The Miracle of Stem Cell Therapy at Adler Footcare Regenerates Cells, Heals Foot Pain

New York, New York (PRWEB) October 29, 2014

Stem cell therapy is the future of foot pain treatment. New York podiatrists at Adler Footcare are using ethical stem cell treatments for foot problems to help speed healing, minimize pain, and reduce swelling.

Stem cells are cells that havent quite yet determined their role in the body. This gives them the ability to turn into anything. The treatment is being used for problems causing foot pain, such as Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and arthritis of the first toe joint. Stem cells help regenerate new cartilage and helps tissue heal much quicker.

"Stem cells turn into everything," said Dr. Jeffrey Adler, Medical/Surgical Director & Owner of Adler Footcare. "So basically, if the damage is due to cartilage, they turn into cartilage. If the damage is due to soft tissue, they turn into soft tissue. Its the Swiss army knife of treatments."

The stem cells are not live embryos, but instead are generated from the placenta and ethically obtained during the C-sections of live births. The women who the cells are taken from are screened and tested for any communicable diseases beforehand.

Stem cell therapy uses a minimally invasive technique to inject the cells directly into the area where the patient is feeling the foot pain. Fluoroscopy is used to determine the exact position for injection. When stem cell therapy is used healing occurs twice as fast. As the tissues are regenerated and the swelling is minimized, the patient is able to experience more range of motion, less post-operative pain, and less inflammation.

The New York podiatrists at Adler Footcare have been using stem cell therapy for 2 years. They continue to stay up-to-date on the process and have seen only positive results.

To learn more about stem cell treatment for foot pain, contact a New York podiatrist at Adler Footcare.

About Dr. Jeffrey L. Adler

Dr. Jeffrey L. Adler, Medical/Surgical Director and Owner of Adler Footcare of Greater New York has been practicing podiatric medicine since 1979 and has performed thousands of foot and ankle surgeries. Dr. Adler is board certified in Podiatric Surgery and Primary Podiatric Medicine by the American Board of Multiple Specialties in Podiatry. Dr. Adler is also a Professor of Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery for the Academy of Ambulatory Foot and Ankle Surgeons. As one of only several in the country who perform minimally invasive podiatric surgery, Dr. Adlers patients enjoy significantly reduced recovery times.

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The Miracle of Stem Cell Therapy at Adler Footcare Regenerates Cells, Heals Foot Pain

Gene therapy, stem cell therapy trials underway

Stem cells and gene hold promising treatment options for Parkinson's, mandate doctors across the globe, including from Mumbai. Eleven trials to test stem cell and gene therapy for treating Parkinson's are underway currently of which the one in Mumbai had to be put on hold due to regulatory hurdles.

Currently, neuro-augmentative therapies such as usage of drugs or deep brain stimulation (DBS) are being used to treat Parkinson's disorder. "The future holds hope for neuro-restorative therapies like that of stem cells or gene infusion in the Parkinson's disorder treatment. It involves restoration of brain function to normal. In the next five to seven years, this may pave the way for future," said Dr Paresh Doshi, neurologist at Jaslok Hospital, Peddar Road in Mumbai.

Regulatory hurdles and resource constraints though have led to these trials being held up in Mumbai. Dr Doshi said that trials of Duodopa therapy which involves infusion of an active ingredient gel called Levodopa in the intestines has been kept on hold at the moment at privately-run Jaslok Hospital due to regulatory hurdles. The hospital was the only centre in entire South East Asia to have been running the trial.

"Levodopa gets converted into dopamine in the body. Normal levels of dopamine control Parkinsons disorder," said Dr Doshi.

Trials to infuse stem cells from the patient's body in the patient itself had been underway in small group of patients in India, but due to inability to recruit more patients, the trial was stopped. "We could only recruit four patients for two years. However, a similar trial is underway in China and another trial which explores adipose tissue stem cells in treating Parkinson's disease is underway in South Africa," said Dr Doshi.

In January this year, medical journal The Lancet reported that after sixteen years of trials, gene therapy is showing promising results in humans. "Three genes that promote the formation of dopamine generating cells in the brain were injected in the brain bound with a viral vector in fifteen patients. The genes are intended to boost the production of dopamine, a chemical that becomes deficient in patients withParkinson's," said The Lancet report.

