Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress

Edgar Irastorza was just 31 when his heart stopped beating in October 2008.

A Miami property manager, break-dancer and former high school wrestler, Irastorza had recently gained weight as his wifes third pregnancy progressed. I kind of got pregnant, too, he said.

During a workout one day, he felt short of breath and insisted that friends rush him to the hospital. Minutes later, his pulse flat-lined.

He survived the heart attack, but the scar tissue that resulted cut his hearts pumping ability by a third. He couldnt pick up his children. He couldnt dance. He fell asleep every night wondering if he would wake up in the morning.

Desperation motivated Irastorza to volunteer for a highly unusual medical research trial: getting stem cells injected directly into his heart.

I just trusted my doctors and the science behind it, and said, This is my only chance, he said recently.

Over the last five years, by studying stem cells in lab dishes, test animals and intrepid patients like Irastorza, researchers have brought the vague, grandiose promises of stem cell therapies closer to reality.

Stem cells broke into the public consciousness in the early 1990s, alluring for their potential to help the body beat back diseases of degeneration like Alzheimers, and to grow new parts to treat conditions like spinal cord injuries.

Progress has been slow. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, an early supporter of stem cell research, pulled its financial backing two years ago, saying that it preferred to invest in research that was closer to providing immediate help for Parkinsons disease patients.

But researchers have been slowly learning how to best use stem cells, what types to use and how to deliver them to the body findings that arent singularly transformational, but progressive and pragmatic.

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Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress

How stem cells help cure diseases

MANILA -- The use of stem cell therapy has become an option in treating different medical conditions.

Stem cells are the body's natural healing cells. They are used by human tissues to repair and regenerate damaged cells. In the right environment, stem cells can change into bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, collagen, neural tissue, blood vessels, and even some organs.

There are two kinds of stem cells: adult or embryonic. Adult stem cells appear to be particularly effective against painful joints, repairing cartilage and ligaments, and even painful conditions along the spine.

Adult stem cells are usually harvested from fat tissues. By using technology, the collagen that binds the fat and the stem cells are broken down, separating a solution rich in the patient's own stem cells, which will then be used for treatment.

Stem cells may be effective in the treatment of macular degeneration, Crohns disease and numerous pulmonary conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and fibrosis. Stem cells are also being used for patients suffering from kidney failure and ailments of the bone, cartilage and joints.

However, stem cell therapy is not recommended for patients with active infections or cancer.

In the Philippines, fat-derived stem cell therapy is available through StemCare Institute. At present, the clinic employs an orthopedic team of doctors and surgeons with international qualifications.

StemCare, with the advancement of stem cell technology and the refinement its of clinical protocols through international experts, now offers more accessible treatment options for patients suffering from these degenerative orthopedic conditions.

Kim Atienza and Inno Sotto. Composite Image

Among the personalities who have used stem cell therapy in the country are Inno Sotto, a fashion designer who is suffering from a tear in his right elbow, and Kim Atineza, who is using fat stem cell injections to help strengthen and repair his knee joints after suffering from Guillain-Barre disease.

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How stem cells help cure diseases

Stem cell storage deal aims to boost donation levels

Expectant parents will have the option of donating the stem cells to the Governments public bank, or storing them with Precious Cells private bank, at a charge, for their own use.

The deal is the first of its kind for the NHS, and 15 more trusts are holding firm talks with Precious Cells, the company said. The partnership could significantly increase the number of stem cells available for transplants and scientific research in the UK.

Currently, the levels of cord blood donations in Britain are a fraction of those in the US and Australia, and lower than in most European countries.

The company is aiming to broaden its reach to 90 NHS trusts, adding that such widespread partnerships could generate a 180m windfall for the health service.

Dr Husein K. Salem, chief executive of Precious Cells, said the initiative aimed to tackle the UKs laggard position in terms of investment in cord blood stem cell collection and banking.

Stem cell treatment has become increasingly common and is now used for diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinsons. It is estimated that one in five people will use the regenerative cells to treat a condition or for diagnostics.

The global stem cell market was worth nearly 2.5bn in 2012 and is expected to grow to 3.87bn by 2016.

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Stem cell storage deal aims to boost donation levels

Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell Addresses His Stem Cell Treatment

09/26/2014 . Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell has issued a statement about his upcoming stem cell transplant, which he hopes will keep Hodgkin's lymphoma from returning again.

Campbell was diagnosed with the cancer in 2013, which briefly went into remission only to return again. He received further treatment and cancer is once again in remission and he will be undergoing the stem cell transplant in an attempt to keep the cancer from returning once again.

