Within one month after being treated with adult stem cells in Cologne, Germany, Calvin who is a retired Fire Captain from New Jersey is reporting lower blood glucose levels and decreased insulin doses. Calvin traveled to Germany with peripheral artery disease and erectile dysfunction resulting from his type 2 diabetes.

Using small amounts of his bone marrow, Calvin was treated at the XCell-Center with adult stem cells derived from his own body. Via the femoral artery, a minimally invasive procedure was used to introduce the stem cells to Calvin’s pancreas directly. Stem cells were also introduced into the arteries that supply the penis and into his calves and thighs in order to alleviate the erectile dysfunction and peripheral artery disease that is common amongst complications associated with diabetes.

“Before scuba diving this past Sunday morning, I injected only 32% of my normal insulin dose. During the day, I ate normally – for a diabetic – without injecting any more insulin. That evening, I measured my blood sugar and I was astounded that it was only 126. A month ago, even with my full insulin doses, I never had readings below 170,” said Calvin.

Calvin is not new to the process, over the past two years his current conditions are in fact the third, fourth, and fifth conditions he has received stem cells for. He was featured in Business Week Magazine after a January 2005 stem cell infusion for coronary artery disease. Then, using minimally invasive surgery he was treated again for ischemic cardiomyopathy in September of the same year.

“Actually, what really got my attention this past weekend was that I also felt a regeneration of heart function

America citizen Andrew traveled to Manipal hospital in Bangalore for stem cell treatment and recovered from Parkinson’s disease after U.S. doctors were of no help.

The trip to India was a last resort for Andrew, who had been suffering with Parkinson’s for more than 15 years. Treatment at U.S. hospitals had provided zero results so he decided to try stem cells as a last go. His personal comfort and feeling of well-being have increased, but more noticeable to others is the fact that his tremors have reduced significantly and he can now walk without support one year following the treatment. The last few months have brought the elimination of his Parkinson’s medication as well. For those suffering with Parkinson’s disease, Andrew’s recovery will give them plenty of hope.

Said R Basil, M.D. and CEO, Manipal Health System, “The successful clinical outcomes from our stem cell research program have given us the confidence to share this new hope with the public at large so that a greater number of people can participate in the clinical research for getting relief from major diseases and disabilities.”

To determine the full ability of stem cells in treating disabilities and diseases that no current treatments offer much hope for is the goal for the team of accomplished stem cell research clinicians, led by Chief Scientific Officer of Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd, Dr. Satish Totey. Using human adult stem cells, the development of stem cell based therapies is the goal of the Stem Cell Research Center.

While delivering his presentation about the remarkable recovery of Andrew, Dr. Venkataramana said, “Stem cell research seems to be promising in regenerating hope to cure PD. This will motivate innumerable patients across the world to explore this new modality. However, we need to observe the long-term clinical effects in large number of patients to decide its role in the treatment of the degenerative diseases.”

According to Dr. Nagendra Swamy, Group Director- Medical Services, Manipal Health Systems, “Stem cell research has attracted wide attention from all medical fields in the world. The research involving human pluripotent stem cells promises new treatment and possible hope for many devastating diseases. This research Centre will promote cutting edge research which can be translated into clinical applications. This would support the in treating the diseases affecting heart, brain, liver, kidney, bone, spinal cord and vascular. This promises to be the future of medicine in coming years and Manipal is proud to be a leader in this science.”

People over the age of 50 make up the majority of those suffering from Parkinson’s. Current treatments cannot halt the progression of the disease, but can only alleviate a few of the symptoms.

Heart disease is a silent killer, but equally hushed are reporters, politicians and activists who disregard a politically incorrect cure. Grown from your own body

In an experimental treatment for angina and heart disease, doctors have implanted adult stem cells derived from a man’s fat tissue through liposuction into his heart.

Although he is doing well, it could take up to six months to see whether the cells repaired the damaged vessels in the 67-year-old man according to the Gregorio Maranon Hospital in Madrid.

He is the first patient to receive the treatment.

“Cardiologists … have implanted adult stem cells from fat in the heart of a patient for the first time in the world,” the state hospital said in a statement.

