“Latest Stem Cells News”

A young woman is back home after a desperate journey to China for experimental stem cell treatment to heal her brain.

It wasn’t a disease or a genetic defect that led to her condition. Instead, Jackie Murphree, 22, went into a coma and woke up unresponsive and in need of wheelchair after a drunk driver struck her car.
The Decatur High honor student turned Aggie was leaving for work one morning two years ago when the accident occurred. The driver got probation.

In the latest on her slow and painful journey to find the person she used to be, Jackie went to China for five weeks. Doctors injected her own stem cells into her spinal cord in an attempt to heal her brain. She returned to North Texas Wednesday.
Patrick Murphree, her father, has been in the forefront of the battle, leading the quest to find help for his daughter. In therapy each day, he said he hopes each small response is a sign that his daughter is stepping closer to who she was before the crash.

“When she’s having a bad day, and she’s obviously in pain, I get real mad that she’s having to go through this,” he said.
Her physical therapist, Merley Vela, said she has seen through the way Jackie holds her head up or leans on her arm that there are improvements.

“Before she could not hold her head up,” Vela said. “Before she did not react at all. But now she gets angry. You can see her facial expression when she’s mad.”
Murphree quit his job to care for his daughter while Jackie’s mom supports the family.

“This is my job,” he said. “This is what I do. I don’t do anything else. It’s one of those things where we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but it doesn’t change what I do today.”
But her parents haven’t been the only one supporting Jackie’s journey. Hundreds of neighbors in Decatur raised more than $30,000 for experimental treatment in China that is not available in the Unites States.

“We don’t know if she’s on one of her peaks, or it’s the result of what happened,” Murphree said of watching his daughter over the last week react more to conversation.
Not expecting an overnight miracle, Jackie’s family has been cherishing the small signs.

Watch stem cell video here

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Lost amidst the Adult stem cell company Osiris’ latest press release announcing their 1rst quarter results for 2009, was a revelation that revealed that their “off the shelf” stem cell product, Prochymal, was given approval by the FDA to be used as a stem cell treatment and therapy for Graft Vs Host Disease (GVHD) in children.

Adult Stem Cells for GVHD

In May 2008, Osiris announced that Prochymal could be used under the FDA’s expanded access treatment program (EATP) which would make the Adult Stem Cell treatment available to children between the ages of 2 months and 17 years old to receive the stem cell therapy for severe cases of GVHD.  This expanded access treatment program enables Osiris to sell their Prochymal ‘at cost” to children with life threatening GVHD.

From the stem cell article:

Most of the patients have failed two to three prior treatment options and are using Prochymal as a last resort. But so far the results are extremely encouraging, with 100 day survival at approximately 60%. In early December 2008, Osiris received approval from Health Canada to allow the expanded access for Prochymal use in children in Canada.

Osiris is currently expanding its resources to be able to offer Prochymal through the EATP to adults in the U.S.

Expanding its resources to offer Prochymal?  Why do you have to “expand resources” for a product that is already made?   Is that code for “begging the FDA”?  But I digress.  This is really good news for children who may very well need stem cell treatment now and can’t afford to wait for the clinical data to come in.  Of course that begs the question, why not make it available to adults too?  To not be able to offer an 18 year old suffering from Graft Vs Host Disease an Adult Stem Cell therapy (with no side effects) that may save his life seems ludicrous to me.

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All over the world there are desperate patients looking for institutions that promise to heal them with stem cells. But the treatments that are promised must be controlled and regulated, said two scholars in Science magazine. Today, recognized treatments with stem cells involve blood diseases or immune system defects, wrote the Thai researcher Sorapop Kiatpongsan and his Japanese colleague Douglas Sipp. In reality, many other treatments have been offered without proof of their effectiveness.

For example, treatments are being offered to cure heart disease, autism, Down’s syndrome, and epilepsy. These treatments are ineffective and are mainly offered in countries with low scientific standards. However, at times they are also offered in countries with higher standards like Japan, the USA, and Germany. Proponents of the treatments normally use testimonies from patients on their Internet sites, blogs, or conferences to market the treatments. Since it would be difficult to institute a global ban against all unauthorized treatments, the two scholars have asked single governments to be particularly vigilant with regards to scientific research and results.

An efficient way to prevent scams could be strict regulations to establish both the quality of the drugs and their correct publication. There are already regulations of this type in the USA and Europe, and Thailand has also introduced more strict regulations on stem cells therapy. The media could also give a sound contribution to unmasking ineffective treatments, underlined Kiatpongsan (University of Bangkok) and Sipp (University of Kyoto). Finally, organizations like the “International society for stem cell research” and global health organizations should publish guidelines and information for patients in various languages.

