The Don Margolis Blog

More and more stem cell research stories are popping up showing that repair (adult) stem cells are improving MS patients! This one I present today is just the latest(Thank you Adult Stem Cell Awareness and the honorable Wesley Smith for this):

All patients appeared to respond to treatment", reported Dr. Ionova. Improvement was seen in 62.3%, and stabilisation occurred in 37.7% of patients. Progression after improvement occurred in 7.1% and progression after stabilisation in 11.8% of patients.

Out of 26 patients included in the quality-of-life analysis, 24 exhibited a response and preserved a good quality of life during the follow-up. No unexpected treatment-related adverse events were observed.

According to Dr. Ionova, immunosuppressive therapy plus autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation appears to be a safe and effective therapy for multiple sclerosis, Dr. Ionova concluded.

Wonderful news? Yes, definitely. However, let's not forget the many MS sufferers who are unaware of adult (repair) stem cell treatment or it is not yet available for them. See the tragic example of an English woman with MS who is fighting for her right to assisted suicide. It is going to be a long struggle to get repair stem cells available to all and studies like this one are just the beginning.

Click here to see how repair stem cells are helping MS patients.

Six people can see again after receiving repair stem cell treatment! Being blessed with good eyesight, I don't really know what it is like to be blind. Therefore, I can only imagine the joy these six people in London must have felt when they had their vision restored thanks to repair stem cells:

Six blind patients have had their eye-sight restored after undergoing pioneering stem cell transplants.

Researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London treated the patients as part of a clinical trial on patients who have lost their sight from chemical accidents or a rare genetic disease.

She said: "Before the surgery the patients were barely able to recognise when someone was waving a hand in front of their face but we have restored their vision to the point they can read three to four lines down the eye chart."

The patients were chemical burn victims or sufferers of a rare genetic disease known as aniridia. They had injuries to the limbal cells in their eyes, which are under the eye lid and maintain the transparent layer on the outside of the cornea.

Dr Daniels said: "Their cornea becomes opaque, blood vessels grow across it and their eyes become inflamed and they can't see anymore. It is very painful.

"By replacing the limbal stem cells, the cornea begins to clear up as the cells are replaced with the healthy transparent layer again.

Repair (adult) stem cells do it again! Hopefully, I now have six new readers of this blog.  :)

Click here to read this eye-opening story!

 

 

A couple days ago, I posted on the Australian scientists who took repair stem cells from human noses and then implanted the repair stem cells into rats which helped their Parkinson's.  Well, today, Dr. David Prentice, one of the United States' leading experts on stem cell research weighs in on that study:

Prentice says the press has paid little attention to the Australian study or the six other stories that have come out in the past few days about adult stem cells.

"They seem just so focused on embryonic," he says of the media. "It might be ideological, it might be just ignorance; but when it comes to actually thinking of the patients first, the bottom line is still adult stem cells. Embryonic [cells] all of the ethical problems aside, and those are huge have tremendous practical problems ... with tumors, with transplant rejection, with getting the cells to function the way you want them to" Prentice contends.

But the FRC spokesman notes adult stem-cell research simply involves taking "normal repair cells" and convincing them to work on a different "repair problem" within the body.

Hey Dr. Prentice!  You are starting to sound like me.  Don't get too depressed Dr. Prentice, at least I didn't say you looked like me :).

But seriously folks-  I see Dr. Prentice (and many other leading doctors/scientists) are starting to use this terminology such as describing adult stem cells as repair stem cells because that is what adult stem cells are-- repair cells that fix damage in the body.   Hopefully, using this terminology will help educate the public more about the differences between adult (repair) stem cells and embryonic stem cells.

Click here to read more on Dr. Prentice and the Parkinson's study 

Last week, I posted on what was reported as the "first disc surgery in the United States using adult stem cells to help repair a man's injured lower back." featuring a group of spinal surgeons in Colorado.  However, this week I found another group of spinal surgeons in Dallas, Texas that are being hailed as "the leaders of a cutting-edge surgical procedure that utilizes a patient's own adult stem cells to regenerate tissue":

Doctors Douglas Won, Michael Rimlawi, and Francisco J. Battle, all spine surgeons, have extensive experience in harvesting adult stem cells during routine spinal procedures and delivering those cells back to their patients to aid in the treatment of severe back pain.