Scientists trust that therapy for a variety of conditions is feasible in the future since stem cells are master cells that can change in any variety of cell or tissue.

In conjunction with doctors at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, the new treatment is being developed with cardiologists at the Spanish hospital. The study will involve 36 individuals and the first patient was treated on January 30. His name has not been made public.

Emerson, an American colleague of Spanish cardiologist Francisco extracted the stem cells together.

“In just five hours approximately the cells were extracted, purified, selected and implanted with the aim of regenerating new blood vessels which may allow them to flow blood properly to the heart of the patient”, the hospital said.

In only two hours, 28 million cells were set for implanting. The reason for this was that unlike other varieties of stem cells, those extracted from fat do not need to be cultured for three weeks.

The cells were implanted with the use of a catheter by plastic surgeons, the same doctors who were also responsible for originally extracting the fat tissue from the patient

In order to determine if a subject

With an advance that offers hope to hundreds of children crippled by the rare disease, scientists have successfully used stem cells to treat muscular dystrophy.

In a world first, dogs severely disabled by a canine variety of the condition, were able to walk freely, run, and even jump, after receiving stem cell injections.

Italian researchers said the first trials on children could commence within two years while British experts have described the results as “startling” and as a potential cure.

The most common form of the terminal condition is Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Affecting 100 babies born each year in the UK, the study focused on this particular form of the condition.

Youngsters become entirely incapable of walking by the age of 11 and most experience difficulty before the age of three. The muscle wasting disease is most common in boys.

Sufferers tend to die when they reach their 20’s due to the weakening of the heart and lung muscles. There is no known cure.

To regenerate wasted muscle, the study examined the ability of stem cells – master cells with the potential to develop into other types of cells.

Injections of stem cells were administered to golden retrievers suffering from a condition comparable to the human variety.

After a series of injections, those that had been in the early stages of the disease had not developed any symptoms, while previously crippled animals were able to jump and run.

The effects have opened the door for human trials said the researchers from San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan who were writing in the journal Nature.

Treatment of other types of muscular dystrophy and even age-related muscle wasting could be an extended approach.

More ethically acceptable than taking cells from an embryo, the human trials will use adult stem cells taken from the child or teenager.

Professor Dominic, of Imperial College London, said: “This exciting study is a major step forward in demonstrating the potential of stem cells to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal muscle wasting disease.”

Professor George, of the University of London, described the research as “startling in its simplicity and success”.

Dr. Peter, of Nottingham University, said: “The importance of this result is not only in providing a potential cure for a currently incurable condition but also in the use of adult stem cells.

“The use of these cells avoids the controversial use of embryonic stem cells. In addition, the relatively easy delivery of these cells via the blood stream makes this a viable method to treat human patients.”

Dr. Marita, of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign charity, cautioned that research was still at an early stage.

She added: “If it does prove to be successful in humans, this technology has the potential to develop into an efficient and groundbreaking treatment not only for Duchenne, but also other muscular dystrophies.”

Offering a revolutionary advance that may be used to repair defective hearts in the future, scientists have grown human heart valves for the first time using stem cells from the fluid that cushions babies in the womb.

In order to have them ready to implant in a baby with heart defects after it is born, the thought is to generate these new valves in the lab while the pregnancy progresses.

The Swiss experiment suggests that people may one day be able to grow their own replacement heart parts — in some cases, even before they’re even born. Recent successes also include growing bladders and blood vessels.

The homegrown heart valves are more resilient and effective than artificial or cadaver valves; they are among several futuristic tissue engineering advances that could advance infant and adult heart treatment.

“This may open a whole new therapy concept to the treatment of congenital heart defects,” said Dr. Simon, a University of Zurich scientist who led the work, which was presented Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference.

In another first, Japanese researchers stated that they have grown new heart valves in rabbits using cells from the animals’ own tissue. It’s the first time replacement heart valves have been created in this manner, said lead author Dr. Kyoko.

“It’s very promising,” University of Chicago cardiologist Dr. Ziyad said of the two studies. “I don’t doubt” that it will be applied one day in humans, he said.

