Stem Cell Clinic

Veterans in Pain helps ease the pain for veterans – Tullahoma News and Guardian

By adminMarch 25, 2020Stem Cell Medical Center

Veterans in Pain (VIP) is a national program for veterans who have been hurt severely in combat. Their mission is facilitating regenerative medical solutions for veterans suffering from chronic pain by connecting civilian physicians with our countrys heroes, nationwide.

Dr. Joseph Kanan and his medical staff at Tullahoma Chiropractic Center recently joined the program and performed their first pro bono procedure for a veteran named Ryan in February.

Ryan had severe right hip pain when he came in. My medical team and I gave him a $6,500 procedure, injecting stem cells into his hip, Kanan said. There is no insurance company that covers this procedure so either he would have had to pay for it himself or the VIP organization would have had to do it. We decided to do it for free.

Veteran Ryan, 36, thanks Dr. Kanan after his procedure at Tullahoma Chiropractic Center.

Stem cells are part of the bodys natural repair process. Humans have them in their bone marrow and fat cells. When they are placed at the site of damaged tissue, these stem cells can activate to become the healthy new cells the body needs for pain relief.

No-surgery stem cell therapy helps the body heal damage and relieve pain from arthritis, aging and injuries to joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles.

I think veterans do a lot for our country and there are very few doctors that are performing medical procedures like this, Kanan said. We were very glad to be able to do this for him.

Ryan, 36, lives three hours away. He drove to Tullahoma himself for the procedure. Veterans in Pain provided the funds for his hotel stay while he was in town.

The procedure was done on Feb. 13. He did feel better right after, but this is a procedure where the results take time. You experience 10 percent of improvement every month for 10 months, Kanan said. I own the clinic and I am a chiropractor, so I did not actually perform this procedure. My medical team Jana Wood and Dr. Frank Perry performed the procedure, which was giving injections into Ryans hip.

Tullahoma Chiropractic Center performs these scheduled procedures twice a month. The medical team has seen positive results from the injections, according to Kanan.

I just talked to a patient this morning that had the procedure done one year ago. He had doctors recommending a knee replacement on his left knee. My medical team conducted the stem cell procedure on his knee, Kanan said.

The experience was great. I came in and got the injection and now my knee is fluid. About three months after the injection, I felt a lot better, the patient said. It was much better than having a knee replacement. I am very passionate about golf and my knee was preventing me from doing what I loved. After a year, it is magnitudes better than it was one year ago.

Tullahoma Chiropractic Center is located at 1490 N. Jackson St.

Old human cells rejuvenated with stem cell technology – Stanford Medical Center Report

By adminMarch 25, 2020Stem Cell Treatment

During this process the cells not only shed any memories of their previous identities, but they revert to a younger state. They accomplish this transformation by wiping their DNA clean of the molecular tags that not only differentiate, say, a skin cell from a heart muscle cell, but of other tags that accumulate as a cell ages.

Recently researchers have begun to wonder whether exposing the adult cells to Yamanaka proteins for days rather than weeks could trigger this youthful reversion without inducing full-on pluripotency. In fact, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found in 2016 that briefly expressing the four Yamanaka factors in mice with a form of premature aging extended the animals life span by about 20%. But it wasnt clear whether this approach would work in humans.

Sarkar and Sebastiano wondered whether old human cells would respond in a similar fashion, and whether the response would be limited to just a few cell types or generalizable for many tissues. They devised a way to use genetic material called messenger RNA to temporarily express six reprogramming factors the four Yamanaka factors plus two additional proteins in human skin and blood vessel cells. Messenger RNA rapidly degrades in cells, allowing the researchers to tightly control the duration of the signal.

The researchers then compared the gene-expression patterns of treated cells and control cells, both obtained from elderly adults, with those of untreated cells from younger people. They found that cells from elderly people exhibited signs of aging reversal after just four days of exposure to the reprogramming factors. Whereas untreated elderly cells expressed higher levels of genes associated with known aging pathways, treated elderly cells more closely resembled younger cells in their patterns of gene expression.

When the researchers studied the patterns of aging-associated chemical tags called methyl groups, which serve as an indicator of a cells chronological age, they found that the treated cells appeared to be about 1 to 3 years younger on average than untreated cells from elderly people, with peaks of 3 years (in skin cells) and 7 years (in cells that line blood vessels).