He wrote on the band's official website, "As many of you know, I've been scheduled to start a stem cell transplant and as soon as I got home from tour I began the necessary tests and preparations. I'll be admitted to hospital soon for all the yucky bits, so in the meantime I'm headed to Target to stock up on cozy pajamas, fresh underwear, and a sackful of car-porn.

"Unfortunately, this means that I won't be able to perform with the band on the upcoming NFL broadcast on Sept. 28th, nor will I be able to do the shows scheduled for Oct/Nov.

"While I can't say that I'm looking forward to the process ahead, I'm very much looking forward to what I feel will be a most successful outcome. Next year will be very busy for Def Leppard with a new album and a world tour, and frankly, I don't think they would sound as loud without me, so I have no intention of letting the team down!

"See you all (with hair!) in 2015. - Viv"

...end

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Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell Addresses His Stem Cell Treatment

Knee Stem Cell Injections – Video

Knee Stem Cell Injections
Knee Stem Cell Injections can be a treatment for chronic pain such as Avascular Necrosis as a means of non-surgical treatment as opposed to surgery. Stem Cell Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis...

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Stem cell transplant does not cure SHIV/AIDS after irradiation of infected rhesus macaques

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Sep-2014

Contact: Guido Silvestri gsilves@emory.edu 404-727-9139 PLOS

A study published on September 25th in PLOS Pathogens reports a new primate model to test treatments that might cure HIV/AIDS and suggests answers to questions raised by the "Berlin patient", the only human thought to have been cured so far.

Being HIV-positive and having developed leukemia, the Berlin patient underwent irradiation followed by a bone-marrow transplant from a donor with a mutation that abolishes the function of the CCR5 gene. The gene codes for a protein that facilitates HIV entry into human cells, and the mutationin homozygous carriers who, like the donor, have two defective copiesprotects against HIV infection.

Several factors could have contributed to the cure of HIV/AIDS in the patient: (1) the ablation of blood and immune cells following irradiation killed all or many of the viral reservoir cells that are not eliminated by antiretroviral treatment (ART); (2) the CCR5 deletion mutation in the donor cells protected them and their progeny from HIV infection; (3) a "graft versus host" reaction occurred, where the transplanted cells and their progeny recognize the host cells as foreign and attacked and eliminated HIV-positive reservoir cells that survived the irradiation.

Guido Silvestri, from Emory University in Atlanta, USA, and colleagues investigated the relative contribution of the irradiation to eliminate the reservoir of HIV-infected cells. The scientists worked with the animal model of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV, a close relative of HIV that infects primates and causes a disease similar to AIDS) infection in rhesus macaques. Using a total of six monkeys (three of which served as controls and did not receive transplants) they performed, for the first time, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in rhesus macaques infected with a chimeric simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) and treated with ART.

The researchers harvested hematopoetic stem cells from three macaques prior to infection (of all six animals) with SHIV. They also treated the macaques with ART to reduce viral load and mimic the situation in human HIV-infected patients on ART. They then exposed the three monkeys from which they had collected hematopietic stem cells to a high dose of radiation. This killed most of their existing blood and immune cells, including between 94 and 99% of their CD4-T cellsthe main target of HIV infectionin the blood. The irradiation was followed by transplantation of each monkey's own virus-free hematopoietic stem cells. The latter can regenerate the blood and immune cells, and did so in all three monkeys within 3 to 6 weeks. Because the transplanted cells are not from a different donor, no graft versus host disease would be expected, and none was observed.

After that time, the scientists stopped ART in all six monkeys. As expected, the virus rebounded rapidly in the control animals. Of the three transplanted animals, two also showed a rapid rebound. The third monkey developed kidney failure two weeks after ART was stopped and was euthanized. It still had undetectable levels of virus in the blood at that time, but post-mortem analysis showed low levels of viral DNA in a number of tissues, arguing that none of the three transplanted monkeys was cured.

The researchers acknowledge a number of limitations of the study, including the small number of monkeys, and the relatively short period of ART prior to irradiation and transplantation. Nonetheless, they say their study "supports the hypothesis that myeloablative total body irradiation can cause a significant decrease in the viral reservoir in blood cells, even though it was not sufficient to eliminate all reservoirs". Their results, they say, suggest that in the cure of the Berlin patient, "the use of the CCR5 mutant donor and/or the presence of graft versus host disease played a significant role".

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Stem cell transplant does not cure SHIV/AIDS after irradiation of infected rhesus macaques

Stemedix Stem Cell Therapy for ALS – Patient Experience: Dr. Robert K., MD – Video

Stemedix Stem Cell Therapy for ALS - Patient Experience: Dr. Robert K., MD
Stemedix treats Dr. Robert K., MD. for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Dr. Robert speaks about his patient experience with Stemedix after receiving Stemedix adipose stem cell treatment....

