“Latest Stem Cells News”

As part of a new stem cell treatment series, I am trying to find patients who have been helped by Adult Stem Cell research and therapy.  In May, I featured a Multiple Sclerosis patient named Arndt Roehlig who described his successful  stem cell experience in Israel in his own words.

Barry Brown- Stem Cell Study Volunteer

This time, I present Barry Brown, a heart attack victim who was involved in a stem cell research study at the University of Miami.  We had presented Barry before back in May in this stem cell post .  Barry was kind enough to write to me and wished to present his own stem cell success story in his own words.

A Stem Cell Success Story

Hey Don,  Barry here,  sorry its taken so long for me to do this but here goes.

Last February,  after moving from Las Vegas to Miami upon retiring from 20 years in the Air Force, I started getting a dry cough which upon doing some research on my own was attributed to the use of lisinopril.   My cough cleared up but I realized when i would start exerting during exercise I would get a hot flash down the middle of my shoulder blades I would just shrug it off thinking it was just the side effects of the BP drug. A few weeeks went by and I got a cold and I started coughing so much I coughed my chest sore and couldn’t breathe.  After about 10 days of suffering with this I finally went to the doctor.   An Ekg was conducted and the results came back Abnormal.  I’m like ok, Ive been exercising eating well, no caffiene, no Nicotine ( I had Dipped tobacco on and off for 20 yrs) I had just stopped in February.  So I thought  “whats going on?”

Heart Attack Misdiagnosed

The first diagnosis was I was out of shape and needed to lose about 10 lbs. Hmmmm ok ill buy that i need to lose a few lbs, but mind you, just 2  months before that, I was working out 5 days a week doing cardio 45 min a day and weights 3 times a week and teaching 2 circuit training classes so why had my cardiovascular health gone down so quick?? “Im not buying it Doc, run some more tests I want to get back to where i was 2 months ago and I want to make sure 1000% that my heart is healthy to exercise!”

Next test was an echocardiogram that showed some weakening of the lower part of my heart. The  2nd diagnosis was I  need to lose a few lbs and lets see how you are in a month…..”

I thought to myself ” how am I going to lose any weight?  first off if  I cant walk 15 minutes without feeling like i got 1000 slaps on the back for a good game????”

Watching Hugh Laurie and House Saves Barry’s Life

OK look Doc i said,  “Im no bleeping doctor, but Ive watched enough ER episodes and House to know you can run some dye thru my veins and check my arteries and valves.  I dont know what its called but thats what i want!!!!”

Thallium stress test was what i had done, I stayed on the treadmill about 4 min before I had to get off, the nurse said stay here we want to read the results……. the results were read and off to the 7th floor I went to meet with the Cardiac folks

I met with the Cardiologist he explained to me that they thought there was a blockage in my heart but they want to run a cath up my leg and angioplasty the blockage and put a stent in and that it should take no longer thatn 30 min. He said when can you come back mind you it had been about 2 months since it all first started so i said TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day of the Cardiac cath comes, I get on the table and I’m on the table for what seemed like an eternity. The doctor  comes in and says “Mr. Brown we have a few things we need to discuss with you,  some options for you.  Did you know you’ve already had a heart attack?  Fighting back some tears and trying to regain some composure from the lil self deprecation and a little self pity that went through  my mind for a few minutes then a conscious decision made I wasn’t going to let this situation get the best of me. “Ok Doc what are the options???”

The options were laid out…..

1. Option 1 was have a triple bypass get it over with and start living the life I was living just 12 months earlier.
2. Option 2 enter into this radical new study involving stem cell therapy, help open the doors for new research and possibly ways were we can change the lives of others from now on. Where at the time of your surgery you may be injected with your own stem cells at several different areas on your heart with the hopes of healing some of the damaged tissue from your heart attack.  Hmmm that sounded interesting……

As I waited to hear option 3 which was I’m sure going to be take this pill go home and come back in a month you should be fine– it never came I was stuck with two options I guess……

So to me it was a no brainier-  enter into this study have the opportunity to be the FIRST devilishly handsome charming semi fit veteran to have this procedure done and open the doors for other to follow. PERFECT….. There pains and trails, as well as numerous sleepless nights that I had to endure of course this is real life, there was a point in Aug where tests had shown I had an enlarged prostrate so I needed to have to have a biopsy done to be cleared of cancer so  I could remain in the study. So, there I was thinking to myself wow I have Heart disease and prostrate cancer. I needed to be cancer free because if I had cancer when injected with the Stem cells it could move to the cancer and make it spread faster.

