Researchers at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Stanford University are conducting a human trial using adult stem cell therapy to treat people who have suffered a stroke.  The two institutions have carried out the procedure on six patients so far and plan to enroll another 12 in a two-year safety trial of the new therapy.

 

The stem cell therapy uses stem cells derived from adult bone marrow and given a booster containing a gene known as Notch, which is involved in the development of infant brains.  The stem cells are developed by SanBio, a San Francisco-area company. 

 

No adverse reactions have occurred in the first half-dozen patients, each of whom got 2.5 million stem cells.  According to Dr. Douglas Kondziolka, a neurosurgeon who heads the UPMC branch of the trial, during the procedure, doctors sedate the patient, drill a small hole through the skull and insert needle into the brain near the area of the stroke damage.  The stem cells are then injected into the brain.

 

The UPMC-Stanford trial is the only trial in the U.S. putting stem cells directly into a patient’s brain.  In the United Kingdom, ReNeuron Ltd., a British company, is using a similar procedure on stroke patients with stem cells developed from fetal brain tissue.

 

Ernest Yankee, SanBio's vice president of development, said if there are no safety issues, the company hopes to begin testing the stem cells' clinical effectiveness within the next two years.

 

 

This human trial at UPMC and Stanford University reinforces the thought that stem cell therapy holds great promise in treating a variety of diseases and conditions.  Some conditions, such as joint, tendon and muscle injury, are treatable now with stem cells.  Other conditions, such as ALS, diabetes, heart disease and MS, appear to be treatable, but widespread treatment is still in the near-future.

 

 

This trial is still enrolling patients.  They must be adults and must have experienced their strokes between six months and three years ago.  They also must have persistent motor difficulties that have plateaued.  For more information, contact study coordinator Julia Billigen at 412-605-3959 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it    

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

According to a recent study, engineered hair follicles patched into skin can be coaxed to connect to surrounding tissue and to grow hair in an organized way.  The study was conducted at the University of Science in Chiba, Japan and describe in the April 17 Nature Communications. 

 

Hair follicles develop when two different types of cells — epithelial and mesenchymal cells — interact with each other.  Epithelial cells grow very quickly and shed, while mesenchymal cells direct epithelial cells to make a follicle.

 

Previously, Takashi Tsuji, study coauthor, and colleagues had bioengineered follicles and hair shafts in the lab using epithelial and mesenchymal cells from mouse embryos.  Until now, it was unclear whether these organized clusters of cells would make normal hair if inserted into mouse skin.

 

In this study, the team transplanted a group of the engineered follicles into the skin on the backs of hairless mice.  After about two weeks, hairs began to sprout.  Under the microscope, the hair grown from the bioengineered mouse follicles resembled normal hair, and the mouse follicles went through the normal cycle of growing hair, shedding and making new hair.

 

When researchers injected the region around the bioengineered follicle with acetylcholine, a drug that causes muscles to contract, the hairs perked up, suggesting that the transplanted follicles had integrated with surrounding muscle and nerves like normal hair follicles.

 

The study results also mark a step forward in efforts to regenerate organs such as salivary glands that form in a process similar to hair early in their development.

 

“It’s exciting because it shows a cell-based approach for treating hair loss is maybe feasible,” says George Cotsarelis, MD, a dermatologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

 

Dr. Cotsarelis, is also senior author of a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine which showed that bald men have just as many stem cells in their hair follicles as those with a full healthy set of hair, but the “bald” stem cells did not contain normal levels of progenitor cells.  It is the progenitor cells that cause hair to be thick.  Study findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  Researchers noted that stem cells are still present and may need to be “woken up” and thus male baldness may be reversible.

 

In a follow-on study, Dr. Cotsarelis and researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that an abnormal amount of Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) might be the stimulus that sets male pattern baldness in motion.  The researchers identified the PGD2 receptor as GPR44.  Once identified, finding a drug that will block this receptor could prevent baldness and provide relief to men and women suffering with hair loss and thinning.

 

 

According to Dennis Lox, MD, regenerative medicine techniques, particularly platelet-rich plasma, have been used to treat baldness for some time, so researching the use stem cells to treat baldness is no surprise.  Continued interest in the field of regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy will pave the way for a variety of new developments in all fields of medicine.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

A small molecule dubbed kartogenin encourages stem cells to take on the characteristics of cells that make cartilage, a new study shows.  Treatment with kartogenin allowed mice with arthritis-like cartilage damage in a knee to regain the ability to use the joint without pain.