Next they compared several hallmarks of aging including how cells sense nutrients, metabolize compounds to create energy and dispose of cellular trash among cells from young people, treated cells from old people and untreated cells from old people.

We saw a dramatic rejuvenation across all hallmarks but one in all the cell types tested, Sebastiano said. But our last and most important experiment was done on muscle stem cells. Although they are naturally endowed with the ability to self-renew, this capacity wanes with age. We wondered, Can we also rejuvenate stem cells and have a long-term effect?

When the researchers transplanted old mouse muscle stem cells that had been treated back into elderly mice, the animals regained the muscle strength of younger mice, they found.

Finally, the researchers isolated cells from the cartilage of people with and without osteoarthritis. They found that the temporary exposure of the osteoarthritic cells to the reprogramming factors reduced the secretion of inflammatory molecules and improved the cells ability to divide and function.

The researchers are now optimizing the panel of reprogramming proteins needed to rejuvenate human cells and are exploring the possibility of treating cells or tissues without removing them from the body.

Although much more work needs to be done, we are hopeful that we may one day have the opportunity to reboot entire tissues, Sebastiano said. But first we want to make sure that this is rigorously tested in the lab and found to be safe.

Other Stanford co-authors are former postdoctoral scholar Marco Quarta, PhD; postdoctoral scholar Shravani Mukherjee, PhD; graduate student Alex Colville; research assistants Patrick Paine, Linda Doan and Christopher Tran; Constance Chu, MD, professor of orthopaedic surgery; Stanley Qi, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering and of chemical and systems biology; and Nidhi Bhutani, PhD, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery.

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, the University of California-Los Angeles and the Molecular Medicine Research Institute in Sunnyvale, California, also contributed to the study.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01 AR070865, R01 AR070864, P01 AG036695, R01 AG23806, R01 AG057433 and R01 AG047820), the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, the American Federation for Aging Research and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sarkar, Quarta and Sebastiano are co-founders of the startup Turn Biotechnologies, a company that is applying the technology described in the paper to treat aging-associated conditions. Rando is a member of the scientific advisory board.

YOUR HEALTH: A rare disease that hardens the skin – WQAD.com

By adminMarch 25, 2020Stem Cell Treatment

In severe cases, it can also cause deadly hardening of internal organs like the lungs

MADISON, Wis. A year ago, Chuck Beschta couldn't walk more than a few minutes without stopping to rest.

"Just going out and doing normal activities outside raking the lawn mowing the grass shoveling the driveway whatever;snow blowing, those became impossible."

After months of testing he was diagnosed with severe scleroderma, which was hardening his skin but even worse. it was hardening his lungs, making it hard to breathe.

Scleroderma is an autoimmune rheumatic disease where an overproduction of collagen produced in the body tissues.

But in severe cases, it can also cause deadly hardening of internal organs like the lungs, giving some patients little hope of surviving.

Chuck's case was getting more dire.

"He was getting worse despite the best therapy we had to offer," explained Dr. Kevin McKown, a rheumatologist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison

Dr. McKown recommended a stem cell transplant newly approved for scleroderma to reboot chucks immune system.

"There's a process by which they try to remove the autoreactive immune cells, the cells that are caught in the immune process and then they infuse that back in and hope that the body will basically take up and graft that immune system

Rheumatologists at University of Wisconsin Health tested the treatment since they have already been conducting bone marrow transplants for decades.

Surgeons take out a sample of the patient's bone marrow, isolate the stem cells, and use radiation and chemotherapy to clean out their immune system. The same stem cells are later injected back into the patient's immune system with the hope that new cells will grow and the system is rid of the bad ones.

The process is dangerous when the cells are taken out because the patient's immune system is more vulnerable, making infections more likely to occur.

Chuck saw almost immediate results. His skin was softer and his breathing improved.

He hopes his scleroderma has been cured.

"I think we can be optimistic and so far the people who have been followed out as far as 10 years out don't seem to be getting it back," said Dr. McKown.

After four and a half years, 79% of patients who underwent the treatment were alive without serious complications compared to 50% that were treated with the original drugs.

