In what could be a major breakthrough for diabetes treatment, scientists have discovered a way to drastically alter human embryonic stem cells, transforming them into cells that produce and release insulin.
Developed by researchers at Harvard University, the innovative new technique involves essentially recreating the formation process of beta cells, which are located in the pancreas and secrete insulin. By stimulating certain genes in a certain order, the Boston Globe reports that scientists were able to charm embryonic stem cells – and even altered skin cells – into becoming beta cells.
The whole process took 15 years of work, but now lead researcher Doug Melton says the team can create hundreds of millions of these makeshift beta cells, and they’re hoping to transplant them into humans starting in the next few years.
"We are reporting the ability to make hundreds of millions of cells — the cell that can read the amount of sugar in the blood which appears following a meal and then squirts out or secretes just the right amount of insulin," Melton told NPR.
There are 29.1 million people in the United States believed to have diabetes, according to statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dating back to 2012. That’s 9.3 percent of the entire population.
Currently, diabetes patients must rely on insulin shots to keep their blood-sugar levels stable, a process that involves continual monitoring and attentiveness. Failure to efficiently control these levels can cause some patients to go blind, suffer from nerve damage and heart attacks, and even lose limbs. If Melton’s beta cell creation process can be successfully applied to humans, it could eliminate the need for such constant check-ups, since the cells would be doing all the monitoring.
Already, there are positive signs moving forward: the transplanted cells have worked wonders on mice, quickly stabilizing their insulin levels.
"We can cure their diabetes right away — in less than 10 days," Melton said to NPR. "This finding provides a kind of unprecedented cell source that could be used for cell transplantation therapy in diabetes."
With mice successfully treated, the team is now working with a scientist in Chicago to put cells into primates, the Globe reported.
Even so, significant obstacles remain, particularly for those who have Type 1 diabetes. With this particular form of the disease, the human immune system actually targets and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, so Melton’s team is looking into encasing cells inside of a protective shell in order to ensure their safety.
Another hurdle is political, since many are against tinkering with human embryonic stem cells on the grounds that research wipes out human embryos. As a result, scientists are also trying to recreate their work on other types of stem cells.
Regardless, the research – formally published in the Cell journal this week – is being welcomed with open arms.
"It's a huge landmark paper. I would say it's bigger than the discovery of insulin," Jose Olberholzer, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois, told NPR. "The discovery of insulin was important and certainly saved millions of people, but it just allowed patients to survive but not really to have a normal life. The finding of Doug Melton would really allow to offer them really something what I would call a functional cure. You know, they really wouldn't feel anymore being diabetic if they got a transplant with those kind of cells."
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Showing posts with label Stem Cell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stem Cell. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Stem Cell Therapy Study in Heart Patients
You've heard of conventional treatments for heart patients, like stents. They're a Band-Aid compared to a cutting-edge research at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.
Stem cell therapy is an exciting breakthrough in regenerative medicine... using a patient's own stem cells to treat a weak heart muscle.
This is the kind of medicine that makes you think of medical technology meeting science fiction!
There is no approved stem cell therapy for the heart right now, but a national study going on at the medical college at Georgia Regents University could change all that.
WJBF News Channel 6's Jennie Montgomery has details.
This is a 3-dimensional map of the heart... and all roads lead to improved blood flow and heart function IF a clinical trial at GR Health System shows positive results.
"And the red zones are all zones that are scarred, and if you take this map and scrunch it up, like an accordion, you generate this map right here, and everything that's in red is densely scarred heart."
Dr. Adam Berman is the director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Ablation Services at GR Health System. He is the principal investigator of the study which is being done at several institutions across the country, taking stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow. The bone marrow is sent to an Aastrom Biosciences research laboratory where the stem cells are significantly expanded.
Berman then injects the stem cells back into multiple weak points in the heart-- using a catheter inserted through an artery at the groin, up into the heart.
"In the study we typically do about 20 injections within the healthier territories of the heart, with that needle, and that's the actual needle."
The difference between stem cell therapy- and conventional therapy, like a stent- is that the idea behind stem cells is "regenerative medicine," which is kind of like allowing the body to heal itself.
"When we put a stent in, or a pacemaker in, for instance, we're not really healing your heart-- we're treating it, so to speak, but we're not promoting its own healing. The idea behind stem cell therapy is to try to get the heart to begin to heal itself, and that I think is very exciting!"
