Umbilical cord blood taken from a compatible sibling can cure children with Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease. The report was made by the Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland and ViaCell, Inc.

Cord blood from a relative may have advantages over bone marrow transplantation and can be an effective source of stem cells for transplantation in children affected with Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia. The research was presented by Dr. Mark Walters, Director of the Blood and Marrow transplant program at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland. Dr. Walters made the presentation at the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and National Institutes of Health (NIH) 35th Annual Convention.

“Patients with Sickle Cell and Thalassemia often lead debilitating lives,” said Dr. Walters. “Through continued research and transplant success, sibling umbilical cord blood has proven to be effective in curing children of these blood disorders. I expect the use of umbilical cord blood will continue to increase and as we gain more experience using cord blood stem cells in transplant medicine, I believe it could outpace the use of bone marrow in transplant medicine.”

The data presented at the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and NIH meeting showed outcomes from children treated under The Sibling Connection Program, a directed sibling transplant program implemented by ViaCord and Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), the research arm of Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland.

More than 100 children have been treated with cord blood thanks to the program. 23 children were transplanted for Thalassemia and 17 were transplanted for Sickle Cell Disease under the Sibling Connection Program. The median age of patients treated for Sickle Cell Disease was 8 years and 5 years for patients treated for Thalassemia.

Clinical advantages over bone marrow have been demonstrated in regards to sibling umbilical cord blood transplantation in young children. A reduction in the common side effect and leading cause of death in transplant medicine, graft-versus-host (GvHD), was also observed. GvHD was observed in six of the Sickle Cell Disease patients, but none of them developed chronic GvHD. As for Thalassemia, none of the patients were observed to have acute or chronic GvHD.

For patients treated for Sickle Cell Disease, the median time to platelet recovery (greater than 20,000 per microliter) and neutrophil recovery (ANC greater than 500 cells per microliter) was 36 days and 18 days respectively.

82% of the patients treated for Sickle Cell Disease survived and is disease-free. For patients treated for Thalassemia, the median time to platelet recovery (greater than 20,000 per microliter) and neutrophil recovery (ANC greater than 500 cells per microliter) was 47 days and 25 days respectively. 91% of the patients treated for Thalassemia are now disease free and 96% of the patients survived.

The Sibling Connection Program in the area of directed transplants for sibling donor umbilical cord blood was formed in 2006 by the combined efforts of CHORI and ViaCell. Units of cord blood that has been collected and processed through the program have treated over 100 children to date. This includes transplants through cord blood stored through CHORI’s Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program and cord blood collected, preserved and stored with ViaCord. If a family has a child diagnosed with a condition that can be treated with a cord blood stem cell transplant and they meet the other requirements of the program, the Sibling Connection Program provides ViaCord’s comprehensive cord blood collection, processing and five years of storage at no cost.

Resulting in the red blood cells being a sickle or crescent shape, Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood disorder. Tissue damage is caused when the abnormally shaped cells prevent normal flow of oxygen to tissues by becoming rigid. Anemia, jaundice, frequent infections, and chest pain are among the common symptoms. No universal cure for Sickle Cell Disease currently exists.

Blood transfusions, antibiotics, intravenous fluids, pain management, and even surgery are currently used to treat complications associated with Sickle Cell Disease. Over 80,000 people in the United States have sickle cell anemia and over 2.5 million carry the trait. People of Mediterranean descent and African Americans are the two demographics that Sickle Cell Disease predominantly effects. National Sickle Cell Awareness Month is September.

Umbilical cord blood is an emerging therapeutic treatment option for patients with Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease. In 2000, the first cord blood unit was released by ViaCord to treat Sickle Cell Disease. Families who have children affected with Sickle Cell Disease make up 30% of all enrollments in the ViaCord/CHORI Sibling Connection Program.

Hemoglobin is a critical oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. The decreased production of hemoglobin is what characterizes Thalassemia which is another hereditary blood disorder. A shortage of red blood cells occurs along with anemia. Lifelong red blood cell transfusions and the resulting complications come with a diagnosis that usually occurs in early childhood. Poor growth, enlarged spleen and liver, anemia, jaundice, and abnormal facial bones are some of the symptoms of the condition. However, the symptoms of Thalassemia due vary depending on the type and severity of the disease. There are approximately 1,000 people are living with Thalassemia in the U.S. and an estimated 2 million people in the United States carry the genetic trait for Thalassemia.