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Gene therapy, stem cell therapy trials underway

Toxin-producing stem cells fight brain tumors where it matters most

When it comes to new tumor-fighting treatments, its often as much about location, location, location as it is the actual drug interaction. Cytoxin-producing stem cells produced by scientists at Harvard University lodge at the site of brain tumor removal to continually attack remaining tumor cells. As an alternative to drug treatments that can be invasive or ineffective, the researchers saw promising results against glioblastomas, which hold the dubious distinction of being the most common and most fatal brain cancer.

When surgery is performed to remove a brain tumor, tumor cells are left behind. The common course of treatment to eradicate those remaining cells involves inserting a catheter directly into the brain to dispenses drugs which would otherwise not make it through the blood-brain barrier. However, one particular toxin, Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE), while effective and tolerated by humans, has a very short half-life and when washed over the area where the tumor was removed, degrades before significant interaction occurs with the target cells.

The research team under the direction of Khalid Shah instead created stem cells that were capable of independently producing this cytotoxin. Prior to this research, PE and other toxins had been engineered to not enter (and thus subsequently destroy) any human cells they came into contact with. However, Shahs stem cells would need to have this resistance when the toxin was by design already inside the cell.

After genetically constructing a stem cell that produced a toxin that it also could resist, the next design trick involved encapsulating those cells inside a gel matrix that the lab had previously used to test other tumor-fighting techniques. Their previous research found that the matrix kept the cells and resulting toxins in close proximity to the tumor cells.

This cell-doped gel can then be placed within the cavity created when a tumor is removed and could potentially remove the need to insert catheters for recurring drug treatments. To test this technique, mice first were given different strains of glioblastomas, which is important because not all strains respond in the same way to treatments. Researchers then removed the tumors and inserted the stem cell matrix.

When mice treated in this fashion were compared with those who received the same drug via catheter, and those mice who only had surgery, median survival for those three groups fell out significantly in favor of the stem cell group at 79 days versus 48 for those receiving catheter treatment, and 26 for the control. Additionally, no tumors regrew in those mice with the stem cell matrix, a result not seen in the other groups.

The treatment could have some promising applications, such as engineering cells to dispense multiple toxins, or even based directly off the patients tumor. Shah predicts there could be clinical trials for this technique within five years.

The research was originally published in the journal Stem Cells.

Source: Harvard University

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Toxin-producing stem cells fight brain tumors where it matters most

Cellular Dynamics receives contract to make eye cells

Cellular Dynamics International(CDI) is getting a $1.2 million contract from the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, as part of an effort to fight macular degeneration, a condition that leads to loss of vision.

By reprogramming skin and blood samples from patients with age-related macular degeneration, CDI will create induced pluripotent stem cells and will turn them into human retina cells. The cells will be put back into the patient's eyes to treat the disorder.

Ten patients have been chosen for a pilot study of the process by the National Eye Institute, CDI said.

The Madison company said the process, called autologous cellular therapy, will be the first in the U.S. using a patient's own reprogrammed cells.

Publicly traded CDI was founded by UW-Madison stem cell pioneer James Thomson in 2004 and manufactures large quantities of human stem cells for drug discovery, safety screening and for stem cell banks.

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Cellular Dynamics receives contract to make eye cells

ACL Injuries in Dogs and Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy

The suggested solution, a TPLO to repair her lame leg, with a prognosis for a second surgery on the right knee in six months time, was quite a blow. This would add up to two invasive surgeries and a total of one year of recovery.

On a quest to find an alternative, we looked into all other options. (See Talk To Me About ACL Injuries). During our research we came across information about stem cell regenerative therapy for dogs.

We found that stem cell regenerative therapy has been used to treat tendon, ligament, and joint injuries in horses, and that it is available for dogs also. We decided to pursue this.

Unfortunately, a couple days before our stem cell treatment consultation, Jasmine's ACL tore completely, and a non-surgical solution was no longer an option.

