Ageless Wellness treats arthritis with your own stem cells in Peachtree City – The Citizen.com

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People suffering from chronic joint pain and facing the prospect of surgery have an alternative treatment option with SVF (Stromal Vascular Fraction) stem cell therapy at Stem Cell Center of Georgia offered exclusively by Ageless Wellness Center of Peachtree City.

Stem cells are baby cells that can turn into any tissue in the body, including cartilage and bone, as well as muscle and nerves, explains Dr. Jamie Walraven of Ageless Wellness. Any disease process that is inflammatory, autoimmune or degenerative can be helped by stem cells, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, Walraven says. These can cause degeneration, swelling, inflammation, and clicking in the joints causing crippling pain. It often progresses to limited range of motion and mobility.

Linda Faulkner, Certified Family Nurse Practitioner at Ageless Wellness, says the treatment is recommended for anyone who has difficulty getting up steps, standing from a chair, walking, or bending due to osteoarthritis.

Anything that you use your knees for that causes pain limits your quality of life, Faulkner says. We get patients who want to be able to go to Disney World again with their grandkids.

Ageless Wellness uses adipocyte derived stem cells harvested from the patients own fat, performing a mini liposuction to obtain about a cup and a half, Walraven explains. The remaining process takes about an hour and a half.

After that we have 8 to 12 ml of stem cells plus growth factors, a stem cell soup if you will, Walraven says. We redeploy the stem cells into the joints and via IV to affect a positive outcome of regeneration of the cartilage, bone and synovial fluid in that knee. This is all done in our office in a procedure that takes approximately three hours from start to finish.

In patients with osteoarthritis, the SVF stem cell treatments have the potential to re-grow cartilage, Faulkner says.

So far, insurance companies have been reluctant to cover joint SVF stem cell therapy, Walraven says, and thats unfortunate because there really is no downtime to the procedure.

With knee surgery youre out of work for a good two weeks. Youre in rehab for a couple of months, Walraven says. Further, if you look at SVF stem cell treatment versus a knee surgery that insurance will pay for, theres a large out-of-pocket deductible.

Insurance wont pay for it until they figure out that it saves them money, she says. Knee replacement surgery usually isnt recommended until the condition is severe, because a knee replacement only lasts 10-15 years.

The ideal candidate is someone who either doesnt want to go through surgery or rehab, or cant have surgery for whatever reason, Walraven explains. Maybe theyre a poor surgical candidate or theyre too young, a 40- or 50-year-old weekend warrior that was an athlete back in the day but blew out their knees and hobbles around with pain.

That describes one Ageless Wellness patient named Eric, a policeman who was facing knee replacement surgery.

He had bone-on-bone in his right knee and wasnt able to exercise or run anymore during his workouts, Faulkner says. He presented with pain and was limited at work because of bending. We did SVF stem cell treatment and four months in did an enhancement with platelet-rich plasma.

At 11 months, Ageless Wellness took new x-rays of Erics knee that showed increased joint space and regenerated cartilage. He no longer suffers pain and is now able to exercise. Ageless Wellness is part of the Cell Surgical Network, which is operating under patient-funded clinical investigational research protocols. Patients are followed through a research database for five years. So far, 5,000 joint procedures have been done with no significant complications.

We cant ever guarantee results, but overall patients do exceptionally well, Walraven says. The majority have decreased pain and significant improvement in symptoms after SVF stem cell therapy.

Stem Cell Center of Georgia is located within Ageless Wellness Center at 1000 Commerce Drive, Suite 300, Peachtree City. For more information or to make an appointment, call 678-364-8414 or visit their website at agelesswellnessptc.com.

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Ageless Wellness treats arthritis with your own stem cells in Peachtree City - The Citizen.com

Retired Lexington Police Department Canine Undergoes Stem Cell Treatment – LEX18 Lexington KY News

LEXINGTON, Ky (LEX 18) A retired canine with the Lexington Police Department is still a big goofy dog that acts like a puppy, thanks to stem cell transplants, Garik can continue to do so with less pain.

