“Latest Stem Cells News”

It has been about 3 months since I last updated you on Preston Walker and Richard Humphries, the two Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Research pioneers who received their own Adult Stem Cells to improve their MS.

Since then, both have returned to Costa Rica to receive a second helping of their own Adult Stem Cells- a second stem cell therapy.   Let’s check in with their stem cell blog and see what they have to say.

Update from Stem Cell Research Blog

First is this July 7th post from adult stem cell recipient, Preston “An Energetic Day“-

I am not sure how to describe what happened today other than that I have a LOAD OF ENERGY!!

To let everyone understand this, I documented today’s events in the following information:

I invited my son to a bike ride. We rode twenty miles and returned home. Instead of wanting to sleep, I started looking for other things to do!! I found that my lawnmower needed the rear wheel removed and replaced.

It was quite a day of doing little things, but it would have been very taxing several weeks ago.

It’s now 9:00 p.m. and I am still full of energy!! There is only one reason for this turn of events. It is God’s good grace through the injection of ADULT STEM CELLS. GO STEM CELLS GO!!

In Him, Preston

Adult Stem Cells Enable Multiple Sclerosis Patient to Deal With the Heat

And this is from Richard Humphries, MS patient treated with Adult Stem Cells Twice:

June 30, 2009
Dealing with the heat

Heat intolerence is associated with every MS patient. With the heat we are having all of us have this intolerance.

This week in Wichita Falls I was in the 100-degree heat for over 8 hours on back to back days. This was not even possible after the first stem cell treatment but after a 4-month regeneration from the second stem cell treatment, not only is it possible but reality.

Even Dr. Thomas Ichim, a stem cell expert from the University of California-San Diego is in amazement.

I just keep getting blessed.

Richard

Richard of course was Case Study #1 in a recently published stem cell research clinical paper.  And I’m not sure, but  I believe Preston was involved in the research paper as well (either Case Study 2 or 3)

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If you have done any research on stem cell treatments abroad, you will undoubtedly read negative articles like this one on CNN from the mainstream media saying these companies are promising cures and are preying on the desperate, that these companies are selling “snake oil”   Nothing could be further from the truth.

The stem cell companies and stem cell doctors that are part of the Repair Stem Cell Institute offer patients a good chance at an improvement in the patient’s quality of life- they don’t offer nor promise cures.  Patients going to these stem cell therapy treatment centers abroad know this.

Unfortunately, the United States and their FDA don’t give these patients any other options.  Are they able to use their own stem cells to help their multiple sclerosis or heart disease-  Stem Cells that have been proven safe in thousands of studies? No.  What is one to do then?  These patients must go abroad for the only treatment that can help their disease or condition.

Here is a sampling of what some of these companies  affiliated with the Repair Stem Cell Institute tell their patients:

From Stem Cells China:

It’s not a cure. It’s about quality of life. Every day I see inquiries begin like this: “Can stem cells cure…?” Everyone should know the answer to that one right away. No. No known therapy utilizing stem cells can cure any medical condition. Not one.

A cure would rewrite the broken code of your genome. A cure would rewind the debilitating progression of a neuro-degenerative disease to the moment before onset. A cure would fix all the wrongs of a baby’s challenged birth. We eagerly await the development of cures and their accessibility to patients in need.

So why are people receiving stem cell therapy today? Therapies involving adult stem cells today are providing quality of life improvements for many patients. It’s no cure. Just as painkillers are not a cure for pain. They improve our quality of life if we feel pain.

But who would deny that painkillers are still worthwhile for extreme pain? Many doctors in the West are saying that they don’t have enough proof that stem cells are improving quality of life for patients. In the meantime, patients are busy coming to China and China’s stem cell clinics are busy offering the chance for quality of life improvements where none else would exist. We encourage you to explore the therapies being offered today.