SO after a bunch more tests to get me back into the study since it had been over three months for all the initial work I was finally cleared back in…..

Then finally the date, Nov 20 2008 triple bypass day….. I’m lobbing congress to have that a legal holiday so you’ll have Veterans Day, Barry’s Bypass day and Thanksgiving all in Nov…

The 3 days I spent, no 4 days I spent in the hospital were a blur and that is where I made my mind up that I was going to get back on my feet and get busy getting healthy again. And it started with one of my post op meals ribeye steak and French fries……. Ok so the dietician was off the week I was in ICU no biggie….. Ill just get something else off the MENU…..

Of course anyone who has stayed in a Hospital knows you don’t get any rest in the hospital,  it really started with my release from the Hospital and qtr mile walks after 7 days,  to half mile walks after 2 weeks and pretty much adding mileage up to 3 miles in February when I started walking with a 30 lb pack 3 times a week. I’ve had days where my chest hurt so bad I didn’t want to do it but I pushed myself to do it so I could start strengthening my heart and get better so my quality of life would improve.

It has been a long road its been a challenge but with the great help of the Miami VA and the University of Miami Doctors and staff and the support of friends and family my outlook hasn’t looked better, From last summers 3 clogged arteries and not being able to walk a qtr mile, to my own fitness training and life expectancy its all good.

Its been pretty much a whirlwind the last week I was asked to be at the dedication of a new Stem cell research lab located with in the school of Medicine at UM and I did a TV interview the other day and word on the street  is that Mens Health wants to interview me also so more to come on that. Also with the help of one of my marketing friends Glen Werstler in Ohio and his marketing group at page gravy had started me out with my own web page and Non profit organization called One Heart to start foundation. I’m excited to try to get people more aware about this medical breakthrough. thanks for taking your time and reading.

Sincerely

Barry

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Today, Tammy Henderson is riding her bicycle on the road, but less than 2 years ago, Tammy was on the road to a heart transplant after suffering a major heart attack back in 2001. Things changed after Tammy received Vescell stem cell treatment using her own Adult Stem Cells in Thailand in April 2008 to help heal her heart muscle.

From the stem cell article:

My doctor fully believes this is working,” said Henderson. “My echo showed at least a 5 percent improvement in ejection fraction — how well the heart pumps — and my heart shrunk by 3 mm, which is terrific. Usually, the heart enlarges as it gets worse.”

“My oxygen level went up three points. I have been feeling really great, and I’m back to bike riding and walking,” she added.

Her Sister Thrilled With Stem Cell Treatment for Heart Muscle

Tammy went to Vescell stem cell therapy and her sister Kelly Moyer is happy she did:

the improvements “are exactly what we hoped for,”

“In April, her family and I walked the Kensington Park path — 8.5 miles — that includes many hills, I was very impressed with her strength,” Moyer said. “A couple of years ago I would have never thought that kind of experience would be possible. Her heart is getting smaller and pumping better, clear medical signs of improvement. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Adult Stem Cells Helped Her Sinuses Too

While her heart has shown signs of healing, Henderson said she has been cured of chronic sinusitis. She use to spend $25 month for Zyrtec, but stop taking it in April 2008.

“I have not had a sinus infection since then,” she said. “I think the stem cells took care of it. That’s a major extra plus.”

California Dreaming in Michigan

Moyer hopes that some day the stem cell therapy will be available in the United States. Her sister said there’s a possibility it could be done at Henry Ford within a year.

“I pray that this treatment will be available in the U.S. as soon as possible,” Moyer said. “For someone sick to have to travel around the world for treatment is just absurd, especially living in the U.S. We live in the best country in the world, it doesn’t seem right.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Stem cell therapies – treatments that involve the transplantation of stem cells, organs, or other cells into patients to improve the function of diseased or damaged tissues or organs – is a field that has been steadily advancing. Perhaps more than any other industry, stem cell therapies is poised to make a significant near-term impact on worldwide public health, and many individuals living today may experience stem cell-related therapies.

