“Latest Stem Cells News”

Fernandez Vina

Today is a lucky day for us as we get an up close and personal look at Dr. Roberto Fernandez Vina, the chairman of the Repair Stem Cell Institute’s Science Advisory Board, and one of the world’s most renowned stem cell research pioneers using the patient’s own Adult Stem Cells.  We also get a in depth look at his stem cell therapy for Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Fernandez Vina recently presented the results of some of his stem cell research for Diabetes Type 2 and COPD at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) annual meeting a couple of weeks ago in Barcelona.

However, Dr. Fernandez Vina usually doesn’t get the credit he deserves as his stem cell treatment takes place far away in Argentina (and now El Salvador).

Stem Cell Treatment by Dr. Fernandez Vina – Up close

Dan Alvarez, also known as “the Day Trading Tutor,”  recently took his mother to Argentina for Dr. Fernandez Vina’s stem cell treatment to help his mother’s Multiple Sclerosis and documented the whole story in his Day Trading Blog.

Here is what Dan had to say about the stem cell treatment for his mother using Adult Stem Cells:

we were picked up late in the afternoon and taken to the hospital for preparation for the treatment on the following day. I was very impressed by the quality of the hospital and its cleanliness. The nurses and staff were great; always very helpful and supportive. The room was equipped with cable TV with plenty of channels (as well as funky Argentinian shows).

On that same day, we met Doctor Fernandez Vina and his assistant, Doctor Janina.

All I can say is that they were wonderful, with a genuine concern for their patients and their well-being. My mom really felt at ease with them and that helped a lot with her nervousness (she’s a bit of a sissy when it comes to doctors…He…He!).

During the next morning, bone marrow was extracted from my mom’s hip bone under general anesthesia. From this marrow the stem cells were later extracted and a few hours after that, Doctor Fernandez Vina implanted the cells through one of my mom’s leg arteries. The implant procedure took less than an hour.

My mom had to spend the day after the procedure in the hospital under medical supervision and one day on bed rest at the hotel.

The Results of the Stem Cell Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis

And what happened after the stem cell therapy for Multiple Sclerosis? Did it help improve her quality of life?

Dan describes the effects of the Adult Stem Cells:

After the Stem Cell Treatment

It’s been around two weeks since my mom had her treatment; so it’s too soon for the stem cells to complete their repair function, but we’re already seeing some dramatic changes. The MS had affected mainly my mom’s balance and coordination. She could not really walk without a cane anymore and constantly swerved to the sides, bumping against objects in her path if unassisted. To my amazement (and that of all our other family members), she was rather quick on her feet yesterday (the day prior to this post) when we paid her a visit. She wasn’t swerving to the sides and didn’t use a cane at all while we were with her.

It’s a truly amazing change given her previous condition. I can’t wait to see what other changes lie in store for her and thank God for all the blessings bestowed upon her so far.

For those of you who have family members suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or any other condition for which the traditional medical community doesn’t have a cure and probably no financial interest to find one, I strongly suggest that you contact the Fundacion Fernandez Vina in Argentina. I’ll be more than happy to discuss my experiences and suggestions with you in more detail, so feel free to contact me as well.

original post by Don Margolis

A young 16 year old boy with Type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy has returned home with noticeable improvements after receiving Adult stem cell research in China. Kyle Knopes, from Janesville, Wisconsin says his quality of life has improved tremendously after returning from China where he received adult stem cells taken from cord blood.

What is Spinal Muscular Atrophy?

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a hereditary disease in which the person is missing a gene which is responsible for the production of the protein for motor neurons. Without this protein, the motor neuron in the spinal cord wither and die.

Before the Stem Cell Treatment in China

• Couldn’t open his fist
• Couldn’t roll over on his side by himself
• All muscles were very weak, could only hold empty cups

After the Stem Cell Therapy Using Adult Stem Cells

• Can open his fist and stretch his fingers by himself
• Can roll from his back onto his side all by himself
• Can now carry some weight, such as a bottle of apple juice rather than just empty cups
• Reports improved strength in all his muscles
• Daily tasks such as eating and writing are easier

Adult Stem Cells “Definitely” and “Absolutely” Worth It

When asked if the trip half way around the world from Wisconsin to China was worth it, Kyle replied “Definitely” and his mother chimed in with “Absolutely.”

From the stem cell article:

Kyle and Penny said they’re happy to have gone through all the fundraising and planning for the treatment that cost more than $30,000, plus expenses.

They’d even consider a second trip in a few years for more injections.

They met families from across the United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates, England and elsewhere during their stay.

“It was like one big family,” Kyle said.

Another Spinal Muscular Atrophy Patient Helped By Stem Cell Research

Coincidentally, or probably not so coincidentally, Kyle followed in the footsteps of another Janesville resident with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Brandon Meinke.

This was a great story because a reporter from the local TV station followed Brandon before and after the stem cell treatment, documenting the improvements.

Brandon received stem cell treatment for his SMA and was able to walk again after the adult stem cells. You can see more on his stem cell therapy here.

original post by Don Margolis

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

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.

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.

Heart Attack Healed by Adult Stem Cells

There are almost 1 million heart attacks per year in the United States.  Almost half are fatal.

Eddie Floyd had a heart attack a couple of years ago. He is the owner of the Bark and Pur Pet Center in Austin.