The City of Lexington featured the dog's story on their website.

Officer Brian Burnette said that he is living the dream by getting to be an officer in the canine unit. He told the City of Lexington that after a couple of years of not connecting with one dog, he was switched to Garik the German Shepherd.

As soon as I got him, we could hit the street together. His drive, we just matched perfectly together, he said.

He described the now seven-year-old dog as a big goofy dog that acts like a puppy and enjoys sniffing for little sticks or twigs in the grass.

While Garik is an active, playful dog, in 2016, Burnette began to notice that something was different. Garik was in a lot of pain. His legs would shake while they were out and he would trip. The department thought that Garik might have hip dysplasia, but Garik had developed a degenerative bone spur on his spine, causing him much pain.

Garik retired and Burnette took him home to live a relaxed life, but Burnette was still concerned about the dog's pain.

That's when a Nicholasville-based company came to the rescue.

Dr. Jeff Baker, President and COO of MediVet Biologics offered a free stem cell kit for Garik.

My mom's a cancer survivor. And she's had stem cell transplants. But I had no idea they even did this for dogs, Burnette told the City of Lexington.

During the treatment, stem cells are extracted from Garik's fat tissue and then re-injected into his body. The procedure is done at Woodford Animal Hospital.

Garik has received two stem cell injections so far.

While the therapy won't cure Garik's condition, they say it will relieve his pain significantly.

This isn't the first time MediVet has helped service dogs, they also donated stem cell therapy kits to the dogs that searched Ground Zero and the Pentagon after 9/11.

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Retired Lexington Police Department Canine Undergoes Stem Cell Treatment - LEX18 Lexington KY News

Stem Cell Tourism Is the Controversial Subject of a New Cannes Documentary – Vogue.com

A fascinating documentary that is making the rounds at film festivals like Tribeca and Cannes gives a rare view of a controversial treatment that more and more Americans are paying up to $50,000 to receive. Stem cell therapy is widely considered to be the next big hope in medicine, with researchers everywhere from Stanford to Johns Hopkins investigating the technologys potential to treat seemingly every ailment known to mankindAlzheimers, cancer, joint injuries, even basic signs of aging. The only hitch: With one tiny exception, it isnt legal in the United States.

We all know the stem cell revolution is occurring outside the U.S., says Brian Mehling, M.D., a Manhattan-based orthopedic surgeon who is certainly doing his part to foment the insurgency. A coproducer of the film, as well as its charismatic recurring subject, Mehling is bringing stem cell tourism into the spotlight and determined to lift the curtain on a medical field that remains mysterious to most. His Blue Horizon medical clinics, with locations in China and Slovakiaand three more set to open in Mexico, Israel, and Jamaicacater to American tourists looking to cutting-edge therapy for help when traditional medicine fails.

Stem cells are the undifferentiated cells that abound in newborns and have the ability to transform into blood, nerve, or muscle cells and aid the body in self-repair. Proselytizers like Mehling say they constitute the latest in holistic medicine, allowing the body to healwithout drugs, surgery, or side effects. At clinics such as Mehlings, doctors either inject the cells, which are generally obtained from umbilical cords during C-sections, into a patients spinal cord (much like an epidural), or administer them via IV drip. The process is alarmingly quick, and patients can typically check out of the facility by the end of the day. One of the few stem-cell therapies approved for use in the United States is one used to treat the blood disease known as beta thalassemia; in that instance, the treatment replaces damaged blood in the immune system and saves tens of thousands of lives each year. Few other stem cell applications, however, have been proven effective in the rigorous clinical trials the Food and Drug Administration requires before signing off on any treatment.