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A recent scientific follow-up study of patients who underwent autologous stem cell therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig‘s disease, has proved the effectiveness of the therapy. Returning Hope, in Thailand, is one of the first Asian health care providers to arrange for this type of stem cell treatment.
The follow up study was conducted by a team from Akay Hospital, GATA, the University of Marmara, and the Sila Neurorehabilitation Center. It followed 13 patients for one year after stem cell treatment for ALS.

Participants in the study had the following outcomes:

• Nine of thirteen participants had significant improvement, proven by electroneuromyography.
• Three patients died from conditions unrelated to ALS, including lung infection and myocardial infarction
• One patient’s condition was stable, with no improvement or decline

Previous treatments for ALS included growth hormone therapy, which was recently proven ineffective.

Brian Dardzinski, Returning Hope’s CEO, believes the study’s results were inevitable. “We have been partnering with treatment facilities to provide stem cell therapy for ALS for some time now. Our patients have had substantial improvement”.

“It was only a matter of time before a widely publicized study proving our results became available. But we are very pleased that more patients may have the opportunity to undergo stem cell therapy for ALS, due to the new study”, Mr Dardzinski continued.

ALS is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases world wide. Prominent sufferers like Stephen Hawking, guitarist Jason Becker and baseballer Lou Gehrig brought the disease to prominence.

About Returning Hope
Returning Hope is an online portal and facilitator, providing information and assistance to patients looking for adult stem cell treatment. Most of the procedures that Returning Hope facilitates involve autologous transplants – stem cells are harvested from a patient’s own fat in a quick, simple bedside procedure and re-implanted. Autologous adult stem cell therapy can give hope to patients who were previously told their conditions were untreatable, including stroke, autism, ALS, diabetes, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

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Dr. Feng Lin, Director of Research at Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. (OTCBulletinBoard: BMSN) and Entest BioMedical Inc., today stated that he believes that an effective new therapy for “traumatic brain injury” (TBI) using autologous “adipose-derived” stem cells represents a potential cure for TBI. According to Dr. Lin, both Bio-Matrix and Entest BioMedical are now studying the “therapeutic effect of fat stem cells on traumatic brain injury-associated brain ischemia and inflammation and replacement of damaged neurons with neuron cells differentiated from fat cells.” Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. and Entest BioMedical Inc. recently submitted a research summary proposal to the U.S. Army with a goal of funding traumatic brain injury treatment research. BMSN is a San Diego-based biotechnology research and development company. Entest BioMedical Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMSN. Entest is focusing on stem cell research applications, as well as testing procedures for diabetes.

“Currently there is no effective therapeutic approach to reverse the initial brain damage caused by trauma,” stated Dr. Lin. “Brain cells or neurons have limited ability for self-repair and spontaneous axonal regeneration. Extensive studies have been focusing on novel therapeutic strategies for traumatic brain injury. In my opinion, adipose-derived stem cells could possess the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into diverse cell types such as neural cells. We could be looking at an exciting and potential cure for traumatic brain injury patients.”

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when an external force injures the brain. TBI is a major cause of disability and death worldwide, but especially in young people. Causes include vehicle accidents, falls, violence, as well as explosive blasts in battle fields. In the U.S., approximately 1.5 million new TBI cases occur each year, adding to the almost 6.5 million cases that are permanently affected by the irreversible physical, cognitive, and psychological defects associated with TBI. The total annual economic impact of TBI is approximately $60 billion.

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Eddie Floyd, a pet store owner had a heart attack a couple of years ago. When he was brought to the hospital, he was asked if he wanted to participate in a stem cell research clinical trial using Adult Stem Cells to help heal his heart muscle. Eddie said yes and he is happy he did. The stem cell therapy healed his heart muscle completely so there is now no sign of damage or any complications from his heart attack.

Stem Cell Video of Heart Attack Victim

The video describes a clinical trial at Austin Heart Hospital and while it doesn’t mention the company, it is obviously Osiris and their “off the shelf” Adult Stem Cell product  Prochymal. This stem cell video is the future of stem cell medicine. Adult Stem Cell treatment being used right away to treat a heart attack- not waiting for 2 years and a decrease in ejection fraction by 50%.

Below, see the excellent stem cell video which tells Eddie’s story. The video was created by  The Texas Alliance for Life where they are supporting the creation of an Adult Stem Cell consortium that will “put patients first” (Hallelujah!- maybe someone finally gets it) Below the video, you will find the transcription.

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