Breakthrough in Stem Cell Research for the Cornea

Stem Cell Research using the patient's own Adult Stem Cells has brought us another great discovery- Stem Cell Contact Lens. In Australia, a group of doctors in a research study treated 3 patients who had some form of cornea problems and they all were able to see after the stem cell treatment in which their own stem cells healed damage to their cornea

The Process of Stem Cells for the Cornea

1. The doctors removed Adult Stem Cells from the patient's good eye


2. The stem cells were grown on a contact lens for 10 days


3. The contact lens was placed on the damaged eye for 3 weeks


4. The stem cells "blend" into the eye and repair the damage in the cornea

From the stem cell article:

The researchers, led by Dr Nick di Girolamo, said each person's sight improved significantly within weeks of the procedure, and that it was a simple inexpensive technique which required a minimal hospital stay

Stem Cell Research Abstract

Also, here is the  stem cell research abstract for the cornea study.  Here are some of the actual results:

Results. A stable transparent corneal epithelium was restored in each patient. There was no recurrence of conjunctivalization or corneal vascularization, and a significant improvement in symptom score occurred in all patients. Best-corrected visual acuity was increased in all eyes after the procedure.

This technique is simple, non invasive, and uses the patient's own stem cells-- so the patient has nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying something like this.  What can be easier than popping in a contact lens?

Covering Old Stem Cell Ground?

However, it seems like they have doing something similar in India for a number of years. Notice in the story, that the doctors removed stem cells from the good eye of the patient. What happens if the patient has two bad eyes? Well there are  doctors in India are getting the stem cells from under the lip of the patient. This stem cell story didn't get any run when it came out in October of 2008- but it probably should have. Read more about what this group of stem cell doctors in India have for stem cells for the cornea here

Stem Cell Research Doctors Featured

I am very sorry. I don't have any new stem cell research success stories today. However, I still want you to read about a special group of people. I don't give enough praise to the stem cell doctors who help all of these patients I feature here. So today, I want to introduce these special people who are saving and improving lives right now.

The Repair Stem Cell Institute (Disclaimer- Yes, I am the founder) issued a press release today announcing their new 2009 Stem Cell Research Science Advisory Board. The Repair Stem Cell Institute's mission is to educate and inform everyone about the rapid advances being made in Repair Stem Cell research, so all can intelligently exercise freedom of choice in medical care. If you, or a loved one, is seeking treatment for your "untreatable" medical condition then you should check out the Repair Stem Cell website.

Here is the press release in full---- read about these stem cell pioneers who are helping people now!

The Repair Stem Cell Institute (RSCI) http://www.RepairStemCells.org, a Dallas, Texas-based stem cell global public affairs organization founded in April 2008, today announced the annual appointments of its Science Advisory Board (SAB) which consists of five of the world's leading Repair (Adult) Stem Cell treatment science and research professionals.

According to Don Margolis, RSCI Chairman, "RSCI's Science Advisory Board carries on our mission of providing the public with the latest Repair Stem Cell (RSC) research and therapeutic innovations. Repair Stem Cells include both autologous (from the patient) and cord blood. There is no organization in the world which can match these five leaders in stem cell treatment accomplishments---none. They actively research and successfully treat patients suffering from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, spinal cord injury, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, and a dozen other incapacitating conditions with Repair Stem Cells. That covers over 90% of the world's incurable patients."

SAB Chairman Roberto Jorge Fernandez - Viña, M.D. is a world pioneer in developing stem cell therapies for heart diseases, Type 2 Diabetes, and serious lung disorders. He has treated hundreds of patients with stem cells for these conditions, both in El Salvador and other Latin American countries. He proved the great healing benefit of RSC for heart patients in South American clinical trials in 2003-04, and is the first and only person with a successful clinical trial on treating Type 2 Diabetes with stem cells.

Professor Shimon Slavin, M.D., Deputy Chairman, is an expert bone marrow transplantation scientist and clinician, is famous for his innovative clinical application of cell-mediated immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers plus multiple sclerosis and ALS. He is the pioneer for all three. Dr. Slavin is the medical & scientific director of the International Center for Cell Therapy & Cancer (ICTC) at the Tel Aviv (Sourasky) Medical Center in Israel.

