“Latest Stem Cells News”

One in every 20 Americans over the age of 50 suffers from something called, peripheral arterial disease or PAD. It can result in clogged arteries in your legs, which can cause a heart attack, if left untreated. But now there’s a new approach. Doctors using a patient’s own stem cells to clear things up. (…)

The arteries in her leg are clogged with plaque which puts her at risk for heart attack, stroke and amputation. Traditionally, doctors treat PAD with stents, angioplasties or bypasses. But now, they’re using a patient’s own stem cells to try and save her legs.

“We basically take stem cells from their hips to help grow blood vessels,” said Dr. Randall Franz of Grant Medical Center.

Doctors use a needle to remove bone marrow from the patient’s hip. The marrow goes into a centrifuge to separate the stem cells.

“When we put it in you can see it was just all red. Now we have plasma, a buff coat and stem cells,” said Dr. Tom Hankins of Grant Medical Center.

Then, doctors inject the stem cells into the patient’s leg.

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A technique that combines nanotechnology with adult stem cells appears to destroy atherosclerotic plaque and rejuvenate the arteries, according to a study reported at the American Heart Association‘s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2010 Scientific Sessions – Technological and Conceptual Advances in Cardiovascular Disease.

In the study, nanoparticles (microscopic particles with at least one dimension less than 80 nm) were infused into the heart of pigs along with adult stem cells. After the nanoparticles were heated by laser light, they burned away arterial plaque. However, nanoparticles were less effective at eliminating plaque if not combined with adult stem cells.

“This unique approach holds promise for use in humans for acute care and urgent restoration of blood flow,” said Alexandr Kharlamov, M.D., lead author and research manager at the Department of Internal Medicine and Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, Ural State Medical Academy in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation. “Biophotonics (light therapy), plasmonics (plasma therapy), stem cell therapy and nanotechnology might someday offer a completely novel treatment to reduce artery plaque build-up.”

(…) Bioheart’s MyoCell® is a regenerative cell therapy that uses myoblasts, or muscle stem cells, that are grown from a patient’s own muscle. MyoCell® has been tested successfully on patients in four clinical trials. The REGEN trial is designed to test the safety and effectiveness of a composition of muscle stem cells that have been gene-modified to induce a greater than usual release of the SDF-1 protein. The SDF-1 protein is a molecule in the human body that, after an injury, is naturally released by most tissues to attract stem cells. The stem cells assist with the healing process.

Unlike other tissues, the heart muscle does not release enough SDF-1 to attract the number of stem cells that would result in complete self-healing. As a result, scar tissue forms and impairs normal heart function.

Results from Bioheart’s preclinical animal studies have shown that the genetically modified MyoCell® is far more effective than MyoCell® alone in accomplishing repair and tissue regeneration. With SDF-1, there is a release of additional therapeutic proteins to assist in the tissue repair process, resulting in a more expansive and quicker repair. Once that repair or regeneration has occurred, the patient’s improved heart function permits the patient to return to a normal life style.

Scientists have for the first time succeeded in extracting vital stem cells from sections of vein removed for heart bypass surgery. Researchers funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that these stem cells can stimulate new blood vessels to grow, which could potentially help repair damaged heart muscle after a heart attack.

The research, by Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Medicine and his team in the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) at the University of Bristol, is published in the leading journal Circulation.

(…) Three months ago the world’s first cosmetic stem-cell facelift was carried out on Pauline Wills, 55, an office manager from South London, by Dr Aamer Khan from the Harley Street Medical Skin Clinic. It cost £7,500, took nearly six hours under local anaesthetic and Pauline had the added bonus of losing an inch from her tummy.

And because the procedure uses the body’s own stem cells – which makes it a living tissue graft – you grow into your own facelift during the six months afterwards (…)

Stem cells are present throughout the body and one of their functions is to repair damaged tissue and regenerate muscles, nerves, blood vessels and skin cells. The body has a reserve of these cells in the bone marrow, although there are a thousand times more stem cells in our fat stores (…)

Don’t worry about your child’s loss of teeth or if they have immature ones as doctors at AIIMS can regrow them using stem cell technique by just making a minute slit in their root.
“We at AIIMS are treating children with infected, immature teeth as a result of traumatic injuries, by using locally available indigenous stem cells,” Dr Naseem Shah, Chief of the Centre for Dental Education and Research, AIIMS said.

She explained that the root forms the most important part of the tooth. It anchors the tooth within the bone and houses the pulp (tiny blood vessels and nerves) which extends to the underlying bone and helps to nourish and give feeling to the tooth.
Any trauma to the teeth may lead to infection and death of the pulp, infection in the bone and arrest of the root development. Such roots are very fragile and may fracture, ultimately leading to loss of tooth.

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