Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

Updated: Wednesday, April 16 2014, 06:10 PM CDT It's like a new lease on life for some pets in Lebanon County, after they got an improved type of stem cell therapy.

Gunney is an 8-year-old German Shepherd, suffering with severe hip pain. Doctor Calvin Clements is treating the dog with a new type of stem cell therapy, where cells are collected, harvested, and injected. This is all done in the Palmyra Office and all done on the same day.

This takes out the practice of shipping out the tissues and waiting days to get the cells back. In the end, it allows the animals to feel better, faster.

It will take Gunney just a few days to start feeling better, but a full month before the cells fully take. According to Doctor Calvin Clements, this therapy improves the animal's health by 85%.Palmyra vet treats dogs with stem cell therapy

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Palmyra vet treats dogs with stem cell therapy

By Estel Grace Masangkay

Bone marrow stem cells may help in stroke recovery, according to a team of researchers from the University of California, Irvines Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.

Neurologist Dr. Steven Cramer and biomedical engineer Weian Zhao together analyzed 46 studies evaluating the use of a type of multipotent adult stem cells mostly processed from the bone marrow called mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) in animal models of stroke. Results showed that MSCs were superior to control therapy in 44 out of the 46 studies.

Dr. Cramer said Stroke remains a major cause of disability, and we are encouraged that the preclinical evidence shows [MSCs] efficacy with ischemic stroke. MSCs are of particular interest because they come from bone marrow, which is readily available, and are relatively easy to culture. In addition, they already have demonstrated value when used to treat other human diseases.

The MSCs effect on functional recovery was shown to be robust regardless of other factors such as dosage, time of administration relative to the stroke onset, or administration method. An earlier report focusing on MSC mechanisms of action explained how the cells were attracted to the injury sites and began releasing a wide range of molecules in response to signals emitted by the damaged areas. The molecules in turn stimulate several activities including blood vessel creation for enhanced circulation, protection of vulnerable cells, brain cell growth, and others. The MSCs also fostered an environment conducive to brain repair.

We conclude that MSCs have consistently improved multiple outcome measures, with very large effect sizes, in a high number of animal studies and, therefore, that these findings should be the foundation of further studies on the use of MSCs in the treatment of ischemic stroke in humans, said Dr. Cramer.

The UCI teams analysis appeared in the April 8 issue of Neurology.

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UCI Team Discovers Bone Marrow Stem Cells' Potential In Stroke Recovery

Trinity Stem Cell Institute
At the Trinity Stem Cell Institute our medical team is among the most renowned in the world for their research and development of stem cell therapy for back ...

By: SMU Productions - Tampa Video Production

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Trinity Stem Cell Institute - Video

Doctors perform eye surgery in an operating room at Shiley Eye Center Wednesday. The center recently received a $6.5 million gift to help establish a new stem cell research laboratory.

A $6.5 million donation from an unnamed patient will help the Shiley Eye Center at UC San Diego strengthen its focus on stem cells, which hold the promise of repairing damage done by diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Dr. Robert Weinreb, the centers director and a widely-published glaucoma researcher, said hes conducting a worldwide search for stem cell scientists to come to Shiley, which last year ranked fourth in National Institutes of Health funding among ophthalmology research centers nationwide.

Stem cells are known for their ability to transform themselves into nearly any other type of cell in the body, and scientists are exploring ways to use this Rosetta stone of biology to repair damage caused by cancer, diabetes and a range of other diseases.

Theres also huge potential for stem cells and the human eye.

Were going to use the stem cells to treat retinal diseases including macular degeneration, to rescue the optic nerve in glaucoma, as well as to replace the diseased layers of the cornea in patients with blinding corneal diseases, Weinreb said.

Vision loss is a growing problem as more and more baby boomers reach retirement age.

Paul Kelly, 83, undergoes a test that measures the curvature of his corneas Wednesday at Shiley Eye Center in La Jolla.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 1.8 million Americans have advanced age-related macular degeneration and projects that number to soar to 2.9 million by 2020. In addition, the incidence of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy is expected to grow significantly in the same time frame.

But theres hope.

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Grateful patient donates $6.5M to Shiley Eye Center

A major medical journal has published a notice of concern about data included in a paper that found benefits for an experimental stem-cell therapy in a small number of heart failure patients. The concerns were raised during an internal investigation at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School that has already led to the retraction of another paper led by the same prominent and controversial cardiologist.

In an expression of concern posted online Thursday night and first reported by the blog Retraction Watch, editors of the British medical journal The Lancet said Harvard had notified them of an ongoing investigation that has raised questions about the integrity of certain data used in two figures in a 2011 paper overseen by Dr. Piero Anversa at the Brigham.

A notice of concern is issued when a journal learns of potential problems with a paper but is awaiting more information before deciding whether to correct or retract the study.

It alerts our readers to the fact the investigation is going on, a journal spokesperson said Friday.

The Harvard and Brigham investigation has already revealed compromised data in a 2012 paper in the journal Circulation, which described rapid turnover of cells in the heart and was also overseen by Anversa. That paper was retracted Tuesday.

Both papers examined the regenerative capacity of the heart, in an effort to harness cardiac stem cells to repair damaged or diseased heart muscle.

This notice of concern, coupled with the recent retraction, is extremely troubling because of the large number of clinical trials inspired by reports from this group, the many desperate patients potentially affected, and the large amount of federal and private money that has been diverted from other areas of promising research to pursue these ideas, Dr. Jonathan Epstein, a professor of cardiovascular research at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, wrote in an e-mail.