SAB Chairman Emeritus Kitipan V. Arom, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, FACC, FACCP, FRCST, established an innovative stem cell treatment program at Bangkok Heart Hospital (BHH) and may be the only doctor in the world to successfully inject stem cells directly into the heart muscles of more than 120 late-stage heart patients. Dr. Kit is the associate professor of surgery and chief cardiothoracic surgeon at BHH. He is a co-founder of the Minneapolis Heart and is the President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons of Thailand.

Carlos Lima, M.D., one of the foremost neuropathologist experts in stem cell treatments, rejected traditional bone marrow stem cells as a too-limited source for the neurological stem cells required to repair injured spinal cords. Using olfactory stem cells harvested from the patient's own nose, Dr. Lima transplants the cells at the spinal cord break utilizing the successful OMA transplant surgical procedure he developed. He was the first doctor in the world whose treatments, coupled with extensive rehabilitation therapy, created the neurological redevelopment required to allow some paraplegics to rise from their wheelchairs and walk.

Zannos G. Grekos, M.D., F.A.A.C. Director of Cardiology & Vascular Disease, Regenocyte and Clinical Assistant Professor, Nova Southeastern University, is an RSC innovator. Dr. Grekos is the first to inject stem cells into the muscle of the heart via catheterization. This procedure produces significantly less "spillage," maximizing cell utilization at the target region. In May he saved a young cardiomyopathy patient with serious complications by developing a new multi-faceted comprehensive stem cell treatment procedure. Dr. Grekos treats pulmonary hypertension and fibrosis, heart and peripheral vascular diseases, and is the only doctor known to have a successful stem cell therapy for renal problems.

"To summarize," said Mr. Margolis, "these five men have improved the lives of more 'untreatable' patients than all of the world's thousands of embryonic doctors and scientists combined---and that will still be true a decade from now!"

About The Repair Stem Cell Institute: The Repair Stem Cell Institute's mission is to educate and inform everyone about the rapid advances being made in Repair Stem Cell research, so all can intelligently exercise freedom of choice in medical care. If you, or a loved one, is seeking treatment for your "untreatable" medical condition and wish to avoid less competent stem cell clinics, visit http://www.repairstemcells.org for our list of the eight most experienced and successful stem cell treatment centers in the world, as well as the standards applied to them.

Multiple Sclerosis Patient Helped By Adult Stem Cell Research

Canadian native, Arndt Roehlig is the latest Multiple Sclerosis patient to be helped by stem cell research. Arndt was injected with his own adult stem cells back on March 6, 2009 and since then has seen improvements in his quality of life.

Arndt, a Vancouver resident,  first became interested in stem cell therapy for his multiple sclerosis when he read a story about fellow Canadian Louis Zylstra, a professional golfer who was able to return to the golf course after her multiple sclerosis had forced her to give it up.

Adult Stem Cell Treatment in Israel

Zylstra was helped after seeking stem cell research in Israel where Dr. Shimon Slavin was treating patients with their own Adult Stem Cells.  Arndt saw the stem cell success story and was inspired to seek out the same stem cell treatment as his multiple sclerosis was getting worse.

Stem Cells for Multiple Sclerosis Experience

Here is the whole stem cell experience  in Arndt's own words--

"I wouldn’t call it success just yet, as I am careful not to report a reversal when it is still early.

I had a bone marrow extraction performed on me in Tel Aviv in late December, 2008. This procedure was quick and I suffered no side effects at all after my butt healed. Dr. Slavin’s team then did their magic which took approx. 2.5 months to grow the needed stem cells from my bone marrow donation. The experience then really started in Istanbul, as non Israeli citizens are not allowed to receive stem cell treatment in Israel as of yet.

