Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) is a deadly disease that affects only 3 children in 1 million. There is no cure. There is a cure and since you are reading this blog, you probably deduced that the cure involves Adult Stem Cells (or as we call them- REPAIR Stem Cells since that is what stem cells do- repair).

When Adolfo Gonzalez, who at the time was a 1 year old baby, was diagnosed with JMML, the doctor who diagnosed Adolfo told his father that his son was going to die "with or without treatment."

However, Adolfo's father didn't accept that! He thought there must be a way to help his young son. He found a doctor- Dr. Gary Kleiner who enrolled little Adolfo in a trial in which Adult Stem Cells taken from cord blood were implanted into little Adolfo:

"The stem cells from the cord blood started to grow in his own bone marrow and his white count started to increase back to normal, "said Dr. Kleiner.

The new blood created by the stem cells replaced all of Adolfo's blood and eliminated the leukemia cells in his body.

The battle wasn't over. The Leukemia was now gone, but the new stem cells weren't a perfect match and thus began attacking little Adolfo- Graft Vs Host Disease. What can they do about that? Get Adolfo enrolled in yet another trial and give him more Adult Stem Cells! The article doesn't say, but since it was a trial for Graft Vs Host Disease, I'm fairly certain it was Osiris and their Prochymal "Adult Stem Cells for Anything" product.

It worked!-

Today there is no evidence of cancer in his body.

Adolfo may not remember the tough first years of his live, but that's okay by his dad.

"He's going to be a great little boy. He's going to be just a normal little kid," said Gonzalez

Click here to see the article and video

Ask and thou shalt receive.  I asked Dr. Carlos Lima, the pioneer of Adult Stem Cell research and treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) and a member of the Repair Stem Cell Institute's Science Advisory Board, how exactly does he treat (and help!) his patients- (see his patients here and here.) I thought I could learn something more about his Adult Stem Cell treatment and it would also be informative for the readers of this blog who may have a spinal cord injury or may know someone who has had one.   Well, I did receive- I received a detailed email from Dr. Lima giving details of his stem cell procedure for spinal cord injuries:

Surgical Procedure

Another great story today.  It seems we have had a good streak going lately.  There is nothing I like to hear more than seeing a person's life changed for the better using Repair Stem Cells (Adult Stem Cells).

Brandon Meinke, a 4 year old boy, from Janesville, Wisconsin was suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a genetic disorder that affects the neuron cells in the spinal cord which eventually leads to paralysis.

2 months ago, a television reporter visited Brandon BEFORE he went to China to receive stem cell treatment using Adult Stem Cells.  Natalie Kaplan visited with Brandon who could only CRAWL due to his Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Now, 2 months later, after Brandon returned from China having received Adult Stem Cell therapy, Natalie visited again with Brandon- who was now walking!!

From the story:

When Natalie first visited him a couple months ago he could crawl, standing up on his own was out of the question. After a month trip to China and four stem cell injections, his situation is very different.

Brandon's grandmother says, “We noticed after his second treatment, we were in the room one day and the beds are kind of lower to the ground over there but he got himself up and walked himself around the bed like a little child would do when they are first trying to walk and he hasn't done that in over a year, probably."

Another stem cell victory thanks to Adult Stem Cell research and Adult Stem Cell Treatment derived from that research.

You can see the video here- http://tinyurl.com/66kwc3 and the story in print here- http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/35568564.html

As I always try to remain optimistic, I will try to concentrate on the good aspects of this miraculous story of yet another child helped with her own Adult Stem Cells (or Repair Stem Cells as I like to call them).  The most important thing is Maia Friedlander, a 4 year old girl from New Zealand, has improved dramatically from a "birth related brain injury" (Cerebral Palsy) after receiving her own Repair Stem Cells saved from her umbilical cord at birth.

The negative part of this story is she had to travel all the way from New Zealand to Duke University in the United States for a procedure that has almost zero downside and plenty of potential to help her- receiving her own stem cells.  And then we have other children and patients in the United States with other conditions who have to go China, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic among other countries to receive similar treatments for different conditions.  Think of how many millions of lives could be changed if using your own stem cells were easily available to the masses.

