Another day, another life saved by adult stem cells.  Today, I present to you Amanda Swink, a Texas native who was suffering from what sounds like leukemia, although the reporter fails to mention that, instead saying she suffered from "cancer of the white blood cells."  Maybe I am nitpicking here, but this does seem a little strange so I thought I would point it out:

For 20 years, Swink had taken daily injections to beat a blood disorder that robbed her of natural immunity. But because of the treatment Swink developed cancer of the white blood cells, Dr. Edward Agoura of Baylor University Medical Center said.

However, in the grand scheme of things, that is meaningless because Amanda Swink still has a life thanks to her stem cell treatment:

A newborn's umbilical cord blood is typically thrown away but it can save lives. Amanda Swink is one patient who overcame a life-threatening disease because of cord blood treatment

Swink is now back to working full-time, is cancer-free and is cured of the immunity-robbing disease that kept her sick all her life.

Click here to read the whole wonderful story 

This isn't exactly a scoop I have here. The good folks at Vet-Stem have done it again. I promised if they keep helping improve the lives of pets (and in turn, their owner's lives as well) using the pet's own adult stem cells, I would keep posting the news stories about them:

Twyla Waters, a paralegal instructor at Southwest Tennessee Community College, opted for stem cell therapy for her 4-year-old German shepherd, Blue, in late January. Depending on the extent of disease, stem cell therapy costs about $4,000, comparable to a total hip replacement.

“Blue was always active; we go to Shelby Farms three times a week to run in the no-leash area, Waters said. “One day in November I noticed she was limping on her back left leg. I thought it was muscle strain.

X-rays showed Blue had a serious case of hip dysplasia, a degenerative disease so crippling that many dog owners ultimately choose euthanasia as the most humane treatment. Waters decided to fight the disease with stem cell therapy, believing Blue still had plenty of life in her.

Within a few days the dog was sitting better and had a stronger gait.

Another dog saved by their own adult stem cells! Wonderful! However, I found this very interesting too:

However, a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study funded by Vet-Stem last year found that dogs treated with stem cells do, indeed, have improvements in lameness, pain and range of motion.

This is the first I have heard of a double blind study on dogs. One of the obstacles of getting people to accept adult stem cell therapy as an everyday treatment is the lack of double blind studies done for any disease- animals or humans. If anyone has more on this study- results, details, etc. please send them to me.

Update: Ask and you shall receive.  "Reader" was kind enough to point out the results of Vet-Stem's double blind study.  Thank you "Reader." Click here to see!


Click here to read the whole article

To continue our sports theme this week, I'd like to introduce you to this story about Carlos Boozer's son, Carmani Boozer.  Now, to you sports fans, Carlos Boozer didn't have a great series when his Utah Jazz lost to the Los Angeles Lakers last week 4 -2.  However, I'm sure Carlos has put that in perspective when compared to the plight of his son, Carmani, who received a stem cell transplant to treat his sickle cell anemia.  6 months after his stem cell treatment, Carmani is doing great.  However, doctors say it will be about 6 more months before he is "in the clear."  Although I'm not a Utah Jazz fan, I am cheering for Carlos and Carmani in this more meaningful series:

Carlos Boozer has had to recover from a host of injuries that come with being a power forward in the NBA, yet he can only imagine what his son has endured in the last year.

Carmani has had chemotherapy, made countless trips to the doctor and spent weeks in the hospital before and after a bone-marrow (this means stem cell- DM) transplant that his parents hope wiped out his sickle cell anemia.

Six months later, Carmani is still free of the blood disorder, but Boozer and his wife, CeCe, have another six months of angst before knowing whether the procedure was a success.

Also worth noting- the Boozers have formed their own network for those affected by Sickle Cell Anemia.  It is called Boozer's Buddies, and you can find them here.

And as always, you can read the whole article here 

Cliff Lee, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians is off to one of the best starts in major league history.   Why is that pertinent to this blog you may ask?  An early Cy Young candidate, Cliff is no stranger to adversity (or adult stem cells) since his son had been suffering from Leukemia:

 But Lee was able to maintain perspective throughout the ordeal given the health issues each of his two children had overcome. Jaxon, 7, the couple's oldest child, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 4 months old and needed chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant to beat the cancer, and daughter Maci, 5, was born three months premature.

"That brought us back to reality and helped us remember what is really important," Kristen Lee says. "The season wasn't all that bad. We know what real struggles are when you have a child that almost dies of leukemia. He wasn't pitching well, but compared to everything else, it was minor."

This is primarily a baseball story rather than about stem cells, but click on this link if you are interested.

I don't mean for this blog to become an ongoing commercial for the good folks at Vet-Stem, but I continue to find these fantastic stories about how they are saving dogs, cats, and horses using their adult stem cell technology.

And memo to Vet-Stem-  if you keep saving and improving the lives of your animals (and making their human owners happy as well) using your adult stem cell therapy, I will be happy to keep posting your stories.  Keep up the good work:

Veterinarians are making stunning progress with adult, animal stem cells.

Nearly crippled dogs are suddenly walking, even running again. And there's hope that it will work on humans, too.

When you hear stem cells, you may instantly think controversy. Embryonic stem cell research has been fiercely debated because those cells can be derived only from human embryos. But what we're talking about here is taking adult stem cells from your own body. It's already being done with great success in horses, cats and dogs (It's also being done with great success in humans although not in the United States- DM).

 "I've seen animals that have gone from barely being able to walk to trotting and running down the driveway," said Dr. Cheryl Adams.

Adams is a pioneer of stem cell therapy. One of only two vets in Illinois certified to do it, she's treated 30 dogs so far. She extracted stem cells from River, an 8-year-old German Shepherd mix who may look familiar because of how he got his name.

he vials are then packed up and shipped overnight to a company called Vet Stem in San Diego. The fat cells are put into a centrifuge that separates the stem cells. And two days later, they're re-injected into the dog's joints.

"This science actually gives a chance to rejuvenate tissue, tendon, ligament and bone. So the dog can actually get better," said Gantz. "It really is cutting edge stuff, it's pretty exciting stuff." It costs about $3,000, but Adams says River's results, as in most cases, have been spectacular and almost immediate. "His energy level went through the roof, and we increased his range of motion by 20 degrees on his right hip," said Adams. As hopeful and exciting as this is for canines, imagine if they could do it for humans. Well, you won't have to imagine much longer. It's already in the works. Vet Stem is already testing treatments for repairing damaged livers, kidneys and hearts in dogs and cats.

The hope is someday soon, stem cells will not only help humans suffering from arthritis, but also stroke and heart attack victims, maybe even regenerate damaged spinal cords.("someday soon" is NOW,  adult stem cells are helping humans with arthritis, stroke, heart and spinal cords! BUT not in the US! - DM )

 Click here to read the whole article