The Don Margolis Blog

In another event showing that Adult Stem Cell research in India is truly ahead of the curve,  Adult Stem cells implanted into a woman in a coma from a brain stroke have partially revived her. This stem cell therapy partially waking up a woman is believed to be only the second time in history this has been done with stem cells.

Two years ago, this woman suffered a brain stroke while in a hospital in Sakaal, India. She had been in a coma ever since. Her husband approached a stem cell company in India and asked that she be implanted with her own stem cells taken from her bone marrow. The doctors agreed it could be done and did it.

Here is more from Chaitanya Purandare, the managing director of the stem cell company- Stem One, in India:

The therapy was applied by extracting the patient’s bone marrow stem cells. They were then enriched in the company’s laboratory and injected into the Cerebral Spinal Fluid (fluid present in the spinal cord).

“The dose comprises three injections. After giving injections, the lady, who has been lying still in a vegetative state, has now shown improvements like clenching her fists, turning on the bed without any external support. These may appear too little but for the relatives of a comatose person it is a huge relief,” Purandare said.

Purandare said this therapy does not completely cure a person but helps in improving living condition of the patient. The level of cure also depends on the person’s age and how early the disease is detected.

“This field of treatment is called regenerative medicine. Injecting stem cells into the affected organ revives sick tissues. Like, a patient with spinal cord injury is able to control functioning of bladder. The three doses of injection cost around Rs 80,000. It may sound costly but comparative high expenditure involved in allopathic treatment, this is reasonable. This could become affordable if insurance companies include regenerative treatment in their medi-claim policies,” he said.

Where do I start?  This article and Chaitanya Purandare hit everything right on the head.  A patient with nothing to lose is implanted with her own stem cells and she is improved.  Adult Stem Cells aren't a 100% cure all, but they do help in most cases.  Believe me, these patients and their family members and friends understand and appreciate these victories. If a spinal cord injury patient regains control of his/her bladder thanks to stem cells- that is huge to the patient.

And these treatments probably would save money in the long run.  For example, if a heart patient implants his/her  own stem cells, the resulting benefits may save them from having to implant a pacemaker, may spare them from a bypass, and it may even save them from having a heart transplant-- think how much money would be saved by insurance companies in the long run if this were covered by insurance.

Something to think about....



You can read the full stem cell article here

In what has been an amazing week for Adult Stem Cell research, Kameron Kooshesh has been cured of his Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) after receiving Osiris' Adult Stem Cell product Prochymal in a clinical trial at Duke University.

Kameron, a young 14 year old boy had been suffering from Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) after receiving a bone marrow transplant to cure his Leukemia at the age of 9. GVHD is a disease in which the foreign cells introduced by the bone marrow transplant (taken from a human donor) attack the host's (the patient) organs and tissues because they do not recognize them.

Kameron had a severe gastrointestinal problem due to the GVHD. It was very bad and it limited him so much he couldn't even go up stairs.

He enrolled at a clinical trial run by Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg at Duke University. Dr. Kurtzberg is famous in this blog for the work she has done helping children with cerebral palsy with stem cells taken from their own cord blood.

At Duke, Kameron was given Prochymal, which is a stem cell product from Osiris made up of stem cells taken from the bone marrow of healthy human donors.

Here are the results:

“At one point, he couldn’t climb stairs,” His mother Janet recalled.

Now, Kameron has no problem climbing the stairs. He's also back in school full time. His recovery started quickly after taking part in a clinical trial at Duke.

“Within three weeks - it was just incredible,” said Kooshesh. “Absolutely incredible.”


“We've seen more than half the children we've treated respond with full resolution of the graft vs. host disease which is remarkable,” said Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, Director of the Pediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Program at Duke Children’s.

A "full resolution" sounds great to me and I'm sure it sounds even better to the young man, Kameron.

Click here to see the full story and a slow loading stem cell video

Click here to see more on Osiris' Prochymal to help GVHD

UPDATE:  Osiris just came out with a press release announcing results of their trial using Prochymal to treat Heart Attack patients.