 

The findings where uncovered by molecular biologists at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego and provide new clues in the long-running effort to find ways to regenerate cartilage, a central puzzle in the battle against osteoarthritis.  Study findings were reported online April 5 in Science.

 

The new approach taps into mesenchymal stem cells, which naturally reside in cartilage and give rise to cells that make connective tissue.  These include chondrocytes, the only cells in the body that manufacture cartilage.  Kartogenin steers the stem cells to wake up and take on cartilage-making duties.  This is an essential step in cartilage repair that falls behind in people with osteoarthritis, the most common kind of arthritis, which develops from injury or long-term joint use.

 

The molecular biologists screened 22,000 compounds in cartilage and found that one, kartogenin, induced stem cells to take on the characteristics of chondrocytes.  The molecule turned on genes that make cartilage components called aggrecan and collagen II.  Tests on mice with cartilage damage similar to osteoarthritis showed that kartogenin injections lowered levels of a protein called cartilage oligomeric matrix protein.  People with osteoarthritis have an excess of the protein, which is considered a marker of disease severity.  Kartogenin also enabled mice with knee injuries to regain weight-bearing capacity on the joint within 42 days.

 

Millions of people develop osteoarthritis as they reach old age.  Cartilage serves as the shock absorber of the skeleton, but surgery to clean out torn cartilage has limited success, as does surgery to induce growth of a fibrous kind of coating at the ends of bones that have lost their natural cartilage caps.  This losing battle leaves bone-on-bone friction, inflammation and pain.

 

 

Until this therapy becomes available to the public, autologous, adipose-derived stem cell therapy is currently available in the US to treat musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, such as osteoarthritis. 

 

Regenerative medicine techniques, such as stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma, are growing in use and acceptance, not only among sports professionals, but everyday citizens as well.  These regenerative medicine techniques could help musculoskeletal injuries heal more quickly and could possibly help avoid surgery.

 

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Doctors in Britain have developed a pioneering treatment for liver disease that could save hundreds of lives a year and avoid the need for transplant surgery.  The world’s first trial using liver stem cells will be conducted at London's King's College Hospital and will be headed by pediatric liver consultant Professor Anil Dhawan.

 

Eighteen British children suffering from rare and life threatening liver conditions will receive infusions of specially treated liver cells removed from the organs of deceased donors.

 

Doctors will trial the stem cell treatment on children with an inherited metabolic disorder that affects the liver called Crigler-Najjar syndrome.  Children with this condition are unable to eliminate toxins from their bodies and therefore must undergo daily 12-hour exposure to special blue lights, just to survive.  Without daily treatments, a child would suffer brain damage, muscle and nerve damage, and death.

 

The stem cell treatment will also be trialed on children with urea cycle disorders who are unable to process liver toxins because of a genetic defect.  This condition can lead to brain damage and death without a special diet.  Experts believe that up to 20 per cent of cot deaths may be due to undiagnosed urea cycle disorders.

 

According to Professor Dhawan, “If all goes well the children we are treating with the cells will show an improvement within a couple of months.  We would expect those children to come off their medicines and therapy.  It will mean the liver cells have done their job and corrected the defects that made them ill.  Then we will have to see how long the effect lasts and whether we have to top up these children with further infusions. I am optimistic the treatment will work.”

 

Professor Max Malago, a liver transplant surgeon at London's Royal Free Hospital, said, “There is enormous demand for donor livers at present which is impossible to meet. There are patients who are desperate to transplant but unfortunately not everyone can get an organ.  If there was an alternative treatment to transplant where you could save the liver it would offer hope to patients who are at present dying waiting for an organ.”

 

This British trial reinforces the amazing promise that stem cells hold in treating a variety of diseases and conditions.   Some conditions, such as joint, tendon and muscle injury, are treatable now with stem cells.  Other conditions, such as ALS, diabetes, heart disease and MS, appear to be treatable, but widespread treatment is still in the near-future.

 

 

To read the British newspaper article on this, click here. 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

 

 

 

For the first time, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have made early retina structures containing proliferating neuroretinal progenitor cells using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from human blood.

 

The retina structures also showed the capacity to form layers of cells, just as the retina does in normal human development.  These cells possessed the machinery that could allow them to communicate information – Light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina along the back wall of the eye produce impulses that are ultimately transmitted through the optic nerve and then to the brain, allowing you to see.