In fact, stem cell clinics remain completely unregulated, and there have been incidents of related troubles. In one recent report , Jim Gass, a resident of San Diego who traveled to stem cell clinics in Mexico, China, and Argentina to help recover from a stroke, later discovered a sizable tumor on his spinal columnand the cancerous cells belonged to somebody else. Troubling cases also emerged at a loosely regulated clinic in Sunrise, Florida where, earlier this spring, three women suffering macular degeneration reported further loss of vision after having stem cells, extracted from their belly fat via liposuction, injected into their eyes. Though, on the whole, reports of treatments at clinics gone awry remain relatively few.

In his film, Stem Cells: The Next Frontier , which is set to appear at Cannes Film Festival this month, Mehling offers a persuasive side of the story, with rapturous testimonials from patients, some of whom who have regained the ability to walk after their stem cell vacations. Added bonus: They come home with better skin, bigger sex drive, and (in the case of at least one balding patient) more hair.

However compelling, there is scant evidence that the injections actually make a difference, and most American doctors caution against buying into the hype. Stem cell researcher Jaime Imitola, M.D. and Ph.D, director of the progressive multiple sclerosis clinic research program at Ohio State University, says he is impressed by the evidence that stem cells can help with neurological disorders in animals. But the question is how can you translate it into clinical trials? We still dont know what were doing when we put stem cells in people.

David Scadden, a professor of medicine and stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard, and the director of Harvards Stem Cell Institute, says that stem cell tourism is a waste of money for the time being. A world-renowned expert in stem cell science, he remains optimistic about its future applications. Researchers are currently looking into reprogramming, for instance, which effectively converts a mature cell into a stem cell. You rewind its history so it forgets its a blood cell or a skin cell and it rewinds back in time and it can become any cell type, he says. Youd be able to test drugs on these cells, and it could be used to reverse Type 1 diabetes.

For now, though, he does not recommend experimenting with stem cells before we understand them well enough to properlyand safelyharness their benefits. People call me about it all the timethey say, I have this knee thats bugging me, Im going to one of these clinics, he says. His response? For the most part they dont do harm. But nobody Ive spoken with has come back to me and said, You Harvard docs have to get on this . . . . Not yet.

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Stem Cell Tourism Is the Controversial Subject of a New Cannes Documentary - Vogue.com

Blood study insight could improve stem cell therapy success – Medical Xpress

May 12, 2017

Researchers have pinpointed a key enzyme that is vital for the production of fresh blood cells in the body. The enzyme is essential for the survival of specialised stem cells that give rise to new blood cells, the study found. Experts say the findings could help to improve the success of stem cell therapies that are being developed to treat some blood cancers and disorders of the immune system.

Enzyme

Scientists focused on an enzyme called fumarase, which is known to play a key role in the generation of energy inside cells. Children with gene mutations that affect fumarase have blood defects, which prompted researchers to investigate its function.

The mouse study found that deletion of fumarase from blood cells causes major defects in new blood cell production. These defects could be traced back to defects in the specialised stem cells that give rise to new blood cells. Blocking the enzyme causes a molecule called fumarate to build up inside the cells, which has wide-ranging toxic effects.

Stem cells

The study sheds new light on the conditions that blood stem cells need to survive, which could help to boost the success of stem cell therapies, the researchers say. Stem cell metabolism is an emerging field of research with an immense therapeutic potential. In future, we hope to identify the biochemical pathways affected by fumarate in stem cells and, by manipulating these pathways, improve the success of stem cell transplant therapies.

Professor Kamil Kranc says, "The research was prompted when researchers noticed that children with genetic mutations in the fumarase gene have blood defects."

The research was prompted when researchers noticed that children with genetic mutations in the fumarase gene have blood defects.

Scientists from the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh led the study.

The research is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine and was funded by The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund, Cancer Research UK, Bloodwise, Tenovus Scotland and Wellcome.

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Stop MS: Buena Vista’s Chris Martin set to try cutting-edge stem cell program – Chaffee County Times

Buena Vista resident Chris Martin just wants to stop the progression. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis almost 11 years ago, Martin is set to begin his first round of experimental umbilical stem cell therapy from Denver Regenerative Medicine next month.