Without a transplant, less than half the patients, like Chuck, who have diffuse scleroderma and severe lung disease live 10 years past diagnosis. stem cell transplants are commonly used to treat leukemia and lymphoma, cancers that affect the blood and lymphatic system.

If this story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Jim Mertens atjim.mertens@wqad.comor Marjorie Bekaert Thomas atmthomas@ivanhoe.com.

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YOUR HEALTH: A rare disease that hardens the skin - WQAD.com

Can cell-based therapy be helpful in tackling coronavirus? – YourStory

By adminMarch 25, 2020Stem Cell Treatment

Ever since the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, was first reported in China's Wuhan city, the virus has spread to more than 196 countries and territories around the world with393,284 confirmed cases and17,161 deaths so far. In India, the maximum number of cases has been reported in the state of Maharashtra.The number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 519, with 10 deaths.

It is the need of the hour to find a solution for coronavirus.

Clinical trials in China are already testing the efficacy of stem cell therapies for COVID-19. Arecent clinical trialwith seven COVID-19 patients showed that a stem cell product improved patient outcome. According to research published in the peer-reviewed journalAging and Disease,mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy could be effective in treating COVID-19.

Coronaviruses (CoV) belong to a large family of viruses leading to respiratory illnesses, such as common coldto more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome (SARS-CoV).

Earlier this year, a new strain of coronavirus was discovered, which was not previously identified in humanbeings, also known as the novel coronavirus (nCov). The symptoms of the infection are respiratory issues, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathingdifficulties. More severe cases of COVID-19 can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and kidneyfailure.

In recent years, scientific research hasshown that MSCs have properties that maymake them very useful to repair damaged tissues in the patients respiratory system and promotefaster healing and recovery.Umbilical cord tissueis particularly rich inthese cells, which is why many parents arechoosing to store them at birth.

MSCs can reduce the overproduction of immune cells caused by a reaction to the virus and reduce excessive levels of inflammatory substances, thus regulating the immune system.

Currently, many vaccines or drugs are being tested to deal with coronavirus. There is widespread fear and phobia among the population. Why not use your own defence system rather than searching for drugs to tackle the virus?

MSCs are multi-potent cells that have been widely used for tissue regeneration and immunomodulation, and can be a potential solution. The infusion of autologous and allogenic MSCs has been proven safe and effective in tissue repair and disease modulation. MSCs have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial properties; therefore, they have the potential to control inflammatory conditions, possibly viral diseases, and may reduce mortality.

Another interesting therapeutic avenue is immunotherapy. Natural killer (NK) cells, a component of our innate immune system, play an important role in tackling malignancies as well as virally infected cells. These cells serve to contain viral infections while the adaptive immune response is generating antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells that can clear the infection. Thus, NK cell therapy can be safe and effective in the management of COVID-19.

We need to ensure control of person-to-person transmission of the infection. Therefore, stringent isolation/quarantine measures are important until complete recovery of an infected individual.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

How has the coronavirus outbreak disrupted your life? Write to us or send us a video with subject line 'Coronavirus disruption' to editorial@yourstory.com

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Rationales for Selecting CD19-Targeted Therapy in R/R B-Cell ALL – Cancer Therapy Advisor

By adminMarch 25, 2020Stem Cell Treatment

Five real-life cases of adult patients with relapsed/refractory CD19-positiveB-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were recently detailed in an articlein Blood along with the rationalesfor selecting CD19-directed CAR-T therapy or the CD3/CD19 bispecific antibody,blinatumomab, as the first CD19-targeted treatment approach for each patientcase.

While both blinatumomab and CD19-directed CAR-T therapy (ie,tisagenlecleucel in patients 25 years or younger) are approved by the US Foodand Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of relapsed/refractory B-cellALL, the mechanisms of action of these therapies are very different: the formerdrug activates T cells by linking them through their CD3 receptor to the CD19surface antigen on B cells, whereas CD19-directed CAR-T therapy uses autologousT cells that have been genetically modified to express the CD19 receptor.

Nevertheless, both treatment approaches are considered tolerable and potentiallycurative in the setting of relapsed/refractory B-cell ALL. Furthermore, it maybe possible to subsequently offer the alternative CD19-targeted treatment ifdisease progression occurs following treatment with either CD19-directed CAR-Ttherapy or blinatumomab. However, some patients will become ineligible for subsequenttreatment with the alternative approach due to loss of B-cell expression ofCD19.