With proven therapeutic effect in treating over 40 diseases, umbilical cord blood is a valuable, non-controversial source of stem cells. Certain blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and other genetic disorders, bone marrow failure syndromes such as Diamond Blackfan anemia and severe aplastic anemia, and cancers such as Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) can be treated. To date, nearly 8,000 cord blood transplants have been performed world wide. A significantly higher survival rate has been observed when umbilical cord blood transplants from a family member, rather than from a non-relative are used.

The success story of a 64-year-old patient who was treated with adult stem cells was reported by D

Bermuda Sun

Because our laws have failed to keep pace with medical advances, a stem cell clinic will be opening without obtaining permission from a regulatory body. The clinic will be run by Dr. Ewart Brown and his wife Wanda.

However, Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. don’t normally cater to this manner of doing business.

Authoritative bodies such as the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority and the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the U.K., the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., and the Stem Cell Oversight Committee in Canada regulate and oversee all the treatment centers and research institutes that do experimental procedures in those respective countries. The system closely monitors all aspects of stem cell research and treatment.

It was the response to developments and ethical issues that have arisen in the field of stem cell research that prompted the establishment of Canada’s Stem Cell Oversight Committee and the Human Fertilization Authority in the U.K.

In partnership with San-Diego based firm Stemedica Cell Technologies, the stem cell clinic will open at Winterhaven in Smith’s. Dr. Brown, a physician, and his wife Wanda went public in July with their plans.

The soon to be established Brown-Darrell clinic will only use adult stem cells and avoid the controversial embryonic cells.

The Bermuda Health Council began overseeing all health care after the government passed a law in 2004.

By law, all health care service providers must have a license if they are seeking to go into business.

But it is not known when the regulations will be ready to be reviewed by Cabinet since the Bermuda Health Council is still in the process of writing them.

Health Council CEO Anthony Richardson told the Bermuda Sun, in a written statement: “The Bermuda Health Council is governed by the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004. One of the functions of the Council is to regulate health service providers. At this time, we are in the process of preparing recommended regulations for the Minister of Health. Consequently, the Council does not currently issue licenses.”

The National Institutes for Health in the U.S. and the U.K. Stem Cell Initiative make it clear on their websites that significant hurdles need to be overcome before treatment becomes a reality. They also say that the use of stem cells to treat diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s holds great promise. But other than for bone marrow transplants and skin grafts, treatment using stem cells is still in the experimental stage.

Before they are allowed to carry out trials on humans, scientists have to get the green light from the FDA or its U.K. counterpart. This is the case even if the scientist has achieved promising results in animal models.

Dr. Ben Goldacre, who writes a science column for The Guardian and is familiar with the issues raised in our stories today, told the Bermuda Sun: “A stem cell laboratory doing meaningful research is a major scientific undertaking.”

The Ministry of Health currently issues licenses to health care providers, but contacting them for comment has been nearly impossible. The rest of the medical community has been equally difficult to reach.

the Brown-Darrell clinic will need a license to operate said Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann , through a Government spokeswoman. But no details were given.

Rather than assessing what procedures are carried out, the license that the Brown-Darrell clinic would require would be the same as for any medical practice and would address health and safety issues as they relate to the physical set-up of the premises according to a health professional familiar with current legislation.

In the absence of oversight from an independent committee, doctors have privately stated that they are sceptical about procedures that would be carried out at the Brown-Darrell clinic. However, no public statements on this matter were made.

One doctor told the Bermuda Sun: “You just can’t open up shop and say: ‘I’m going to cure diseases with stem cells’. If we do, then we’re a third world country.”

The ramifications of the venture as a group has not been discussed by physicians.

The silence from the medical community is “appalling” according to a second doctor the Bermuda Sun spoke with.

Neither wanted their names attached to their comments.

The Bermuda Sun was told that the council would have no jurisdiction over the procedures that would be done at the clinic if only research is carried out stated Dr. Delmont Simmons, chairman of the Bermuda Medical Council, which issues licenses to doctors that allows them to practice. A license will need to be obtained from the council if doctors plan on treating patients he added.

Efforts to get a response from the Browns were unsuccessful.