Killing more babies in the United States in the first year than any other birth defects, more than one percent, or 1 million babies, born worldwide each year have heart problems according to the National Institutes of Health.

Using ultrasound tests at about 20 weeks of pregnancy, the heart valve defects can be detected. And according to Simon, treatment with replacement valves would be feasible for at least one-third of afflicted infants have problems.

“It could be quite important if it turns out to work,” said Dr. Robert, a Northwestern University heart valve specialist.

There are drawbacks to conventional procedures for repairing faulty heart valves. Patients with artificial valves must take anti-clotting drugs for life because the valves are prone to blood clots. Repeating open-heart surgeries to replace heart valves is a problem with human cadaver valves or animal valves due to deterioration. And since cadaver and animals valves don’t grow along with the body, this is especially true in children, said Dr. Ziyad.

Valves made from the patient’s own cells are living tissue and might be able to grow with the patient, said Kyoko, a scientist at the National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute in Osaka.

The Swiss procedure has another advantage: Using cells the fetus sheds in amniotic fluid avoids controversy because it doesn’t involve destroying embryos to get stem cells.

“This is an ethical advantage,” Simon said at the meeting.

The experiment began with amniocentesis, which is a prenatal test for birth defects that is often offered to pregnant women aged 35 and older. The amniotic fluid was obtained this way by inserting a needle into the womb during this procedure.

Fetal stem cells were isolated from the fluid, cultured in a lab dish, then placed on a mold shaped like a small ink pen and made of biodegradable plastic. Growing each of the 12 valves created in the experiment took only four to six weeks.

The valves appeared to function normally during lab testes said researchers.

A new two-year experiment is underway involving valve transplants in sheep. Simon says it is the next step.

He and co-researcher Dorthe called their method “a promising, low-risk approach enabling the prenatal fabrication of heart valves ready to use at birth.”

Simon said amniotic stem cells also can be frozen for years and could potentially be used to create replacement parts for aging or diseased valves in adults

Experts say implanting tissue-engineered human valves in human hearts is likely years away, but the research is only preliminary. Despite the experts, the treatment is not as far-fetched as it sounds.

Earlier this year, U.S. scientists used tissue grown from the patient’s own cells to re-engineer seven diseased bladders.

And last year, created from their own skin and vein tissue, two kidney dialysis patients from Argentina received the world’s first tissue-engineered blood vessels.

Dr. John, a Children’s Hospital Boston heart surgeon and tissue engineering pioneer, said scientists are optimistic that this area of research will revolutionize how people with valve disease will be cared for in the future.

According to John, each year more than 250,000 patients worldwide have surgery to replace heart parts.

In one of John’s experiments, sheep were implanted with heart valves fashioned from stem cells harvested from sheep bone marrow. The valves appeared to function normally. Cells harvested from sheep arteries were used in a similar experiment.

Amniotic fluid has the potential to be a richer supply of stem cells in contrast to other sources says Simon.

The real test will be to see whether or not valves created from amniotic fluid will be superior to those made from other cell types said John.

“I’m pretty sure the ball will continue to be advanced down the field,” John said. “We’ll get there one way or the other.”

A preliminary study found that treatment with adult stem cells, which may have the potential to help millions of people who suffer from severe coronary artery disease is “well tolerated” by patients.

Monday, researchers at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Washington said that among 18 patients who had bone marrow injected into their hearts to heal tissue, after one year, there were no deaths or heart attacks. Reversing heart attack damage is the goal and researchers are excited to learn if stem cells originating from bone marrow can transform treatment for cardiac patients in this manner. The decision to begin a second trial, this time involving 150 patients, is supported by the primary findings.

“We have reached a milestone in exploring further a much-needed therapy for this patient population,” said the leader of the first study, Douglas, in statement. Douglas is the chief of cardiovascular research at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston.

15 of the patients said they had less chest pain and more ability to exercise after the injections.

Prior studies involving animals demonstrated that injecting stem cells into the heart could help repair or regenerate damaged tissue in the cardiac muscle.

