“Latest Stem Cells News”

“Younger and more hair with vegetable stem cells” is the pitch which increasingly being read in the advertisements in the major Italian newspapers. But is it true? Are we faced with a new frontier for medicine, capable of obtaining benefits for humans from vegetable stem cells similar to embryonic and adult stem cells? Among experts in the sector, including pharmacologists, cosmologists, and dermatologists, skepticism is common: “It’s a slogan,” said Silvio Garattini, the director of the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research, “which is not based on any scientific evidence.” “I am not aware of studies published in specialized journals. It is difficult to imagine that vegetable stem cells can have an influence on human stem cells,” he specified. The advertisement has also drawn the attention of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Institute (IAP), which regulates the honesty of information of a commercial nature in the media.

Adnkronos Salute press agency reports that the IAP Surveillance Committee has begun an investigation into the Labo advertisement, to establish whether or not it is an honest and truthful advertisement. Despite repeated requests, they have not been able to speak directly with the head of Labo in Italy for comments and further information. The advertisement seems to leave no doubts: “Labo vegetable stem cells for wrinkles and dehydrated hair”.

A result obtained by mixing a vegetable stem cell-based solution with a special cosmetic product manufactured by Labo. A dream for the almost 10 million Italians who are balding or who want to have a younger complexion, without wrinkles.

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In a stem cell research study at the University of Miami, Barry Brown has had his heart attack healed after receiving therapy using his own Adult Stem Cells. An unlikely candidate for heart disease, Barry was a 38 year old physical trainer in the Air Force when he had his heart attack.

Stem Cell Treatment in Addition to a Bypass Surgery

While receiving treatment at the VA hospital, Brown was approached by Dr. Juan Pablo Zambrano, a cardiologist at the University of Miami who have been conducting a clinical trial in which the heart disease patient is injected with their own Adult Stem Cells just after the completion of bypass surgery. In other words, while the chest is open, it is convenient for the heart surgeon to inject the stem cells into the heart muscle.

Process of Stem Cells for Heart Disease

Barry was accepted into the study and had some of his bone marrow extracted 4 weeks before his bypass surgery was scheduled. The Adult Stem Cells from his bone marrow were isolated and then cultivated so there was enough stem cells to help in the treatment. Then, after 4 weeks the stem cells were injected into the heart at the same time as Barry’s bypass surgery.

And how did it turn out? From the stem cell article:

Things have slowed down for Brown since those hectic first weeks at the VA, but things are speeding up in a different way now. Each week, he has been able to add a quarter-mile to his daily workout walk.

By spring he was up to three miles a day. Now, at 39, he is training to compete in a mini-triathlon.

”And I’m feeling no discomfort,” he said.

Although the initial case studies have been successful, the three doctors know they are facing an uphill battle. They have secured only 11 of the targeted 45 willing participants. Many who have heart damage are unwilling to wait a month for their stem cells to incubate without a guarantee that they will be in the treatment group.

”We are working with the FDA to try to guarantee that those who are in the placebo group do eventually get administered the treatment,” Hare said.

Working With the FDA? Waiting for the Cubs to Win the World Series Too?

In other words, Dr. Hare, who is conducting the study and is playing by the FDA rules, wants to give stem cells to the patients who received the placebo in his study -AFTER the study is completed. Why it would take more than 1 phone call to the FDA to guarantee that those in the placebo group receive the stem cell treatment (after the research is completed!)  is beyond my comprehension.  Not many have accused the FDA of having common sense and compassion.

Sarcasm aside, I am very happy that Dr. Hare is conducting the research study and helping heart disease patients improve their lives with the use of their own stem cells as treatment. Keep on going my friend.

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In a startling new interview on stem cell research and adult stem cells in the near future, Dr. Christopher Centeno warns that Big Pharma and the FDA are teaming to control the use of a person’s own stem cells thus slowing innovation and the use of Adult Stem Cells to help patients now.