Kendaree Burgess-Fairn, spokeswoman for the Brown-Darrell Clinic, said the Browns have said all they want to say about the clinic at this stage when the Bermuda Sun sought comment several weeks ago and last Friday.

The clinic should be opening this fall and the Browns plan to operate it as a private venture.

While research would be the initial priority, eventually the clinic would treat one or two patients with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s per week said Mrs. Brown in July, who is to be the clinic’s consulting CEO.

She said the clinic will host “advanced research in the use of adult stem cells for human treatment.”

She was also quoted as saying: “It is our hope and intention that what we do at Brown-Darrell will help lay the groundwork for the treatment of patients around the world who, without stem cell treatment, have no hope for a normal life.”

“We believe that we will significantly improve the quality of life of those patients we treat, and that we will contribute to the research being conducted in this field that will some day make stem cell treatment available to all those who need it.”

Stemedica says on its website that its physicians have “conducted stem cell transplantation with over 1,500 human subjects.”

Stemedica has a ‘clinical trials’ heading on its website, but it merely lists website addresses such as the National Institutes for Health and the one set up by Parkinson’s sufferer, actor Michael J. Fox.

Russian-trained scientists, most of whom are now based in the U.S., and physicians and American businessmen have teamed up to form Stemedica. They have been involved with past lucrative ventures in the industries of nutritional products, a top-selling laser that’s used in cosmetic procedures, and bottled water.

Having worked primarily as an inventor in the U.S., Stemedica’s president and chief medical officer Dr. Nicholai Tankovich is a Russian trained physician and physicist.

He made $35.3 million for the first six months of this year and $57.5 million in 2006 after inventing the Fraxel laser product.

The Stemedica website describes a “world-class team” when pointing out their 12 members in lower management.

Dr. Tankovich is among the group, whose members, again according to the website, are located in Centers of Excellence in San Diego and Palo Alto, in California, and Eastern Europe and “are directed towards treating diseases that have no cure.”

Nine of the 12 are physicians. California Medical Board spokeswomen Candis Cohen and Debbie Nelson confirmed that none of the nine – Dr. Tankovich, Nikolay Mironov, Illiya Mironov, Sergey Ivanov, Narik Markchyan, Katherine Chentsova, Rosa Gundorova, Natalie Gavrilova and Vadim Repin – have a license to practice medicine in the state of California. Neither does Dr. Kharazi, Stemedica’s vice president of medical research. We should make it clear that there is no suggestion that any of the physicians are practicing medicine in California without a license, or that their professional credentials are in doubt.

Because our laws have failed to keep pace with medical advances, a stem cell clinic will be opening without obtaining permission from a regulatory body. The clinic will be run by Dr. Ewart Brown and his wife Wanda.

However, Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. don’t normally cater to this manner of doing business.

Authoritative bodies such as the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority and the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the U.K., the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., and the Stem Cell Oversight Committee in Canada regulate and oversee all the treatment centers and research institutes that do experimental procedures in those respective countries. The system closely monitors all aspects of stem cell research and treatment.

It was the response to developments and ethical issues that have arisen in the field of stem cell research that prompted the establishment of Canada’s Stem Cell Oversight Committee and the Human Fertilization Authority in the U.K.

In partnership with San-Diego based firm Stemedica Cell Technologies, the stem cell clinic will open at Winterhaven in Smith’s. Dr. Brown, a physician, and his wife Wanda went public in July with their plans.

The soon to be established Brown-Darrell clinic will only use adult stem cells and avoid the controversial embryonic cells.

The Bermuda Health Council began overseeing all health care after the government passed a law in 2004.

By law, all health care service providers must have a license if they are seeking to go into business.

But it is not known when the regulations will be ready to be reviewed by Cabinet since the Bermuda Health Council is still in the process of writing them.

Health Council CEO Anthony Richardson told the Bermuda Sun, in a written statement: “The Bermuda Health Council is governed by the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004. One of the functions of the Council is to regulate health service providers. At this time, we are in the process of preparing recommended regulations for the Minister of Health. Consequently, the Council does not currently issue licenses.”

The National Institutes for Health in the U.S. and the U.K. Stem Cell Initiative make it clear on their websites that significant hurdles need to be overcome before treatment becomes a reality. They also say that the use of stem cells to treat diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s holds great promise. But other than for bone marrow transplants and skin grafts, treatment using stem cells is still in the experimental stage.