In yet another triumph for Adult Stem Cell research,  Robert Pleva, 60, from Florida has made tremendous strides after receiving his own stem cells to treat his  cardiomyopathy (heart disease) and congestive heart failure brought on by his Fabry Disease. Enough improvement to avoid a heart transplant!

Complications normally arising from Fabry Disease (a rare disease in which the patient's enzymes fail to metabolize lipids)   include increased risks of heart attacks.  Robert suffered from a heart attack in 1999 and later went into congestive heart failure.  With an ejection fraction of 28% and facing a heart transplant, Robert tried to see what other options he had.

That was when he found Dr. Zannos Grekos, a member of the Repair Stem Cell Institute's  Science Advisory Board, and Regenocyte's director of Cardiology and Vascular Disease.

Robert was treated by Dr. Grekos using his own Adult Stem Cells in June 2008.  In January 2009, 6 months later,  Robert's life has turned 180 degrees.  His ejection fraction has improved from 28% to 44% and he is no longer facing a heart transplant:

From the stem cell press release:

Pleva says the improvement in his health since adult stem cell therapy has been dramatic. “I feel so good and have so much energy,” he explains. “The best part about it is being able to do things I haven’t done in a long time.”

An electrician with the Lee County, Florida School Board for the past 26 years, Pleva describes concern prior to treatment that his debilitating symptoms would soon end his career. He is now back to working full time along with riding motorcycles, remodeling his house and working in his yard. “The treatment has put me back on track,” he says.

Pleva’s wife Roxanne, who he cites as his “rock”, says in addition to his increased energy, one of the biggest changes is in the reduction in the amount of her husband’s medication. “His blood pressure has come way down, so he’s been taken off many of his prescriptions,” she explains. “We’re just taking it one step at a time…and I’m getting my husband back.”

Very nice Roxanne.  I have always found that the patient's spouse or close family can usually see the biggest changes brought on by the stem cells.

Dr. Grekos recently had this article published in Anti-Aging Medical News in which he followed 16 congestive heart failure patients treated with their own stem cells.  Their ejection fraction went up an average of 21 points- from an average of 28% up to 49% after a 6 month follow up:

In yet another triumph for Adult Stem Cell research- two weeks ago, Dr. Richard Burt came out with sensational results of his study at Northwestern University treating Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with the patient's own Adult Stem Cells. This study showed that of the 21 patients with Multiple Sclerosis treated with their own stem cells taken from their bone marrow, 16 have had their MS "disappear" . Excellent!

Edwin McClure was one of those treated and cured of his MS by the stem cell treatment . He is interviewed by CBS on their "Early Show" here.  This is a great video.  Edwin talks about how he was shocked when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in high school and how at first he didn't want the stem cell treatment.  I think it is safe to say he has changed his way of thinking- watch the whole video-  FANTASTIC!



If you liked this - click on the link at the top of this post to see another MS patient treated in the trial with his own stem cells in another fascinating stem cell video.

Stem Cells curing dogs of Leukemia, an often deadly cancer?  Using chemotherapy and stem cells taken from the dog's bone marrow?   Yes, it is true.  While this blog has well documented stem cell therapy  helping dogs with arthritis, torn muscles, hip dysplasia and joint problems among other conditions, this is the first I have heard of this stem cell treatment for Leukemia.

I did not know that dogs could be treated for Leukemia with a bone marrow transplant-- the same way humans are. Maverick the dog, owned by Howie and Marna Altman, was cured of his Leukemia after undergoing a life saving bone marrow transplant with his own Adult Stem Cells.  How does it work?  From the article::

Stem cells were taken from Maverick's blood and then returned to him after full-body radiation to kill the cancer cells in his bone marrow. He spent two weeks in isolation to allow time for the cells to regenerate. Aside from some follow up blood tests, doctors expect him to be back to normal.

"Maverick has done fantastic," said Dr. Steven Suter, a veterinary oncologist at N.C. State's College of Veterinary Medicine. "He was hardly sick at all from the radiation. He looks fantastic, he's doing fantastic, so it's a great day."