From Dr. Shimon Slavin, Israel, helping people like Louis Zylstra and Arndt Roehlig

However, we have some positive and most encouraging evidence that the cells we inject may be of benefit, especially as evidenced in some patients with multiple sclerosis as well as based on the first patient we treated with spinal injury that seemed to have somewhat improved. The good news is that there are no side effects at all so there is no risk and nothing to lose (except money…). I would like to stress that since we are in very early stages of our research, nothing can be said about the clinical efficacy of our approach.  However, on the other hand, I do understand that patients in need cannot wait for all the answers to be solved and this is why we agree to offer experimental procedures for patients that understand the experimental nature of our program and consent to try and explore new treatment options.

From Dr. Roberto Fernandez Vina– For doctors who say that current stem cell therapies are “unproven,” Dr. Fernandez Viña has the following response:

“How many patients must to be treated to say this is a cure? How many patients must die waiting for the word “cure?”

A lot of diseases are not totally cured with drugs but the laboratories talk about curing (HIV, Tuberculosis and a lot of malignant deseases). They say that the drugs “cure” but in reality the drugs improve the quality of life. Stem cells “cure” in the same sense. If a person is dying of diabetes and we improve the prognosis and he no longer needs insulin injections, we increase the C peptide, decrease the HbA1c, decrease protein in the urine, decrease the risk of amputation or kidney failure, in my book that is a “cure.”

From Richard Humphries, with multiple sclerosis and a stem cell recipient from Cell Medicine in Costa Rica:

I’m case study #1 in the paper (Multiple Sclerosis Study) just released and have had two stem cell treatments in Costa Rica where they promise nothing but deliver wonderful results. Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis patients can’t wait on historical data. Time is not on our side but stem cells improved my quality of life and the follow up MRI looks excellent.

From the X cell Center in Germany:

Even if not all of the interactions have been conclusively researched to date, the status of the current medical insights has indeed reached a level that allows the non- hazardous treatment with adult stem cells and puts medical professionals in a position to assume responsibility for its use.

Given the proven treatment success of regenerative medicine, the question of whether more research is needed prior to therapeutic use has already been answered.

Those who nevertheless demand stem cell therapy be postponed until we know more about it are taking away patients’ rights to make their own decisions as they search for medical solutions – for the kind of help stem cell therapy does offer.

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James Eilert went on a 20-mile bike ride the other day! Why is that amazing?

Because18 months ago, the thought of getting on a bicycle was too much exertion for the Michigan native. In 2006, at the young age of 34, James suffered a major heart attack, which damaged his heart muscle.

The heart damage left James fatigued, exhausted and short of breath. It was increasingly difficult to meet the demands of his job as an automotive engineer. He was gasping for breath and sweating all the time. His ejection fraction (EF) had sunk to 20-25%. Feeling depressed, James had given up hope of ever improving his quality of life. However, hope was restored when James found Vescell ™ adult stem cell therapy on the internet.

“I was in Class III congestive heart failure and had given up, but the amount of research and patient success stories I found on Vescell™ gave me new hope. I contacted them immediately,” James said.

On November 14, 2007, James flew to Bangkok, Thailand and received 41 million of his own stem cells via catheter to heal his ailing heart muscle. James exclaimed, “I didn’t feel a thing, it was just a simple catheterization!”

James raved about his experience and the care he received in Bangkok, “I have never been so well cared for in all my years going in and out of multiple hospitals for congestive heart failure. The doctors really listened to me and gave me confidence that they were my partners in improving my heart.”

After the treatment, James was thrilled with the results of the Vescell ™. “I had an echocardiogram only 2 weeks after my stem cell therapy and my completely dead apex was beating again. I was shocked and ecstatic at the same time.”

Since then, James has continued to improve and 18 months after treatment, he says, “I can do anything, the sky is the limit. I am now in Class I heart failure. My ejection fraction is at 50% and my doctors have lifted all restrictions.”

Today, James devotes his spare time to help other patients, as a patient volunteer, “I shudder to think how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t found the Vescell website. I was lucky. I want others to get the same second chance that I had.”