 

Put together, these findings suggest that it is possible to assemble human retinal cells into more complex retinal tissues, all starting from a routine patient blood sample.

 

The UW researchers envision many applications of laboratory-built human retinal tissues, including using them to test drugs and study degenerative diseases of the retina such as retinitis pigmentosa, a prominent cause of blindness in children and young adults.  It may also be possible, one day, to replace multiple layers of the retina in order to help patients with more widespread retinal damage.

 

This study out of Wisconsin reinforces the amazing promise that stem cells hold in treating a variety of diseases and conditions.  Some conditions, such as joint, tendon and muscle injury, are treatable now with stem cells.  Other conditions, such as ALS, diabetes, heart disease and MS, appear to be treatable, but widespread treatment is still in the near-future.

 

Read the full University of Wisconsin-Madison press release here.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Doctors from the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital presented the results of a multi-center clinical study that measured the possible benefits of using a patient's own (autologous) bone marrow cells to repair damaged areas of the heart suffering from severe heart failure, a condition that affects millions of Americans.  Their presentation was made at this year’s American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session in Chicago.

 

The study, which was the largest such investigation to date, found that the hearts of the patients receiving bone-marrow derived stem cells showed a small but significant increase in the ability to pump oxygenated blood from the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, to the body.

 

While this study used stem cells derived from a patient's bone marrow, Dr. James Willerson one of the THI researchers, said that the results are even better when the stem cells are derived from fat, citing his experience in a number of studies.

 

According to Dr. Willerson, the question is no longer whether bone marrow cells work or don't work (they do work when you have healthy stem cells) – the search now is to find the very best stem cell type or types.

 

"And at the moment, I'd say the best stem cells are fat-derived cells and stem cells that reside in the heart, called c-KIT positive stem cells," he said before presenting research findings at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

 

Although the study results are impressive, Dr. Willerson said the heart improvements in the trial paled in comparison to favorable results seen in a study presented last year that involved the use of fat-derived mesenchymal stem cells to treat patients with severe heart failure.

 

In that trial, he said patients had improved heart function that actually translated into a reduction in death, heart attack, and the need for rehospitalization.

 

Dr. Willerson said he and his colleagues hope that favorable trial results will ultimately convince U.S. health regulators that stem cell therapy is beneficial to heart patients and is safe.

 

 

This study out of Texas reinforces the thought that stem cells hold great promise in treating a variety of diseases and conditions.  Some conditions, such as joint, tendon and muscle injury, are treatable now with stem cells.  Other conditions, such as ALS, diabetes, heart disease and MS, appear to be treatable, but widespread treatment is still in the near-future.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Two recently announced stem cell studies highlight the amazing potential that stem cells hold in the treatment of ALS.

 

1.  Neuralstem announced safety results were reported on the first 12 patients in an ongoing Phase I study to evaluate the safety of Neuralstem's spinal cord stem cells (HSSC's), as well as the transplantation technique, in the treatment of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease).

 

Researchers report that one patient has shown improvement in his clinical status, even though researchers caution that the study was not designed to show efficacy.  Additionally, there was no evidence of accelerated disease progression due to the intervention in any of the 12 patients, who were followed from 6-18 months after they were transplanted with the cells.  All of the patients, who received transplants in the lumbar (lower back) region, tolerated the treatment without any long-term complications related to either the surgery or the cells.

 

The trial has been approved to progress to cervical transplantations.

 

View the abstract in the journal STEM CELLS.

 

View the Neuralstem press release.

 

 

2.   An international research team, led by the Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research at the University of Edinburgh in partnership with researchers from King’s College London; Columbia University, New York; and the University of San Francisco, has created motor neurons using skin cells from a person with an inherited form of ALS/MND.

 

Researchers discovered that abnormalities of a protein called TDP-43, implicated in more than 90 percent of cases of ALS/MND, resulted in the death of motor neuron cells.  This is the first time that scientists have been able to see the direct effect of abnormal TDP-43 on human motor neurons cultured in a dish.

 

Using cutting-edge stem cell research, which could speed up the discovery of new treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as motor neuron disease (MND) outside the United States.

  

Professor Siddharthan Chandran, one of the University of Edinburgh researchers said that using patient stem cells to model MND in a dish offers untold possibilities for how they study the cause of this terrible disease as well as accelerating drug discovery by providing a cost-effective way to test many thousands of potential treatments.

 

A press release from the ALS Association can be found here.