It is perhaps fitting that this is happening at North Carolina State (the only place in the US that is treating dogs with bone marrow transplants), which brings back memories of Jimmy Valvano, the basketball coach who led NC State to that miraculous basketball championship in 1983 and unfortunately lost his battle with cancer.

Who can forget Jimmy running around the court looking for somebody to hug after winning that game at the buzzer?  And later on, how can you forget a dying Jimmy V's speech of "Don't give up, Don't EVER Give Up"???  What a wonderful and courageous man- I miss you Jimmy V.  You inspired us all.

I received a comment the other day from a doctor in India who was 'complaining' that Adult Stem Cell research in India wasn't getting enough credit. Well, Don Margolis aims to please- today, I have an Adult Stem Cell Success story coming from India. This one showing that Adult Stem Cells improve circulation in Diabetes patients with Peripheral Artery Disease.

In a study presented at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York last month, doctors treated 34 patients with Peripheral Vascular Disease with their own stem cells taken from their bone marrow. Most of them had circulation restored in their legs.

The first patient treated was a 64 year old male with Diabetes:

The patient had already lost his right leg and the big toe from his left leg to the disease. “At that time, we were sure that his left leg too had to be amputated. The arteries were getting increasingly blocked and blood supply was less than 30%,” recalls chief vascular surgeon Dr K Vijayaraghavan.

The doctors then removed 240 ml of blood from the bone marrow. From it, 40 ml with a high concentration of stem cells was collected. After an angiogram, doctors injected this blood, rich in stem cells into 40 spots between his knee and foot.

“These spots were along the blocked arteries. In four weeks, his pain came down. In eight weeks, he could walk. By the 12th week, he could get back to his daily routine with no trouble,” says Dr Vijayaraghavan. The hospital repeated the procedure in 33 other patients, who were all suffering from critical limb ischemia.

According to Dr V Balaji, vascular surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, the treatment till some years ago was amputation. “Now, science is demonstrating that adult stem cells regenerate ischemic arteries by stimulating angiogenesis in the areas of damaged tissue, thereby restoring proper blood circulation to the limbs,” he said.

Once again, this is another Adult Stem Cell procedure in which the patient has nothing to lose by trying and everything to gain if it works.  In these cases, the doctors are out of options and the next step is amputation.  Adult Stem Cells give these patients one more option.  This isn't rocket science.  They are making injections of the patient's own stem cells using a simple syringe into the legs.  It is putting the patient's own stem cells into the area where they are needed and the Repair Stem Cells do what they are  "born to do" - repair damage and restore function. 

To give credit where credit is due- this study was conducted by the department of vascular surgery at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College Hospital and Research Institute in Chennai, India.  If anyone has this presentation or results of this study- if you send it to me, I will be happy to present it here.

Nobody said it was easy to receive stem cell therapy in the United States. Take the case of Elena Porras, a 20 month year old toddler with a spinal cord injury. Her mother, Juliet, wants her to be treated with her own Adult Stem Cells to improve her condition so she may be able to walk or at least have a chance.

Here is what Juliet has had to do to accomplish that goal so far:

1. Find a doctor willing to carry out the stem cell therapy (I'm guessing there are probably only a handful of doctors in the United States who would consider this)


2. To adhere to the US  FDA regulations, that doctor has to begin a clinical trial for not 1, but 10 other patients with spinal cord injuries


3. Raise $300,000 to begin the trial to not only treat Elena, but to help pay for the treatment of the other 9 children in the stem cell clinical trial

Is that all? Sounds like a piece of cake.

Keep in mind, this is a very non invasive, safe procedure using the child's own Adult Stem Cells (Repair Stem Cells)- there is very little risk or downside for a child to have her own stem cells implanted.

Taken from the story:

But because this would be the first time something like this would be done, they decided to do it as an actual clinical trial.

“But to do the trial, I needed to raise a large amount of money that we didn’t have. Dr. Baumgartner put me in touch with TIRR Foundation to help us get the word out,” said Porras.