Martin experienced his first symptoms in 2006, while running the Super 8 motel in town. He was having difficulty counting money, using his hands and walking.

Initially Martin and doctors thought it could have been a stroke or a tumor, but that was quickly shown not to be the case following an MRI.

While the initial MRI showed some signs of potential multiple sclerosis, doctors cant diagnose patients with the disease until additional symptoms or followup attacks are shown. It took another 2 years before Martin was diagnosed.

Whats terribly frustrating with all these diseases, whether its Parkinsons, MS or Alzheimers, is they dont really know what causes it, why it goes fast, they dont know why it goes slow (in some cases). They dont know if Copaxone is going to be good for you or if Rebif is going to be good for you. They just dont know. It was just a big shrug of the shoulders, Martin said about initially dancing through the minefield of doctors and diagnoses when he was first seeking treatment.

Rebif and Copaxone are both medications used to treat MS, both prescribed to Martin at various times over the years.

In laymens terms, MS happens when your immune systems attacks the fatty myelin materials that wrap around your protective nerve fibers, making it difficult for you brain and body to communicate effectively.

Since the nervous system doesnt work as intended, sufferers of MS can experience muscle spasms, numbness and tingling in parts of the body and trouble walking, among many other symptoms.

It was probably about 2015 that my leg started twitching at night and not really a lot of pain, just discomfort especially in my left leg which feels like it weighs about 400 pounds, Martin said, while manually stretching out the leg with his right arm. At least in this stage of MS, its not terribly painful, but I started to get symptoms of twitching at night time which is pretty common. The only thing that really seemed to calm it down was medical marijuana.

To help sleep, Martin usually takes an indica strain marijuana edible at night to help with the twitching and to get restful sleep, he said.

Indica strains, as opposed to the sativa strains, are know for their physically sedating effects and can help with physical and mental relaxation.

Martin also found some solace in juicing the leaves of marijuana plants, but said it became too difficult because of the amount of leaves needed for the juice.

Doctors do not yet know what causes the disease, but research into various forms of stem cell therapy have shown promise to ease symptoms and to slow or even stop the progression of the disease.

Martin began looking into clinics and stem cell therapy options last year.

Various forms of stem cell treatment exist, including bone marrow transplants and a form of stem cell therapy that utilizes cells taken from adipose tissue, or fat cells, harvested from the patients own body. After talking with several clinics and doctors, Martin decided on umbilical stem cell therapy.

The treatments, however, are costly and Martins insurance provider will not cover the experimental procedure.

None of these stem cell clinics claim to cure anything for obvious reasons. Some people maybe dont get anything from it (treatment), maybe they get a little bit better. So if you get a little bit better and spend $20,000, is the patient happy or not happy? Its a quality of life question, Martin said.

Martin met with a doctor at Denver Regenerative Medicine who explained the process.

A bio company harvests the stem cells and processes them before shipping them to doctors practicing regenerative medicine across the country. Then the stem cells are injected through an IV.

He will be only the third MS patient to receive this form of stem cell therapy from the doctor administering it, Martin said.

The company harvesting the stem cells is Burst Biologics, Martin said.

One patient that had received stem cell treatment from Denver Regenerative Medicine told Martin that the first 24 hours after the stem cell injection, she had a euphoric experience.

She was walking well and had even cleaned her entire house after relying on a wheelchair and cain prior to the injection. After the initial 24 hours, however, she told Martin that the effects from the injection had begun to go away and she felt like she had prior to the injection.

After about a month, she started to feel good again and shes no longer in a wheelchair and shes walking really well with her cane, Martin said she told him. She highly recommends it. She just cant believe how good shes feeling.

Another patient from Denver Regenerative Medicine told Martin that after his injection and a followup injection, he hasnt seen much of an effect.

