February 18, 2013 by

MS Radio – Stem cells can change our lives

On Tuesday, February 19th, 2013
at 5pm EST

Stem Cells Change Lives
Click here to Listen Online

or Call (347) 327-9317
Toll Free (877) 497-9936

Join us on Multiple Sclerosis Radio as the Director of MSstation™ Radio Judi Lecoq and her panel of nine individuals candidly share their testimonies of living with Multiple Sclerosis and their experiences after undergoing Stem Cell Treatment.

 

Judi Lecoq

I was diagnosed with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in 1997, and began the Stem Cell Journey, with Fundraising January 2010.

SammyJo Wilkinson

Diagnosed ’95 relapsing remitting MS, secondary progressed by 2002. May 2012 I had adult stem cells in Houston, TX

Jennifer Ziegler

I was diagnosed with MS in 2004. I started thinking about Adult Stem Cell Therapy around 6 yrs. ago.

Holly Huber

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2004. Within months of my official diagnosis, I couldn’t walk. I was quickly facing having to live the rest of my life in a wheelchair and needing to depend on someone else 24/7 for survival. After 9 months of clinical research, in 2008 I had my first stem cell treatment.

Fiona Sparrow

Diagnosed 2005 with RRMS in 2009. Then I was told I had Malignant MS an extremely aggressive form. Only 3-5% of patients have this form. In December 29/2011 I underwent a full bone marrow transplant/stem cell transplant!

Annette Williams

Diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS in 2008. In 2010 it progressed to secondary progressive. I heard about stem cell therapy and begin researching about it. Following a fund raiser I went and had adult stem cells.

Carla Hickman

Diagnosed in May of 2003 with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. I began looking into stem cells in 2009 and went to Costa Rica in 2010.

Kane Roper

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis for roughly 7 – 8 years, before receiving stem cell treatment last Christmas.

Richard Humphries

In October of 2005 after several hundred tonic seizures, I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. By March 2007, it transition to Secondary Progressive MS. My wife and I were looking at a wheelchair. By the time I chose to have his first Stem Cell Treatments in 2008, I was completely bedridden. My Stem Cell Journey is long and varied.

Preston Walker

Diagnosed on Dec. 2001 with RRMS. I went down for ASC treatment on May 2008, June of 2009 and July of 2010.

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis, News, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy Tagged With: , , , , ,
February 11, 2013 by

Allogeneic and autogolous stem cell therapy combined with physical rehabilitation: A case report on a chronically injured man with quadriplegia

Allogeneic and autogolous stem cell therapy combined with physical rehabilitation - A case report on a chronically injured man with quadriplegia

Daniel Leonard in Panama

This is a research paper written by Rebecca Johnston, Daniel Leonard’s sister. She recently graduated from a Physical Therapy degree program, and wrote her Capstone paper about Daniel’s stem cell therapy treatment in Panama.

Daniel is presented anonymously in the paper, but Rebecca and Daniel have given their permission for this paper to be shared. Daniel’s ASIA scores (pre and post treatment) are in the appendix of this paper.

 

Allogeneic and autogolous stem cell therapy combined with physical rehabilitation: A case report on a chronically injured man with quadriplegia

Abstract:

Background and Purpose: Stem cell therapy for SCI is a potentially promising treatment with increasing interest. This case report describes the use of a particular stem cell therapy protocol for a patient with chronic spinal cord injury, and describes his subsequent therapy and outcomes.

Case Description: The patient is a 29-year-old male who is chronically injured from a cervical spinal injury, resulting in quadriplegia. The patient was treated with a combined protocol of intrathecal (IT) and intravaneous (IV) allogeneic MSC and CD34+ cells and IT autologous BMMC at 6 ½ years post-injury. The results track the patient’s physical therapy progress until 6 months following stem cell treatment.

Outcomes: Recovery of strength in upper extremity and lower extremity muscle groups was noted, along with a functional increase in grip strength, ability to ambulate with assistance, and a significant decrease in daily medications.
Discussion: This case supports further investigation into treatment of chronically injured SCI patients with stem cell therapy followed by physical therapy.

Manuscript word count: 4321

A few highlights:

“After the patient underwent the stem cell treatment and returned to outpatient physical therapy in his hometown clinic in the United States, his MMT scores were tested over the period of 5 months post-stem cell treatment…. The patient did not decrease in strength in any of the muscles tested, and experienced improvements in 6/13 upper extremity muscle groups, and 8/9 lower extremity muscle groups.”

“The patient also had an increase in grip strength. His grip strength was measured by his occupational therapist to be 5 lbs on the right and 25 lbs on the left at one month before his stem cell treatment. Six months later, his grip strength was measured to be 22 lbs on the right and 36 lbs on the left. The patient reported that this increase in grip strength led to functional improvements, such as being able to self-catheterize, which he was completely unable to do since his injury.”