Eddie: I had a very strong pain from arm pit to arm pit so I knew what it was.  There was no doubt as to what it was.  It was extremely painful.

Dr. Roger Gammon: He developed the typical chest pain, came in, was treated in the typical way which was to open the artery and put a stent in and use all the medications we typically do.

Eddie: The doctor came in and asked if I wanted to participate in a study which uses Adult Stem Cells that came from the people’s bone marrow.

Dr. Gammon: Within 10 days of that phase of the trial, he received either the stem cells or the placebo.  We know now in his case, he got the stem cells.

Eddie: I went home from the hospital and went back to living my life.  Except for going in frequently for check ups (laughter).

Narrator:  The typical heart attack occurs when an artery to the heart gets blocked.  Without blood, that part of the heart dies leaving it scarred and weaker reducing its pumping power.

Dr. Gammon: When we look at the overall function, we would talk about the ejection fraction which is the percentage of blood that pumps out each time the heart squeezes and that ejection fraction increases in people that respond.  So 3 parameters really- the size of the scar, the activity of the muscle and the overall strength of the heart.

Eddie: I didn’t have to take any rejection or any rejection medicine or anything like that.  Just generic stem cells that became heart.

Dr. Gammon:  In the first 7 days after a heart attack, the heart cells that are dying are emitting homing signals, a beacon that says I need help and the stem cells are able to respond to that. We do that to a small amount anyway when we try to heal ourselves after a heart attack, but in this case we are giving the patient millions of stem cells that can recognize that homing signals and travel through the veins and travel through the lungs and make it to the heart.  And they  become myoblasts and then myocytes and then they have become truly functioning heart muscle at that point.

Eddie: And it has apparently regenerated the muscle that died during the heart attack.

Dr. Gammon: He was one of them who had complete resolution of the heart attack.  You couldn’t see any evidence of damage.  He had normal heart function so he had a pretty dramatic response.

Eddie: There really isn’t anything I can’t do because of my heart that I am aware of.  There are a few things I can’t do because of my belly (laughter), but nothing I can’t do because of my heart.

Narrator:  In this study, the stem cells are harvested from healthy adults between 18-30.  All the donors can be universal donors because the cells are processed to remove elements that cause rejection.  A heart attack victim just gets the next cartridge given in an IV.  This is an incredible breakthrough.

Over 1000 patients have received these allogenic mesenchymal stem cells taken from healthy volunteers.  There were studies done for Crohn’s disease, Graft Vs. Host Disease and a number  of other diseases.  In the heart study that was done there was 53 heart patients.  In the Phase 2 stem cell study, there will be 220 patients and we are dosing the second patient today.

Bills on Stem Cell Research in Texas

The Texas Legislature is considering Pro Life bills Senate Bill 73 and House Bill 2379 to promote ethical, life saving Adult Stem Cell research and treatments.  As Texans we have a choice, we can support  Adult Stem Cell research which has proven to help many like Eddie and successfully treated 1000’s more with over 70 other diseases and conditions.

Or we can support Embryonic stem cell research which requires the destruction of human embryos and has yet to cure any disease.  Embryonic stem cell research is the choice of California spending $3 billion.  Their first goal is to restore function for one disease in the next 10 years.  Research has been going on for 10 years for embryonic stem cell research frequently causing tumors in lab animals.

Contrast that with adult stem cell research where doctors continue to find positive effects on even more diseases.

The Stem Cell Treatment Helped the Lungs Too

Dr. Gammon:  A lot of the patients were smokers and had chronic bronchitis and emphysema and the stem cells actually improved some of that process so over time the lungs improved in the people who got cells while it didn’t improve in the patients who got the placebo. So now the company is starting a whole round of studies to treat Emphysema and the lungs with stem cells

While the debate on stem cell research rages on, Donald Cecil couldn’t afford to wait for research. Donald badly needed treatment for his heart which was damaged by a series of heart attacks. Luckily, he found a stem cell treatment, Vescell in Thailand by using his own Adult Stem Cells to heal his ailing heart disease.

Heart Attacks Damaged His Heart Muscle

In 2006, Donald had difficulty walking as multiple heart attacks had damaged his heart so his ejection fraction was only at 15%. Doctors didn’t have much hope for Don to repair his heart disease. However, one doctor did mention a stem cell research and therapy in Thailand which uses the patient’s own stem cells to fix the heart muscle.

Adult Stem Cell Treatment Company for Heart Disease

Don got on the internet and he found that company Theravitae, who use the Vescell adult stem cell process in Thailand and contacted them in hopes to repair his heart muscle. Don sent in his medical records and the doctors in Thailand said yes, the stem cell therapy could possibly help him.

The Adult Stem Cells did help him. In 2006, Don went to Thailand for the heart disease stem cell treatment using his own stem cells.

From Don’s stem cell website:

His Doctors Back Home We’re Shocked

After the stem cell heart treatment, his doctors literally watched his heart regenerate from 15% blood ejection, to a normal working condition for someone his age! Some even admitted they have never seen anything like that before.

Don’s story is wonderful in that it shows that stem cell therapy can indeed give people hope TODAY!  Don didn’t want  to wait for a bunch of scientists doing stem cell research in some lab in the middle of nowhere to isolate some cells in rats to change them into this and that.   Adult Stem Cells are helping people now!

original post by Don Margolis