Our final decision was an extracapsular repair for the torn ACL, combined with the stem cell therapy to assist the post-op recovery, and to see if it can save the right knee.

The healing effect on the operated leg turned out remarkable. The right leg was also looking good, and three months after surgery Jasmine had a bounce back in her step.

And then the ligament in the right knee went. It was a big disappointment. Back to surgery and back to rehab.

Fortunately though, her left leg was already stable enough to provide full support. That's why we decided to combine the second surgery with the stem cell treatment again. Another three months later, Jasmine was bouncing along and enjoying her life yet again.

The stem cell regenerative therapy is showing great results in treatment of arthritis, and many other conditions. However, it was not able to save Jasmine's ligament.

I believe this happened for several reasons.

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ACL Injuries in Dogs and Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy

Cancer-Killing Stem Cells Engineered In Lab

Scientists from Harvard Medical School have discovered a way of turning stem cells into killing machines to fight brain cancer.

In experiments on mice, the stem cells were genetically engineered to produce and secrete toxins which kill brain tumours, without killing normal cells or themselves.

Researchers said the next stage was to test the procedure in humans.

A stem cell expert said this was "the future" of cancer treatment.

The study, published in the journal Stem Cells, was the work of scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

For many years, they had been researching a stem-cell-based therapy for cancer, which would kill only tumour cells and no others.

They used genetic engineering to make stem cells that spewed out cancer-killing toxins, but, crucially, were also able to resist the effects of the poison they were producing.

They also posed no risk to normal, healthy cells.

In animal tests, the stem cells were surrounded in gel and placed at the site of the brain tumour after it had been removed.

Their cancer cells then died as they had no defence against the toxins.

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Cancer-Killing Stem Cells Engineered In Lab

Scleroderma patients seek experimental U.S. stem cell therapy

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Saturday, October 25, 2014 10:30PM EDT Last Updated Saturday, October 25, 2014 11:46PM EDT

An estimated 16,000 Canadians live with scleroderma, an incurable autoimmune disorder which causes the body to produce too much collagen, resulting in a hardening of the skin and tissue. There is no cure for the scleroderma, but some patients in Canada are now seeking a costly and experimental stem cell therapy in the U.S.

A little over a year ago, Mike Berry of Kingston, Ont., started having trouble breathing. It was the first sign of scleroderma.

Berry, 42, suffers from the systemic version of scleroderma, which attacks his internal organs. His lungs have been scarred by the disorder, with his lung capacity dropping to 41 per cent in just nine months. His disease may ultimately be fatal.

He described to CTV News how scleroderma has impacted his day-to-day life.

"I'm unable to work any longer; it affects me and everything now," he said. "It's hard to walk fast; I can't walk and talk."

Drugs to treat his scleroderma haven't worked, so now Berry is trying to fundraise more than $150,000 for an experimental U.S. stem cell treatment called Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), in the hopes that it will save his life.

"It would give me as second chance, I guess I just have a lot to fight for," he said.

Pioneered by Dr. Richard Burt at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, patients receiving HSCT are administered stem cells intravenously.

During the treatment, the patient's stem cells are harvested, and then the patient's over-active immune system is destroyed with powerful chemotherapy drugs. Doctors then re-program the patient's immune system with the harvested stem cells, in the hopes that the cells will "reset" the patient's immune system and stop scleroderma.

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Back in my Louboutins…thanks to a stem cell jab in the foot: Experimental treatment that fixed socialite Hofit Golan …

Hofit Golan broke her tibia and foot in a nightclub accident in 2011 She had a year of sticking to conventional treatment with limited success So took controversial holistic therapy at the Villa Medica clinic in Germany One of the few centres in the world to offer Fresh Cell Therapy It is a controversial technique that uses injection of embryonic stem cells from animals

By Katie Nicholl For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 16:16 EST, 25 October 2014 | Updated: 16:16 EST, 25 October 2014

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For any woman who adores wearing heels, Hofit Golan, the Israeli-born socialite who has graced countless red carpets from Cannes to New York, offers a cautionary tale.

Bizarre as it may sound, the 33-year-olds partying came to an abrupt halt after an accident in a nightclub involving her stilettos.