My gut feeling is the doctors good because hes kind of on the leading edge, but hes not the key to this stem cell. Its the biology company, in my opinion, is the brains behind all of this because theyre the ones harvesting the stem cells, processing it and getting it ready, Martin said.

With around a month before Martin begins his first treatment, he said hes solely focused on getting his body in the best shape possible.

I want to get my body as strong as possible to react to the stem cells the best that it can. And that involves more trips to the gym, getting my hormones balanced correctly and making sure that I dont miss a dose of any of my nutritional medicines, Martin said.

A little over a decade since Martin was diagnosed, he said he can feel the progression of the disease gradually increasing day-to-day.

By trade, Martin is an engineer, making the mysterious nature and complications of the disease difficult to come to terms with since there is no workable or obvious solution, but maybe the stem cell injection will help. Hes optimistic.

Its gotten worse in the last 2 years, so my ability to move in the last 2 years has been hard. Now its been almost 11 years and the last two years, its definitely slid faster than the previous 9. As an engineer, I think about it as accelerating and I ask the doctor why and its I dont know, Martin said. Statistically, the doctor did say in the old days, you either go down relatively quick, like a 25-year-old gets MS and theyre in a wheelchair at 27 or they do pretty well for 10 years and then it starts to drop off. And Im at my 10 years, so yeah, Im concerned about it dropping off. I would like it to stabilize and I would like to get the word out to other people from Parkinsons to MS to neurological mysteries to keep pushing the industry forward. Im excited about it, thats the bottom line.

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This Gun Sprays Stem Cells, Helps Burn Victims Grow Skin in Days – Men’s Health

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This Gun Sprays Stem Cells, Helps Burn Victims Grow Skin in Days Men's Health A revolutionary new technique is enabling burn victims to heal quicker, less painfully, and with more normal skin. And it's all thanks to a gun. The SkinGun sprays stem cells onto wounds and allows patients to grow a new, healthy layer of skin in as ...

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This Gun Sprays Stem Cells, Helps Burn Victims Grow Skin in Days - Men's Health

AJ Foyt on fear, his stem cell therapy and more – Indianapolis Star

The Indy 500 legend has been through several highs and lows recently. Clark Wade/IndyStar

Indianapolis 500 legend A.J. Foyt.(Photo: Clark Wade/IndyStar)Buy Photo

Its been a long and wild ride, and A.J. Foyt has enjoyed nearly every second of it.

I had a lot of fun, the 82-year-old racing legend told IndyStar on Wednesday at his racing garage in Speedway. If I passed out talking to you right now and fell on the floor, at least I made good money, had a happy life and what else can you ask for? So many people are so miserable with their jobs and that. I had a wonderful job doing what was fun.

Foyts job driving into racing's history books provided him with a lifetimes worth of close friends, amazing stories and thrilling adventures. But it also often required him to put his life on the line.

"I guess I was a little bit crazy back in those days,"Foyt, who walks with a limp but without assistance, said with a smile.

But being crazy was part of the job, he said. He needed it to overcome his fears.

"A lot of race drivers you talk to these days say they've never been scared in racing," Foyt said. "Well, they're lying to you and they're lying to themselves. I cannot name you one race at one time or another thatI didn'tscare the hellout of myself. Honestly. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'm just being honest with you."

Read more from Jim: Alexander Rossi is starting to feel at home in Indy

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Despite thosehealthy fears, his long and prestigious racing career resulted ina laundry list of injuries and eventual ailments that would and have horrifieddoctors.

The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion has stared death and dismemberment in the face more times than hed care to count, dealing withcar wrecks, killer bees, a bulldozer accident, heart ailments and two staph infections. As a result, hes nearly had his feet amputated,broken his back two or three times, has two false knees and a false hip, a titanium plate in his chest from open heart surgeryand said hell be on antibiotics for the rest of his life because of the amount of metal he has inside of him.