 

 

Research continues to show that stem cells hold great promise in treating a variety of diseases and conditions.  Some conditions, such as joint, tendon and muscle injury, are treatable now with stem cells.  Other conditions, such as ALS, diabetes and MS, appear to be treatable, but widespread treatment is still in the near-future.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

 

A small French study suggests that myeloma patients may benefit from a “mini” donor stem cell transplant in the absence of a suitable related donor.  Results of the study showed that the estimated two-year overall and progression-free survival rates were similar between myeloma patients who received stem cells from a related donor and patients who received stem cells from an unrelated donor.

 

Multiple myeloma is cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.  Plasma cells help your body fight infection by producing proteins called antibodies.  In multiple myeloma, plasma cells grow out of control in the bone marrow and form tumors in the areas of solid bone.  The growth of these bone tumors makes it harder for the bone marrow to make healthy blood cells and platelets.  Multiple myeloma mainly affects older adults.  Past treatment with radiation therapy raises the risk for this type of cancer.

 

In a donor, or allogeneic, stem cell transplantation procedure, the patient receives high-dose chemotherapy followed by an infusion of stem cells from a matched donor in order to replace the cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy.  These stem cells can be taken from either a related donor, such as a sibling or other relative, or from an unrelated donor.

 

Once transfused into the patient, the donor stem cells eventually mature into immune cells which can recognize the patient’s cancer cells as abnormal cells and destroy them. This phenomenon is known as the graft-versus-tumor, or graft-versus-myeloma, effect.

 

In an autologous stem cell transplantation, a patient’s own stem cells are collected before receiving high-dose chemotherapy and then returned to the patient following chemotherapy.  The graft-versus-tumor effect does not occur for patients receiving an autologous stem cell transplant because the patient’s own cells are unable to recognize and destroy the cancerous cells.

 

Although donor stem cell transplantation gives myeloma patients a better chance for a cure than autologous stem cell transplantation, it also carries a greater risk of complications. One of the most serious transplant-related complications is a condition called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), in which white blood cells from the donor recognize the recipient’s cells as foreign and attack them.

 

To decrease the transplant-related complications and death rate, the French study looked at a new procedure known as non-myeloablative, or “mini,” donor stem cell, which uses lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation than standard donor stem cell transplants.  This makes the procedure less toxic and more tolerable, which is particularly important for myeloma patients who are elderly or have concurrent illnesses.

 

In the study’s most recent follow-up, 61 percent of patients in the related-donor group and 53 percent of patients in the unrelated-donor group were still alive. Of these patients, those in the related-donor group and unrelated-donor group, respectively, were in complete remission (79 percent versus 56 percent), partial remission (21 percent versus 22 percent), or progressive disease (0 percent versus 22 percent).

 

The researchers determined that patients in the related-donor group and the unrelated-donor group, respectively, had similar two-year progression-free survival (44 percent versus 42 percent) and overall survival rates (66 percent versus 59 percent).

 

The relapse rate was higher in patients with unrelated donors (40 percent versus 52 percent).  The rate of acute GVHD, which occurs within 100 days of the transplant, was lower in patients in the related-donor group (17 percent) than in patients in the unrelated-donor group (47 percent).

 

In contrast, the rate of chronic GVHD, which occurs at least 100 days after the transplant, was similar between the two treatment groups (24 percent versus 30 percent).

 

 

Currently, autologous stem cell use is growing in use and acceptance to treat musculoskeletal conditions.  Research into the use of stem cell to treat neurologic and immune disorders is increasing, and this French study adds to the growing promise of stem cell therapy.

 

To learn more about this French study, click here.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP), along with ultrasound-guided needle tenotomy, was shown in a study to be an effective treatment for chronic, recalcitrant tendinopathy.  The study was conducted by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN.  Study results were published in the October 2011 journal of PM&R (www.pmrjournal.org)

 

Tendinopathy is a broad term for a common, painful problem occurring in and around tendons, in response to overuse.  Recent basic science research suggests little or no inflammation is present in these conditions, although many treatment options are aimed at reducing inflammation.  Today, tendinopathy is thought to be a degenerative process.

 

In the Mayo Clinic study, 51 patients with chronic, recalcitrant tendinopathy received ultrasound-guided needle tenotomy and an injection of autologous platelet-rich plasma.  The mean follow up visit was 14 months postprocedure, and maximum benefits occurred four months postprocedure.