I arrived in Istanbul on Friday afternoon on March 6th 2009. As I was advised to stay an additional day after my planned procedure, which was booked for Saturday, I was booked to fly home on Monday morning, thinking this would leave me plenty of time to recover from the stem cell infusion. As it turned out, it is very common to feel nauseous, have headaches and be vomiting for several days after the infusion. I experienced all three symptoms, which felt like a really terrible case of food poisoning. As I arrived, the service that picked me up stated I will be receiving the stem cells that evening, so a day early. Sure enough, as soon as I checked in to the Florence Nightingale Hospital there, I was wheeled into the radio room where the Spinal surgeon quickly administered the anesthesia into my spine, about half way up my back. Within minutes following, I received the stem cells. The whole procedure was about 15 minutes long and involved no serious pain. I was wheeled back into my room and ate dinner. That was the last food for three days, as I felt very nauseous and vomited without sleep for three days. I did hear however, another patient that received the same treatment that day never vomited, just had a terrible headache for three days, so everyone reacts differently to the treatment in terms of side effects.

Monday morning came by and I was still feeling terrible, so after another visit across the street to the hospital, I received some more IV help so I could get on the plane. As I had a layover in London for 3.5 hours, I found a couch where I actually slept for two hours for the first time in three days. When I awoke, I felt a sensation I never have had before. It felt like the whole pressure from my MS dissipated and almost like a massive weight off my shoulders, wow. Then as I got home and slept in my bed, I noticed that my usual cramps that I have at night time also went away completely. Although, I must say that the cramps did come back since then, however not as strong as they once were. My experience since then has been quite good, to date (~2.5 months since infusion), I have recorded MS attacks, however, they are no where near as overwhelming as opposed to my continuous attack prior to infusion. My masseuse (once a week treatment) reports my back, which used to be riddled full of knots and tension is now normal and soft.

As for the progression of my disease, I think the disease is still affecting me, especially I notice symptoms on my left leg may have gotten a bit worse. However, I am just as of late feeling some potential improvement in my ability to walk a straight line without dragging my right leg behind me. Also, some parts have gotten better for example, I can get my right leg into my pants while standing again. This could just be a calm part before the disease progresses, or it could be the potential of nerves growing back and hence ability is better. It is obviously still too early to say for certain, but so far I am feeling very positive and according to the stem cell specialist Dr Slavin in Tel Aviv, I am not to feel much potential in the first three months anyway.

This experience so far has given me back my life as I was suffering a dramatic downward shift in mobility just before the infusion and thus can plan my life a little bit better as compared to before the infusion.

I would so far definitely endorse my treatment and advise people to try it. There is no downside risk except for lost money. There is no chemo therapy.

I hope I explained my experience well enough and will update my experiences again in the near future."

Best regards,

Arndt Roehlig
Email: arndt@trivello.com

If you want more details on Arndt's stem cell research experience with his own Adult Stem Cells, please email him at the above email address.

Arndt is just the latest Multiple Sclerosis patient to be helped by stem cell research using his own stem cells. See other stem cell success stories for Multiple Sclerosis here

Balanced Article on Stem Cell Research

In a surprisingly balanced article on stem cell research from the mainstream media, Adult Stem Cells have helped at least two more patients- one for congestive heart failure and the other for Parkinson's disease.

In an article by Forbes Magazine, they took a fair look at stem cell treatments abroad. Yes, there is the obligatory quote from Irving "they won't work now- more research more research" Weismann. However, the author tries to show it from a patient's perspective.

Parkinson's Disease Treated With Adult Stem Cells

The first Parkinson's patient she featured was Carlene Victor, who traveled to the Xcell Center in Germany. Carlene suffering from Parkinson's for 7 years says " I am not waiting for the FDA to rule to get treatments," She went to Germany 5 months ago to get stem cell treatment for her Parkinsons. The results???

Victor is underwhelmed by her improvement. While she says she has more control over her feet, and the pain in her stomach that made it hard to sit has abated, her walking has not improved, her right arm still shakes, her wrist hurts continuously and her right foot still tends to numb up.

