“Latest Stem Cells News”

Stem-cell science is a fast-moving field. Just three years since a Japanese researcher first reprogrammed ordinary skin cells into stem cells without the use of embryos, scientists at a Massachusetts biotech company have repeated the feat, only this time with a new method that creates the first stem cells safe enough for human use. The achievement brings the potentially lifesaving technology one step closer to real treatments for disease.

Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), reported today in the journal Cell that his team has created stem cells using human skin cells and four proteins. The innovation builds on the breakthrough discovery in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka, who similarly coaxed human skin cells to revert to a pristine, embryonic state by introducing four key genes into the cells, piggybacked on viruses. However, some of those genes are known to cause cancer, which made Yamanaka’s stem cells — known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells — unsuitable for human use.

Read more on TIME

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Misleading advertisements by Swedish company Labo promising hair growth and to remove wrinkles have been pulled. The jury of the self-regulating body for the advertising industry (IAP) ordered the advertisements, which were found in two important Italian newspapers, to be stopped since they were “in violation of article 2 of the self-regulatory code for advertisements”.

According to the group’s conclusions (ruling number 13/09), the statements made in the message, as noted by the IAP Surveillance Committee, “did not overstate, they were misleading”.

This is due to the fact that “they were characterized by a technical and scientific language aimed at convincing consumers that Labo products, differently from other similar cosmetic products, are able to obtain miraculous effects against hair-loss and skin ageing.

These claims were not supported by any documentation produced by Labo Europa. “The advertisements in reality were perplexing and called dubious by experts.

The IAP’s ruling followed the request of the Surveillance Committee in March regarding Labo’s advertisements: “‘New frontiers for Labo researchers’, ‘Active Labo vegetable stem cells’, and ‘Losing hair?’ ‘The results of Labo research’ in Corriere della Sera on January 7, 10, and 27 2009, and ‘Wrinkles and hair: these are the applications of Labo vegetable stem cells’, in Repubblica on February 2009, believed to be in violation of articles 2 and 23 of the self-regulatory body’s code” as reported by the Surveillance Commission.

After the Committee’s report, the jury’s responsibility was to evaluate “if the advertisements in question contained statements that could lead consumers to believe that the active substances in the vegetable stem cells could produce effects on skin and hair follicles, which are impossible to produce,” as the Surveillance Commission reported.

For the jury, “the entire context of the information aims to tell the reader that Labo researchers with a patent request have made important discoveries with great effects on the skin and hair. The fact that the information in question is general in nature, scientific in style, and a broad theme that goes beyond single products on the market, imposes specific exactness in the choice of expressions used”.

The jury believes “that in light of available research, the use of vegetable stem cells, although they are totipotent, is incompatible with the effects of human stem cells. If they were, the medical field would have made important developments (for example on tumors) and obviously it would be well known in the international scientific community”.

“Although it can be said” that the use of products derived from vegetable stem cells “can have some non-specific secondary effects that are exclusively cosmetic, it is very clear,” read the sentence, “that the emphatic expression in a context attempting to appear scientific and as Labo says, ‘institutional’, induce the reader, which is mainly ignorant in scientific research (like most educated readers), to believe that vegetable stem cells, as totipotent stem cells, can transfer their properties and contribute to producing relevant effects in humans”. Instead, in the jury’s view, the expression ‘Patent obtained by Swedish researchers’ disputed by the Surveillance Committee “cannot be censured since the company has provided documentation of having done so”.

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Due to the wonders of Adult Stem Cell treatment, yet another spinal cord injury patient has improved his quality of life.  A young man in India who had lost all sensations from a car accident has been helped after receiving his own Adult Stem Cells and having them injected into his spinal cord where the injury occurred (C3-c4).