According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, coronary artery disease is the primary cause of death in the United States and affects 13 million Americans. The hardening and narrowing of vessels is due to the buildup of fatty deposits on the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. This process may eventually lead to a heart attack.

Lifesaving umbilical cord transplants may soon be available to more people with $24 million in total funding set aside by the federal government to create the first national cord blood banking system.

Stories of hope and healing fill the hallways at the Duke University Medical Center pediatric bone marrow transplants ward. They treat children who come in suffering from sickle-cell anemia, leukemia, genetic diseases that affect the development of the brain and other body tissues, and cancers that are resistant to standard therapy.

Instead of bone marrow transplants, the healing is often credited to stem cells acquired from a donor’s umbilical cord blood that includes blood from the placenta as well as the cord attached to a newborn baby.

“Cord blood doesn’t have to match as closely as bone marrow, so many people who can never find a perfectly matched bone marrow donor can use cord blood instead,” said Dr. Joanne, director of the pediatric bone marrow and stem cell transplant program at Duke.

In the field of cord blood stem cell transplant, Dr. Joanne is a pioneer. From a network of six hospitals in the state of North Carolina, cord blood is donated to Carolina’s Cord Blood Bank which is run by Duke University. The hospitals include, Western WakeMed in Cary, Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, Greensboro Women’s Hospital, UNC Hospitals, and of course, Duke University Medical Center.

Because banks operate on limited private donations, health experts say that cord blood is in short supply. The process of collecting and cataloging cord blood can also be expensive.

“On average, it costs approximately $1,600 per unit,” Joanne said.

Committed to the creation of a cord blood donations coordinating center, the federal government has committed $10 million. Still awaiting approval is another $14 million that will help current cord blood banks.

“We’re hoping, with increased funding, that we can open other collection sites, and we’ve had many hospitals around the state approach us to participate,” Joanne said.

More patients that need the transplants will get them, since a larger supply of cord blood units will be available said Dr. Joanne.

Research for cell therapy is being conducted with the stem cells found in cord blood as well. Researchers have found that damaged cells in the liver, heart, pancreas, and brain, can possibly be replaced by cord blood stem cells.

Cord blood stem transplants will also benefit more adults said Dr. Joanne.

“In the beginning of the field, people thought it would only be useful in children because no one believed that a few ounces of cord blood would have enough cells to rescue an adult after a transplant, but it turns out that bigger units have enough cells for an adult,” she said.

Minorities will also benefit from the flexibility of cord blood stem cells.

“This does benefit minority patients, particularly African-Americans, because it’s very unlikely that they can find a fully matched bone marrow donor,” Dr. Joanne said. “But because cord blood only needs to match part-way, they can almost always find a cord blood donor.”

A national study that will examine whether our own blood stem cells can repair the heart will be available to individuals with severe angina that have limited treatment options.

Because of narrowed coronary arteries, certain areas of the heart don’t receive adequate oxygen. Researchers hope stem cells will stimulate the growth of new blood vessels, called angiogenesis, in these areas.

As many as 20 patients could join the study which is being conducted at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said principal investigator of the study’s local arm, Dr. Joon, clinical director of the UPMC Cardiovascular Institute. Six patients have enrolled thus far.

The trial will be conducted at 15 to 20 different medical centers requiring a total of 150 coronary artery disease patients.

Dr. Joon explained that the study is aimed at people with what we would call refractory angina, or chest pain and shortness of breath that’s coming from inadequate blood flow to the heart. Many of the study participant’s have already had bypass surgery or other procedures. However, they continue to have symptoms.

To increase the number of stem cells in blood circulation, study participants will take a drug for five days that will facilitate this boost. Upon the completion of the initial boost, the researchers will draw blood form the patient and collect and purify the stem cells in it.

Sophisticated cardiac navigation systems will assist the doctors with the process of injecting the cells back into the patient. Following the procedure, patients will receive MRI scans and other assessments in addition to being monitored with a symptom and activity diary and exercise testing.

Those who may be eligible for the stem cell trial include adult patients who are taking maximum medical therapy for severe coronary artery disease and are not candidates for angioplasty, stents, bypass surgery or other conventional treatments.