The Medical College of Georgia at GRU is the first site in the state to be selected for this study. To be eligible, patients must have explored other existing options and have an internal defibrillator.
62-year old Richard Daggett was the FIRST patient in Georgia to get this therapy.
"I feel, personally, that it is my time to try to help myself and somewhere down the road for what they did to me, they can do it to someone else and help them."
Of 108 patients across the country, half are getting their own stem cells, the other half get placebo. Daggett won't know what he got until the end of the year long study.
Researchers will follow the patients for 12 months, looking at heart failure symptoms and quality of life. If the study results are positive, the placebo participants will be able to get the stem cell therapy.
LINK
Clinical Trial Info
Stem cell therapy is an exciting breakthrough in regenerative medicine... using a patient's own stem cells to treat a weak heart muscle.
This is the kind of medicine that makes you think of medical technology meeting science fiction!
There is no approved stem cell therapy for the heart right now, but a national study going on at the medical college at Georgia Regents University could change all that.
WJBF News Channel 6's Jennie Montgomery has details.
This is a 3-dimensional map of the heart... and all roads lead to improved blood flow and heart function IF a clinical trial at GR Health System shows positive results.
"And the red zones are all zones that are scarred, and if you take this map and scrunch it up, like an accordion, you generate this map right here, and everything that's in red is densely scarred heart."
Dr. Adam Berman is the director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Ablation Services at GR Health System. He is the principal investigator of the study which is being done at several institutions across the country, taking stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow. The bone marrow is sent to an Aastrom Biosciences research laboratory where the stem cells are significantly expanded.
Berman then injects the stem cells back into multiple weak points in the heart-- using a catheter inserted through an artery at the groin, up into the heart.
"In the study we typically do about 20 injections within the healthier territories of the heart, with that needle, and that's the actual needle."
The difference between stem cell therapy- and conventional therapy, like a stent- is that the idea behind stem cells is "regenerative medicine," which is kind of like allowing the body to heal itself.
"When we put a stent in, or a pacemaker in, for instance, we're not really healing your heart-- we're treating it, so to speak, but we're not promoting its own healing. The idea behind stem cell therapy is to try to get the heart to begin to heal itself, and that I think is very exciting!"
The Medical College of Georgia at GRU is the first site in the state to be selected for this study. To be eligible, patients must have explored other existing options and have an internal defibrillator.
62-year old Richard Daggett was the FIRST patient in Georgia to get this therapy.
"I feel, personally, that it is my time to try to help myself and somewhere down the road for what they did to me, they can do it to someone else and help them."
Of 108 patients across the country, half are getting their own stem cells, the other half get placebo. Daggett won't know what he got until the end of the year long study.
Researchers will follow the patients for 12 months, looking at heart failure symptoms and quality of life. If the study results are positive, the placebo participants will be able to get the stem cell therapy.
LINK
Clinical Trial Info
Thursday, February 27, 2014
University of Miami researchers explore potential of stem cell therapy to repair heart damage
In 2009, Steven Bustamante, 58, was in bad shape.
A major heart attack, along with nearly every complication in the book, had led to heart failure. He called his brother from the hospital to say his goodbyes, fearing he would fall asleep and never wake up.
But when he did wake up, an unfamiliar doctor from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine was sitting in his room, offering him the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial where his heart would be injected with stem cells extracted from his bone marrow.
The results were transformative.
“I went from being a person who probably needed a heart transplant to someone whose heart is in a normal range,” Bustamante said. “I don’t feel like a sick person anymore, at all.”
Several studies at the UM Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI) have shown that stem cells derived from adult bone marrow, which carry the potential to grow into various kinds of cells based on their environment, can help repair damaged heart tissue.
As researchers continue to explore the potential of stem cell therapy in current and upcoming studies, they are taking what some see as early but steady strides toward changing the future of cardiac care — perhaps to one in which doctors help patients regenerate and rejuvenate their own hearts.
“We’ve taken some very important steps,” said Dr. Joshua Hare, director of the ISCI, “and we really envision the possibility that this may be an applicable therapy that could help a lot of people. But there are a lot of questions.”
To answer those questions, researchers are simultaneously expanding trial sizes, branching into various cardiac diseases and trying to hone in on ideal treatment, dosage and delivery.
