Parkinson's Patient Helped by Adult Stem Cell Research- A Published Case Study

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box and the MEDICAL CONDITION in the message.

Due to advances in Adult Stem Cell research, Dr. Dennis Turner was helped by his own stem cells to treat his Parkinson's Disease.  Treated by Dr. Michael Levesque of  NeuroGeneration, in 1999,   Dr. Turner's  "motor scales improved by over 80% for at least 36 months."

While the case of Dr. Dennis Turner has been well known for a long period of time, this is significant to some in that it finally appeared in a peer reviewed study published in a medical journal- Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal.   Michael J Fox, are you reading this?  A man suffering from Parkinson's was helped by his own Adult Stem Cells.  There are also other patients like Penny Thomas who have been helped with their Parkinson's due to Adult Stem Cells outside of the United States.

From the press release:

Our paper describes how we were able to isolate patient-derived neural stem cells, multiply them in vitro and ultimately differentiate them to produce mature neurons before they are reintroduced into the brain's basal ganglia. This is performed without the patient requiring immunosuppressants.

Scientists at NeuroGeneration are planning a larger prospective clinical trial for Parkinson's disease. "It's our hope that this trial will result in the launch of a cost-effective and lasting therapies for the millions of patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative disorders," concludes Levesque.

I also found a  full transcript of when Dennis Turner testified in front of Congress in 2004  about how Adult Stem Cells helped him.  Here is what Dennis said about his stem cell treatment for Parkinson's:

However, since this cell-replacement approach had never been tried in a human patient we hoped for the best. And since my only other realistic alternative was to continue growing worse until I eventually died, I decided to have the surgical procedures in 1999, one to remove the tissue and another to inject the cells. I was awake for both procedures, under local anesthesia.

Soon after having the cells injected my Parkinson’s symptoms began to improve. My trembling grew less and less, until to all appearances it was gone, only slightly reappearing if I became upset. Dr. Levesque had me tested by a Neurologist, who said he wouldn’t have known I had Parkinson’s if he had met me on the street. I was once again able to use my right hand and arm normally, enjoying activities that I given up hope of ever doing.

Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease my condition had slowly, but continuously worsened. I can’t say with certainty what my condition would have become if Dr. Levesque had not used my own adult stem cells to treat me. But I have no doubt that because of this treatment I’ve enjoyed five years of quality life that I feared had passed me by.

Last year, after four years of being virtually symptom free, my Parkinson’s symptoms began reappearing in my body’s left side. Today I have various degrees of trembling in both hands, although I feel that the left is slightly worse. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to have Dr. Levesque use my adult stem cells to treat me a second time, since in my case they were safe, effective, and involved no risk of rejection.

It looks like Dr. Levesque and NeuroGeneration are going to begin a Phase II study to test the efficacy of his technique using the patient's own stem cells in Parkinson's in Los Angeles.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
     Heather Larrabee
     NeuroGeneration
     310.659.3880
     heather@neurogeneration.com
     http://www.neurogeneration.com

Hat tip:  Dr. Wesley Smith