Currently in the state of Colorado, there are only three hospitals in which the systematic collection of umbilical cord blood is routinely performed after the delivery of babies. In all the rest of the hospitals throughout the state, as in most other states, this precious source of pluripotent stem cells is discarded as waste. Democratic House Representative Dianne Primavera sees this as “an opportunity to turn medical waste into a medical miracle.” Indeed, patients such as Sheila Gannon agree. Diagnosed with advanced leukemia over two years ago, Sheila received an adult stem cell transplant from donated umbilical cord blood. As she stated in her testimony before the State House Health and Human Services Committee, “We are extremely grateful for this technology and for the medical community that administers it. I often think about the moms who graciously donate their umbilical cord blood. There is no doubt that without this I would not be here today.”

Many others enthusiastic advocates joined Representative Primavera and Ms. Gannon in supporting what is known as House Bill 1372, which, if ratified, would create the Adult Stem Cell Cure Fund: a voluntary income tax checkoff that would appear on future state income tax forms, revenue from which would promote the proper collection and storage of umbilical cord blood throughout the state of Colorado.

As Representative Primavera described, she sees an analogy between the umbilical cord as a “lifeline for a baby” and a lifeline for someone with a disease such as cancer or multiple sclerosis. As Sheila Gannon added, “I cannot think of a better way to pay it forward than to give all women the opportunity to donate the baby’s umbilical cord blood.” Doctors testifying before the Committee stated that there are roughly 80,000 births each year in Colorado, less than 1% of which currently result in a cord blood donation. If House Bill 1372 is passed, it is hoped that the money raised by the income tax checkoff could be used both for promoting education on the topic as well as for the actual cryogenic storage of donated cord blood, possibly for as long as 20 years for each donation. According to Dr. Chris Carey, who runs the OB-Gyn department at the Denver Health Medical Center, “It is my belief that this bill offers a tremendous opportunity to improve the health of Coloradans for a relatively small expense.”

Thus far, the new measure has passed the Committee unanimously. Next, it advances to the House Appropriations Committee.

More than 5 million people in the U.S. alone are currently afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and the global number is increasing dramatically each year. Now, researchers at the University of South Florida, in collaboration with Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., an affiliate of Cryo-Cell International, have demonstrated the ability of cord blood stem cells to slow the progression of this debilitating disease.

In this study, mice with symptoms mimicking those of Alzheimer’s were treated with a series of infusions containing stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The scientists then tested the mice for the two main markers of Alzheimer’s, and found that the myloid-beta proteins had been reduced by 62%, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy had been reduced by 86%. Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is considered to be irreversible since an effective conventional medical therapy does not exist. This study, however, demonstrates that Alzheimer’s disease can in fact be reversed with the potency of certain types of adult stem cells such as those derived from umbilical cord blood.

Although conservative groups often promote the use of adult stem cells over embryonic stem cells for ethical reasons, scientists are increasingly turning to adult stem cells over embryonic stem cells purely for scientific reasons. Increasingly, studies such as this indicate significant success with adult stem cells while embryonic stem cells still remain plagued with numerous unsolved scientific problems. According to Mercedes Walton, Chairman and CEO of Cryo-Cell International, an organization of cord blood banks which funded the study, “The scientific community has only skimmed the surface in uncovering the many potential therapeutic uses for cord blood stem cells, and this new research in Alzheimer’s disease may pave the way for discoveries around the use of these cells for a host of neurodegenerative and other chronic conditions.”

According to Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, a senior fellow in economics at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, “The use of umbilical cord blood is more humane than the use of embryos for two reasons. First, no human life has to be destroyed to produce the umbilical cord blood. Second, the use of umbilical cord blood will undoubtedly be less costly than the use of embryonic stem cells. The supply of umbilical cords is pretty much umlimited.”

Ever since 2004 when a South Korean woman who had been paralyzed for 20 years was able to walk again following cord blood stem cell therapy which repaired the damaged tissue in her spine, this particular source of adult stem cells has been a topic of of intense interest by numerous researchers and clinicians around the world. According to Cryo-Cell, cord blood offers one of the most viable sources of stem cells, as cord blood has already been used in over 7,000 transplantations since 1988, and stem cells derived from cord blood have been clinically administered to human patients for the treatment of more than 70 life-threatening illnesses, which include cardiac injury, neurological injury, type I diabetes, type II diabetes, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, and numerous other types of diseases and injuries.