“The patient was also able to ambulate for the first time in 5 years at approximately 4 months after finishing his treatment. He was able to ambulate in partial weight bearing with the harness and max assist of two for 40 yards at .5 MPH.”

The original post on Daniel Leonard’s blog can be found here.

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, Bone Marrow, Cord Blood Stem Cells, News, Patient Stories, Spinal Cord Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
February 6, 2013 by

Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine:Mechanisms of action, sources, and delivery options

Neil Riordan, PhD, Founder of the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama will be speaking today, Wednesday, Feb 6 at the STEMSO International Stem Cell Society 2013 Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

The topic of Dr. Riordan’s discussion will be “Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine:Mechanisms of action, sources, and delivery options”

The theme for this year’s event is “Autologous Stem Cells: Who gets to decide…”

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, neil riordan, News, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
February 6, 2013 by

Multiple Sclerosis Radio – “Stem cells are your body’s natural healing mechanism” – Neil Riordan PhD

For anyone who missed Dr. Riordan’s talk on MS Radio yesterday, below is a link to the replay. Did you know that by age 30, 96% of the mesenchymal stem cells are gone from a person’s bone marrow? Why is MS a disease of the immune system? How can an automated machine analyze a sample of lecithin and buffer that contains no cells and show that it contains 10 million cells per ml? Tune in for these and more.

REPLAY: “Stem cells are your body’s natural healing mechanism” – Neil Riordan PhD

TODAY ON MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS RADIO!
Dr. Neil Riordan, Founder of Stem Cell Institute
Tuesday Feb 5, 2013 at 2 pm EST.

LISTEN ONLINE: Multiple Sclerosis Radio

or call in Join Us LIVE On Air
(347) 327-9317
or Toll-Free
(877) 497-9936

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/msradio/2013/02/05/stem-cells-your-bodys-natural-healing-mechanism-stem-kine-1

Filed Under: Adipose Stem Cells, Adult Stem Cells, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis, News, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
January 22, 2013 by

Patients beware: “Point of care” fat stem cell separation and counting kits inaccurate and not US FDA approved for humans.

An informative paper by Mary Pat Moyer, PhD detailing why “same-day” fat stem cell kits that are becoming more common in doctors’ offices across the US can miscount “stem cells” by large factors leading to over estimation of stem cell counts by as much as 20 times or more.

It also states, “no complete harvest and cell isolation systems have been approved by the FDA for autologous SVF harvest for immediate use [in humans].” These are just a couple of the arguments presented that demonstrate why it’s important to process adipose tissue properly in a professional lab setting.

Morrison DG, Hunt DA, Garza I, Johnson RA, Moyer MP*. Counting and Processing Methods Impact Accuracy of Adipose Stem Cell Doses. BioProcess J, 2012; 11(4): 4-17.

Filed Under: Adipose Stem Cells, Adult Stem Cells, News, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , , ,
August 28, 2012 by

Blood Stem Cells Permanently Damaged by Alcohol

Bone marrow stem cells are extremely sensitive to the primary by-product of alcohol, which causes permanent damage to their DNA claims researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Lab of Molecular Biology.

The research, which was conducted on mice, uncovers two mechanisms that normally control this type of damage; a protein group that recognizes and repairs DNA damage and an enzyme that eliminates acetaldehyde, alcohol’s toxic breakdown product.

Mice lacking both protective mechanisms developed bone marrow failure stemming from blood stem cell damage.
These results mark the first time that scientists have been able to explain why bone marrow fails in Fanconi anemia (FA) patients. FA is a rare genetic disorder.

The report concludes that FA turns off the bone marrow’s “repair kit” via FA gene mutation which causers DNA damage from acetaldehyde to continue unchecked. This damage is responsible for bone marrow failure and developmental defects in FA patients and makes them especially vulnerable to blood and other types of cancer.

These findings may have particular significance for the world’s Asian population, many of whom suffer from “Asian flush syndrome”. People with AFS lack the enzyme ALDH2 and therefore could be particularly susceptible to DNA damage. The authors warned that this subset of the Asian population could suffer permanent DNA damage with alcohol consumption and be more highly prone to blood cancer, bone marrow failure and premature aging than the Asian population at-large.

“Blood stem cells are responsible for providing a continuous supply of healthy blood cells throughout our lifespan. With age, these vital stem cells become less effective because of the build up of damaged DNA. Our study identifies a key source of this DNA damage and defines two protective mechanisms that stem cells use to counteract this threat. Last year we published a paper showing that without this two-tier protection, alcohol breakdown products are extremely toxic to the blood. We now identify exactly where this DNA damage is occurring, which is important because it means that alcohol doesn’t just kill off healthy circulating cells, it gradually destroys the blood cell factory. Once these blood stem cells are damaged they may give rise to leukaemias and when they are gone they cannot be replaced, resulting in bone marrow failure,” Dr KJ Patel, who is the primary investigator.