Oncethe decision to use CD19-targeted immunotherapy to treat a patient withadvanced ALL has been made, the physician faces the challenge of selectingbetween blinatumomab and CAR T cells, the study authors noted, adding that itis crucial to weigh all considerations for each individual patient beforeselecting one immunotherapy over another.

Inthe patient cases highlighted in this article, multiple factors were consideredin making individualized treatment decisions.

Forexample, initial treatment with blinatumomab was selected for an older patientwith low-burden disease, given its FDA approval across all age groups, itslower associated risks of severe cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicitycompared with CAR-T therapy, and its demonstrated efficacy in patients withlow-burden disease. Furthermore, because allogeneic hematopoietic stem celltherapy (allo-HCT) was planned for this patient who had a matched siblingdonor, another factor weighing in favor of blinatumomab was the avoidance of delaysassociated with CAR-T manufacturing.

Factorsassociated with selection of CD19-directed CAR-T therapy as the initialCD19-directed approach included the presence of extramedullary disease in the centralnervous system (CNS), as there is evidence supporting CNS penetration by CAR-Tcells, as well as promising antileukemic activity in patients with extramedullarydisease.

Inaddition, CAR-T therapy was preferred for a patient who experienced diseaseprogression following allo-HCT and was unlikely to receive a second allo-HCT,given evidence for long-lasting remissions even without consolidation allo-HCTfollowing treatment with CAR-T therapy.

Inthis context, the study authors stated that blinatumomab in this setting isbetter used as a bridging therapy rather than a definitivecurative treatment.

The study authors concluded that treatment with blinatumomab and CD19 CAR T cells holds promise in advanced ALL, allowing more patients to attain remission and possible cure with and without additional therapies. Both treatments have unique limitations and advantages, and the treating physician should be discerning when selecting treatment of each case.

Reference

Aldoss I, Forman SJ. How I treat adults with advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia eligible for CD19-targeted immunotherapy.[published online March 12, 2020]. Blood. 2020;135:804-813. doi:10.1182/blood.2019002132

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Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy for Arthritis

By adminMarch 25, 2020Platelet Rich Plasma Injections

Platelet-rich plasma therapy, sometimes called PRP therapy or autologous conditioned plasma (ACP) therapy, attempts to take advantage of the blood's natural healing properties to repair damaged cartilage, tendons, ligaments, muscles, or even bone.

See What Are Stem Cells?

Although not considered standard practice, a growing number of people are turning to PRP injections to treat an expanding list of orthopedic conditions, including osteoarthritis. It is most commonly used for knee osteoarthritis, but may be used on other joints as well.

This article describes how experts think PRP works, who might consider PRP injections for osteoarthritis, how to choose a doctor, and the injection procedure. Also discussed is the available research examining whether PRP is an effective treatment for osteoarthritis.

When treating osteoarthritis with platelet-rich plasma, a doctor injects PRP directly into the affected joint. The goal is to:

Platelet-rich plasma is derived from a sample of the patient's own blood. The therapeutic injections contain plasma with a higher concentration of platelets than is found in normal blood.

What is plasma? Plasma refers to the liquid component of blood; it is the medium for red and white blood cells and other material traveling in the blood stream. Plasma is mostly water but also includes proteins, nutrients, glucose, and antibodies, among other components.

What are platelets? Like red and white blood cells, platelets are a normal component of blood. Platelets alone do not have any restorative or healing properties; rather, they secrete substances called growth factors and other proteins that regulate cell division, stimulate tissue regeneration, and promote healing. Platelets also help the blood to clot; a person with defective platelets or too few platelets will bleed excessively from a cut.

There is no universally accepted medical definition for platelet-rich plasma, so a PRP injection that one patient receives can be very different than that of another. Variations occur for many reasons, including:

How PRP production and composition affects the therapy's effectiveness is not well understood. Until more research is done, patients considering platelet-rich plasma therapy should take time to learn what is known about PRP.