 

Although no tendons demonstrated a normal sonographic appearance, 83 percent of the subjects were satisfied with the outcome and would recommend the procedure to a friend.

 

These study results are consistent with what our patients with similar conditions have experienced.  This study adds support to the growing body of evidence that indicates that platelet-rich plasma is effective in treating musculoskeletal injuries and conditions. 

 

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Most of us enjoy a good hamburger, without giving much thought to the process of getting that meat to our table.  Dutch scientist, Dr. Mark Post, hopes by Fall this year to produce the first lab-grown hamburger.  Post and his researchers have created strips of beef muscle using cow stem cells grown in a petri dish.

 

Imagine what this could mean for:

-          Reducing the environmental impact of traditional ‘factory’ farming (greenhouse gases; energy, land and water use)

-          Reducing the susceptibility of contamination (remember the e. coli outbreaks?)

-          Reducing suffering in animals (PETA is offering a $1 million prize to the first person to create in vitro chicken meat and sell it to the public by June 30, 2012.)

-          Increasing protein supplies in parts of the world

 

It is a fascinating application of stem cell technology.

 

The question remains, however, would that burger taste as good, if you knew it came from a dish and not off the hoof? 

 

You have some time to contemplate your answer – It will be at least ten years before the artificial meat is produced on an industrial scale and has satisfied the safety testing necessary for it be placed on supermarket shelves.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

For patients with severe chronic plantar fasciitis not manageable with traditional non-operative treatments, injections with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is significantly more effective than using cortisone.  This is according to a study presented by Raymond R. Monto, M.D., from the Nantucket Cottage Hospital in Massachusetts at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, held recently in San Francisco.

 

Dr. Monto compared PRP with cortisone injections for the treatment of 36 patients with plantar fasciitis that was resistant to traditional non-operative management.  Patients underwent pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound studies.  Group 1, with an average age of 59 years, an average of 5.4 months of failed standard non-operative treatment, and an average pretreatment American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) score of 52, was treated with a single injection of methylprednisolone at the injury site.  Group 2, with an average age of 51 years, an average of 5.7 months of failed standard non-operative treatment, and an average pretreatment AOFAS score of 37, was treated with a single injection of un-buffered autologous PRP.

 

Monto found that, in Group 1, the average post-treatment AOFAS score improved to 81 at three months, decreased to 74 at six months, and then decreased to 58 at 12 months. In Group 2, the average post-treatment AOFAS score improved to 95 at three months, and remained at 94 at six and 12 months (P = 0.001).

 

Based on the improved AOFAS score, platelet-rich plasma injection was more effective and durable than cortisone injection for the treatment of severe chronic plantar fasciitis.

 

 

While there are still no large-scale studies of PRP’s effectiveness, this study does support the growing body of antidotal evidence that indicates that PRP is effective in treating musculoskeletal injuries and conditions.  It is used widely and openly in professional sports, the veterinary world, and we have seen patients have positive results following PRP treatment in this office.

 

If you weren’t aware, plantar fasciitis is a common source of foot pain.  The pain may sometimes be diffuse and confused with ankle pain.  The plantar fascia is a fibrous aponeurosis (a thick cord-like tissue).  It originates off the calcaneus or heel bone and fans out to attach to the plantar surfaces of the phalanges bones (foot bones). 

 

Plantar fasciitis is a common source of foot pain in athletes, especially ones who compete in running athletics.  However, plantar fasciitis may also been seen in over-weight non-athletes

 

The plantar fascia may either be caused by an inflammatory process or there may be an underlying degenerative process, such as seen in tendinopathies where there is thickening, scarring and abnormal collagen formations.  Rupture of the plantar fascia may occur with an extremely forceful injury, usually in the mid portion of the fascia. 

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

 

Three recently announced stem cell studies highlight the amazing potential that stem cells hold.

 

1.  Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago used stem cells to “re-educate” the immune systems of people with Type 1 diabetes.  This condition is caused when the body’s defenses attack cells in the pancreas and requires daily injections of insulin to regulate the patient’s blood sugar levels.  The stem cells were used to “restart” pancreatic function, reducing the need for insulin.

 

Although the research involved only 15 participants and is still at a relatively early stage, it is innovative and appeared to offer improvements in the control of blood glucose, even in those with longstanding Type 1 diabetes.

 

Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin.  Insulin is essential because it allows glucose to enter the body’s cells, where it is used as fuel. In Type 1 diabetes, the body is unable to produce any insulin, so glucose builds up in the blood.  