“The findings may be particularly significant for a vast number of people from Asian countries such as China, where up to a third of the population are deficient in the ALDH2 enzyme. Alcohol consumption in these individuals could overload their FA DNA repair kit causing irreversible damage to their blood stem cells. The long-term consequences of this could be bone marrow dysfunction and the emergence of blood cancers,” Patel added.

“This study provides much sought-after explanation of the biology underpinning the devastating childhood disease Fanconi anemia. In future this work may underpin new treatments for this genetic disease, which currently is associated with a very poor prognosis. It also helps to inform large numbers of the global population, who are deficient in the ALDH2 enzyme, that drinking alcohol may be inflicting invisible damage on their DNA,” commented Sir Hugh Pelham, director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, News, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , ,
August 10, 2012 by

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Stop Arthritis in its Tracks – Duke University

Researchers at Duke University announced a promising new stem cell therapy aimed at osteoarthritis prevention after a joint injury.

The probability of developing arthritis after injury (post-traumatic arthritis – PTA) greatly increases after injury. Currently, the US FDA has not approved any drugs that slow or eliminate the progression of PTA.

However, at Duke researchers are beginning to confirm mesenchmal stem cell (MSCs) therapy in arthritis treatment. The treatment is similar to that which professional athletes and others have been seeking abroad in places like Panama and Germany for the past few years.

Ref: Pro/Am Dancer is “Dancing with the Stars” Again After Stem Cell Therapy in Panama

In the study, mice sustaining fractures that commonly lead to arthritis were treated with MSCs. “The stem cells were able to prevent post-traumatic arthritis,” said Farshid Guilak, Ph.D., director of orthopaedic research at Duke and senior author of the study.

The study was published on August 10 in Cell Transplantation.

Lead author Brian Diekman, Ph.D said the scientists observed markers of inflammation and noted that the stem cells affected the joint’s inflammatory environment following injury.

“The stem cells changed the levels of certain immune factors, called cytokines, and altered the bone healing response,” stated Diekman.

The Duke team used mesenchymal stem cells isolated from bone marrow. Bone marrow stem cells are very rare; making isolation difficult and requiring that the isolated cells be cultured in the lab under low-oxygen conditions.

“We found that by placing the stem cells into low-oxygen conditions, they would grow more rapidly in culture so that we could deliver enough of them to make a difference therapeutically,” Diekman said.

A richer source of mesenchymal cells is adipose (fat) tissue. Therapeutic doses of MSCs are routinely harvested from fat tissue and do not require culturing in the lab. However, it does takes 5 five days to thoroughly test the adipose cell samples for aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria and endotoxins.

Ref: Stem Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, News, Osteoarthritis, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , ,
July 30, 2012 by

Why does fat (adipose) stem cell therapy take more than one week?

Intravenously administered adipose-derived stem cells will tend to migrate back to the fresh wound site if it is not given an adequate time to heal. Therefore, it is essential to allow about one week after the mini-liposuction before administering any stem cells intravenously. Otherwise, there is a likelihood that the treatment will not be as effective. Additionally, it takes 5 five days to thoroughly test the adipose cell samples for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria as well as endotoxins.

In order to ensure that no patient receives an infected sample, at least 5 days must transpire before the cells can be confirmed safe and injected back into the patient.

Lastly, this 5-day waiting period enables our scientists to culture a small sample of each patient’s stem cells in the lab to observe how they are likely to proliferate once they are inside the body. If a patient’s cells show low viability, Stem Cell Institute doctors will supplement the treatment with additional cord-derived cells to compensate. The same can be done in cases of low cell yield.

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, Multiple Sclerosis, News, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , ,
June 6, 2012 by

Endometrial Stem Cells Yeild Postive Clinical Trial Results for Heart Disease

More progress reported on the treatment of heart disease with endometrial stem cells. Neil Riordan, PhD is one of the early pioneers of endometrial stem cell technology. Dr. Riordan is also the Founder and President of the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama.

Positive Two-Month Data From RECOVER-ERC Congestive Heart Failure Trial

SAN DIEGO, CA–(Marketwire – Jun 4, 2012) – Medistem Inc. (PINKSHEETS: MEDS) announced today positive safety data from the first 5 patients enrolled in the Non-Revascularizable IschEmic Cardiomyopathy treated with Retrograde COronary Sinus Venous DElivery of Cell TheRapy (RECOVER-ERC) trial. The clinical trial uses the company’s “Universal Donor” Endometrial Regenerative Cells (ERC) to treat Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).

According to the study design, after 5 patients enter the trial, they must be observed for a two month time period before additional patients are allowed to enter the study. Patient data was analyzed by the study’s independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), which concluded that based on lack of adverse effects, the study be allowed to continue recruitment.