One of the pilot trials, published in November 2012, aimed to determine if stem cells from a donor are as safe and effective as a patient’s own stem cells. The results from 30 people showed that both types are safe — good news because donor cells can be prepared in advance.
Another study with 65 patients, published at the end of 2013, was the first to compare stem cells to whole bone marrow as well as a placebo. Bustamante was one of the participants, all of whom had weakened, damaged hearts.
Like the first study, stem cells injected directly into the heart via catheter reduced scar tissue by an average of one third, helped ‘remodel’ the heart to its healthy, football shape and improved quality of life. The cells were more effective than the bone marrow or the placebo, a vital finding for moving the therapy forward.
Dr. Alan Heldman, interventional cardiologist and member of the ISCI, delivered the actual injections in a procedure that lasts about an hour.
“I’m not ready to say that all doctors should start doing this, we’re not there yet,” Heldman said. “I try to maintain a skeptical neutrality, but I have to say I have seen some results that absolutely stunned me with the magnitude of improvement. I’m convinced we are on to something.”
Heldman and Hare echoed that one of the next big steps is finding a treatment that works even better, reducing more scar tissue faster.
Preclinical research seems to show that a combination of bone marrow stem cells and cardiac stem cells taken directly from the heart makes for a more potent treatment, even doubling the effect. This could have implications for other organs that harbor their own stem cells, like the kidney.
“It’s like a cocktail,” Hare said. “A little of this, a little of that, and you get a mixture of cells that works much better than either alone.”
The ISCI pitched the findings to the National Institute of Health, and Hare said he expects the cell mixture to head to human trials there within the next year.
“We’re fantasizing about the day when we will be able to completely eliminate the scar tissue,” Hare said. “That would be like doing a heart transplant through a catheter. It would be complete recovery.”
Meanwhile, another trial has found that stem cells are beneficial when given during heart surgery, and a current study is looking at whether stem cell injections are effective for heart disease that doesn’t cause a specific scar site. They are even looking at whether the space environment of microgravity has an effect on stem cells — an endeavor that might someday land UM researchers on the International Space Station.
Overall, these early trials, in which stem cells consistently show positive outcomes, are setting the stage for researchers who foresee a new stage of regenerative medicine.
“This may be one of the biggest, just because there is so much heart failure out there,” Heldman said. “There are so many patients, and it’s not just that they die from it, but that when they have it, they feel awful.”
As for Bustamante, today he is able to speculate about what his own future might look like — maybe retiring from his job as a public defender and moving to the West Coast.
“You go through life and you don’t think about it . . . then all of a sudden something happens and you realize you are mortal,” he said. “Thanks to what has happened, I can think about the future and doing other things and living my life.”
Amazing Times we Live In!
A major heart attack, along with nearly every complication in the book, had led to heart failure. He called his brother from the hospital to say his goodbyes, fearing he would fall asleep and never wake up.
But when he did wake up, an unfamiliar doctor from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine was sitting in his room, offering him the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial where his heart would be injected with stem cells extracted from his bone marrow.
The results were transformative.
“I went from being a person who probably needed a heart transplant to someone whose heart is in a normal range,” Bustamante said. “I don’t feel like a sick person anymore, at all.”
Several studies at the UM Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI) have shown that stem cells derived from adult bone marrow, which carry the potential to grow into various kinds of cells based on their environment, can help repair damaged heart tissue.
As researchers continue to explore the potential of stem cell therapy in current and upcoming studies, they are taking what some see as early but steady strides toward changing the future of cardiac care — perhaps to one in which doctors help patients regenerate and rejuvenate their own hearts.
“We’ve taken some very important steps,” said Dr. Joshua Hare, director of the ISCI, “and we really envision the possibility that this may be an applicable therapy that could help a lot of people. But there are a lot of questions.”
To answer those questions, researchers are simultaneously expanding trial sizes, branching into various cardiac diseases and trying to hone in on ideal treatment, dosage and delivery.
One of the pilot trials, published in November 2012, aimed to determine if stem cells from a donor are as safe and effective as a patient’s own stem cells. The results from 30 people showed that both types are safe — good news because donor cells can be prepared in advance.
Another study with 65 patients, published at the end of 2013, was the first to compare stem cells to whole bone marrow as well as a placebo. Bustamante was one of the participants, all of whom had weakened, damaged hearts.