The most obvious use of stem cells is in cell-replacement therapies, but they are also valuable in disease modeling, drug discovery, and drug toxicity assessment. Stem cell therapies are currently being applied to over 50 diseases including heart, lung, neurodegenerative, and eye disease, cancer, and HIV. Part of the reason for the successful progress in stem cell therapies is the longstanding multi-disciplinary integration of policy, science, industry, and patient advocacy.

Public health and drug development model is broken

Stem cell therapies could arrive just in time to help as new models for health care delivery are sorely needed. Care delivery costs continue to rise, worldwide populations are aging, and physician shortages are expected. The cost to bring a new drug to market has soared to $1.3 billion, and there are fewer drugs seeking approval (in 2011, the U.S. FDA had only 23 new drugs applications as compared with 45 in 1996). Also, new classes of drugs such as cellular and gene therapies will be even more costly and complicated than today’s already expensive small molecule drugs and biologics. Investors have been shrinking from the market, and at the national public health level, there could be a bleak period of care rationing.

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In a stem cell research study at the University of Miami, Barry Brown has had his heart attack healed after receiving therapy using his own Adult Stem Cells. An unlikely candidate for heart disease, Barry was a 38 year old physical trainer in the Air Force when he had his heart attack.

Stem Cell Treatment in Addition to a Bypass Surgery

While receiving treatment at the VA hospital, Brown was approached by Dr. Juan Pablo Zambrano, a cardiologist at the University of Miami who have been conducting a clinical trial in which the heart disease patient is injected with their own Adult Stem Cells just after the completion of bypass surgery. In other words, while the chest is open, it is convenient for the heart surgeon to inject the stem cells into the heart muscle.

Process of Stem Cells for Heart Disease

Barry was accepted into the study and had some of his bone marrow extracted 4 weeks before his bypass surgery was scheduled. The Adult Stem Cells from his bone marrow were isolated and then cultivated so there was enough stem cells to help in the treatment. Then, after 4 weeks the stem cells were injected into the heart at the same time as Barry’s bypass surgery.

And how did it turn out? From the stem cell article:

Things have slowed down for Brown since those hectic first weeks at the VA, but things are speeding up in a different way now. Each week, he has been able to add a quarter-mile to his daily workout walk.

By spring he was up to three miles a day. Now, at 39, he is training to compete in a mini-triathlon.

”And I’m feeling no discomfort,” he said.

Although the initial case studies have been successful, the three doctors know they are facing an uphill battle. They have secured only 11 of the targeted 45 willing participants. Many who have heart damage are unwilling to wait a month for their stem cells to incubate without a guarantee that they will be in the treatment group.

”We are working with the FDA to try to guarantee that those who are in the placebo group do eventually get administered the treatment,” Hare said.

Working With the FDA? Waiting for the Cubs to Win the World Series Too?

In other words, Dr. Hare, who is conducting the study and is playing by the FDA rules, wants to give stem cells to the patients who received the placebo in his study -AFTER the study is completed. Why it would take more than 1 phone call to the FDA to guarantee that those in the placebo group receive the stem cell treatment (after the research is completed!)  is beyond my comprehension.  Not many have accused the FDA of having common sense and compassion.

Sarcasm aside, I am very happy that Dr. Hare is conducting the research study and helping heart disease patients improve their lives with the use of their own stem cells as treatment. Keep on going my friend.

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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Expectant parents must make several important medical decisions. Among them: whether to have prenatal genetic testing, request pain medication during labor, strive for a natural birth or circumcise a male baby?
Perhaps one of the most overlooked parts of childbirth preparation is whether to save or donate the infant’s umbilical cord blood.

Umbilical cords are usually discarded as medical waste. But the potential uses for cord blood are growing, making it imperative that families understand their options, including whether to pay to have the blood stored for possible use in the event of their child’s illness or to donate it to a public bank so it’s available to any child who may need it.
“I think every couple who is pregnant should look into this and make a decision for themselves about what to do,” says Dr. Charles Sims, co-founder of the California Cryobank, which offers private storage. “Every doctor treating them should also be informed.”

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