“Medistem is developing a treatment for CHF that uses a 30-minute catheter-based procedure to administer the ERC stem cell into the patients’ hearts. The achievement of 2 month patient follow-up with no adverse events is a strong signal for us that our new approach to this terrible condition is feasible,” said Thomas Ichim, CEO of Medistem.

The RECOVER-ERC trial will treat a total of 60 patients with end-stage heart failure with three concentrations of ERC stem cells or placebo. The clinical trial is being conducted by Dr. Leo Bockeria, Chairman of the Backulev Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery, in collaboration with Dr. Amit Patel, Director of Clinical Regenerative Medicine at University of Utah.

“As a professional drug developer, I am very optimistic of a stem cell product that can be used as a drug. The ERC stem cell can be stored frozen indefinitely, does not need matching with donors, and can be injected in a simple 30-minute procedure into the heart,” said Dr. Sergey Sablin, Vice President of Medistem and co-founder of the multi-billion dollar NASDAQ company Medivation.

Currently patients with end-stage heart failure, such as the ones enrolled in the RECOVER-ERC study, have no option except for heart transplantation, which is limited by side effects and lack of donors. In contrast to other stem cells, ERC can be manufactured inexpensively, do not require tissue matching, and can be administered in a minimally-invasive manner. Animal experiments suggest ERC are more potent than other stem cell sources at restoring heart function. The FDA has approved a clinical trial of ERC in treatment of critical limb ischemia in the USA.

About Medistem Inc.
Medistem Inc. is a biotechnology company developing technologies related to adult stem cell extraction, manipulation, and use for treating inflammatory and degenerative diseases. The company’s lead product, the endometrial regenerative cell (ERC), is a “universal donor” stem cell being developed for critical limb ischemia and heart failure. A publication describing the support for use of ERC for this condition may be found at http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/pdf/1479-5876-6-45.pdf.

Cautionary Statement
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of our securities. This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information. Factors which may cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements are discussed in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Medistem Contact:

Thomas Ichim
Chief Executive Officer
Medistem Inc.
9255 Towne Centre Drive
Suite 450
San Diego
CA 92122
858 349 3617
858 642 0027
www.medisteminc.com
twitter: @thomasichim

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, Heart Disease, News, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , ,
May 26, 2012 by

Fat Stem Cells are not affected by weight or age

Mojallal et al. Aesthetic Plast Surg.
Fat represents a potent source of autologous stem cells. Historically, the majority of research using autologous stem cells involved stem cells collected from the bone marrow. This source is associated with a painful extraction procedure and relatively low concentrations of mesenchymal stem cells. In contract, mini-liposuctions represent a less invasive extraction approach. Additionally, adipose tissue has been shown to contain substantially higher number of mesenchymal stem cells as well as hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells.
The use of fat derived stem cells has grown exponentially in recent years for numerous indications. Perhaps the largest data set for fat derived stem cells is possessed by Dr. Bob Harman from Vet Stem, who has treated a total of more than 10,000 large animals with this procedure. The Cellmedicine clinic has had an excellent track record of success using autologous fat for treatment of multiple sclerosis having treated more than 200 patients.
One of the major limiting factors of stem cell therapy using your own stem cells (autologous) is that the potency and number of stem cells is believed to decrease with age and disease. These studies, however, have been performed primarily from bone marrow sources of stem cells. Any hematologist will tell you that with age the bone marrow becomes drier and possesses less cells. Studies have shown that bone marrow stem cells from patients with diabetes or from obese patients have less activity as compared to age matched controls. There has been some thought that the stem cells in the adipose tissue are protected from age and disease. A current study (Mojallal et al. Influence of Age and Body Mass Index on the Yield and Proliferation Capacity of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2011 May 26) from the Service de Chirurgie Plastique, Reconstructrice et Esthétique in Lyon France sought to address this. The investigators assessed 42 women who were divided into two groups: age ≤ 40 or >40 and BMI ≤ 25 or >25. Fat tissue was harvested via manual lipoaspiration from the abdominal region. After centrifugation, 100 ml of lipoaspirate was sent to the laboratory for isolation and cultivation of ASCs. The investigators found that average cell yield was 0.380 × 10(6)/ml. Cell yield and proliferation capacity did not show statistically significant correlation to the age and BMI of patients, nor was there a statistically significant difference between cell yield and proliferation capacity between the different groups.
The study looked at some very basic parameters: cell number, viability and proliferative ability. It may be that adipose stem cells may exhibit differences in immune modulatory potential or differentiation potential between donors. This was not assessed. Additionally, the adipose derived cells were not assessed between donors suffering from different conditions. Despite these shortcomings, the data appears to support the hypothesis that adipose derived stem cells may have some advantages as compared to bone marrow stem cells, at least for autologous uses.

Filed Under: Adult Stem Cells, News, Stem Cell Research Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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