Like the first study, stem cells injected directly into the heart via catheter reduced scar tissue by an average of one third, helped ‘remodel’ the heart to its healthy, football shape and improved quality of life. The cells were more effective than the bone marrow or the placebo, a vital finding for moving the therapy forward.
Dr. Alan Heldman, interventional cardiologist and member of the ISCI, delivered the actual injections in a procedure that lasts about an hour.
“I’m not ready to say that all doctors should start doing this, we’re not there yet,” Heldman said. “I try to maintain a skeptical neutrality, but I have to say I have seen some results that absolutely stunned me with the magnitude of improvement. I’m convinced we are on to something.”
Heldman and Hare echoed that one of the next big steps is finding a treatment that works even better, reducing more scar tissue faster.
Preclinical research seems to show that a combination of bone marrow stem cells and cardiac stem cells taken directly from the heart makes for a more potent treatment, even doubling the effect. This could have implications for other organs that harbor their own stem cells, like the kidney.
“It’s like a cocktail,” Hare said. “A little of this, a little of that, and you get a mixture of cells that works much better than either alone.”
The ISCI pitched the findings to the National Institute of Health, and Hare said he expects the cell mixture to head to human trials there within the next year.
“We’re fantasizing about the day when we will be able to completely eliminate the scar tissue,” Hare said. “That would be like doing a heart transplant through a catheter. It would be complete recovery.”
Meanwhile, another trial has found that stem cells are beneficial when given during heart surgery, and a current study is looking at whether stem cell injections are effective for heart disease that doesn’t cause a specific scar site. They are even looking at whether the space environment of microgravity has an effect on stem cells — an endeavor that might someday land UM researchers on the International Space Station.
Overall, these early trials, in which stem cells consistently show positive outcomes, are setting the stage for researchers who foresee a new stage of regenerative medicine.
“This may be one of the biggest, just because there is so much heart failure out there,” Heldman said. “There are so many patients, and it’s not just that they die from it, but that when they have it, they feel awful.”
As for Bustamante, today he is able to speculate about what his own future might look like — maybe retiring from his job as a public defender and moving to the West Coast.
“You go through life and you don’t think about it . . . then all of a sudden something happens and you realize you are mortal,” he said. “Thanks to what has happened, I can think about the future and doing other things and living my life.”
Amazing Times we Live In!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Simple Way to Make Stem Cells Hailed as Major Discovery
A radical and remarkably easy way to make cells that can grow into any tissue in the body has been developed by scientists in Japan.
The feat has been hailed as a major discovery by researchers familiar with the work, and if it can be repeated in human tissue, could lead to cheap and simple procedures to make patient-matched stem cells that could repair damaged or diseased organs.
In a series of elegant experiments, researchers showed that cells plucked from animals could be turned into all-powerful master cells simply by immersing them in a mildly acidic solution for half an hour.
To demonstrate the potential of the cells, the scientists injected them into mouse embryos and showed that they grew into tissues and organs throughout the animals' bodies.
Haruko Obokata at the Riken lab in Kobe, Japan, told the Guardian that her team had created several dozen mice that had tissues grown from the cells, and had followed their health for one to two years. "So far they appear to be healthy, fertile, and normal," she said.
The finding has stunned many researchers because previous attempts to make stem cells have been fraught with difficulties. One route is cloning, which is controversial because it involves the creation and destruction of embryos. A more recent method, called induced pluripotency, uses genetic manipulation to convert adult cells into a more flexible, immature state.
The work, reported in two papers in the journal Nature, was "a major scientific discovery that will be opening a new era in stem-cell biology," said Dusko Ilic, a stem-cell scientist at King's College London.
His enthusiasm was shared by Chris Mason, a stem-cell expert at University College London. "If it works in man, this could be the game changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patient's own cells as starting material," he said.
Obokata started work on the procedure five years ago while working at Harvard Medical School. The idea came to her after noticing by chance that cells that had been squeezed through a thin tube shrank to the size of stem cells. She went on to look more closely at what effects different kinds of stress – from heat, starvation and acidic conditions – had on cells.
After years of perfecting the experiments, Obokata showed that she could convert white blood cells taken from newborn mice into cells that behaved very much like stem cells. She went on to do the same with brain, skin, muscle, bone marrow, lung and liver cells. "It was very surprising to see that such a remarkable transformation could be triggered simply by stimuli from the outside," she said.