 

Type 1 diabetes can develop at any age but usually appears before the age of 40 - and especially in childhood.  It accounts for between 5% and 15% of all people with the condition and is treated by daily insulin injections, a healthy diet and regular physical activity.

 

According to the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org), as of 2010, 25.8 million children and adults in the United States (or 8.3% of the population) have diabetes.  Of these, 5 percent or 1.3 million have Type 1 diabetes.

 

The study was published in the journal BMC Medicine.  Click here for the abstract.

 

2.   Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found a way to reverse damage found in diseases like multiple sclerosis, at least in a study using mice.

 

Nerve cells lose their electrically-insulating myelin sheath as MS develops.  New myelin-generating cells can be produced from stem cells, but the process loses efficiency with age. Researchers linked the bloodstreams of young mice to old mice with myelin damage.  Exposure to the youthful blood reactivated stem cells in the old mice, boosting myelin generation.

 

According to Julia Ruckh, one of the researchers, white blood cells called macrophages from the young mice gathered at the sites of myelin damage in the old mice.  Macrophages engulf and destroy pathogens and debris, including destroyed myelin.  This debris inhibits regeneration, so clearing it up is important.

 

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (www.nationalmssociety.org), approximately 400,000 Americans have MS, and every week about 200 people are diagnosed with it.

 

The study was reported in the journal Cell Stem Cell.  Click here for the abstract.

 

3.  Two legally blind women have regained some of their vision after receiving an injection of embryonic stem cells.  The patients are participating in a clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to treat macular degeneration, an age-related cause of blindness.  The trial is sponsored by Advanced Cell Technology, a Massachusetts biotech company.  The preliminary study findings were published in the journal Lancet.

 

According to Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology, although the purpose of the experiment was to test the safety of stem cells injected into the eye, both patients “had measurable improvement in their vision that persisted through the duration of the study.”

 

Last year, each patient was injected in one eye with cells derived from embryonic cells at the University of California at Los Angeles.  Although their sight has improved, both women remain legally blind.

 

Lanza cautioned that the findings are preliminary, and that the improvements could disappear and complications could emerge.  Nevertheless, he thinks the two cases will provide useful lessons for the field.

 

 

Stem cells appear to hold great promise in treating a variety of diseases and conditions.  Some conditions, such as joint, tendon and muscle injury, are treatable now with stem cells.  Other conditions, such as diabetes and MS, appear to be treatable, but widespread treatment is still in the near-future.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Several recent activities highlight the significance of telomere maintenance and its impact on aging.  Telomeres are sequences of DNA, located at the ends of all chromosomes, which serve as cellular clocks of aging.  Every time a cell divides, telomeres shorten until they become critically short, and the cell either stops functioning properly or dies, ultimately leading to death of the body.

 

By activating a gene that is normally turned off, TA-65, a nutritional supplement produced by TA Sciences, has been shown to activate the enzyme telomerase.  Telomerase has the unique ability to restore telomere length and is so important that its discovery won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2009. 

 

On December 13, 2011, the NBC Today Show interviewed scientist Bill Andrews,PhD, regarding the significance of telomere maintenance and extending life span.  Dr. Andrews has dedicated most of his career to curing aging, and believes in the importance of telomere health and maintenance to telomere activation.  Dr. Andrews notes that both he and his father take TA-65.  Dr. Andrews was the cover story for the August 2011 issue of Popular Science.  There have been many other publications including Elle magazine and Harper's Bazaar magazine that have also discussed telomerase activation and telomere health. 

 

In this office, we have seen a surging interest in telomerase activation, not only in extending lifespan, but also to improve the effects of aging on health.  People who are immuno-compromised and those who have gone through chemotherapy or radiation therapy to treat cancer (which harms telomeres) are interested in repairing the telomeres for health maintenance.  Additionally, individuals looking to optimize overall health, including athletes, have looked at telomerase activation and TA-65 with a fervent interest.

 

 

A study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., focused on senescent cells and mice.  Senescent cells are old cells that can no longer divide and do not function properly, and accumulate in aging tissues, like arthritic knees, cataracts and the plaque that may line elderly arteries.  The cells secrete agents that stimulate the immune system and cause low-level inflammation.  