"The advancing technology in stem cell therapy is driving spine surgeons to look at different approaches to what has been considered the standard of care," says Won. "The latest Fusionary procedure allows me to harvest the stem cells from the patient in a point of care process in the operating room during my routine spinal procedure. We not only deliver these tissue-forming adult stem cells back to the patient in a timely manner, but the pain of harvesting the cells is minimal." 

Well...I am not going to be the judge on who came first.  I think both groups of spine surgeons  are winners for recognizing that repair stem cells (adult stem cells)  are both safe and effective in helping their back patients improve their quality of life.

Click here to read the whole article on doctors using repair stem cells for routine back surgeries

Again, I usually don't get excited about "rat studies" where the scientist in question says "lots of potential here, but more research needs to be done." However, I think this one may have a little more to it. In Australia, it seems scientists have taken stem cells from human noses and implanted them into rats and it has helped with the rats' Parkinson's.

Now, I read that article and I thought "Hey! Dr. Lima in Portugal has had remarkable success treating spinal cord injuries in humans using the same repair stem cells- from the nose," so I spoke with Dr. Lima and I'll try to summarize what he explained:

The nose seems to be the only (or the best) place outside of the brain to get stem cells that can become neurons. Neurons are used to transmit signals to, through, and from the brain.

Most neurological diseases have neuron problems-- neurons are the transmitters of signals, but if they are deficient, the signal gets choppy. For example- In Parkinson's, people seem to shake when what is really happening is that the person's brain tells the arm to move, but the signals are broken- so the arm moves choppy. Similar to a cellphone, when your voice gets choppy or breaks up. So when Dr. Lima implants the nose stem cells into the break point of a spinal cord, the repair stem cells stay there and grow until eventually they are strong enough to transmit data to and from the brain, and then the stem cells replicate more and more and until the spinal cord injured patient is walking again.

Any scientist or layman who wants to explain more clearly, please feel free to leave a comment- DM.

Repair stem cells (aka adult stem cells) are now being used to treat Crohn's Disease- in Topeka, Kansas.  They have just begun a double blind study to determine the effects of adult stem cells on Crohn's Disease-  and the Margolis fearless prediction is "Of course, it will work!":

 The trial is using stem cells harvested from healthy adult donors. Dr. Robert Braun of Cotton-O'Neil Digestive Health Center says the adult stem cells are able to modulate the inflammatory response. He says the cells can go to the site of active inflammation and turn down the inflammatory response, giving patients relief. (The stem cells are doing what they are supposed to do- repair!- DM)

Look how repair stem cells can help change someone's life:

37-year old Veronica Sherer is among those taking part in the trial. Diagnosed with Crohn's disease three years ago, she says it's had a dramatic impact on her life. She says she's had a lot of pain and must make frequent trips to the restroom. She also has no energy to keep up with her year-old daughter.

Veronica's husband found out about the trial. Veronica says getting accepted was "a big shining hope."

 While Veronica can't be sure she's getting the real thing, she believes it's making a difference. She says she's full of energy and happy and feels like she has a whole new lease on life-  (I wish I had one dollar for every repair stem cell recipient who has uttered similar words-DM)


Click here for more on how repair stem cells are helping Crohn's Disease

A couple of days ago, I wrote about how joining the bone marrow registry can save someone's life.  Again, I urge you to register so if someone has a disease that can be helped with a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant, and if your bone marrow matches that of the patient, you will have the opportunity to save that person's life.  And I can imagine that is a wonderful feeling.  Look at the faces of these parents who received the news that their child has found a matching donor:

Larrow, an English teacher at Mulberry High School, was grading final exams Tuesday when she was told that two bone marrow matches had been found for her son Liam.

Nine-month-old Liam was recently diagnosed with Hurler syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects only one or two people in 100,000.