And Hofits recovery is just as remarkable. After a year of sticking to conventional treatment with only limited success, it took a controversial holistic therapy to see her back on track and in heels again.

Hofit Golan broke her tibia in three places and suffered a broken foot when a man landed on her in a nightclub

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Back in my Louboutins...thanks to a stem cell jab in the foot: Experimental treatment that fixed socialite Hofit Golan ...

Scientists Create Toxin Secreting Stem Cells To Fight Brain Tumors

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital has successfully engineered stem cells to produce toxins that can kill cancerous cells, turning them into lethal weapons to in the war against brain tumors. Their study was published online in the journal Stem Cells Friday.

For years, scientists have attempted to create cells that would not only kill cancerous cells but also do it without harming themselves or surrounding healthy cells. The genetically engineered stem cells created by the researchers in Boston were reportedly able to do so, making the development a potential milestone in the field of cancer treatment.

Now, we have toxin-resistant stem cells that can make and release cancer-killing drugs, Khalid Shah, a co-author of the study and the director of the molecular neurotherapy and imaging lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said in a statement. Cancer-killing toxins have been used with great success in a variety of blood cancers, but they dont work as well in solid tumors because the cancers arent as accessible and the toxins have a short half-life.

Based on experiments conducted on mice, the results were very positive, Shah said. After doing all of the molecular analysis and imaging to track the inhibition of protein synthesis within brain tumors, we do see the toxins kill the cancer cells, he said.

Chris Mason, a professor of regenerative medicine at University College London who was not involved in the research, hailed the findings as representative of the future of cancer treatment. This is a clever study, which signals the beginning of the next wave of therapies, Mason told BBC News. It shows you can attack solid tumors by putting minipharmacies inside the patient which deliver the toxic payload direct to the tumor.

However, Nell Barrie, the senior science information manager for Cancer Research UK, told BBC News that much more work is needed to see whether the treatment works on humans. Nonetheless, she said, We urgently need better treatments for brain tumors, and this could help direct treatment to exactly where its needed.

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Scientists Create Toxin Secreting Stem Cells To Fight Brain Tumors

UC San Diego named stem cell 'alpha clinic'

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Oct-2014

Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego @UCSanDiego

In a push to further speed clinical development of emerging stem cell therapies, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health System was named today one of three new "alpha clinics" by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state's stem cell agency.

The announcement, made at a public meeting in Los Angeles of the CIRM Governing Board, includes an award of $8 million for each of three sites. The other alpha grant recipients are the City of Hope hospital near Los Angeles and University of California, Los Angeles.

"A UC San Diego alpha clinic will provide vital infrastructure for establishing a comprehensive regenerative medicine clinical hub that can support the unusual complexity of first-in-human stem cell-related clinical trials," said Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, deputy director of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, director of the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center stem cell program and the alpha clinic grant's principal investigator.

"The designation is essential in much the same manner that comprehensive cancer center status is an assurance of scientific rigor and clinical quality. It will attract patients, funding agencies and study sponsors to participate in, support and accelerate novel stem cell clinical trials and ancillary studies for a range of arduous diseases."

The alpha clinics are intended to create the long-term, networked infrastructure needed to launch and conduct numerous, extensive clinical trials of stem cell-based drugs and therapies in humans, including some developed by independent California-based investigators and companies. These trials are requisite before any new drug or treatment can be approved for clinical use.

The clinics will also emphasize public education to raise awareness and understanding of stem cell science in part to combat "stem cell tourism" and the marketing of unproven, unregulated and potentially dangerous therapies and help establish sustainable business models for future, approved stem cell treatments.

"Everything we do has one simple goal, to accelerate the development of successful treatments for people in need," said C. Randal Mills, PhD, CIRM president and CEO. "Stem cell therapies are a new way of treating disease; instead of managing symptoms, cellular medicine has the power to replace or regenerate damaged tissues and organs. And so we need to explore new and innovative ways of accelerating clinical research with stem cells. That is what we hope these alpha stem cell clinics will accomplish."

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UC San Diego named stem cell 'alpha clinic'