 

The Mayo study demonstrated that getting rid of senescent cells improves genotypes (physical traits) and improves the quality of life associated with aging.  Rid of the senescent cells, mice tissues showed a major improvement in the usual burden of age-related disorders.  They did not develop cataracts, avoided the usual wasting of muscle with age, and could exercise much longer on a mouse treadmill.  They retained the fat layers in the skin that usually thin out with age and, in people, cause wrinkling.  The Mayo Clinic study was published in the May 2011 issue of the journal Nature.  The supplement TA-65 has been shown to reduce senescent cells by telomerase activation. 

 

 

People concerned, not only with their health span, but also that of their pets, are beginning to turn towards TA-65 as a means of improving health and longevity in their pets.  As cells continue to divide and telomerase shorten, overall health and longevity diminishes.  Pet owners are also turning to other regenerative medicine technologies to improve the overall quality of their pet’s health as well.

 

 

The regenerative medicine field is not just for humans.  Regenerative medicine technologies such as TA-65 for telomere maintenance, and platelet-rich plasma and stem cell therapy for musculoskeletal conditions, help to increase health span, the proportion of people’s natural lives that they live in good health.

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

Scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center have produced the world’s first monkeys created from embryos of several individual monkeys.  The chimera monkeys were created by binding three to six rhesus monkey embryos in the early stages of the development, and are the result of experiments designed to gain more understanding into stem cells that might be used to create human tissue in the future. 

 

Researchers led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, were focused on how natural stem cells from early embryos differed from cultured embryonic stem cells which are more readily available to scientists.  In a variation of cloning procedures, they were able to inject stem cells into monkey embryos to produce chimera, but the procedure only worked when the cells were fresh, not cultured stem cells. 

 

The different cells worked together to form tissues and organs.  By utilizing embryonic stem cells in such an early stage of development, they can produce a complete organism, in this case a monkey.  The research has been ongoing for several decades and it is hoped that will lead to breakthroughs in working with human tissues, specifically utilizing embryonic stem cells to grow new tissues for humans. 

 

The monkeys are referred to as chimera monkeys after a fire-breathing character in Greek mythology made up of parts from different animals.  The experiments were reported in the scientific journal Cell – click here for the abstract.

 

 

The field of stem cell research, particularly utilizing embryonic stem cells, is expanding greatly in the United States.  Human embryonic stem cells have been utilized in clinical trials for spinal cord injury research and also for research in the treatment of macular degeneration.  The research that produced the chimera monkeys will add greatly to our overall understanding of stem cells and how they can be utilized to treatment human conditions.

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

An interesting article in the December 2011 issue of Life Extension magazine features the eternal beauty, Suzanne Somers, discussing stem cell therapy.  Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, she had surgery to remove the lump, followed by intense radiation therapy.

 

After suffering for years with a painful, disfigured breast, Suzanne underwent an advanced technique to reconstruct the breast.  She had a combination of autologous stem cell therapy along with an adipose fat graft, and so far is quite pleased with the results.

 

While this practice limits its stem cell therapy to musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, the article is an interesting read on where this cutting-edge technology can go.

 

A link to the article can be found on our website by clicking here.

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

A recent study conducted by Oregon State University revealed that people sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week.

 

In a sample of more than 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, the study found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week (which is the national guideline) provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality.  People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.

 

The study, out in the December issue of the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, lends more evidence to mounting research showing the importance of exercise to a number of health factors.  Among adults in the United States, about 35 to 40 percent of the population has problems with falling asleep or with daytime sleepiness.

 

After controlling for age, BMI (Body Mass Index), health status, smoking status, and depression, the relative risk of often feeling overly sleepy during the day compared to never feeling overly sleepy during the day decreased by 65 percent for participants meeting physical activity guidelines.

 

The study’s findings coincide with what we se in this practice.  Many of our patients have musculoskeletal conditions (low back pain, joint pain, etc) which prevent them from exercising properly.  Most of these patients also have problems falling to sleep at night and/or staying alert during the day.

 

In addition to enhancing sleep, a good exercise regimen – strengthening, stretching and toning muscles – can help prevent some musculoskeletal injuries.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

In a disappointing move, the Geron Corporation announced that it is halting its stem cell programs, including the first-ever, US approved human trial using embryonic stem cells. 

 

The human trial enrolled its first patients last year and was evaluating the safety of using embryonic stem cells in patients who had recently suffered a spinal cord injury.  A company announcement in October 2011 indicated that treatment was proving safe in patients treated thus far, with no significant side effects.  With Geron’s halt, no new patients will be enrolled, but current participants will be followed, and the FDA will be kept informed of their status.