Neither of the journals has been specific about who is at fault or what the nature of the problems are.

The focus of this investigation is on two supplemental figures published online, The Lancet said. As far as we are aware, the investigation is confined to the work completed at BWH.

Anversa has not responded to e-mail or voicemail messages.

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Harvard investigation leads to expression of concern on Brigham-led stem cell research

Nature News Blog

10 Apr 2014 | 22:47 BST | Posted by Sara Reardon | Category: stem cells

Stem-cell biologist Mahendra Rao, who resigned last week as director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), has a new job. On 9 April, he was appointed vice-president for regenerative medicine at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), a non-profit organization that funds embryonic stem-cell research.

Rao left the NIH abruptly on 28 March, apparently because of disagreements about the number of clinical trials of stem-cell therapies that the NIHs intramural CRM programme would conduct. The CRM was established in 2010 to shepherd therapies using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) adult cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic state into clinical translation. One of the CRMs potential therapies, which will use iPS cells to treat macular degeneration of the retina, will continue moving towards clinical trials at the NIH, although several others were not funded. NIH officials say that the CRM will not continue in its current direction, but the fate of the centres remaining budget and resources is undecided.

Rao says that he wants to move more iPS cell therapies towards trials than the NIH had been willing to do. He has already joined the advisory boards of several stem-cell-therapy companies: Q Therapeutics, a Salt Lake City-based neural stem cell company he co-founded; and Cesca Therapeutics (formerly known as ThermoGenesis) of Rancho Cordova, California, and Stemedica of San Diego, California, both of which are developing cell-based therapies for cardiac and vascular disorders.

Rao says that his initial focus at the NYSCF will be developing iPS cell lines for screening, and formulating a process for making clinical-grade cell lines from a patients own cells.

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Former NIH stem-cell chief joins New York foundation

illustration by: Ravi Jadhav

Stem cells and gene hold promising treatment options for Parkinson's Disease, say doctors across the globe, including those in Mumbai.

Eleven trials to test stem cell and gene therapies for treating the disease are currently underway. In Mumbai, however, only two out of these 11 trials were being done resource constraints led to one being canned and regulatory hurdles have put the other one on hold.

Currently, neuro-augmentative therapies, such as usage of drugs or deep brain stimulation (DBS), are being used to treat Parkinson's Disease. "The future holds hope for neuro-restorative therapies like that of stem cells or gene infusion. Stem cells are the very primary kind of cells which can take on the function of any body part's cells after their infusion with that body part. It (the treatment) involves restoration of brain function to normal. In the next five to seven years, this may pave the way for the future," said Dr Paresh Doshi, neurologist at Jaslok Hospital on Peddar Road.

Doshi said trial of Duodopa therapy, which involves infusion of an active ingredient gel called Levodopa in the intestines, has been kept on hold. Jaslok Hospital was the only centre in the whole of Southeast Asia that was running the trial.

"Levodopa gets converted into dopamine in the body. Normal levels of dopamine control Parkinson's Disease," said Doshi.

A trial to infuse stem cells from the patient's body into the patient himself/herself had been underway in a small group of patients in India, but it had to be stopped due to the inability to recruit more patients.

Doshi said, "We could only recruit four patients for two years. However, a similar trial is underway in China and another trial, which explores adipose tissue stem cells, is underway in South Africa."

In January, medical journal The Lancet reported that after 16 years of trials, gene therapy is showing promising results in humans. "Three genes that promote the formation of dopamine-generating cells in the brain were injected in the brain, bound with a viral vector, in 15 patients. ...dopamine... becomes deficient in patients with Parkinson's," The Lancet report stated.

Three patients from the UK and 12 from France in advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease underwent an operation, wherein the virus with the three genes was injected in their brains. The patients, who had become stiff due to the disease, showed a 30% improvement in their movement after the surgery. After four years of follow-ups, they continued to improve and dopamine kept on being produced in their brain, in parts where it was not being produced before.

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Gene, stem cell therapies trials underway for Parkinson's, but not in Mumbai

The NBI says Park 'misrepresented herself as a licensed physician in several occasions'

CHARGED. The NBI files charges against an alternative medicine doctor based in Tagaytay. File photo by Buena Bernal/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday, April 10, filed before the Tagaytay City Prosecutor's Office a case against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's stem cell physician for illegal practice of medicine.

Antonia Carandang-Park, an alternative medicine doctor based in Tagaytay City, was charged for having violated Republic Act 2382 or The Medical Act of 1959. Park is the owner and operator of the Green & Young Health & Wellness Center.

The bureau's investigation found that Park "misrepresented herself as a licensed physician [on] several occasions."

Watch this report below,

The NBI Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division (AOTCD) was acting on a complaint filed before the bureau by physician Eunice Salazar-Abad, who worked as an aesthetic physician with Park.

According to the NBI, Abad noticed some "irregularities" and the "unorthodox method" of treatment by Park. The NBI also found that Park, whose treatment of Arroyo gained her popularity, did not make an effort to correct news reports that referred to her as a medical doctor.

ILLEGAL PRACTICE. Dr Antonia Park in this Nov 17, 2012 photo taken by Kate Tan. Photo from Bernard Tan.

In her diagnosis of Arroyo, Park supposedly signed an official statement dated July 25, 2012 as "Dra. Antonia Park, M.D.," where she considered stem cell therapy for Arroyo, who's now under hospital arrest for plunder charges at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City. Mrs Arroyo is suffering from a debilitating neck and back pain.

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Arroyo's stem cell doctor charged with illegal practice