Much More Here
The feat has been hailed as a major discovery by researchers familiar with the work, and if it can be repeated in human tissue, could lead to cheap and simple procedures to make patient-matched stem cells that could repair damaged or diseased organs.
In a series of elegant experiments, researchers showed that cells plucked from animals could be turned into all-powerful master cells simply by immersing them in a mildly acidic solution for half an hour.
To demonstrate the potential of the cells, the scientists injected them into mouse embryos and showed that they grew into tissues and organs throughout the animals' bodies.
Haruko Obokata at the Riken lab in Kobe, Japan, told the Guardian that her team had created several dozen mice that had tissues grown from the cells, and had followed their health for one to two years. "So far they appear to be healthy, fertile, and normal," she said.
The finding has stunned many researchers because previous attempts to make stem cells have been fraught with difficulties. One route is cloning, which is controversial because it involves the creation and destruction of embryos. A more recent method, called induced pluripotency, uses genetic manipulation to convert adult cells into a more flexible, immature state.
The work, reported in two papers in the journal Nature, was "a major scientific discovery that will be opening a new era in stem-cell biology," said Dusko Ilic, a stem-cell scientist at King's College London.
His enthusiasm was shared by Chris Mason, a stem-cell expert at University College London. "If it works in man, this could be the game changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patient's own cells as starting material," he said.
Obokata started work on the procedure five years ago while working at Harvard Medical School. The idea came to her after noticing by chance that cells that had been squeezed through a thin tube shrank to the size of stem cells. She went on to look more closely at what effects different kinds of stress – from heat, starvation and acidic conditions – had on cells.
After years of perfecting the experiments, Obokata showed that she could convert white blood cells taken from newborn mice into cells that behaved very much like stem cells. She went on to do the same with brain, skin, muscle, bone marrow, lung and liver cells. "It was very surprising to see that such a remarkable transformation could be triggered simply by stimuli from the outside," she said.
Much More Here
Stem cell therapy for various diseases – all your queries answered
Medical science has come a long way and scientists are finding better and more efficient ways to cure diseases. Stem cell therapy is one of the methods that has the potential to cure a wide range of diseases in the future and some say it is the future of all treatments. A lot of parents are even preserving stem cells of their newborn baby in order to ensure treatment for them when they grow older. In this post, we’ll tell you more about stem cell therapy and the various diseases it may treat.
What is it?
Stem cells are derived from human umbilical cord or bone marrow. Also called the ‘basic cells’ of our body they have the power to mature into any type of tissue cell in the body. Stem cell therapy is based on the principle that stem cells migrate to the site of the injury and transform themselves to form new tissue cells that can replace the damaged ones. They have the capacity to multiply and renew themselves almost indefinitely and can form mature nerve cells, muscle cells and blood cells. In this therapy they are taken out of the body, and kept under artificial conditions (also called as induction of the stem cells) where they mature into the type of cells that are required to heal a particular part of the body.
There are two types of treatments:
Autologous stem cell therapy: This method uses the patient’s own stem cells (adult stem cells) which are obtained from the blood, bone marrow etc.
Allogenic stem cell therapy: This therapy uses donated stem cells. The disadvantage in this therapy is that in a number of cases these donor stem cells may be rejected. This method of stem cell therapy has not yet been legalised in India.
What are the diseases that can be cured using stem cell therapy?
Stem cells can be used to treat a variety of blood cancers, blood disorders including anaemic anaemia, tumours, immune disorders and metabolic disorders. Also clinical trials on which suggest that in the future stems from the umbilical cord can be used to treat Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, hydrocephalus, liver cirrhosis, strokes and traumatic brain injuries. Research is also on to check its application for treating type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and rheumatoid arthritis. Besides these, here are some diseases and conditions that may be cured using stem cell therapy.
Peripheral nerve injury
A team of researchers has successfully rescued peripheral nerves in the upper arms of a patient suffering peripheral nerve damage by using skin-derived stem cells (SDSCs) and a previously developed collagen tube designed to successfully bridge gaps in injured nerves in rat models. (Read more..)
MDR TB
A recent research by Markus J. Maeurer and colleagues from Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm found the potential of bone marrow stem cell therapy to treat MDR- TB and extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB) patients. The study found that patients infused with new mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from their own bone marrow showed boosting response rates against the MDR-TB bacteria. Out of 30 MDR-TB patients involved in the study, 16 patients showed no signs of infection by the end of 18 months. Moreover, the therapy didn’t show any serious adverse effects. (Read more..)
