Capitol Pain Austin - Dr. Schocket - Stem Cell Treatment for Low Back Pain
Patient discussing her stem cell treatment for low back pain performed by Dr. Schocket at Capitol Pain Institute, your Austin Pain Management Specialists.
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Capitol Pain Austin - Dr. Schocket - Stem Cell Treatment for Low Back Pain - Video
Whoifwhat: Stem Cell Therapy- Knees, Hip, Back, etc.!
It works: Now in St. Louis, New York Phily: coming to your town soon ! Using stem cells from belly fat ( got any) platelets to mark area an injection is ...
By: whoifwhat
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Whoifwhat: Stem Cell Therapy- Knees, Hip, Back, etc.! - Video
Aug. 7, 2013 Researchers at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Cambridge, have developed a technique to help treat fatal diseases more effectively. Dr Sumeet Mahajan and his group at the Institute for Life Sciences at Southampton are using gold nanoprobes to identify different types of cells, so that they can use the right ones in stem cell therapies.
Stem cell therapy is in its infancy, but has the potential to change the way we treat cancer and other life-threatening diseases, by replacing damaged or diseased cells with healthy ones. One of the key limitations of stem cell therapy is identifying the right cells to use for different therapies. This fundamental problem with the treatment is being tackled by this new research.
Dr Mahajan, Senior Chemistry Lecturer in Life Science Interface, says: "Stem cells could hold the key to tackling many diseases. They develop into all the various kinds of cells needed in the body -- blood, nerves and organs -- but it is almost impossible to tell them apart during their initial development without complex techniques, even with the most advanced microscopes. Up to now, scientists have used intrusive fluorescent markers to tag molecules and track each cell, a process which can render them useless for therapeutic purposes anyway. By using a technique discovered at Southampton in the 1970s, known as Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), we have been able to look at adult stem cells on a molecular scale to distinguish one from another, meaning we can still use the cells for therapeutic purposes."
The team who discovered SERS in the 1970s found that by roughening a metal surface upon which they had placed molecules to be examined, they could increase the signal by which they could detect these molecules, by a million times. This allowed them to detect molecules in far smaller quantities than ever before. SERS has been used in many different capacities around the world and across industries, but this new research marks the first time it has been used in the field of cell therapeutics. Dr Mahajan's research could mean that stem cell and other cell-based therapies could be advanced much further than the current most common uses, such as bone marrow transplants.
Dr Mahajan comments: "Scientists studying neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease believe replenishing a patient's depleted dopamine-generating cells, may be an effective treatment. However, in order to avoid fatal complications, we must be sure we are using the right type of replacement cells, which the work we are doing at Southampton is enabling us to do. In addition, the technique can also allow us to see if drugs are working effectively in cells, and can also be used to diagnose diseases as well as treat them."
The results of Dr Mahajan's work, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), have been published in the influential journal Nano Letters. He is collaborating with major pharmaceutical companies to further develop more effective drugs using this technique.
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Gold 'nanoprobes' hold the key to treating killer diseases
MANILA - Foreign doctors are now required to secure a permit to perform stem cell therapy in the country or face criminal liability.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC)s Board of Medicine (BOM) made the announcement yesterday, explaining that the requirement is part of government efforts to regulate the practice of stem cell therapy in the country to ensure the safety of patients.
In a statement, the BOM said foreign physicians who intend to practice stem cell therapy here must obtain special temporary permit from the PRC to avoid being charged with medical malpractice.
Even local doctors who have aided foreign physicians illegal practice of stem cell therapy shall be also held criminally liable, the BOM added.
To secure the special temporary permit, a foreign doctor must submit proof of education and actual practice in the field of stem cell therapy and current license authenticated by the Philippine embassy and the embassy in the country of origin.
The board said physicians should have acquired the necessary education, supervised training and extensive clinical experience prior to performing the treatment. It noted that the argument that stem cell therapy falls under the general practice of medicine since it only involves injection of stem cell solution is erroneous.
As professionals, physicians should be able to conduct self-assessment and self-evaluation regarding what they can and what they should not do, they added.