But he's far from discouraged and fightsto keep going with the same vigor and courage the colored his youth. One way he's done so recently is by undergoing stem cell therapy.Foyt said his wife, Lucy, who suffers from diabetes and arthritis, suggested that they both take on the treatment in order to try and find "the fountain of youth."

I mainly did it for her, Foyt said. She got sugar diabetes real bad, and (is) pretty sick, but, of course, I did it for myself too, dont get me wrong. But shes really been suffering the last five or six years. So we just thought wed try it.

A.J. and Lucy Foyt spent seven days in Cancun, Mexico the treatment is not performed in the United States undergoing a therapy he said likely wont take effect for another month at least. A.J. Foyt had adult stem cells injected into each shoulder and ankle, as well as into his blood.

Theres no guarantees the treatment will help either of them, but the uncertainty doesnt bother him.

I figure if we gain something, fine, and if we dont, well, Ive lost before," Foyt said.

But giving Foyt an edge in his fight against injury, ailment and Father Timeis a competitive fire that has burned within him his whole life.

A little more than a month ago, Foyt and fellow driving legend Dan Gurney were honored in Long Beach, Calif., for the 50th anniversary of their all-American victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans. Many racing greats attended the event, and Foyt was happy to see them, but he couldn't help but stackhimself up one more time against his old rivals.

I guess Im doing better than them, Foyt said with a smile. Poor Parnelli (Jones) has a lot of back trouble. Dan was in a wheelchair. Last three or four years Ive been going in and out of them, but Im still going pretty strong. So far Im hanging in there pretty good. ...Every days a good day. And Iguess thats good when youre getting ready to kick."

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.

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A trade in desperation: The rise of stem cell tourism – Pursuit

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We believe in the free flow of information. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives 3.0 Australia (CC BY-ND 3.0 AU), so you can republish our articles for free, online or in print.

All republished articles must be attributed in the following way and contain links to both the site and original article: This article was first published on Pursuit. Read the original article.

Associate Professor Megan Munsie, Dr Casimir MacGregor, Dr Claire Tanner, Jane Brophy and Professor Alan Petersen

In Australia, in recent years, there have been a number of news reports of patients and carers travelling overseas for stem cell treatments. Their journeys are part of a wider international trend, commonly referred to as stem cell tourism, whereby patients and their carers travel across geographical borders and jurisdictions to receive treatments that are experimental or clinically unproven, and hence, may not be available to them where they live.

The stories features in the news are often framed within a now-familiar narrativedesperate patients full of hope investing in treatments that promise much, and scientists and doctors voicing frustrations about entrepreneurial charlatans or cowboys operating at the margins of medicine and exploiting regulatory loopholes to sell snake oil.

Why, authorities ask, do patients and carers embark on such treatments that are unlikely to provide benefit, are expensive, and potentially in inflict great harm?

By their accounts, patients and carers tended to embark on the search for information, about the condition itself and about treatment options, very soon after diagnosis, and often in the absence of definitive expert advice.

Ivan, a father-carer of a child with cerebral palsy, articulated a commonly expressed view; namely, that no one gave us any real direction so we sort of had to do all the research ourselves.

Research can be long and tortuous, spanning in some cases a period of years, and take individuals and their families down numerous avenues, and sometimes blind alleys. Their post-diagnostic experience is thus in many respects similar to that of other patients, such as those suffering genetic conditions, long reported in the literature.

However, the rise of the internet and social media, along with the burgeoning number of online resources, has radically changed the architecture of choice. During their investigations, patients and carers encounter an array of online resources, found primarily via search engines such as Google, and information provided by disease-specific patient communities, individual patients and their families, as well as information offered by providers on their websites.

A number mentioned the importance of Facebook for sharing information, and YouTube videos and blogs for finding relevant sources. Through these avenues, and invariably after being advised of their limited options by their treating doctors after diagnosis, individuals soon came to the realisation that their options for proven treatment in Australia were limited or non-existent.

