on H.I.V. and AIDS, giving him a prominent platform as he prepared to run for the Senate.

Mr. Coburn also wrote a book about his experiences in Congress, Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders (2003, with Mr. Hart). In it, he called careerism the central tenet of Congress. Both parties today, he wrote, are ultimately controlled not by ideas, but by the desire to be in control, a posture that creates little motivation for bold change.

In 2004, Mr. Coburn won the Senate seat being vacated by a four-term Oklahoma Republican, Don Nickles. He handily defeated former Representative Brad Carson, a Democrat.

Mr. Coburn continued his conservative fiscal and social voting record, but with far wider public and media attention. He became notorious for using a procedural senatorial privilege, called a hold, with which a single senator could block bills from being voted on by the full Senate.

At first his obstructionist tactics were relatively innocuous. He blocked two 2007 bills honoring the 100th birthday of Rachel Carson and her landmark 1962 book, Silent Spring, which documented the environmental effects of pesticides. Mr. Coburn called the book junk science and the catalyst in the deadly worldwide stigmatization against insecticides, especially DDT.

Later bills blocked by Mr. Coburn included provisions for health care, penalties for child pornography and protections for natural resources. Senate business was dragging to a crawl under the tactical loophole he was exploiting.

In 2008, to expose and embarrass Mr. Coburn, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, introduced 35 of the most irresistible-sounding bills together as omnibus legislation. It was a benign collection that almost any senator would be ashamed to vote against: a Mothers Act to relieve postpartum depression, a Protect Our Children Act to thwart internet predators, and a shameless measure to commemorate The Star-Spangled Banner.

Tom Coburn put a hold on the package, which was mocked as the Tomnibus bill. He did not back down. Neither did Senate Democrats.

The struggle lasted two years, but came to a head when he put a hold on a bill to fund the disarming of the Lords Resistance Army, a Ugandan terrorist group that had massacred countless civilians and dragooned children into its ranks. After an 11-day round-the-clock protest outside Mr. Coburns office by people outraged that funds to suppress terrorists were being held up, he relented and the bill passed.

Re-elected in 2010, he pledged not to seek a third term. He left the Senate in early 2015 after retiring for health reasons, but continued to write and speak against government waste and profligate spending.

Thomas Allen Coburn was born in Casper, Wyo., on March 14, 1948, to Orin Wesley and Anita (Allen) Coburn. In Muskogee, where the family settled, his father was an optician who founded Coburn Optical Industries, which made ophthalmic equipment and eyeglass lenses. The company was sold to Revlon for $57 million in 1975, although the elder Mr. Coburn continued as president of the subsidiary. Tom Coburn graduated from Central High School in Muskogee in 1966.

In 1968 he married Carolyn Denton, the 1967 Miss Oklahoma. They had three daughters: Callie, Katie and Sarah, the operatic soprano. He is survived by his wife, his daughters and nine grandchildren.

At Oklahoma State University, Mr. Coburn was an honors student and president of the student business council. He graduated in 1970 with a bachelors degree in accounting. From 1970 to 1978, he was the manufacturing manager of the ophthalmic division of Coburn Optical Industries in Colonial Heights, Va.

After the family business was sold, he attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma and received his medical degree with honors in 1983. He interned at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, had a residency at the University of Arkansas Health Education Center in Fort Smith and returned to Muskogee to open his family and obstetrics practice.

He was a deacon of the Southern Baptist Church and participated in medical missions to Haiti in 1985 and Iraq in 1992.

His decision to run for Congress in 1994 was a long shot. He narrowly won, becoming the first Republican to represent Oklahomas Second Congressional District in 73 years.

Mr. Coburn had homes in Muskogee and Tulsa. Besides Breach of Trust, he wrote two books: The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington From Bankrupting America (2012, with Mr. Hart) and Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop Runaway Government (2017), about a plan for the states to amend the United States Constitution.

While he never drifted from his conservative convictions, Mr. Coburn forged a friendship in Washington that was as unlikely as it was enduring. Arriving in the Senate together in 2005, he and Barack Obama quickly bonded.

Shortly before he retired, Mr. Coburn said of Mr. Obama: I think hes a neat man. You dont have to be the same to be friends. Matter of fact, the interesting friendships are the ones that are divergent.

Jonathan Martin contributed reporting.

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Tom Coburn, the Dr. No of Congress, Is Dead at 72 - The New York Times

Iranian scientist claims to have invented drug for COVID-19 treatment – The Express Tribune

Masoud Soleimani says medicine can be used to treat coronavirus patients in three phases

Masoud Soleimani says medicine can be used to treat coronavirus patients in three phases. PHOTO: IRAN FRONT PAGE

As the novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the world, an Iranian scientist has claimed that he has invented a drug using stem cells for COVID-19 treatment.

Masoud Soleimani, the Iranian stem cell scientist who has been recently released from the US prison, says many doctors had used his drug to treat coronavirus patients and found it effective against the highly contagious disease,Iran Front Page reported on Saturday.

He says the medicine can be used to treat coronavirus patients in three phases in a period of three to six days.

Russia claims it produces drug to treat COVID-19

The important point in the development of the coronavirus medicine is that clinical tests are still being conducted on it, and we hope we will achieve better results in the coming days, he told the Iranian publication.

Final and complementary research work is underway for final approval of the drug, the scientist added.

Iran is among the few countries most affected by the pandemic. On Friday, the health ministry reported a death toll of 2,378 and total confirmed infections at 32,332 in the country.

Earlier in the day, PresidentHassan Rouhani said the countrys health infrastructure is strong and ready to cope with a possible escalation in coronavirus cases.

This article originally appeared in Iran Front Page

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Iranian scientist claims to have invented drug for COVID-19 treatment - The Express Tribune