The BOM also noted that stem cell therapy should be practiced only in hospitals and clinics licensed by the Department of Heath for assurance that these medical facilities have the necessary manpower and equipment to prevent risks and hazards to patients.
The board also warned patients desiring to undergo stem cell therapy abroad to first verify the status of clinics and hospitals as well as practitioners from regulatory authorities.
Earlier, the Food and Drug Administration and the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) reported receiving numerous complaints of foreign doctors performing stem cell therapy in hotels and other non-medical facilities. The PMA said foreign doctors injected patients with animal-based stem cells at P1 million per shot, but these foreigners are not even licensed to practice medicine in the country.
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Foreign doctors need permit for stem cell therapy
Dr. Larry Goldstein
By Joe Tash
When Larry Goldstein imagines the potential of modern stem cell science, he is reminded of a scene from the 1967 Academy Award-winning film The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.
Hoffmans character, a recent college graduate named Benjamin Braddock, is chatting with an older man at a cocktail party. I just want to say one word to youjust one word plastics, the man tells Benjamin.
Goldstein, 57, a Carmel Valley resident and head of one of the nations premier stem cell research labs, sees a vast upside to his chosen field of research in terms of scientific advancement, treatment of devastating diseases, and economic prosperity, similar to the characters prediction for plastics.
Were at the beginning of a revolution in science and medicine, said Goldstein. Whats the hot business going forward? Man, its biological plastics. They can replenish themselves, you can make them do things, you can build stuff. Its incredible.
Its not unrealistic to think that over the course of the next several decades, that artificial organs will be built of materials made from stem cells, either fully or in part, he said.
Goldstein wears two official hats director of the UC San Diego stem cell program, and scientific director of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. As Goldstein explained it, his role with UCSD is to facilitate and remove barriers for investigators working on a number of different stem cell-related projects, while his work with the Sanford Consortium involves coordination with scientists from a number of different research institutions on Torrey Pines Mesa.
He also co-founded a biotech company, Cytokinetics, which is developing drugs based on stem cell science.
In an interview in his Sanford Consortium office, a glass-walled rectangle overlooking the Torrey Pines Gliderport, Goldstein talked about his work, advancements in stem cell research, and his views on higher education.
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Carmel Valley stem cell expert says research field is at the ‘beginning of a revolution in science and medicine’
THE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) stressed Tuesday that the emerging stem cell treatment cannot be practiced just by any kind of medical doctor but only by specialists.
In its position paper on Stem Cell Medicine, the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) pointed that local physicians looking to practice stem cell treatment cannot just perform it sans the necessary education, structured/supervised training and extensive clinical experience.
"Not anyone who can inject a chemotherapeutic drug qualifies to be a medical oncologist," said the PRBOM.
The board said it is unacceptable to claim that stem cell medicine falls already under general practice since anybody can do it "as it only entails the injection of stem cell solution."
The PRBOM said that while injection can be performed by any general medical practitioner, it cannot be the same for the desired result of the treatment such as cancer, autism, diabetes, stroke, liver disease, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, among others.
"Physicians, who claim to be specialists and experts in stem cell therapy, should have had extensive training in the treatment of the mentioned diseases and disorders," said PRBOM.
It added that the training program should include quality assurance mechanisms, such as evaluation during and at the end of rotations, as well as training with documentation of clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of the concerned medical conditions.
Also, the PRBOM said the training should be conducted in accredited institutions, with the presence of faculty members that have been recognized as experts in the field due to their education, extensive training, and clinical experience.
As for foreign doctors looking to practice stem cell in the country, the PRC reminded them to secure the necessary permits first.
"Foreign physicians who wish to practice stem cell therapy in the country are required to apply for and obtain special temporary permits (STP) from the Professional Regulation Commission," said the PRBOM.
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PRC: Stem cell not for general practitioners
Durham, NC (PRWEB) August 07, 2013
A new type of treatment that pairs neural stem cells with conventional cancer fighting therapies is showing promise in animal studies for the most common and deadliest form of adult brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The details are revealed in a groundbreaking study led by Maciej Lesniak, M.D., that appears today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.