Before the Stem Cell Therapy

• Loss of bladder function and control
• Weakness in all both legs and arms
• Loss of feeling and sensations

After the Adult Stem Cell Therapy

• Regained bladder function- doesn’t need urinary catheter anymore
• Getting Stronger in all limbs
• Return of more feelings and sensations

Process of Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury

1. Bone Marrow taken from the hip
2. 6 weeks of cultivating the adult stem cells to increase total to 100 million +
3. Adult Stem Cells injected at injury site (C3-C4) in a surgical procedure

Dr. K Eliyas Basha of Salem Manipal Hospital in India was the stem cell doctor responsible for this success story.  He contacted various stem cell treatment centers around the world and exchanged ideas and techniques.

From the stem cell article:

“We have been screening and interacting with stem cell centres around the world to know further details regarding stem cell therapy directly at the C3- C4 cervical cord injury. The whole procedure was thoroughly studied and scrutinized by various committees of Manipal health systems,” Dr. Basha said.

Perhaps he consulted with this group in Ecuador- see this amazing stem cell for spinal cord injury video

While obviously not a cure, this stem cell therapy and treatment has   helped improve this young man’s life.  That is what Adult Stem Cells do- they repair damage and improve lives with no side effects.

What if we gave every spinal cord injury patient in the United States this stem cell treatment using their own repair stem cells?  Don’t you think that would help improve thousands of lives?

I do.   We have enough proof- it is safe and helps in most cases. Let’s make Adult Stem Cells available for treatment now!

original post by Don Margolis

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Two stem cell-based plastic surgery operations were successfully performed in Rome. The operations, a face-lift and a mastoplastic additive were performed at the Nuova Villa Claudia Clinic in Rome by Roberto Scalco, who is specialized in reconstructive plastic surgery and the president of the “Advanced esthetic surgery” medical association.

“This is the first face-lift performed in Europe with this method, the only previous operation like this was done in Tel Aviv,” was written in a statement.

Scalco, assisted by his team, used fat stem cells removed from the same patient treated with the ‘Celution’ system, a machine that is able to specifically select a colony of fat stem cells and concentrate them. Once an adequate amount of cells were treated, a very high concentration of stem cells was reinserted to increase breast size without making any incisions. The same procedure was performed also for a face-lift, with the insertion of treated stem cells into the neck, face, and on scars. The result was a minimally invasive operation.

The operation required few, very small cuts for the face-lift, and no cuts or incisions for the breast augmentation. The two patients were sedated for the operation and are currently well with no pain or excessive swelling.

In the operating room, concluded the statement, Claudio Calabrese, a surgeon of the Breast Unit at the Careggi Hospital in Florence and head of the multi-centre trial (Florence, Madrid, and Glasgow) who has treated at least 70 patients with adult autologous stem cell injections to reconstruct breast tissue after mastectomies, assisted the operation.

“This is an innovative operation,” explained Scalco, “not due to the lifting technique, but rather since it was the first time that adult stem cells from fat tissue were used in the same patient in a facial operation. The results, both for the increase in breast volume and for the face-lift, have proven to be practically permanent, since using the Celution System doubles the amount of stem cells that are normally contained in the fat, which are then reabsorbed.”

This first face-lift with stem cells represents the future of esthetic surgery and opens new and interesting scenarios for the use of new technology with maximum respect for the patient’s body, where cuts and scars will be increasingly less invasive.

“We are entering into a new era of natural plastic surgery and natural esthetic treatments,” he added, pointing out “Italy is at the cutting edge in terms of esthetic surgery. The technology used is extremely promising, its potential is not clear, and there will be many more positive surprises.”

“It is necessary to add,” continued Calabrese, “that in the mastectomies and esthetic procedures performed until now using the old methods, one of the problems was loss of feeling. With the augmentation technique used here using the patient’s fat, which contains a high concentration of stem cells, in over 80% of the cases, a substantial sense of feeling was recovered.”

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The first successful stem cell therapy for traumatic brain injury in the country was conducted by doctors at BGS Global
Hospitals.

Through this therapy, bone marrow was transplanted directly into the brain. N K Venkataramana, chief neurosurgeon of BGS Hospitals, confirmed that this is the first such attempt in India and second in the world. “China made the first attempt.”