American Stem Cell Therapy Association

Dr. Centeno has formed the American Stem Cell Therapy Association to challenge the FDA’s assertion that a person’s own stem cells are a drug and thus should be regulated as such ie. subject to 7-10 years of clinical trials for each particular disease and condition.  That is 10 years for heart patients, 10 years of trials for stroke patients etc.

The FDA is Killing People By Slowing Down Use of a Person’s Own Stem Cells

The article/interview in H+ magazine states:

If we’re not careful, these therapies could become the exclusive domain of the pharmaceutical industry, as regulated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This could push the availability of this tool kit 15 to 20 years into the future. The opportunity-cost in terms of morbidity and mortality could be catastrophic.

“The Opportunity-cost in terms of morbidity and mortality could be catastrophic? This is just the author’s nice PC way of saying that the FDA is killing people by trying to regulate the use of our own cells.  If the FDA slows down the use of Adult Stem Cells- each year millions will suffer and die needlessly.

More from the article:

To Dr. Centeno (a pioneer in Adult stem cell therapy), it is inconceivable that a person’s own cells could be classified as a drug —  but that’s exactly what the FDA wants to do. “The FDA is working to protect the interests of Big Pharma,” he says. “If we wanted to insert some kind of new genes into these cells, we might all agree that could be a drug  — a new entity. But what we’re doing is simply culturing a person’s own cells. Most of the cells are bone-marrow derived; you can get them from synovial fluid in the knee or from other locations.”

I recommend you read the whole article carefully and see how the FDA is not helping and protecting and serving us-  but in reality, is hurting us.

Here is the link to the Adult Stem Cell article

If you are a doctor and interested in joining forces with Dr. Centeno in taking on the FDA- go to the http://www.stemcelldocs.org

If you are a patient or just interested in fighting the FDA for the use of our own stem cells- go to http://www.safestemcells.org

original post by Don Margolis

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As Aaditya watches a cartoon show on television, his right hand wavering to caress soft toys (SpongeBob SquarePants and Noddy) tucked next to him in bed, the boy has no clue that researchers and doctors across the world are watching his recovery with bated breath.

That’s because this frail boy, who is set to turn eight next month, is the first ever to receive a stem cell transplant for a rare and destructive illness — called Childhood Alzheimer’s (medical term: Niemann-Pick Type C or NPC), which causes neurological degeneration and seizures — for which there is no conventional treatment. Stem cells are cells that can, when provided the right stimulus, change themselves into specialised cells and, thus, develop into and replace malfunctioning or damaged body organs.

The operation was carried out at the BGS Global Hospital, Bangalore, on December 18 by Dr N.K. Venkataramana, Vice Chairman & Chief Neurosurgeon of the hospital.

Aaditya has recovered significantly after the stem cell transplant therapy. Now, his gaze shifts when people move in his bedroom, his head does not droop and the fingers of his right hand move to touch soft toys placed next to him. He could not do any of these earlier.

“The child’s deterioration has stopped and there’s some improvement (following the surgery). Next, he has to become active, but we cannot say how long it will take (for him to recover completely),” said Dr Venkataramana.

His recovery will bring cheer not only to his kin, but also to those in various corners of the world suffering from this disease.

Aaditya’s affliction has spawn a global network of researchers, parents and philanthropists who are not only exchanging information on this ailment but are also raising $200,000 to support research on NPC and to evolve an effective treatment for children struck by it.

This group, led by Aaditya’s aunt, Duriya Lakdawala, a banker based in Detroit, US, has already raised $10,000 during Christmas 2008. “We would like to see more kids benefit from this treatment,” says Tasneem, the boy’s mother.

Looking back, Tasneem says it took doctors nearly two years to accurately diagnose Aaditya’s affliction. The family got to know about NPC only after doctors at Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi, requested a skin biopsy in a laboratory in The Netherlands. Next, it was another journey to find treatment, but none existed, not even in the United States. Her sister Duriya learnt about the Stem Cell transplant approach from Dr Marc Patterson, an expert on NPC, and later on got to know about Stempeutics, a Stem Cells bank in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. Subsequently, they met Dr Venkataramana at BGS Global Hospital, who agreed to carry out the procedure.