In this work, we describe a highly innovative gene therapy approach, which is being developed along with the NIH and the FDA. Specifically, our group has developed an allogeneic neural stem cell line that is a carrier for a virus that can selectively infect and break down cancer cells, explained Dr. Lesniak, the University of Chicagos director of neurosurgical oncology and neuro-oncology research at the Brain Tumor Center.
The stem cell line, called HB1.F3 NSC, was recently approved by the FDA for use in a phase I human clinical trial.
GBM remains fatal despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. And while cancer-killing viruses have been used in clinical trials to treat therapeutically resistant and infiltrative tumor burdens throughout the brain, there were major drawbacks, Dr. Lesniak explained.
When you inject a virus into a tumor alone (without a carrier, like NSC), the virus stays at the site of the injection, and does not spread. Moreover, our immune system clears it. By using NSCs, we can achieve a widespread distribution of the virus throughout the tumor mass, since the NSC travel. Also, they act like a stealth fighter, hiding the virus from the immune system. By using NSC loaded with a novel oncolytic adenovirus that selectively targets GBM, along with standard of care that includes chemo-radiotherapy, the team was able to overcome these limitations.
Using mice that had GBM, the research team showed how their neural stem cell line, which is derived from human fetal cells, could significantly increase the median survival time of the mice beyond conventional treatments alone. The addition of chemo-radiotherapy further enhanced the benefits of this novel stem cell-based gene therapy approach.
Our study argues in favor of using stem cells for delivery of oncolytic viruses along with multimodal chemo-radiotherapy for the treatment of patients with GBM, and this is something that we believe warrants further clinical investigation, Dr. Lesniak concluded.
The team is completing final FDA-directed studies and expects to start a human clinical trial, in which a novel oncolytic virus will be delivered via NSCs to patients with newly diagnosed GBM, early in 2014.
Treatment of GMB depends on novel therapies, said Anthony Atala, M.D., Editor of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. This study establishes that a combination of conventional and gene therapies may be most effective and suggests a protocol for a future clinical investigation.
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Stem Cell-Conventional Treatment Combo Offers New Hope in Fighting Deadly Brain Cancer
NEWARK, Calif., Aug. 5, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (STEM), a leading stem cell company developing and commercializing novel cell-based therapeutics and tools for use in stem cell-based research and drug discovery, announced today that it will release financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 after the market close on Wednesday, August 7. In connection with this announcement, StemCells will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its results and an update on its business at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) the same day. Eliseo Salinas, MD, Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development at StemCells, will be on the call to discuss the Company's recently announced two-year data in patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD).
Interested parties are invited to listen to the call over the Internet by accessing the Investors section of the Company's website at http://www.stemcellsinc.com. Webcast participants should allot extra time before the webcast begins to register and, if necessary, download and install audio software.
An archived version of the webcast will also be available for replay on the Company's website beginning approximately two hours following the conclusion of the live call and continuing for a period of 30 days.
About StemCells, Inc.
StemCells, Inc. is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of cell-based therapeutics and tools for use in stem cell-based research and drug discovery. The Company's lead therapeutic product candidate, HuCNS-SC(R) cells (purified human neural stem cells), is currently in development as a potential treatment for a broad range of central nervous system disorders. In a Phase I clinical trial in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), a fatal myelination disorder in children, the Company has shown preliminary evidence of progressive and durable donor-derived myelination in all four patients transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells. The Company is also conducting a Phase I/II clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury in Switzerland and Canada and has reported positive interim data for the first three patients. The Company is also conducting a Phase I/II clinical trial in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at two trial sites in the US. In addition, the Company is pursuing preclinical studies in Alzheimer's disease, with funding support from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). StemCells also markets stem cell research products, including media and reagents, under the SC Proven(R) brand. Further information about StemCells is available at http://www.stemcellsinc.com.
Apart from statements of historical fact, the text of this press release constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. securities laws, and is subject to the safe harbors created therein. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Such statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain assumptions that may or may not ultimately prove valid. The Company's actual results may vary materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties to which the Company is subject, including those described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and in its subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.