The nature of the condition and the prognosis constrain options and the potential and urgency to pursue those that are available. Individuals who embark on a stem cell treatment are in most cases struggling with severe, life-limiting conditions (e.g. spinal cord injury, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy), some terminal and, for many, time is of the essence.

As one patient, Greg, with a progress degenerative neurological disease affecting movement, explained in relation to his decision to pursue stem cell treatment in China: If youre in a condition like mine or cancer ... you will try these sorts of things. If you havent got a condition like that you tend to be more sceptical.

As he reasoned, stem cell treatment seemed to have more going for it than the whole range of things out there and, as they were financially able to undertake treatment, Well, why not try it now while I can?.

At least in one case, an element of pragmatism played a role in the decision to undertake stem cell treatment. Parents of a child with cerebral palsy, Ivan and Vlasta, said they had explored and tried various therapies and hoped that stem cell therapy would offer something differenta sort of more attractive way of try and give him a little boostthereby obviating the need for intensive, time- consuming daily therapy. As they explained, Were very busy people and running [a] business, and we have very little time to ourselves. This pragmatism also appeared to be a factor in their decision to take their child for treatment in Germany and China.

In their search for options, some individuals experimented with diets and complementary and alternative therapies.

Two patientsa patient with multiple sclerosis and a mother-carer of a child with autismmentioned that their research had uncovered the role of nutrition, which had led them to exclude gluten and dairy from their diet, which they felt had resulted in improvements in health.

In the latter case, as in a number of others, stem cell treatment was seen as additional to rather than supplanting complementary and alternative therapiesas one of an array of options that was seen as worth exploring. For some participants, clinics that were offering treatment packages, which included a range of therapies beyond Western biomedicine (i.e. acupuncture, massage, traditional Chinese medicine) in addition to stem cells, were particularly attractive and influenced their decision of where to travel.

The lack of stem cell treatment options in Australia was often cited as being crucial in the decision to travel overseas. Many individuals commented or implied that stem cell treatment should have been available to them in Australia and, since it was not, they felt that they had no choice but to seek treatment overseas.

One carer, Donna, whose partner suffered a rare neurological condition, when asked about the benefits for people travelling overseas for stem cell treatments, responded: Well you cant get it here so you dont really have a choice. If you want to try it ... well you dont have a choice.

A patient who had spinal cord injury, Axel, expressed similar sentiments when explaining the treatment challenges confronting those in his community: If theres no treatment available in Australia now and there wont be for a long time ... weve got no choice but to go over- seas to get treatment in the future.

Indeed, some described feeling desperate about their situation, underlining the anguish that they experienced. As we explain, this sense of abandonment, loss of hope and/or desperation does not always lead to the decision to pursue treatment; however, for virtually all, this perceived hopelessness and limited options or no choice in Australia defined the context within which decisions were made.

Banner image: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images

This is an edited book extract from Stem Cell Tourism and the Political Economy of Hope whichis published by Palgrave Macmillan. More information is available here.

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How stem cell treatments can improve your sex life – Good4Utah

Utah Stem Cells Joint Treatment and Wellness Center is now offering treatments that could improve your sex life.

Dr. William Cimikoski is now performing procedures called the "O shot" (short for Orgasm Shot) and the "P shot" (short for Priapus shot).

The O shot and the P shot are both trademarked names and Dr.Cimikoski is a certified provider for these procedures.

The O shot is for sexual enhancement for women and helps them achieve orgasm better, and also treats incontinence. The P shot is for Erectile Dysfunction for men, which 50% of all men suffer from.

They work the same way that stem cells and PRP work to heal damaged joints. They can make the sexual tissue more healthy in both men and women.

Utah Stem Cells Joint Treatment and Wellness Center is offering a Mother's Day gift certificate for $200 off the procedure. For any couples that want to come in together they would receive a 20% discount for them both to do the procedure.

This article contains sponsored content.