Experts are unsure exactly how PRP therapy may alleviate symptoms for certain orthopedic conditions. Doctors who use PRP therapy to treat osteoarthritis theorize that the platelet-rich plasma might:

It could be that platelet-rich plasma does all of these things, or none.5 More large-scale, high-quality clinical studies are needed before scientists can know.

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Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy for Arthritis

Losing Your Hair? This Is Why You Need A Scalp Analysis – Essence

By adminMarch 25, 2020Platelet Rich Plasma Injections

In my journey to regrow my edges, I have been doing a number of things that are supposed to aid in restoring my hairline, including getting PRP (plasma-rich platelet) injections, applying Rogaine 5% topical foam minoxidil daily, washing my hair once a week, steaming and spritzing my hair with a nourishing mist every other day. But I realized that Id skipped one of the most important steps in the process; the one that I should have started with. It was time to get a scalp analysis.

I went to see scalp therapist, stylist and certified trichologist Bridgette Hill at Paul Labrecque Salon and Skincare Spa in Midtown Manhattan. Trichologists specialize in the science of the structure and function of the hair and scalp. They look at elements like fibers, possible scalp disease, and diagnose the cause of hair loss (note: dermatologists can be trichologists but not all trichologists are dermatologists).

My visit was eye opening for a number of reasons, but mainly because Hill did a scope to take a closer look at my scalp in order to better understand the condition of it, my follicles and my hair fibers.

Hair care is really scalp care, she said as she moved the scope around my scalp. Its not sexy. And the beauty industry wants sexy. They didnt make money dealing with the hair care part or the scalp care. So there were many different levels that forced the industry to ignore it because there was really no benefit. That has changed because [hair loss] is becoming more of an epidemic across race, gender, economic [background] and lifestyle.

Seeing my hair fibers and scalp through a scope brought some perspective to my treatment process. For one, I found out that my hairline was inflamed, which is bad for blood flow and can affect your scalp analysis. When I went to see Hill I was wearing a headband wig combination that was creating pressure along the hairline.

Hill was able to show me what the scalp looks like when its inflamed from pressure versus when its allowed to breathe and let blood flow. My constant wig wearing is not helping with growth. I also found out that I have wispy little hairs trying to push through follicles that I couldnt see with my naked eye. Its called miniaturization. The bad news is that miniaturization is a negative and typically means future hair loss. The good news is that my follicles are still active, and if I treat them right, we can reverse the damage and further loss.

Miniaturization is when we know that that follicle is being compromised. It can be compromised because of inflammation. It could be compromised if youre ill. It could be compromised because of genetics, whatever that is, Hill told me.

But the good thing is, they exist. Meaning that thats a hair follicle, nothings coming out of it, but I still see that little speck. I probably can get a hair or something out of it. Every time you see these little brown specks, those are follicles that just may need to be revved up.

Most people have anywhere from two to five hair fibers coming from each follicle, depending on how thick or thin the hair is. I had on average two; my hair being on the thinner side. But my fears that my edges wouldnt grow back at all were quelled. I was worried about keratinization, which happens when the hair is completely gone and it does not come back after miniaturization. It turns into scaly, baby soft skin just like Whitney Eaddy, the growth guru, told me months ago. I was relieved.

As someone who has suffered severe blood loss from fibroids, Hill also advised that I get my ferritin levels checked. Ferritin is a blood protein that contains iron, so low ferritin levels may mean iron deficiency. She noticed that my hair was very brittle even in areas of the scalp that were very healthy, which indicated to her that there was in internal issue causing hair damage. It could also be a catalyst for the hairline loss (in addition to my traction alopecia).

I didnt need to get a ferritin check to tell her that my iron levels were low (my Gyne had put me on iron supplements almost a year ago because of my abnormally low blood levels). But just mentioning this opened my eyes to the fact that my fibroids could essentially be affecting my hair health in ways that I never considered.

As a beauty editor Im exploring topicslike this all of the time. And I have access to experts that the average womanmight not. So I asked Hill, what should a woman do when she starts noticinghair loss and shes unsure of the cause or shes started treatment and itsgoing slowly. These are her three tips:

At the end of the day, seeing my scalp close up and having a professional explain what I was seeing was a big part of understanding how to treat my particular hair loss. Hill was able to show me things I was never able to see at home in my bathroom mirror. I found out things I didnt know, and corrected misconceptions that I had about my own hair.