According to Dr Venkataramana, his team had to get an approval from the local ethics committee (at his hospital) according to guidelines set by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). “I had to submit the entire protocol involved and make a presentation to the committee prior to the transplant. The entire process took about two months,” he said.

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After making news on several occasions, scientists may have made a definitive breakthrough, with the first possible transfusion using blood obtained from embryonic stem cells possibly coming within the next three years. The transfusion would be done with type O blood, which can be donated to any patient, and would be obtained by researchers using excess embryos from assisted fertilization. The project, which will be led by Marc Turner of Edinburgh University, will also receive contributions from the Transfusion and Transplant Service of the British National Health Service, as well as the same department and Scotland, and the Welcome Trust, a large charitable group for medical research. The story was reported by the Independent and immediately created controversy and distorted information.

“This isn’t just talk, this time it is a serious breakthrough, and the group behind the project is very serious,” said Professor Carlo Alberto Redi, the scientific director of the IRCCS (Hospital and Medical Treatment) Foundation of the San Matteo General Hospital in Pavia, commenting on the story. Redi emphasized that the capability for the regeneration of the hematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro is well-known and the time is right for real blood to be created, with the term artificial blood no longer appropriate. “When the term synthetic blood is used, people imagine silicone blood, when in reality, in all effects, this is real blood,” said Redi.

IT CANNOT REPLACE BLOOD DONATIONS

The blood that the British researchers plan to use in human treatments in the next three years will only “support and complement” blood donation. Giuseppe Novelli, a geneticist of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, commenting to Adnkronos Salute, was less optimistic. “This is only an announcement, and it seems premature to talk about a victory. This research is starting off well because it has millions in financing and is based on evidence that is very hopeful. But we are only talking about one piece of a very complex puzzle.”

The puzzle, in this case, is represented by the blood that runs through our veins and arteries, “made up of red and white blood cells, platelets, and plasma,” said Novelli. “It is a very complex liquid, which carries out an essential function in our body.” The British study which is currently being launched “is limited to red blood cells, which are certainly not able to resolve all of the problems with transfusions”. The British studies are also developing type O negative blood, a group that is able to donate to any patient without any risk of rejection. “This is blood that can be used, and is used, only in case of emergency.” Novelli continued to say that “the new blood will not be able to replace real blood donation, and I don’t want these announcements to inhibit people from donating blood, or make them underestimate the value or the importance blood donation”.

As for an estimate on how much time it will take to create a synthetic blood that will resolve all problems linked to a lack of donations, Novelli said: “I’m not a magician! Science needs realism, and predictions cannot be made for this type of study. Certainly,” he concluded optimistically, “the progress made with stem cells in the past 12 years since their discovery is a great cause for hope”.

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John Lawson Cullison Jr., an artist lost his ability to paint due to the effects of arthritis. This incurable condition is due to the degeneration in cartilage tissue and symptoms include: pain, tenderness in the joints, stiffness, loss of flexibility, bone spurs and severe swelling. Pain management and joint replacement surgery are the typical means to treating this condition.

RNL BIO, a South Korean adult stem cell therapy company, developed a method to take one’s own stem cells from fat tissue and make identical copies that have no genetic modifications and no cancer risks so that high doses of stem cells can be administered back into the body. The stem cells that come from fat tissue can easily form new tissues. Given that characteristic, the stem cells have the capacity to treat any tissue degenerative disease which includes, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, Renal Failure, among many. When Cullison heard of the treatment, he sent a small fat sample to RNL BIO, where the cells would be manufactured under the strictest safety and quality conditions.

A week after his injection, Cullison began to see small improvements and after two weeks, he no longer needed his cane to walk. He noticed that his joints were feeling better, his vision was improving to the point that his glasses were outdated, his eyes were getting bluer (eye pigmentation is often an indicator of good health) and his legs were getting stronger. “This is major improvement and it’s only been 2 weeks! Six months from now, I’ll be doing back-flips!” Only three weeks post treatment, Cullison reported that he was no longer taking any medication and back to painting his pictures.

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