What if Adult Stem Cell Treatment was Available in the USA

So in this case, all of you can't accuse Don Margolis of only focusing on the success stories. However, let's take a closer look at this. What if the FDA wasn't slowing down progress and made adult stem cell treatment available in the United States. Victor did improve a little bit. Therefore, if the treatment center wasn't half way across world and cost prohibitive, and her own Adult Stem Cells were available for use in the United States- she could get another treatment here and then probably get a little more improvement with a second treatment and then even more with a third-- why not? They are her own cells, her own repair kit- there is no downside to putting them in, just some discomfort. And the FDA isn't allowing you to use your own stem cells thus making people like her suffer and "wait until the 10 years of clinical trials are done" which haven't started for Parkinson's by the way.

Parkinson's Patient Improved With Adult Stem Cells- Michael J Fox Pay Attention

There was another Parkinson's patient who went to the same stem cell treatment center as Victor and at the same time. His name was Aubra Phillips, 50, who had suffered from Parkinson's for 22 years. The Adult Stem Cells worked for him!

From the stem cell article: he's "60% to 70% better" than he was. He used to drag his legs and have trouble mustering the strength to sign credit card bills; post stem-cell treatment, he can jog and take notes. His stutter is gone too. Says Phillips, "If I can improve the quality of my life for what I have left to live, that is all I am after."

Stem Cell Research for Congestive Heart Failure

Lastly, the article takes a look at Andy Jordan, who was in congestive heart failure. He came to Bangkok for stem cell treatment with Vescell. Before the "Vescell stem cell treatment", Andy had an ejection fraction of 19%. After-- his ejection fraction was 30-35%-- even his doctor was impressed!

All of that included in just one mainstream media article on stem cell research. Maybe things are changing? I sincerely hope so. There are a lot of patients who can be helped right now with Adult Stem Cells!

US Doctors Group Organize to Challenge the FDA

In a bold move that is sure to shake the foundations of the United States FDA, a group of American doctors have published a set of strict clinical guidelines that will allow US doctors to treat patients with their own Adult Stem Cells.

Your Own Stem Cells Are Not a Drug

This move by the American Stem Cell Therapy Association comes in response to the FDA's position that a person's own stem cells should be classified as a drug, thus subject to the exact same set of standards that a drug like Viagra or Lipitor or Vioxx would be examined under.

However, these US doctors are correct in believing that adult stem cell therapy with the patient's own cells is governed under the practice of medicine, not under drug production guidelines.

From the stem cell press release:

Adult stem cells can be processed with the same techniques commonly used in existing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) labs. "Like the human cells and tissue used in IVF, adult stem cells are not drugs," stated Christopher J. Centeno, M.D., a physician who worked on the guidelines and whose medical practice includes the use of the Regenexx procedure, which uses patients own stem cells to treat orthopedic conditions.

Slowing Progress, Costing Lives- the US FDA at Work

"Making the stem cells in your own body a drug won't make them safer, will dramatically reduce availability of treatment, and will increase bureaucratic red tape." stated Dr. Centeno.

Dr. Centeno is absolutely right.  These are your own cells and having the FDA regulate your own body won't be helping anybody as there is no downside to having your own stem cells implanted.

Let me repeat that- there is no downside to having your own Adult Stem Cells implanted. Either they will help you or they won't (no effect).  This has been proven in thousands of studies.

Your own stem cells should be an extra tool your doctor should be able to use to help you.  No, adult stem cells are not a cure yet, but they do help in the majority of cases.

Again, your own stem cells should be a tool in your responsible doctor's tool kit that may or may not be able to help, but should be made available to you as there is no downside.  What does the patient have to lose?  A man in end stage heart failure about to die- give him his own stem cells, they should help. He may not be beating Husain Bolt in a 100 meter sprint, but should improve.  A spinal cord injury victim, give him his own stem cells, they should help.  He/she may not be walking, but it could be beneficial in some ways.  A diabetic, give him his own stem cells- they should improve his insulin levels. And if your own stem cells don't help- there is no harm done- thousands of studies have proven this.

And what if your own Adult Stem Cells work only 5% of the time for a particular lethal disease and your doctor wants to try to save your life? Hey! It will save 5% more than zero. With no downside, why not? And if the FDA has its way, that 5% will be 0. It is up to all of us to make a stand. And these clinical guidelines are the first step.

If you are a patient of any kind and reading this, I urge you to go to Safe Stem Cells Now, a patient run organization demanding the use of their own stem cells.