James is one of more than 500 patients who have had the Vescell ™ treatment. VesCell™ harnesses and enhances stem cells’ unique abilities, enabling the patient’s own body to heal itself.

from TransWorldNews

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In a bold move that is sure to shake the foundations of the United States FDA, a group of American doctors have published a set of strict clinical guidelines that will allow US doctors to treat patients with their own Adult Stem Cells.

Your Own Stem Cells Are Not a Drug

This move by the American Stem Cell Therapy Association comes in response to the FDA’s position that a person’s own stem cells should be classified as a drug, thus subject to the exact same set of standards that a drug like Viagra or Lipitor or Vioxx would be examined under.

However, these US doctors are correct in believing that adult stem cell therapy with the patient’s own cells is governed under the practice of medicine, not under drug production guidelines.

From the stem cell press release:

Adult stem cells can be processed with the same techniques commonly used in existing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) labs. “Like the human cells and tissue used in IVF, adult stem cells are not drugs,” stated Christopher J. Centeno, M.D., a physician who worked on the guidelines and whose medical practice includes the use of the Regenexx procedure, which uses patients own stem cells to treat orthopedic conditions.

Slowing Progress, Costing Lives- the US FDA at Work

“Making the stem cells in your own body a drug won’t make them safer, will dramatically reduce availability of treatment, and will increase bureaucratic red tape.” stated Dr. Centeno.

Dr. Centeno is absolutely right.  These are your own cells and having the FDA regulate your own body won’t be helping anybody as there is no downside to having your own stem cells implanted.

Let me repeat that- there is no downside to having your own Adult Stem Cells implanted. Either they will help you or they won’t (no effect).  This has been proven in thousands of studies.

Your own stem cells should be an extra tool your doctor should be able to use to help you.  No, adult stem cells are not a cure yet, but they do help in the majority of cases.

Again, your own stem cells should be a tool in your responsible doctor’s tool kit that may or may not be able to help, but should be made available to you as there is no downside.  What does the patient have to lose?  A man in end stage heart failure about to die- give him his own stem cells, they should help. He may not be beating Husain Bolt in a 100 meter sprint, but should improve.  A spinal cord injury victim, give him his own stem cells, they should help.  He/she may not be walking, but it could be beneficial in some ways.  A diabetic, give him his own stem cells- they should improve his insulin levels. And if your own stem cells don’t help- there is no harm done- thousands of studies have proven this.

And what if your own Adult Stem Cells work only 5% of the time for a particular lethal disease and your doctor wants to try to save your life? Hey! It will save 5% more than zero. With no downside, why not? And if the FDA has its way, that 5% will be 0. It is up to all of us to make a stand. And these clinical guidelines are the first step.

If you are a patient of any kind and reading this, I urge you to go to Safe Stem Cells Now, a patient run organization demanding the use of their own stem cells.

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Alex Normandin, 26, of Montreal, Canada has been cured of his Multiple Sclerosis following the implantation of his own Adult Stem Cells. The stem cell therapy was done in conjunction with a research program in Ottawa with Dr. Mark Freedman.

A medical student, Alex was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis more than 2 years ago and was distressed to learn that he had the aggressive form of MS and was on track to be in a wheelchair in a matter of months.

Process of Stem Cells for Multiple Sclerosis in Canada

Luckily, he was accepted into Dr. Freedman’s stem cell research program at Ottawa General Hospital. In this stem cell program, the patient is first given chemotherapy to kill off the immune system. Then, the stem cell transplant takes place to “reboot” the immune system.

From the stem cell article:

Normandin became patient 19. His transplant took place in December 2008. It worked.

Not only does the disease appear to have stopped its progression, but Normandin says he feels his co-ordination and strength improving.

