Category Archives: West Virginia Stem Cells

A paper presented to the Oxford Society of Scholars Forum by Rollin A. Van Broekhoven, JD, LLM, DPhil, DLitt, DPS 29 September 2001

INTRODUCTION

In 1729, when the Irish were crushed by poverty, thanks to the brutal economic policies of their English overlords, Jonathan Swift the conservative Irish clergyman who became the worlds greatest satirist wrote up A Modest Proposal. In deadpan prose and in a kindly benevolent style, he suggested that Irish babies be sold for food. That way, he argued, there would be both more food to go around and fewer mouths to feed. Besides, baby skin would make a really soft leather, making possible a new industry that would create jobs and boost the Irish economy.

Swift, the Christian pastor, was lampooning the moral utilitarianism of the Enlightenment, which taught that anything could be morally justified if it were useful giving the greatest tangible benefit to the greatest number. Swift showed where this kind of thinking, if pursued logically, would lead. Indeed, his A Modest Proposal did wake up the conscience of a good number of his readers, who realized that no noble social end could possibly justify the consumption of babies, and no moral philosophy that could justify such a thing could possibly be valid.

...Thinking about moral issues in utilitarian terms has become so ingrained that many Americans are unable to think in any other terms. If something no matter how reprehensible has a positive outcome, it must be okay.1

This paper addresses issues concerning the utilization of human embryonic stem cells in research. Although research also involves adult stem cells, such research does not at the present confront society with the same ethical and legal issues present in human embryonic stem cell research. Two great questions confront the human race at the start of this biotech century.2 The first is whether we should use members of our own kind, namely, Homo Sapiens, in whatever stage of biological existence, for the purpose that is other than the good of the individual concerned. The second, perhaps only in the horizons of our thinking, is whether we should use our growing capacity to design, determine, and transform ourselves and our nature, toward a so-called post-human future.3 What is at stake is societys understanding of what it means to be human. Nevertheless, underlying consideration of this subject are the following questions: If a procedure or process is scientifically or technologically feasible, is it, or should it be morally permissible, or at least be regarded as morally neutral?4 If it is morally permissible or neutral, is it, or should it be legally permissible? For many of us, these questions are intensely personal as we deal with bioethical end of life or incurable disease issues in our own families.

The relation of the natural sciences and morality and religion and law is one of the most fascinating, challenging, controversial, and potentially enriching studies possible in contemporary Western life. At its broadest and most general meaning, science is knowledge that is accumulated, systematized, and formulated with reference to the discovery of general truths or the operation of general laws. At this level, a distinction must be made between the natural or physical sciences, such as physics, chemistry, or biology, and the normative sciences, such as the social sciences. A more specific definition of the natural science may be that it is any systematic field of study or body of knowledge that aims, through experimentation, observation and deduction to produce a reliable explanation of phenomena with reference to the material or physical world.5 Philosophy of science deals, in very general terms, with the philosophical issues associated with the natural sciences.6

The natural sciences tended to be neutral towards religion. They did not require prior or consequent acceptance or rejection of any religious beliefs. As a result, most natural scientists assume that considerations of divine influence upon or involvement within natural order are largely irrelevant to the specific task searching for a natural explanation to patterns observed in nature. A significant philosophical distinction important to understanding the development of the natural sciences concerns rationalism and empiricism.7

On the one hand, rationalism with its emphasis on reason and view that all truth has its origins in human thought, unaided by any form of supernatural intervention or appeal to the experience of the senses, promoted the view that certain truths were universal and necessary. The alternative to rationalism, on the other hand, was an appeal to experience, generally known as empiricism. The issue emerging from the debate between rationalism and empiricism is whether certain truths (assuming there is such a thing as truth) are a priori or a posteriori. The same debate exists in religion and in moral thought, namely is the knowledge of God a priori, implanted there by God, or a posteriori, derived by reflection on experience or divine revelation. How one approaches the question of the morality of stem cell research is in large measure derived from ones a priori understanding of the nature of God and His commands, or ones a posteriori understanding of God based on ones experiences, including experience with God.