 

The company cited financial decisions are leading the company to narrow its focus to cancer research, particularly on drugs that are in mid-stage human testing.  The decision will also result in a 38 percent reduction in Geron staff.

 

Given the promise that stem cell therapies hold, the loss of an FDA-approved human clinical trial (one of two currently underway in the US) certainly does not help forward progress.

 

And, given Geron’s status as a leader in stem cell therapies, their decision also does not help the US maintain a leadership role in this innovative medical arena.

 

More can be read at: 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/geron-halting-stem-cell-research-laying-off-staff-14951932

 

Geron press release:

http://www.geron.com/media/pressview.aspx?id=1284

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

 

An interesting article came out online over the past few days in the current issue of Practical Pain Management, entitled Advances in Regenerative Medicine:  High-Density Platelet-rich Plasma and Stem Cell Prolotherapy for Musculoskeletal Pain.

 

It provides a detailed, yet readable, view of this cutting-edge procedure that is growing in use and acceptance.

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

The number of surgeries to treat chronic low back pain (CLBP) continues to increase, while positive patient outcomes do not correspond.  An interesting article published in January 2011 issue of Practical Pain Management by lead author, Robert Gatchel, Ph.D., et al, reviewed cases of failed back surgery and updated a 2004 study they performed.  Click here to read the 2011 article.

 

Low back pain is a significant source of morbidity in the United States and 85 percent of people will experience an episode of low back pain at some point in their lives.  When both the medical cost and loss of productivity are factored in, back and neck pains have the highest cost to employers than any other medical condition.

 

Most patients with low back pain recover quickly, where 35 percent can be expected to recover within a month, 85 percent within three months, and 95 percent within six months.  The remaining five percent have persistent pain that is beyond the normal time frame in which one would expect improvement. 

 

There may be disabling psychological and physical symptoms that accompany this chronic cycle of pain.  In 2007, there were more than 350,000 spinal fusion surgeries conducted in the United States.  This has drawn scrutiny due to adverse outcomes and the overall efficacy of spinal fusions, especially in a worker’s compensation setting where there is a lack of clear surgical indications that have been evaluated.  Additionally, surgical success with multiple procedures is also found to be statistically not extremely effective, where only 30 percent of second spine surgeries are successful, third spinal surgeries are even less effective at 15 percent success, and fourth surgeries are only five percent successful.

 

A final comment by Gatchel, Ph.D., et al is very telling:  While surgery is an important option for managing CLBP, it should be viewed as a “last resort” option.

 

 

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.

 

Two articles in the world news on Oct 18^th illustrate the highs and lows in stem cell therapy research…

 

Despite the ethical discussion surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, it is one source of pluripotent stem cells used in many research efforts. 

 

Reflecting European law, which protects human embryos, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down a ruling, stating “A process which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, entailing the destruction of the embryo, cannot be patented.”  (An embryo at the blastocyst stage consists of about 80 to 100 cells.)

 

The impact of this court decision was summed up by one researcher who said it means European researchers can prepare these things, but others will pick the fruits in the U.S. and Asia, and the judgment would undermine such research because it would make patents uncertain.

 

Several biotechnology companies are researching stem cell treatments in Europe and the United States.  Even large pharmaceutical companies, such as U.S. drug giant Pfizer, Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, Swiss drug maker Roche and French company Cellectis, are starting to conduct research in this area.

 

Early human trials are now under way in the U.S. using embryonic stem cells for repairing spinal cord injuries and to correct certain forms of blindness.

 

On the other hand, researchers at the University of Western Australia (UWA), reported that they discovered the ability to ethically obtain stem cells in a non-invasive process – from human breast milk.

 

UWA PhD student Fotenini Hassiotou’s research follows the 2008 discovery by a team of UWA scientists that breast milk contained embryonic-like stem cells.  This could reduce the need to use embryonic stem cells, which could help future stem cell research activities.

 

….Stem cell research seems to uncover new uses almost daily, requiring constant monitoring to stay current on emerging developments.  Given the potential that stem cells hold in treating a myriad of conditions, research efforts are well justified.

 

For more details, here are the two articles:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/us-embryo-court-idUSTRE79H19220111018

 

http://www.smh.com.au/wa-news/uwa-discovers-ethical-embryoniclike-stem-cells-in-breast-milk-20111017-1lt97.html

 

Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only and not for medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult with your physician.