Before they are allowed to carry out trials on humans, scientists have to get the green light from the FDA or its U.K. counterpart. This is the case even if the scientist has achieved promising results in animal models.

Dr. Ben Goldacre, who writes a science column for The Guardian and is familiar with the issues raised in our stories today, told the Bermuda Sun: “A stem cell laboratory doing meaningful research is a major scientific undertaking.”

The Ministry of Health currently issues licenses to health care providers, but contacting them for comment has been nearly impossible. The rest of the medical community has been equally difficult to reach.

the Brown-Darrell clinic will need a license to operate said Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann , through a Government spokeswoman. But no details were given.

Rather than assessing what procedures are carried out, the license that the Brown-Darrell clinic would require would be the same as for any medical practice and would address health and safety issues as they relate to the physical set-up of the premises according to a health professional familiar with current legislation.

In the absence of oversight from an independent committee, doctors have privately stated that they are sceptical about procedures that would be carried out at the Brown-Darrell clinic. However, no public statements on this matter were made.

One doctor told the Bermuda Sun: “You just can’t open up shop and say: ‘I’m going to cure diseases with stem cells’. If we do, then we’re a third world country.”

The ramifications of the venture as a group has not been discussed by physicians.

The silence from the medical community is “appalling” according to a second doctor the Bermuda Sun spoke with.

Neither wanted their names attached to their comments.

The Bermuda Sun was told that the council would have no jurisdiction over the procedures that would be done at the clinic if only research is carried out stated Dr. Delmont Simmons, chairman of the Bermuda Medical Council, which issues licenses to doctors that allows them to practice. A license will need to be obtained from the council if doctors plan on treating patients he added.

Efforts to get a response from the Browns were unsuccessful.

Kendaree Burgess-Fairn, spokeswoman for the Brown-Darrell Clinic, said the Browns have said all they want to say about the clinic at this stage when the Bermuda Sun sought comment several weeks ago and last Friday.

The clinic should be opening this fall and the Browns plan to operate it as a private venture.

While research would be the initial priority, eventually the clinic would treat one or two patients with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s per week said Mrs. Brown in July, who is to be the clinic’s consulting CEO.

She said the clinic will host “advanced research in the use of adult stem cells for human treatment.”

She was also quoted as saying: “It is our hope and intention that what we do at Brown-Darrell will help lay the groundwork for the treatment of patients around the world who, without stem cell treatment, have no hope for a normal life.”

“We believe that we will significantly improve the quality of life of those patients we treat, and that we will contribute to the research being conducted in this field that will some day make stem cell treatment available to all those who need it.”

Stemedica says on its website that its physicians have “conducted stem cell transplantation with over 1,500 human subjects.”

Stemedica has a ‘clinical trials’ heading on its website, but it merely lists website addresses such as the National Institutes for Health and the one set up by Parkinson’s sufferer, actor Michael J. Fox.

Russian-trained scientists, most of whom are now based in the U.S., and physicians and American businessmen have teamed up to form Stemedica. They have been involved with past lucrative ventures in the industries of nutritional products, a top-selling laser that’s used in cosmetic procedures, and bottled water.

Having worked primarily as an inventor in the U.S., Stemedica’s president and chief medical officer Dr. Nicholai Tankovich is a Russian trained physician and physicist.

He made $35.3 million for the first six months of this year and $57.5 million in 2006 after inventing the Fraxel laser product.

The Stemedica website describes a “world-class team” when pointing out their 12 members in lower management.

Dr. Tankovich is among the group, whose members, again according to the website, are located in Centers of Excellence in San Diego and Palo Alto, in California, and Eastern Europe and “are directed towards treating diseases that have no cure.”

Nine of the 12 are physicians. California Medical Board spokeswomen Candis Cohen and Debbie Nelson confirmed that none of the nine – Dr. Tankovich, Nikolay Mironov, Illiya Mironov, Sergey Ivanov, Narik Markchyan, Katherine Chentsova, Rosa Gundorova, Natalie Gavrilova and Vadim Repin – have a license to practice medicine in the state of California. Neither does Dr. Kharazi, Stemedica’s vice president of medical research. We should make it clear that there is no suggestion that any of the physicians are practicing medicine in California without a license, or that their professional credentials are in doubt.