BioEden the specialist tooth stem cell bank plan to shake up public perception as Stem Cell Awareness week takes hold.

(PRWEB UK) 7 October 2014

Stem cell treatments take place in countries all around the world every day. Thousands of lives have already been saved, and advancements in this area of medicine means that future healthcare treatments look set to further prolong and improve life.

But specialist stem cell bank BioEden warn that there is a risk of thinking of stem cell therapy in terms of the future alone. 'The need to have a stem cell match is vital', says Group CEO Mr Tony Veverka. 'Without access to a stem cell match, the work of stem cell scientists could be at risk. That is the reason why BioEden was set up, to ensure that anyone could bank and have access to their own stem cells. We also wanted to ensure that the brilliant work being carried out by stem cell scientists and medical professionals could continue unhindered'.

BioEden's services are being promoted by Health Care Professionals including specialist insurance intermediaries, and dentists. This week to highlight Stem Cell Awareness week, members of their specialist teams will be on the road visiting dentists, schools and healthcare insurance companies.

'Let's make everyone aware of the opportunities they have to store their own cells during stem cell awareness week. Perhaps we need to re name it Stem Cell Self-Awareness week'.

For more information visit http://www.bioeden.com

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BioEden the specialist tooth stem cell bank plan to shake up public perception as Stem Cell Awareness week takes hold.

SCI 1 1 Xiaoyanzi-(Female,36-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury- Before stem cell treatment – Video


SCI 1 1 Xiaoyanzi-(Female,36-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury- Before stem cell treatment
Xiaoyanzi is a Chinese 36 years old female patient suffering from spinal cord injury. She underwent a car crash in June, 2014, then was diagnosed as C4-C5 vertebral bodies fracture with relevant...

By: Stem Cells

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SCI 1 1 Xiaoyanzi-(Female,36-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury- Before stem cell treatment - Video

SCI1 2 Xiaoyanzi-(Male,1-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury-After the 1st round stem cell treatment – Video


SCI1 2 Xiaoyanzi-(Male,1-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury-After the 1st round stem cell treatment
Xiaoyanzi is a Chinese 36 years old female patient suffering from spinal cord injury. She underwent a car crash in June, 2014, then was diagnosed as C4-C5 vertebral bodies fracture with relevant...

By: Stem Cells

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SCI1 2 Xiaoyanzi-(Male,1-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury-After the 1st round stem cell treatment - Video

1 3 Xiaoyanzi-(Male,1-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury-Before the 2nd round stem cell treatmentnt – Video


1 3 Xiaoyanzi-(Male,1-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury-Before the 2nd round stem cell treatmentnt
Xiaoyanzi is a Chinese 36 years old female patient suffering from spinal cord injury. She underwent a car crash in June, 2014, then was diagnosed as C4-C5 vertebral bodies fracture with relevant...

By: Stem Cells

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1 3 Xiaoyanzi-(Male,1-year-old)-C4-C5 Spinal Cord Injury-Before the 2nd round stem cell treatmentnt - Video

Family of Margot Martini launch new stem cell and bone marrow appeal

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The family of brave toddler Margot Martini launched a new bone marrow donor appeal this morning exactly a year after she was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Her relatives said the first Team Margot Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Awareness Day would be held in another 12 months, on Wednesday October 7, 2015.

The two-year-old underwent a bone marrow transplant in February after her dad, Yaser, from Essington, and mum Vicki launched a desperate appeal for help.

Margot Martini with mum Vicky

But she relapsed and her parents decided to end her treatment after being told her chances of survival were less than one per cent.

The awareness day is designed to promote awareness around the need for more potential stem cell donors to join the UK and worldwide registries.

Her family said they hoped mixed race people would sign up to plug a gaping hole on the lists.

Just sixty per cent of the 37,000 patients needing a stem cell donor worldwide receives a perfect match.

But that figure plunges to barely 20 per cent for those from black, Asian or ethnic minority communities.

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Family of Margot Martini launch new stem cell and bone marrow appeal

Stem cell cure for blindness offers hope to thousands

London: Hundreds of thousands of people who are registered blind have been offered new hope after scientists discovered stem cells in the eye that can be altered to pick up light.

Researchers found a reservoir of stem cells in an area called the corneal limbus. They have proven that, in the right environment, the cells can be transformed into photoreceptor cells that react to light. Scientists are hopeful that implanting the cultured stem cells in a damaged eye will reverse blindness.

It could offer a potential cure for hundreds of thousands of people suffering macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa, both of which are caused by the loss of photoreceptor cells. The researchers at the University of Southampton found that the cells even existed in the eyes of a 97-year-old, opening up the possibility that the treatment will work for the elderly.

These cells are readily accessible, and they have surprising plasticity, which makes them an attractive cell resource for future therapies, said Andrew Lotery, a professor at the university and a consultant ophthalmologist at Southampton General Hospital, who led the study, which is published in the journal Plos One.

This would help avoid complications with rejection or contamination because the cells taken from the eye would be returned to the same patient. More research is now needed to develop this approach before these cells are used in patients. The loss of photoreceptor cells causes irreversible blindness. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world and affects around one in three people in Britain by the age of 75.

Around 513,000 people are in the late stage of AMD, a figure that is expected to rise by a third to nearly 700,000 cases by 2020. Almost two million people in the UK live with sight loss. There is currently no treatment for blindness caused by the loss of photoreceptors. The Southampton scientists have shown only that the concept works in the lab and are yet to implant the stem cells in a human patient.

Clara Eaglen, the RNIBs eye health campaigns manager, said: At RNIB we talk to people every day who tell us about the huge impact that losing their sight has on daily life, so this is very interesting research. The study shows that you can grow stem cells and make them act like light sensitive cells, a big step forward in helping patients with conditions such as age-related macular degeneration where damage has occurred to the light sensitive cells. These cells can then be taken from a patient, changed, and replaced - reducing the risk of rejection which is exciting. We are hopeful that stem cell technology will significantly change the way in which people with sight loss are treated over the next decade.

The Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2014

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Stem cell cure for blindness offers hope to thousands

Tucson Medical Center offering umbilical cord blood donation program

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Newborns at Tucson Medical Center now have a chance to save lives across the country.

TMC is the first hospital in Southern Arizona that collects donated umbilical cord blood intended for life-saving stem cell transplants starting this October.

The hospital partnered with the Arizona Public Cord Program in collecting and processing cord blood donated by a consenting mothers.

With Tucson's demographic, TMC is poised to make an impact on a "significant shortage" of cord blood for Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans.

Cord blood contains blood-forming stem cells that could cure dozens of blood diseases and cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.

"If you don't do anything, if you're not going to privately bank it, it will just be thrown away unless you decide to publicly donate it to us. I would say 95 percent of them say 'oh great, fantastic, I don't want it to go in the garbage if could save somebody's life," said TMC Cord Blood Coordinator, Kristen Wilt.

The average cost for a mother to bank her child's cord blood can be up to $1,500, plus an additional $150 annual fee to store the blood, according to Wilt.

But cord blood donated to the national registry is collected with no cost to the family through this program, due to funding from the Affordable Care Act. The Arizona Public Cord Program is part of the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission that works with the University of Colorado to store the blood.

"What we're trying to do is increase the registry so that patients, especially in these ethnic minorities, might be able to find a suitable match," OB/GYN and TMC Cord Blood Medical Director Dr. Manny Arreguin said.

Celina Martinez gave birth to her baby boy on Tuesday and upon hearing the donation could help children, decided to donate her son's umbilical cord blood to the national registry.

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Tucson Medical Center offering umbilical cord blood donation program