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US Stem Cell Inc (OTCMKTS:USRM) Starting to Open Eyes – The Oracle Dispatch

White Papers are used often by Biotech companies as a tool to secure financing and US Stem Cell Inc (OTCMKTS:USRM)utilized a White Paper Series to open the eyes of investors as to how significant the results were. Normally this prompts those who take the time to read them and creates an Ah Ha, moment where the light goes on for the investor.

If you look at the timing of the White Paper released by Kristen Comella in late January you can see how the market reacted to this information. The stock went from triple zero sub penny to near .13 cents, which is a very large move. USRM went on to secure financing and has funding for operations for years to come, it is good to see stocks where this process works with fluidity, more microcap stocks should be looking at employing this White Paper marketing strategy to secure investors.

US Stem Cell Inc (OTCMKTS:USRM)is a Florida corporation and leader in novel regenerative medicine solutions and physician-based stem cell therapies to human and animal patients.Effects of the intradiscal implantation of stromal vascular fraction plus platelet rich plasma in patients with degenerative disc disease was published in the January volume of theJournal of Translational Medicine. The study focused on the implantation of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) in patients suffering from degenerative disc disease. Patients underwent a local tumescent liposuction procedure to remove approximately 60 ml of fat tissue from the abdomen. The fat was separated to isolate the SVF and the cells were delivered directly into the damaged discs. Patients were monitored for a period of 6 months post-treatment, noting considerable decreases in pain and increases in flexion.

Ms. Comellas previous paper, Effects of the intramyocardial implantation of stromal vascular fraction in patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy, was released in theJournal of Translational Medicines June 2016 edition. Using the same procedure, chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy patients were evaluated after SVF injection and able to walk more than 80 additional meters 3 to 6 months after treatment.

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U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., is committed to new technological advancements and therapies that give a renewed sense of hope to patients with degenerative diseases. SVF is the latest therapy in a long line of successful treatments the company pioneered. Ms. Comella plans to continue her work with SVF, which has consistently repeated its strong safety profile and success in treating patients.

The second piece of the puzzle was raising capital and the company recently secured a commitment to invest up to $5,000,000 from private equity firm General American Capital Partners LLC (GACP) in exchange for up to 63,873,275 shares of common stock.

We see exponential growth in the stem cell industry, estimated to grow to $170 billion by 2020, said Joseph DaGrosa, Jr., a Principal with General American Capital Partners. We are very pleased to join forces with U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., a leader in regenerative medicine solutions, to help expand our role in this important market.

The 21st Century Cures Act, signed into effect in December of 2016, builds on the FDAs ongoing efforts to advance medical product innovation and ensure that patients get access to treatments as quickly as possible, with continued assurance from high quality evidence that they are safe and effective.

Patient demand for regenerative medicine procedures as a viable alternative to surgery, as well as the transformative capacity of stem cell therapies, are leading the way to increased acceptance by both the medical and regulatory communities, said Mike Tomas, President and CEO of U.S. Stem Cell, Inc.

Few know that as recently as December 2015 these shares were near $2.00 as stem cell was a sector in biotech that had big multiples and a larger hope for the future. U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. (OTCMKTS:USRM) has renewed this hope for many shareholders who have stayed with the stock. Through consolidation and internal organizational changes the company has combined operating divisions (US Stem Cell Training, Vetbiologics, and US Stem Cell Clinic)which include the development of proprietary cell therapy products. They also generate physician and patient based regenerative medicine and cell collection and cell storage services, the sale of cell collection and treatment kits for humans and animals, and the operation of a cell therapy clinic.

The White Papers take the time to explain how the science works, and all this company needed was one yes answer from a larger investor to secure financing to jump start operations and ultimately the stock price. USRM is one of the most exciting stories on the OTC stay tuned we will update the story soon.For more news on $USRM and other fast-moving penny stocks, please subscribe to OracleDispatch.com below.

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US Stem Cell Inc (OTCMKTS:USRM) Starting to Open Eyes - The Oracle Dispatch