Hair loss
Stem cells are also used to treat hair loss. In this process, a small amount of fat is taken from the waist area of the person whose hair is being treated through a mini-liposuction process. This fat, which contains dormant stem cells, is then put in a centrifuge and spun to separate the stem cells from the fat. Once that is done, an activation solution is added to these cells. The cells might have to be multiplied in number depending on the size of the bald area that needs coverage. Once activated, the solution is washed off so that only cells remain. Now, the stem cells are injected into the scalp where hair loss has appeared. One can find some hair growth in about two to four weeks. (Read more…)
Restores eyesight
Rods and cones in the eyes are the most important photoreceptors. In humans, rods provide night vision, while cones offer a full-colour look at the world during the day. Now, damaged cones in retinas could be regenerated and eyesight restored to people through stem cells from the staple of genetic research, the zebrafish. Researchers say this shows some hope for stem cell therapy that could regenerate damaged cones in people, especially in the cone-rich regions of the retina that provide daytime/colour vision. (Read more…)
Facilitates kidney transplants
Kidney transplants could become more common and less cumbersome, thanks to a new procedure which adds a second transplant of stem cells from the donor. Normally patients who get organ transplants face a lifetime of expensive anti-rejection drugs but this may change with a new procedure in which a second transplant – this time of the organ donor’s stem cells. Normally donors have to take anti-rejection drugs all their lives since the immune system is geared to fight foreign substances. Unless there is a perfect match donor match, patients have to wait for a long time for an organ transplant. Though in its early stages, the new study is being hailed as a potential game-changer in the field of transplantation, a development which could aid millions of potential organ transplant recipients. (Read more…)
HIV/AIDS
In a path-breaking breakthrough two American are believed to have overcome HIV after undergoing stem-cell therapy! The news has met with widespread elation with experts believing that a cure might be on the cards. Doctors from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston announced that two previously HIV-positive patients no longer had detectable virus levels in their blood or tissue after having bone marrow stem-cell transplants to treat cancer between two and four years ago, the Age reported. (Read more…)
Paralysis
A Bangalore based hospital claims that it has successfully come out with a treatment for spine repair and a stem cell therapy to correct paralysis. At a press meet, the hospital shared the stories of paralysed patients it has successfully treated in the past few months.
The Bangalore Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Live 100 Hospital announced that the treatment involves a number of steps and while some patients gain sensation in the lower half of their bodies within three months from commencing of the treatment, others take a little longer. (Read more..)
Multiple sclerosis
Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have conducted an autologous stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis which could be the first recorded case in the country. In an autologous stem cell transplant the donor and recipient is the same person.
Body immunity generating stem cells were first extracted from the patient. His faulty immune response system was weakened through a high-dose chemotherapy regimen that destroys new blood cells forming bone marrow and existing blood cells. Later, his own stem cells were injected back into his body which created a new immune response system by forming the bone marrow and all cells in the blood. The doctors believe that the new immune response system will not have the faulty autoimmune tendency. (Read more…)
Hip joint disorder
A multi-specialty hospital in Bangalore has successfully used stem cells to cure a hip joint disorder, relieving affected patients from expensive surgery and conservative treatment. ‘We have so far treated seven patients, including two non-resident Indians (NRIs) suffering from hip joint disorder using their stem cells and helped them to resume normal life within months,’ Live 100 Hospital chairman H.N. Nagaraj told IANS. (Read more…)
Heart failure
Researchers have highlighted, for the first time, the natural regenerative capacity of a group of stem cells that reside in the heart. According to the new study these cells are responsible for repairing and regenerating muscle tissue damaged by a heart attack that leads to heart failure.
The study shows that if the stem cells are eliminated, the heart is unable to repair after damage. If the cardiac stem cells are replaced the heart repairs itself, leading to complete cellular, anatomical and functional heart recovery, with the heart returning to normal and pumping at a regular rate.
Also, if the cardiac stem cells are removed and re-injected, they naturally ‘home’ to and repair the damaged heart, a discovery that could lead to less-invasive treatments and even early prevention of heart failure in the future. (Read more…)
How is it done?
The entire procedure can be broken down into three steps: bone marrow collection, laboratory processing and stem cell implantation (bone marrow stem cell or cord derived stem cell). Your doctor may administer a ‘stem cell stimulant’ medication to enhance the transplantation process.