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Stem Cell Treatment For Psoriasis – Video

Stem Cell Treatment For Psoriasis
http://bit.ly/1tPneYK Click here to find out how to treat psoriasis for good in less than one week. It #39;s simple and effective and really is effective! Stem cell treatment for psoriasis....

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Stem cell centre proposed for resort

Xia Jie.

Medical entrepreneur Xia Jie, whose company Health 100 owns the largest chain of health clinics in China, plans to open overseas facilities to cater for wealthy clients.

That could result in an investment of about $20 million in a regenerative treatment centre in the resort, making it a Mecca for health tourism and athlete injury rehabilitation.

''We're now negotiating with the local medical teams,'' Mr Xia said yesterday through an interpreter while on a four-day fact-finding mission to Queenstown.

''Health 100 really wants to find beautiful cities around the world to take Chinese patients to and Queenstown is one of them.

''The vision is to bring the very high-end customers to have special treatment which is not carried out elsewhere in the world,'' he said.

Health 100 would invest with existing firms Queenstown Regenerative Medicine (QRM), run by Marcelle Noble, and the Queenstown Skin Institute.

Both have small premises at Remarkables Park in Frankton.

Queenstown Skin Institute director Dr Hans Raetz said Mr Xia had indicated plans for a much larger centre, with sites in Remarkables Park, Jacks Point or the Five Mile development off Frankton Ladies Mile already earmarked.

''The size depends on Mr Xia, but we've been talking between $10 million and $20 million.

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Stem cell centre proposed for resort

Pattaya Mail

The South African Chamber of Commerce offered a glimpse into the world of stem-cell therapy at a seminar in Bangkok.

Don Margolis from Repair Stem Cells Institute in the United States was the featured speaker at the Aug. 20 workshop at the Rembrandt Hotel & Towers, lecturing on the facts and fiction about stem cells.

Margolis stated that stem-cell therapy might become the healing method of the future. Meanwhile, major successes have already been made with cancer or problems with the heart, the lungs, the vocal cords, brain, kidneys, and blood. Unfortunately, there are no significant successes in liver disease or bone disease. In this therapy stem cells are used and for many years is the treatment of choice for various types of cancers, such as leukemia. Either endogenous hematopoietic stem cells or those of a donor (postnatal tissue) can be used for adoptive cell transfer.

Group photo (front seated from left) guest speaker Don Margolis and Ragil Ratnam of Pure Growth Asia. (Standing from left) Antony Brown, Chartering Executive of Light House navigation, Elfi Seitz, executive editor of Pattaya Blatt, Allan Riddel, Linda Reay Amazon Colours and General Manager Eric Hallin.

These multipotent blood stem cells, of which colonies of both white as well as red blood cells were cultivated, had already been discovered in 1963 by the Canadian scientists James Till, Ernest McCulloch and Lou Siminovitch. Some years before the first bone marrow transplant was performed in 1957.

Since the 1990s, many more kinds of stem cells were discovered, isolated and characterized. To date, however, is not sufficiently clear how the different types of stem cells are connected and which biological potential they have. In recent years new discoveries have been made in this area and new and promising fields in medical research have been opened. It is also possible to use stem cells from unborn animals (prenatal tissue), such as sheep, as is done in Germany for the last 70 years. For this, however, the embryo may only be a certain age, because the stem cells usually have a lower rate of division and a more limited differentiation potential. Its also possible to get stem cells from the umbilical cord or bone marrow. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, whilst adult stem cells probably have a more limited differentiation potential.

Research work is currently still trying to answer fundamental questions like how these stem cells can be induced into certain cell types to replace damaged tissue in order to replace damaged tissue (cell replacement therapy). Other issues include the migration behavior (migration of the cells to a specific location after successful transplantation) or the formation of cell-protective factors (cytokines, growth factors), which are supposed to preserve existing functional tissue from further decline or even regenerate it (regenerative medicine).

In recent years embryonic stem cells have raised many ethical as well as scientific concerns (embryonic stem cells). Although they can be differentiated in almost all body cells (and thus would be universally applicable), for the time being their use is limited. This is due to their high rate of cell division, which is desirable for the propagation of the cells, but at the same time constitutes an increased risk for the development of malignant tumors.

Still, more than 300 Parkinsons patients have been treated with some success worldwide.

Stem cells from the uterine fluid were isolated just recently. They are mostly cells of epithelial origin that are shed during the development of the fetus. They can be obtained directly from the amniotic fluid and be propagated in vitro.

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Pattaya Mail