Elena will then undergo a spinal tap, and the doctors will infuse the cells into her spinal fluid. The whole procedure will take less than a day, and if all goes well, she will be able to go home and sleep in her own bed that night

This is actually a very beautiful story in which the whole community and various organizations are working together to try and help Elena, who previously has beaten cancer. It shows what we Americans (and others) can do when we work together and set our minds on accomplishing a goal.


Looking at it from a glass is half empty point of view, it illustrates what patients face when trying to get a stem cell treatment that has only  upside and very little risk.  The safety of being implanted with your own stem cells has been proven time and time again.

People like Juliet and Elena Porras have to overcome almost as many obstacles as Job to receive what should be the most natural treatment in the world- stem cell therapy using one's own  Adult Stem Cells (Repair Stem Cells).

Happily, with the help of some very nice people, her mother, Juliet Porras, the TIRR foundation and others- it looks like Elena Porras is on her way to receive her stem cell treatment.  Millions of other Americans with not only spinal cord injuries, but other diseases/conditions that can be helped by stem cell therapy aren't as fortunate.

Now, is Elena going to be walking normally after her stem cell treatment- probably not, but it gives her a chance, and most likely her condition will be improved- so why not do it?  There are millions others in the same predicament.  Why not here in the United States?


Click here to read the whole story- you will be glad you did

We have explored the question of storing your baby's umbilical cord for the stem cells before in this blog after Newsweek came out with a biased article about it. .

The author of that article took a very negative slant - first insinuating that the Cord Blood Storage companies were taking advantage of parents saying that there is little chance that the cord blood would ever be used.  (In a perfect world, I hope they would never have to be used, but this isn't a perfect world.)

But then, to make it even worse, Newsweek took aim at a stem cell trial at Duke University which treats children with Cerebral Palsy with their own cord blood stem cells.  Parents of the children who have been treated have been thrilled with the results.  However, Newsweek insinuated that there is no proof that the stem cells were responsible for their improvements.  Read these stories and decide for yourself-  John Centrello, Maia Friedlander, Chloe Levine, and Dallas Hextell .  Also, you can read some of the comments of the friends and family helped by stem cells at Duke following the Newsweek article.

This is a continuous trend by the mainstream media in which they try to downplay each Adult Stem Cell success story.

This is very similar to what happened with the spinal cord injury patient who walked for the first time  in 13 years directly after Adult Stem Cell treatment in Costa Rica. The writer of the newspaper insinuated there was no proof it was the stem cells and said it was possible that the patient improved due to the intense physical therapy she did in Costa Rica instead -  Ridiculous.

Let's get positive now-   I have a happy story from Philadelphia (where yours truly was born :)  in which the mother of  Brandon Orr, a young boy with leukemia in remission - saved the cord blood of her following two sons on the chance that the stem cells would come in handy should her son suffer a relapse.

Unfortunately, Brandon did have a relapse.  However, his mother had prepared:
Years of chemotherapy led to remission but, "Brandyn relapsed," said Susan.

He needed a stem cell transplant and didn't have to worry about waiting for a donor match.

When his two younger brothers were born, Brandyn's mother saved blood from their umbilical cords; cord blood is rich with stem cells.

"It was enough to do the transplant, it was the most wonderful news I've ever heard," said Susan.

The Orr's stored their stem cells at a private blood bank, one of a growing number in a 12-million dollar a year industry.

"Some people look at it as biological insurance," said Stephen Grant of Family Cord.

Stem cells from cord blood can treat diseases like leukemia and sickle cell anemia.

Research is underway for diabetes, heart failure, spinal cord injuries, and stroke.
Susan's convinced cord blood saved Brandyn's life.

"He's my right hand man; he's my heart, my life," said Susan

You can read the full article here

Before I get into this post on how a stem cell transplant helped a young girl with Neuroblastoma- I would like to say congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers on their victory in the Super Bowl. I would have liked to see old Kurt Warner lead his Cardinals to a win, he gives inspiration to old fogies like myself. However, it was a great game and both teams have reasons to be proud.

Emily Smith, 8, a young girl from Nacogdoches, Texas, had her Super Bowl victory about 6 years ago. At the age of 17 months, Emily was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a cancer that begins in the nervous system.