Bone marrow collection: in this process a sample from the hip or thigh region is taken. The procedure takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and is done on an in-patient basis.
Laboratory processing: Once the sample is taken, it is sent to the laboratory for testing. First the stem cells are separated from blood and plasma, the numbers of stem cells present are counted and their vitality is checked.
Stem cell implantation: In this step, the doctor will administer the harvested stem cells to the patient. The first dose is either intrathecal (injected directly into the damaged area or cerebrospinal fluid) or intradermal (injected into the skin). After a few weeks, the patient will be given a second round of harvested stem cells.
The patient usually will notice improvement within 8 weeks to 1 year depending on the severity of the condition.
Who can use it?
Stem cell therapy has been used experimentally on a number of disorders including certain types of cancer, neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and traumatic spinal cord injuries.
Disadvantages of Stem cell therapy
Stem cell therapy has not shown to have too many disadvantages, except that the patient is in some amount of discomfort after the extraction process. Taking a sample for the transplant involves taking marrow from the hips or thigh, this can be painful and the patient may experience nausea, headache and pain in the legs for a few days after the process.
This new therapy is currently being widely used in cases where patients have suffered from a traumatic spinal injury or neurological disorders. A spinal injury is usually caused due to a sudden and traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates the vertebrae. The damage is instantaneous, and begins the moment the fragmented bone or displaced vertebrae crushes the spine. According to statistics, in India, about 15 lakh people live with a spinal cord injury. While the degree of the injury varies, a number of people who suffer are left paralysed either partially or completely. In the recent past stem cell therapy for spinal cord injuries has become feasible, giving completely paralysed patients a chance to regain mobility.
You too can donate your stem cells!
We spoke to Dr Sunil Parekh, the Chairman of the MDRI who tells us everything we need to know about stem cell donation:
How does stem cell donation work? How can donors help?
Dr Parekh: The healthy stem cells harvested from a voluntary donor will rescue the recipient (patient), restore his health and permanently cure his otherwise fatal blood disorder. This donation is specific only for the patient with whom there is a perfect HLA (human leukocyte antigen) match. The donor’s healthy stem cells work by permanently replacing the defective or cancerous stem cells of the patient. Incidentally, this ‘matched unrelated transplant’ (MUD) is the best treatment option for such patients in whom all other conventional treatments have failed or are simply not available. Other patients, who are anxiously waiting to find HLA matched donors from the donor registries, will be greatly relieved to know that such transplants are indeed now possible in our country and can be successfully done in many centres in India.
What are the common myths that you’ve come across about stem cell donation? Are there any objections on religious grounds?
Dr Parekh: Due to a lack of awareness (and education), most lay people believe that this procedure is not safe and that they will ‘lose their stem cells permanently’. Actually, like all blood cells, stem cells also regenerate rapidly, and the same donor will be fit to donate again for another matching patient after a suitable interval. People are also apprehensive about pain related to the procedure, persisting thereafter for a long period of time. Actually, a conventional blood donation uses the same needle (inserted into the vein in front of the elbow), that is used for stem cell collection. Religion and politics have no business in interfering with evidence-based life saving medical treatments like haematopoietic cell transplantations. (Read more: Be a superhero, be a stem cell donor – save a life (Expert Interview))
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Breakthrough stem cell find in Madrid
It’s a scientific breakthrough.
Researchers in Madrid have successfully reprogrammed adult cells in living animals, creating stem cells that have the ability to grow into any tissue found in the body. Until now, these stem cells – known as pluripotent stem cells – have only ever been created in a lab after being removed from the animal. However, researchers at the National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid were able to create them in the bodies of living mice. They found that they could reprogram adult cells from the mice using a cocktail of so-called “reprogramming factors”.
“It’s something we never expected, it was a surprise and it opens up the chance to create more efficient cells than those generated in vitro,” says head team researcher Manuel Serrano.
JUMP
Researchers in Madrid have successfully reprogrammed adult cells in living animals, creating stem cells that have the ability to grow into any tissue found in the body. Until now, these stem cells – known as pluripotent stem cells – have only ever been created in a lab after being removed from the animal. However, researchers at the National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid were able to create them in the bodies of living mice. They found that they could reprogram adult cells from the mice using a cocktail of so-called “reprogramming factors”.