The disorder causes the buildup of mucopolysaccharides, or long chains of sugar molecules, that are in the body's mucus and joint fluids.

Liam and others with Hurler syndrome do not have the necessary enzyme needed to break down the molecules.

The only way to keep the disorder from causing mental retardation is a successful bone marrow transplant.

When she heard the good news, Larrow couldn't contain herself. She called her husband, James Larrow, as well as other family members and friends. She left messages for those she couldn't reach. "Everyone got this really high-pitched, chattery message. I was so thrilled," Larrow said.

Click here to see their happy smiles 

More good news for people with bad backs and who may require surgery:

Dr. Christopher Centeno, medical director of Westminster-based Regenerative Sciences, the company that grew the cells, said the surgery could change the way future back operations are handled.

"I think this is the beginning of a new era of surgery," Centeno said Tuesday. "We usually take out the offending piece but do nothing to repair the small damage we just created. This allows you to do both." (I like that word "repair" because that is what adult stem cells are- repair stem cells)


Adult stem cells have been injected into patients' backs and joints to promote tissue growth, but it's the first time stem cells have been injected during a spinal surgery, he said.

Just another use for adult (repair) stem cells.

Click here to read the full article

Regular readers of this blog know that stem cells are helping and have been helping leukemia patients for more than 20 years.  So why do we still read about deaths due to leukemia?  There are obviously multiple answers to that question.  However, one problem is a lack of bone marrow donors.  You see, to cure a leukemia patient, he/she will need a perfect match of bone marrow (stem cells) from a donor so the patient's body will not reject the stem cell transplant.  This perfect match sometimes comes from the patient's family, but often this is not the case.  Therefore, in most countries, there is a bone marrow donor registry program in which an organization tries to match up donors with people suffering from leukemia or lymphoma or other life threatening diseases that can be treated by stem cells.  In America, you can find more information on how to become a possible donor at http://www.marrow.org

Here is a little more information from that website:

Bone marrow transplant is a life-saving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases. First, patients undergo chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. Then a donor's healthy blood-forming cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream, where they can begin to function and multiply.

In order for a patient's body to accept these healthy cells, the donor's tissue type needs to match the patient's type as closely as possible. Patients who do not have a suitably matched donor in their family may search the NMDP Registry for an unrelated bone marrow donor or cord blood unit.

Here is a wonderful example of how by joining the bone marrow registry, you can save someone's life and make a life long friend:

Wicker, 33, discovered symptoms of leukemia in August 2002 when he felt fatigued trying to climb Mount St. Helens in Washington with some friends.

From there, it got worse.

"I went from what I thought was totally normal to not being able to walk up a set of stairs without my heart popping out of my chest," he said.

After his diagnosis the next month, Wicker traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for chemotherapy while waiting for a bone marrow match, thinking one would not prove too difficult to find. Instead, he received treatment every other month and found himself waiting.

Friends and co-workers participated in bone marrow blood drives but yielded no matches.

"It felt like a long time -- it was getting to the point where we were talking about the quality of life," Wicker said. "Without the transplant, I wasn't going to live."

Wicker received good news in March 2003 -- he had a match, and the transplant would take place April 3.

Click here to read the happy ending to this story


 And then click here to find out how you can join the registry and be a life long hero

I can't say I am very surprised by this.  I know the magic of adult stem cells.  Let me take you back 3 months- you may remember I reported a story about two brothers with a rare skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa.  The youngest boy, Nate Liao, was believed to be the first person in the world to be treated with stem cells (cord blood stem cells) for this condition.

Well, the results are in.  It is now being reported that the stem cells are helping- immensely!:

At 2 years old, bright-eyed Nate Liao can finally wear a T-shirt.

It may not sound like much, but eight months ago, the fabric would have caused his fragile skin to blister and rub off entirely.

Nate was a world first in October when he received an experimental transplant at the University of Minnesota to treat a hereditary and fatal skin disease known as recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or EB. At the time, the treatment had been demonstrated only in laboratory mice, but the youngest of four Liao boys has made stunning progress.

Click here to read about another condition helped by cord blood stem cells!