But the biggest thing I took away from the scalp analysis was that theres hope. Im one step closer to treating my particular hair loss properly because I now know what Im working with. Whether you have follicles that can be reenergized, or your follicles are completely closed, it will help inform how you proceed with your treatment process.

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Losing Your Hair? This Is Why You Need A Scalp Analysis - Essence

Michael Schumacher health: Neurosurgeon contradicted Jean Todt statements that F1 legend is ‘still fighting,’ says Schumi is different now -…

By adminMarch 24, 2020Stem Cell Doctors

Michael Schumacher has been out in the car racing world since he sustained a grave injury to the head in 2013. Nearly a year after he announced his official retirement from the F1 league, he was badly hurt while skiing with his family in the Alps.

Keeping it a secret

The racing champ almost lost his life in the accident but he was revived after doctors put him in a coma that lasted for months. It is not clear how long it was before he returned to consciousness because, at that time, his family already decided to keep his health condition and recovery progress a secret.

There was a total media blackout where journalists could not even gather information about Michael Schumachers condition and his family managed to keep it this way up to now. It has been over seven years since the accident and yet, only those who are close to Shumi and his family know how he is today.

Who shares info with the public?

Despite the strict secrecy, there are few details that still able to make its way to the papers and online publications. The info provided came from some of Schumachers friends or colleagues and sometimes from medical professionals who treated him once.

Through them, it was leaked that Michael Schumacher still seeks treatment from hospitals as his family tries everything to make him healthy again. Recently, it was reported that he was brought to a hospital in Paris for a stem cell procedure, one of the newest treatments available today and a doctor who did the procedure on him reportedly confirmed it.

Moreover, the racing champ continues with his road to recovery, the selected people who are allowed to see him include his former manager at Ferrari, Jean Todt. Last year, this friend revealed to the public that Michael Schumacher is still fighting.

Michael is in the best hands and is well looked after in his house, Express quoted Todt as saying. He does not give up and continues to fight and his family is fighting just as much.

The publication also mentioned another one of his friends, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, also said something optimistic with regards to Schumis health. He said that he is looking forward to the day when Michael himself will be the one to answer all of the peoples questions on his health condition.

Michaels true health condition

But then, one doctor seemed to have dismissed Michael Schumachers friends claims that he will be back after full recovery one day and come back normal. According to The Independent, a neurosurgeon shared what is really going on and it is far from what was claimed.

Nicola Acciari, a leading surgeon in Bologna, seems to allege that the truth is - Michael Schumacher is a different person now who is far from everyone remembers him to be. He said that since Schumi suffered from a serious head injury and has been on treatment for more than six years now, he is likely to have been altered at this point.

We must imagine a person very different from the one we remember on the track, with a very altered and deteriorated organic, muscular and skeletal structure, he told Contro Copertina via The Independent. All as a result of the brain trauma he suffered.

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Michael Schumacher health: Neurosurgeon contradicted Jean Todt statements that F1 legend is 'still fighting,' says Schumi is different now -...

Canton woman, man have stories to tell about cancer survivors – Wicked Local Canton

By adminMarch 24, 2020Stem Cell Doctors

Everyone has a story of why they want to participate in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai. Here are the stories of two Canton residents.

She's doubly grateful

Shannon Whalen, of Canton, knows the importance of getting good medical treatment.

As a child of two cancer survivors who both received treatment at Dana-Farber, this was the best way I could give back, stated Whalen, who will participate in the walk in honor of her parents.

Whalens father was diagnosed with leukemia when she was a newborn. He underwent a stem cell transplant and chemotherapy as she grew into a child.

After years of tough times, hospitalizations, doctors appointments, hair loss, and no appetite, he has been in remission for 15 years thanks to the amazing doctors and oncologists at Dana-Farber, Whalen wrote.

But while the family thought they were finally in the clear, her mother was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer almost 10 years later.

"Finding comfort in the outstanding care my dad received at Dana-Farber, we took her to the exact same place without a doubt that it would be the best decision, Whalen wrote. "My parents, myself, and our family are extremely lucky to have had access to the worlds best cancer center in our backyard. This accessibility allows me to say that they are both survivors and that we can continue to live our lives as a whole, happy family.