“It’s something we never expected, it was a surprise and it opens up the chance to create more efficient cells than those generated in vitro,” says head team researcher Manuel Serrano.
JUMP
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
New Stem Cell Book Highlights The Patient Perspective
The Healing Cell devotes individual chapters to adult stem cell treatments for multiple sclerosis (where so far it seems the most successful), neurodegenerative diseases, burns, anemia, arthritis, heart and vascular disease. [I'm not including bone marrow transplants which, while technically also stem cell treatments, were developed long before the field took off.]
Every chapter features the true-life story of at least one patient, but often two or three (with names changed to protect their privacy). Not all of them have happy experiences in their pursuit of treatment, and it’s to the authors’ credit that they illustrate the disappointing results along with the positive.
More Here
Book Description
Release date: April 2, 2013
THE HEALING CELL is an easy to read, carefully researched, and clear-eyed view of medicine many decades in the making that is now paying off with treatments that repair damaged hearts, restore sight, kill cancer, cure diabetes, heal burns, and stop the march of such degenerative diseases as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig's disease. The emotionally and intellectually stimulating stories throughout the book dramatically illustrate that stem cell therapies can change the way we live our lives after being afflicted by a disease or trauma. The book is the result of a unique collaboration between the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and the Stem for Life Foundation. It includes a special address by His Holiness Benedict XVI, urging increased support and awareness for advancements in adult stem cell research.
Amazon Link
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Jack Osbourne's stem cell jabs: Ozzy's son flies to Germany for banned MS treatment
TV star, who went public about his health crisis last summer, said he is currently feeling well and getting plenty of rest
Jack Osbourne is to undergo cutting-edge stem cell replacement therapy to help him beat Multiple Sclerosis.
Jack, 27 – son of rocker Ozzy and TV star Sharon – will go to Germany for the treatment as it is banned in America, where he is based.
He will fly out after covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles today for US music channel Fuse TV.
Jack said: “There are odd restrictions here in America because everybody still thinks it’s, like, what it isn’t. So I’m going to Germany. They clone stem cells from your own blood then inject them back into you.
“Hopefully it will repair any damaged cells and nerves and things like that.”
Jack, who went public about his health crisis last summer, said he is currently feeling well and getting plenty of rest – despite being a new dad to nine-month-old daughter Pearl.
He said: “I’m good. That’s the thing about MS – one minute you’re good, one minute you’re not. I’m hanging on in there, healthy and doing what I got to do.” Jack said he and wife Lisa are getting plenty of help with babysitting from his parents, who are relishing their role as grandparents.
He said: “Now she’s nine months and not so delicate they can play more and have more fun with her. Ozzy is pretty hands-on. But when she starts crying he hands her off.”
Jack – who was at the MusiCares Person Of The Year in LA on Friday with Katy Perry – told Access Hollywood the Black Sabbath frontman has a soulmate in Pearl. “She pretty much understands him,” he said. “They’ve had some heart-to-hearts.”
LINK
Jack Osbourne is to undergo cutting-edge stem cell replacement therapy to help him beat Multiple Sclerosis.
Jack, 27 – son of rocker Ozzy and TV star Sharon – will go to Germany for the treatment as it is banned in America, where he is based.
He will fly out after covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles today for US music channel Fuse TV.
Jack said: “There are odd restrictions here in America because everybody still thinks it’s, like, what it isn’t. So I’m going to Germany. They clone stem cells from your own blood then inject them back into you.
“Hopefully it will repair any damaged cells and nerves and things like that.”
Jack, who went public about his health crisis last summer, said he is currently feeling well and getting plenty of rest – despite being a new dad to nine-month-old daughter Pearl.
He said: “I’m good. That’s the thing about MS – one minute you’re good, one minute you’re not. I’m hanging on in there, healthy and doing what I got to do.” Jack said he and wife Lisa are getting plenty of help with babysitting from his parents, who are relishing their role as grandparents.
He said: “Now she’s nine months and not so delicate they can play more and have more fun with her. Ozzy is pretty hands-on. But when she starts crying he hands her off.”
Jack – who was at the MusiCares Person Of The Year in LA on Friday with Katy Perry – told Access Hollywood the Black Sabbath frontman has a soulmate in Pearl. “She pretty much understands him,” he said. “They’ve had some heart-to-hearts.”
LINK
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