Normandin is buoyed by the treatment’s eight-year track record — none of the 24 patients have suffered a relapse or a brain lesion. (The article fails to mention the one patient who died from the chemo)

Stem Cell Therapy in China Quote Remembered

Readers of this blog may remember Dr. Freedman from this Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell post in which he commented on stem cell therapy in China:

Dr. Freedman is concerned that patients are forking over large amounts of money for unproven treatments like this, especially when there is no follow-up care or monitoring when they get home.

“It’s dangerous in the wrong hands,” he said. “The only reason these places could be in existence is to take people’s money and offer them something that’s unproven.”

I called that the “Most Hypocritical Statement So Far in 2009″ then, and I will stick to that for the following reasons:

1. Chemotherapy is dangerous.  1 of Dr. Freedman’s patients died while receiving it before the stem cell transplant- to call another treatment dangerous (which doesn’t use chemo, by the way) is hypocritical.
2. He says the therapies are unproven and only in existence to take people’s money-  however, in this article- it is revealed not only is his own treatment unproven, but it also is not free, in fact, far from free- “The trial procedure costs would be about $50,000 to $60,000 per patient.”  (A reader has since wrote in and says the Canadian Government pays for this treatment)
   

Actually that cost is more than other stem cell therapies in Costa Rica and China that we have covered in here (both are around $25-30,000) and do NOT use chemo.

So for those people who say that stem cell therapy overseas is very expensive– just look at Canada, or for that matter, look at Dr. Richard Burt’s multiple sclerosis study at Northwestern University in Chicago.  The cost for one multiple sclerosis patient is $90,000

I’m directing  this at critics who always point out that overseas stem cell therapies are expensive and dangerous rather than pointing out the “arrogance” of Dr. Freedman, who as far as I can tell is truly helping Multiple Sclerosis patients although he probably shouldn’t be opening his mouth about other stem cell treatments.

Stem Cell Treatment By The People, For The People

And yes, all of  these stem cell treatments in Canada, USA, Costa Rica, and China are “unproven” in the eyes of the medical world and the New England Journal of Medicine, although they all are proven in the eyes of the patients who receive the Adult Stem Cells whether they are in the form of umbilical cord stem cells (China), mixture of stem cells from the patient’s fat and cord blood stem cells(Costa Rica) and/or Adult Stem Cells given in the form of a stem cell transplant after chemotherapy (Canada, USA).   They all seem to work most of the time FOR THE PATIENTS NOW and that is what is important. Making Multiple Sclerosis patients wait for 10 years or so for the endless cycle of clinical trials in the US and Canada to end just so their doctors can see the words “proven” in a study is a travesty.

The Emergence of the Internet and Self Directed Healthcare

We can ask Jason Upshaw and friends about stem cell therapy in Costa Rica. Or, we can ask Betty Helm about how stem cell therapy in China worked for her MS. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, patients now have a bigger say and more access to information than ever before.

Dr. William Davis at the Heart Scan Blog has a great post on how health care is changing. Much like stockbrokers have disappeared due to online companies like E-trade and Ameritrade, patients can now take a more self directed approach to their health thanks to the internet.

original post by Don Margolis

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A stem cell research study showing that Adult Stem Cells taken from a patient’s fat and then implanted back into that patient, helps improve their Multiple Sclerosis. The research study documented 3 case studies of Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Case Studies of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Implanted with Fat Stem Cells

Case Study #1- 50 year old man with Relapse-remitting MS:

Before the Stem Cell Therapy:

• Multiple Seizures
• Sexual Dysfunction
• Significant Memory Loss
• Taking Multiple Medications- Solu-Medrol, Baclofen,
  Provigil, Tegretol, Trileptal, Tysabri, Vitamins, Omega-3 and Zanaflex

After the Fat Stem Cells were implanted:

• No more seizures
• Improved Sexual Function
• Improved Memory
• OFF ALL MEDICATIONS

Case Study #2- 32 year old man with Relapsing-remitting MS

This patient reported after the stem cell therapy and treatment that he now has:

1. Better Balance and Coordination
2. His Depression is gone
3. Significantly improved overall condition

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