The therapy was done on Madhumalika, 27, who was admitted to BGS Global Hospitals following a road accident on December 14 last year. She suffered from `diffuse axonal brain injury’ — a severe form of brain injury where the patient remains unconscious for a variable period. The patient needs to be assisted in his or her daily activities. In her case, she remained in a coma for more than three months.

Her mother had to resign from work and her father opted for the voluntary retirement scheme to look after their only daughter. “We had no hope of getting her back after the fatal injury. Also, we were unsure of the effects of the therapy on her. But we had to take a chance,” her father said.

In the surgery done in March, four million stem cells per body weight, which were prepared at Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd, were injected directly into her brain.

After a month of the transplant, she showed considerable improvement. She became conscious, started talking and could move her limbs. She was also able to recognize family members and friends. But the prolonged stay in bed resulted in stiffness of the joints, for which she is undergoing physiotherapy.

Venkataramana said the belief that brain injuries aren’t curable has been proved wrong. “The need to help accident victims led us to work on stem cell therapy,” he added.

“Since 2004, there has been a pressing need to help the rising number of people who were disabled following road accidents. Stem cell therapy was one of the means to face the situation,” he explained.

“We’re planning to carry out a pilot study in treating head injuries with stem cells.”

from The Times of India

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A woman from New York has written an open letter to Obama saying that stem cell research using Adult Stem Cells has helped her daughter’s autism. Judy DiCorcia is reporting that her daughter, Lauren, a 10 year old girl with autism has improved significantly after the stem cell treatment and therapy in Germany in January 2009.

Process of Stem Cell Research and Therapy for Autism

1. Bone Marrow Extracted From Patient
2. Using a centrifuge, stem cells are separated from the bone marrow
3. Implanted into spinal canal via lumbar puncture- a simple procedure

As easy as 1,2, 3!

Improvements in Lauren After Stem Cell Treatment

• Can sleep through the night for the first time
• Less Frustrated
• Better focused, more compliant
• Moms says a “40% general improvement which is huge for an autistic child”

From the stem cell article:

Now, more than five months since her treatment, Mrs. DiCorcia reports that her daughter is still doing well, “Lauren is doing well. I would have to say that she ‘plateaued’ at about the 12-week mark. Her situation is stable and fortunately all positive effects have persisted. I wish the doctor could fly to the US and perform the therapy here!”

I wish they could perform the procedure here too Mrs. DiCorcia.   Again, nobody is saying the stem cell therapy has cured Lauren.  But the improvement in the quality of life is what is most important.  And Lauren’s mom says the improvement was 40%- in a simple procedure.

Now, Lauren had nothing to lose, the research has been done-  the procedure used her own Adult Stem Cells so was perfectly safe.   And it paid off for the family.

Here is the full letter from Lauren’s mother addressed to Obama-

Dear President Obama,

I am the mother of a 10-year-old autistic daughter. In January, we took Lauren to Cologne, Germany for Adult Stem Cell therapy. The center used her own stem cells drawn from her hip bone marrow, centrifuged the next day, and then reinserted via lumbar puncture the following day (2.95 million cells). Both procedures were quick and not invasive at all. In the past 6 weeks we have seen significant improvements in our daughter’s behaviors, focus, hyperactivity, and insomnia. I would rate a general improvement of about 40% – this is HUGE for a family living with autism. Our daughter started sleeping through the night for the first time (yes, she is 10 and got up every night) since stem cells. Lauren is happier just in her own skin – so much less frustrated and just generally happier. She is getting through her one-on-one therapy more quickly, better focused, and more compliant. Of course, it amazes me that this simple, non-controversial therapy cannot be done here in the United States.

Sincerely,
Judy DiCorcia

It amazes me too Judy.  You should send your letter to the FDA as well.

We have previously reported  on autism with Matthew Faiella who has also improved due to stem cell research after adult stem cell treatment in Costa Rica.  Here is more on Matthew and how stem cells have helped his autism

original post by Don Margolis

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