Emily had a 9 pound tumor that was wrapped around her heart. Her prognosis wasn't good. She was terminal. Chemotherapy was tried- it didn't work.

Doctors decided the only way Emily could survive was a bone marrow transplant with stem cells taken from her own bone marrow.

The procedure would replace Mary's defective and damaged blood cells with her own clean stem cells that had been previously extracted from her own bone marrow. Stem cells are immature cells found in bone marrow that develop into red and white blood cells and platelets.

Emily had more than 250,000 cells extracted, which were then transported to Children's Medical Center in Los Angeles, where they were cleansed of cancer and purged of all diseases.

Just prior to her transplant, Emily was given an aggressive amount of chemotherapy, and placed into a chemically-induced coma, according to her mother.

"She was in a coma when they inseminated her with the stem cells, and she woke up the day before her second birthday," Mary said.

Five days later her stem cells began to graft, and she was on the road to recovery.

She spent the next five weeks in the hospital following her transplant, and then moved with her mother to the Ronald McDonald House for three months.

Emily does have some complication due to the chemo but:


But to the uneducated eye, Emily appears like any other 8-year-old girl, fascinated by puppies and Hello Kitty, and bursting with energy.

Very touching story.  If you look closely, Emily was treated in a similar fashion to those Multiple Sclerosis patients at Northwestern University-- do you see a trend here?


Read the whole story on stem cells saving Emily here

Read this carefully, and I will give you a lesson on how the mainstream media plays us for fools. Yesterday, The Star Telegram in Dallas, Texas ran an article on Jessica Grimm, 27, a young woman who suffered a spinal cord injury at the age of 14 and hasn't walked since.

The title of the article is "Lured by Promise of Stem Cells, Dallas-Ft. Worth residents head abroad for medical treatment"-- Even in the title- people are being "lured" into a death trap. The article starts with their negative slant.

Aside from the title, the article starts off innocently enough:

A quadriplegic since she was 14, Jessica Grimm learned long ago how to work around her body’s limitations.

She lives alone, uses a computer, has a job, even drives a car. But the Arlington student must rely on a coterie of assistants to help her dress, cook and get through each day.

Now 27, Jessica Grimm is eager for more independence. So much so that she traveled to Costa Rica last month for a controversial stem cell treatment that’s unavailable in this country. (Why controversial?  It is an Adult Stem Cell treatment- Don)

Grimm and her family raised about $20,000 to cover her trip to the Institute for Cellular Medicine, where doctors injected her with adult stem cells.

"I was actually able to take a few steps on my own before I left, which I’ve never done," she said. "My mom was crying. Then my physical therapist started crying."

From that point on the article  goes downhill, here's more:

The feat thrilled Grimm, who previously had some mobility in her legs and hand. But she still has no idea whether the treatment actually succeeded.

Doctors told her it could take months to see results. And it’s possible that the real credit for her footsteps should go not to the cell injections, but to the strenuous physical therapy she did in Costa Rica.

So she couldn't walk for 13 years and then all of a sudden after one month of "strenuous physical therapy" AND ADULT STEM CELLS in Costa Rica, she can take some steps on her own and this newspaper suggests it has nothing to do with the cell injections (the stem cells)??  RIDICULOUS!!!

The article deteriorates from a nice story into a opinion piece on "stem cell tourism" using negative headings like "No Promises Made" and "Driven by Desperation" to play on the fear of us Americans (and the rest of the world) that any medical treatment outside of the United States doesn't work.

I am trying to let the United States and the rest of the world know that there is help outside of the US, and it is in the form of stem cell therapy using Adult Stem Cells.   My dream is to see it available everywhere (especially the United States) because it can help millions of people right now- and we do nothing.  Therefore,  people like Jessica have to be pioneers and go outside the United States to get a stem cell treatment that is very safe with little to zero side effects.

Update: Richard Humphries, a Multiple Sclerosis patient who went to Costa Rica with Preston Walker for the "controversial stem cell treatment unavailable in this country"  responds to this negative article on his blog.  This comes from the horse's mouth so to speak- Richard is speaking from personal  experience- go read it.