"...I have friends, family, and coworkers whose connections to cancer are devastating, which is why I have become so adamant about walking and fundraising for the Jimmy Fund Walk. I want to not only express my gratitude for their state-of-the-art care, but to help contribute to funding that will hopefully one day find a cure so that more people have the privilege to say they are a relative or friend of a survivor.

Whalen is a part of Team Tara which hopes to raise $100,000 this year. Over the years, the team has surpassed the $1 million mark.

Full effort for a quarter-century

Jim Maltz, of Canton, has been walking in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk for 25 years. He first started to walk because he wanted to help Dana-Farber.

Maltz y walks for team Marching For Michael. He became involved with this team by serendipity. He ended up meeting Michaels father at the gym. Michaels father noticed that Maltz was wearing his Jimmy Fund Walk shirt and they began to talk. Maltz learned that Michael was treated at the Jimmy Fund from age six to nine. Maltz joined their team and was able to watch Michael grow and heal. Michael is now a freshman in college.

He is now taller than me, Maltz wrote. He towers over me.

His favorite part about the walk is at the finish line where he sees everyone hugging and being happy.

Knowing that all of the money raised goes directly to research is big for me, Maltz wrote. Its a good cause."

The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk raises the most money of any single day walk in the country.

The walk, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 4, has raised more than $145 million in its more than 30-year history. Every dollar raised helps patients at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

To register, support a walker or volunteer, visit http://www.JimmyFundWalk.org or call 866-531-9255. Registrants can enter the promo code NEWS for $5 off the registration fee. Walkers can walk any of the four distance options.

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Canton woman, man have stories to tell about cancer survivors - Wicked Local Canton

COVID-19 forcing Wisconsin’s incarceration system to adapt – Wisconsin Examiner

By adminMarch 24, 2020Stem Cell Doctors

The Badger State is notorious for its high incarceration rate. So the well-being of Wisconsins incarcerated population remains one of the biggest looming challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. News of the infection of a Department of Corrections (DOC) employee at the Waupun Correctional Institution further raise the stakes.

On March 21, Evers ordered a halt of all prison admissions in the state. A spokeswoman described the development as, part of our efforts to stop the spread of the virus and help keep staff and the people in the states care safe.

The order does not end the problem the pandemic poses within the incarcerated population, however, and some sheriffs objected that they had not been consulted on the plan, which could cause a backlog in county jails.

According to a DOC weekly population inventory, there are 23,167 incarcerated adults in Wisconsin and 136 in youth custody. Pile staff numbers on top of that, and youre looking at a large potentially high-transmission environment for the virus that causes COVID-19. March 18, an email was sent out to DOC and Waupun correctional staff regarding a staff member who tested positive. Our priority is the safety of everyone and we will continue to be proactive in our efforts as we deal with this ongoing issue, wrote Waupun warden Brian Foster. As always, be vigilant in your duties, be safe in all that you do, take care of yourselves and those around you.

The DOC says its been implementing measures over the last several weeks to minimize the risk to people housed within facilities. As a result of these actions, we feel equipped to deal with this situation, DOC spokeswoman Anna Neal tells Wisconsin Examiner. Each division maintains detailed pandemic plans that outline protocols and isolation procedures on what to do if someone was infected. Upon confirmation of a positive case, all potentially exposed staff were notified, and all adults in custody that were directly exposed were quarantined. Due to privacy concerns, details about the staff member and his or her work site remain confidential.

According to the Department of Health Services (DHS) the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 381.

Several criminal justice reform groups are pushing to elevate the voices of incarcerated residents. Among them is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin, which held a virtual town hall on the evening of March 19.

Despite social isolation being a key to mitigating the virus spread, its a strategy Dr. Monica Vasudev, points out is not possible for incarcerated people. We know that close contact increases the risk of catching the virus, Vasudev says. Older inmates are at risk.

Vasudev outlines a complicated medical landscape for incarcerated Wisconsinites, who have trouble obtaining medications and are sometimes not diagnosed with an underlying health condition upon entering the correctional system.

Even soap is a limited resource for incarcerated people. Vasudev urges that Wisconsins incarcerated population be given easier access to soap, adequate sinks to wash, and proper instruction about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Protocols for newly arrived inmates may also have to shift across facilities under the DOCs oversight. If people are newly incarcerated, maybe they need to be quarantined for 14 days because we have whats now known as community spread, says Vasudev. People who work in the jails, they also need to be told to stay home if they have a cold.