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StemCells, Inc. Announces Webcast to Discuss Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results and Business Update
JUPITER, Fla., Aug. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT" or the "Company") (OTC BB: BRTX), a life sciences company focused on developing stem cell based cellular therapies for various personal medical applications, today announced that it has received approval from the Western Institutional Review Board ("the Board") to complete a retrospective safety study on selected subjects previously treated by the Company's brtxDISC bulging and herniated disc procedure. The study is titled "Re-consenting and Follow-Up of Adults from a Retrospective Study Using Autologous Transplantation of Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Degenerated Intervertebral Disc."
Study objectives are to determine the safety of subjects who received transplants of their own stem cells into their disc, using MRI and Quality of Life Questionnaires. TheBoard requires that all subjects must be able to consent for themselves to be enrolled in the study, which has been approved to take place at the Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Broomfield, Colorado.
The approval allows BRT to retrospectively collect and analyze clinical data on selected subjects who previously have been treated for bulging or herniated disc disease with the Company's novel brtxDISC procedure. These procedures were performed using BRT's proprietary therapeutic delivery device cannula system and its proprietary culture method isolating a selective population of mesenchymal stem cells. BRT expects to complete the study within a six-month period.
"This is a significant milestone in taking our brtxDISC procedure closer towards an FDA meeting to seek approval for the commencement of our clinical trial. We look forward to collecting this data with the ambition of meeting the safety requirements necessary for us to receive approval and start our trial," commented Mark Weinreb, Chief Executive Officer of BioRestorative Therapies. "Our goal is to compile and present the necessary data to the FDA with the goal of initiating a Phase I or Phase II clinical trial in the early part of next year."
About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.
BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT"),www.biorestorative.com, develops medical procedures using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells, designed for patients to undergo minimally invasive cellular-based treatments. BRT is developing the following scientific initiatives:
The Company also offers plant stem cell-based facial creams and beauty products under theStem Pearlsbrand atwww.stempearls.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks, including those set forth in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements.
Investor Contact:Jared Mitchell ProActive Capital 646.863.6274 jmitchell@proactivecapital.com
Media Contact:Sandra Lee ProActive Capital 646.862.4608 slee@proactivecapital.com
By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com August 6, 2013 4:34 PM
InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - Amid a flurry of reports about unregulated procedures that have led to serious injury or even deaths, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is now requiring foreign doctors wishing to practice stem cell therapy in the Philippines to obtain a special temporary permit (STP).
In a position statement, the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) said foreign doctors must submit proof of education, training and clinical experience and actual practice in the field of stem cell therapy, plus a current license to practice authenticated by the Philippine Embassy/Consulate in the country of origin when they apply for the special permits.
The board warned: Any foreign physician who practices the professionwithout a STP will be criminally liable for illegal practice of medicine.And, it added, those who have aided and abetted the foreign physicianspractice of the profession are also criminally liable.
The position paper was signed by PRBOM chairman Dr. Edgardo Fernando and members doctors Miguel Noche Jr., Florentino Doble, Restituto de Ocampo, Jose Cueto Jr., and Mildred Pareja.
Controversy hounds new group
The position statement on stem cell therapy was issued amid a growing rift among doctors over recent controversial cases, including several lawmakers who had procedures done, but whose conditions worsened.
One newly-founded group of doctors doing stem-cell transplant, the Philippine Society of Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM), has been pitted by the controversy against the Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine (PSGIM), Philippine Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (PSHBT) andPhilippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP). The latter groups all believe thatPSSCM's practices are unethical as it charges huge fees from patients for stem cell procedures that are still under clinical trial.
The PRBOM has backed the Department of Health in issuing Administrative Order 2013-0012 providing the guidelines for stem cell, cell-based therapy in the country. "The practice of stem cell therapy does not constitute standard care at the present time. The claim that it offers cure to numerous diseases and conditions has not been proven through scientific research and documentation, the PRBOM said. Right now, it said, "there is difficulty verifying claims of practitioners and institutions regarding the effectivity ofavailable treatment modalities.
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PRC: Foreign docs doing stem cell therapy in PH must get special temporary permits