Next, Alzheimer’s disease may also be added to the list.

Leah Telder of Surrey, British Columbia, had enjoyed ballet dancing until struck with multiple sclerosis in her teens. The demyelinating, auto-immune disorder eventually robbed her of her vision and confined her to a wheelchair. Now 24 years old, Leah is the youngest of seventeen MS patients who have been treated in Canada with their own (autologous) adult stem cells.

Conducted in October of 2007 in Ottawa, the procedure was led by the neurologist Dr. Mark Freedman and the bone marrow transplant specialist Dr. Harold Atkins. In this procedure, stem cells are harvested from the peripheral blood of each patient and are then expanded in a laboratory and readministered after the patient has received a heavy dose of chemotherapy, which is administered with the specific intent of destroying the immune system. Although 16 of the 17 patients are improving as a result of the stem cells, one patient in the study died as a result of the chemotherapy. In fact, at these high doses, each patient has a 5% (or a one in 20) chance of dying from the chemotherapy. Whether or not the chemotherapy even needs to be administered at all is increasingly a topic of debate, and there is strong scientific evidence to support the claim that chemotherapy is unnecessary in this type of stem cell treatment.

Meanwhile, as a result of being treated with this particular chemotherapy procedure, and as a result of being successfully rescued by her own adult stem cells immediately following the chemotherapy procedure, Leah is once again able to walk by herself, and most of her blurred vision has been restored to normal.

In a bipartisan briefing in Washington, D.C., members of Congress were updated both on the increasing number of successful cases of adult stem cell therapy, and on the increasing number of failures of embryonic stem cells, which have never advanced beyond the laboratory stage.

House Representatives Randy Forbes, a Republican from Virgina, and Daniel Lipinski, a Democrat from Illinois, co-hosted the event in conjunction with the Family Research Council (FRC). Among the researchers testifying before the Congressmen was Dr. Richard Burt of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, whose publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association in February of 2008 garnered widespread attention for its analysis of hundreds of adult stem cell studies that had been conducted between 1997 and 2007, and from which Dr. Burt gathered together an entire decade’s worth of quantitative proof that adult stem cells derived from blood and bone marrow have already been safely and effectively used to treat a number of cardiac and autoimmune disorders.

Congressmen Forbes and Lipinski are promoting the “Patients First Act”, which would legislate and prioritize the funding of stem cell research by stem cell type. According to a representative of the FRC, “Embryonic stem cells have yet to treat a single human patient and this is unlikely to change in the future. Adult stem cells are already providing therapeutic benefit to human patients for 73 diseases and condition.” Also appearing before the Congressmen were several patients who have been successfully treated with adult stem cell therapy, which included Barry Goudy who had been treated for multiple sclerosis, Amy Daniels who had been treated for systemic sclerosis, and Jill Rosen who had been treated for lupus. Each of these individuals spoke about their personal experiences with adult stem cell therapy.

After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, Barry Goudy experienced the slow deterioration of his central nervous system with symptoms that included failing vision, a loss of muscular control and an absence of sensory perception in his limbs. Then in 2003 he enrolled in a clinical trial in which his own adult stem cells were used to rebuild his immune system. As he now states, “I have no symptoms of MS. I do no treatment for MS, I do no shots.”

Dr. Richard Burt and colleagues at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine conducted the clinical trial on 2,500 patients who underwent the stem cell transplants. The results have indicated not only that many patients with autoimmune diseases are now in remission, but also many patients who had suffered heart attacks were found to have improved significantly after receiving the adult stem cell therapy.

As Dr. Burt says, “It’s a whole new approach to these diseases.” In an interview conducted this year, Mr. Goudy adds, “I’ve had 5 years of a good life. Five years. If I didn’t do the transplant I would probably be in a wheelchair today.” Among other activities, Mr. Goudy’s active lifestyle now includes playing and coaching hockey. Similar clinical trials are currently underway in the U.S. for the use of adult stem cells in the treatment of numerous other diseases which typically have been unresponsive to conventional medical therapies.