The criminal legal system makes it essentially impossible to do the things that doctors say you need to do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from COVID-19, says Dylan Hayre, Justice Division Campaign Strategist with the ACLU. It makes social distancing impossible. It makes hygiene inaccessible. It makes medical care wholly inadequate or also inaccessible. It just creates barriers and impediments all along the way for people who are trying to get help in the midst of this pandemic.

Much like paid sick leave and healthcare access, the pandemic is laying bare the inequities of the incarceration system. Cases of medical shortfalls and malpractice can be found within jails and prisons nationwide, including Wisconsin. One of the most striking incidents occurred in 2016, when 38-year-old Terrill Thomas was deprived of water for a week in jail and died. Three Milwaukee jail staffers were convicted of felony charges in connection with the death, and Thomas family was awarded a $6.7 million settlement. Thomas case is just one of numerous deaths that have occurred in the Milwaukee County jail since 2000.

I should note that these barriers arent new now that we have COVID-19, says Hayre. These are the barriers that have existed within the criminal legal system for centuries. Theyre just now being re-evaluated under the crisis in a way that they havent been before.

Moving forward, the ACLU is pushing several demands to help ensure the safety of incarcerated people. These include a moratorium on arrests for low-level offenses to help stem the tide of new people into the system. Prosecutors need to stop low-level charges, says Hayre, they need to dismiss as many charges as possible, they need to get people out if they are being brought in under arrest.

Like the rest of society, Wisconsins correctional institutions may need to change very rapidly. For example, while the average person may be buyingor stockpilinghand sanitizer, incarcerated people arent allowed sanitizers, which contain alcohol. Incarcerated residents also pay for soap, which they can only afford if they have someone putting money on their account, or if they work a low-wage, prison-provided job for pennies on the dollar, as Hayre puts it. It can take up to a weeks worth of incarcerated labor to pay for one bar of soap. Those are just a few of the problems incarcerated Wisconsinites are facing as the pandemic now creeps within their walls.

Emilio de Torre, community engagement director with Wisconsins ACLU, encourages organizers, activists, and concerned residents to contact their local sheriffs and district attorneys about this issue. Things like recommending that police issue tickets for low-level offenses rather than conduct arrests, reduce bail, eliminate overcrowding, and provide access to supplies for incarcerated people can all help.

Nothing is going to resonate more with your local sheriffs, or your police chiefs, or your DAs than you calling them, than you emailing them and reaching out directly, says de Torre. ACLU is also distributing a petition to urge Gov. Tony Evers to eliminate the practice of crimeless revocation, which is the number-one driver to our prison system, says de Torre, referring to those who will be re-incarcerated for breaking a rule of supervision rather than committing a new crime.

In Milwaukee County, many of the people who break these rules may find themselves within the notoriously overcrowded Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF). Molly Collins, advocacy director with the ACLU of Wisconsin notes that in MSDF, there are three people in a cell. And theres no space there. Those are conditions where if this virus gets in those folks are going to be harmed.

In a press briefing on the pandemic on March 20, Evers said the DOC has implemented significant changes, to its operations across all institutions. Evers emphasized the priority of making sure the people that were responsible for are safe and secure and continuing to receive services.

At Waupun, the governor said contact tracing is being done to quarantine any possible exposures. Though Evers is confident in the operations of the DOC to deal with the virus, he admitted, obviously this is very stressful for the Department of Corrections, the people that work there, and the people that we are responsible for.

Chris Ott, executive director of Wisconsins ACLU tells Wisconsin Examiner, We believe that the administration is taking the grave risk that COVID-19 poses to incarcerated individuals seriously and is actively looking into how to stem the outbreak.

The ACLU of Wisconsin released a letter to Gov. Evers and corrections officials in his administration calling on the governor to grant commutations to anyone identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as particularly vulnerable and whose sentence would end within the next two years.

There are a lot of priorities right now, says Collins, but the most vulnerable in society, she adds are the ones that we need to be thinking about.

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COVID-19 forcing Wisconsin's incarceration system to adapt - Wisconsin Examiner