No more preaching- let us get to the miracle story at hand.  Maia Friedlander was born with a brain injury and

her father Daniel Friedlander said "that before the treatment Maia had difficulty running, chewing and communicating despite having up to 6 hours of therapy a day for the past three years. The oxygen deprivation left her developmentally delayed which meant her progress was inconsistent and slow and Maia was as frustrated as we were. We were facing a lifetime of therapy with no prospect of improvement.

Sounds like a job for Repair Stem Cells.  The Friedlanders heard about a program at Duke University where Dr Joanne Kurtzberg in her Adult Stem Cell research program has reinfused cord blood stem cells into about 50 children with brain injury or cerebral palsy.  You may remember my posts on Chloe Levine, a young Colorado girl who suffered from Cerebral Palsy until she was also helped by Dr. Kurtzberg at Duke.

Did the stem cell treatment work?  I'll let Daniel, the girl's father have the floor:

Daniel says the reinfusion, which took 2 hours, completely unlocked the door on Maia's personality and her physical development.

“Just a few days later after the procedure her eyes started to look more alert, and she lost the unfocused, dreamy kind of look she had always had. Her arms and legs began to straighten out, and her physical co-ordination improved.

Since Maia's return home she's continued to make progress and is now attending pre-school 5 days a week.

“We just can't believe the change in her. Maia is now talking, hugging us, playing and getting up to mischief with her sister and we couldn't be more thrilled.

She's had a second chance at life and we can now have the family life we'd always dreamed of.

“While science can't tell us exactly how it works some think that the stem cells in cord blood have a road map to damaged tissue and when they get there they rebuild it. All we know is that it worked for Maia.

“We couldn't be more grateful for the dramatic change it has made to our lives and want to make sure other families are aware that they can save their baby's cord blood at birth.

“You never know what can happen at your child's birth but when you have their cord blood stored you have options like the option we had for Maia. We would also like to see the reinfusion procedure available to families in NZ, he said.

See the last sentence- I would also like to see this procedure available to families in New Zealand and the rest of the world as well-  my reason for forming the Repair Stem Cell Association.

Read the whole article here

In this blog, we have well documented the effects that Adult Stem Cells (or Repair Stem Cells as I call them) have on dogs.  We have seen plenty of stories of stem cell therapy helping dogs.  Now we have yet another dog helped by using his own Repair Stem Cells.

KC, a golden retriever was getting up in age- 11 years old.  He was beginning to slow down.  In his owner, Krista Moyes words, "He was having a hard time getting up in the morning and really wasn't walking at all on his back leg.

Krista took KC to the vet who said surgery wasn't an option, it was typical for a dog KC's age to start slowing down with arthritis and decreased range of motion in the legs- for KC it was the right leg.

The Vet, Dr. Lillian Rizzo suggested a new stem cell procedure.  This stem cell therapy was developed by Vet-Stem, a stem cell company for horses, dogs, and cats that uses the animal's own stem cells.

Dr. Rizzo then removed some fat tissue from KC, and sent it off to Vet-Stem where they isolate stem cells from the fat tissue and then send it back already packed in syringes and ready to go.

Then Dr. Rizzo simply injected the stem cells into the site of the injury and let the Repair Stem Cells do what they do best-- REPAIR

I'll let Dr. Rizzo have her say:

She explains, “I concentrate the stem cells at the site of injury and then the stem cells have mediated inflammation and repair. The injury to the joint cartilage and that's really the only thing that can do that. The medications can help with pain and support to the joint cartilage but the stem cells actually rebuild the damaged joint cartilage.

Dr. Rizzo says they are several benefits to this therapy. It is minimally invasive and pain medications may not be needed long term and you have a happier animal.

And the results???

I'll let KC's owner, Krista handle this one:

“Two weeks after the surgery I looked at him one day and he was standing on his foot instead of just his toe, Moyes says. “I really noticed an attitude change as far as his energy level he felt better so he was wrestling, carrying on and playing.

Moyes says she is just glad she got her old friend back. “If it was going to help him just a little bit I was willing to do it.

This is wonderful news and I'm very happy for Krista and KC.  However, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could make the same thing available for humans-  Repair Stem Cells- simple procedure, very little downside and it can help improve the quality of millions of lives.  If we had the will, this could be done now.

Here is the full article on Krista and KC