Where once there was a dialogue between religion and science, with certain shared assumptions, now there is a growing sense of conflict between religion and science. While the nature and the reasons for this conflict are beyond the scope of this paper, there are four considerations that may be noted that reflect the growing realization of insecurity in the inherited assumptions on which prior prevailing understandings rested.8 These include: the cultural shift reflected in the rise of postmodernism; the growing dissatisfaction with philosophical foundationalism; the influence of the negative direction of the conflict models and imageries; and the tendency to perpetuate outdated and misleading stereotypes often dependent upon incorrect assumptions, findings, and assertions in earlier works.9

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Stem Cell Research, Morality, and Law

A promising new treatment for breast cancer being developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) has been shown in cell culture and in animal models to selectively kill cancer stem cells at the original tumor site and in distant metastases with no toxic effects on healthy cells, including normal stem cells. Cancer stem cells are critical to a cancers ability to recur following conventional chemotherapies and radiation therapy because they can quickly multiply and establish new tumors that are often therapy resistant.

The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, focuses on a gene originally cloned in the laboratory of primary investigator Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D. The gene, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7 (mda-7), also known as interleukin (IL)-24, has been shown to directly impact two forms of cell suicide known as apoptosis and toxic autophagy, regulate the development of new blood vessels and also play a role in promoting cancer cell destruction by the immune system. In the present study, the researchers used a recombinant adenovirus vector, an engineered virus with modified genetic material, known as Ad.mda-7 to deliver the mda-7/IL-24 gene with its encoded protein directly to the tumor.

Therapy with the mda-7/IL-24 gene has been shown to be safe in a phase I clinical trial involving patients with advanced cancers, and prior studies in my laboratory and with collaborators have shown that the gene could also be effective against breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic and brain cancers, says Fisher, Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and co-leader of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, chairman of VCU School of Medicines Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM). Our study demonstrates that this therapy may someday be an effective way to eradicate both early and advanced stage breast cancer, and could even be used to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.

The researchers found that infection of human breast cancer cells with the adenovirus decreased the proliferation of breast cancer stem cells without affecting normal breast stem cells. It was also shown to induce a stress response in the cells that led to apoptosis by disrupting Wnt/B-catenin signaling, a process cells rely upon to transmit signals that initiate biological functions critical to survival. In mouse models, the therapy profoundly inhibited the growth of tumors generated from breast cancer stem cells and also killed cancer cells in distant, uninjected tumors.

Since discovering the mda-7/IL-24 gene, Fisher and his team have worked to develop better ways to deliver it to cancer cells, including two cancer terminator viruses known as Ad.5-CTV and Ad.5/3-CTV. Cancer terminator viruses are unique because they are designed to replicate only within cancer cells while delivering immune-modulating and toxic genes such as MDA-7/IL-24. Coupled with a novel stealth delivery technique known as ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD), researchers can now systemically deliver viruses and therapeutic genes and proteins directly to tumors and their surrounding tissue (microenvironment) at both primary and metastatic tumor sites. UTMD uses microscopic, gas-filled bubbles that can be paired with viral therapies, therapeutic genes and proteins, and imaging agents and can then be released in a site and target-specific manner via ultrasound. Fisher and his colleagues are pioneering this approach and have already reported success in experiments utilizing UTMD technology and mda-7/IL-24 gene therapy in prostate and colorectal cancer models.

We are hopeful that this targeted gene therapy could be safely combined with conventional chemotherapies to significantly improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer and potentially a variety of other cancers, says Fisher. When paired with promising new delivery techniques such as UTMD, physicians may one day be able to better target site-specific cancers and also monitor the effectiveness of these types of therapies in real time.

Fisher collaborated on this study with Paul Dent, Ph.D., member of the Developmental Therapeutics program at VCU Massey, professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at VCU School of Medicine and member of VIMM; Xiang-Yang Wang, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, associate professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and associate scientific director of immunology and infectious diseases of VIMM; Devanand Sarkar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Harrison Scholar and member of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, associate professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine, and associate scientific director of cancer therapeutics at VIMM; Belal Azab, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Menezes, Ph.D., both postdoctoral scientists from the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine; and Sujit K. Bhutia, Ph.D., Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine, now an assistant professor in the Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India.

This study was supported by National Cancer Institute grants R01 CA097318 and P01 CA104177.

The full manuscript of this study is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28289/abstract;jsessionid=EAF95F3253E44B492D50B8E862E1F55E.d03t03

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Targeted viral therapy destroys breast cancer stem cells ...

Paratrooper Ben Parkinson, who lost both legs aged just 22, meets Princess Anne

The course of treatment depends on the individual patient, explains Prof James. It can be extremely arduous and is no quick fix. Ben will probably have 20 one-hour sessions over the next month and then be reviewed.

Prof James, 73, emeritus professor of hyperbaric medicine at the University of Dundee, is one of the UKs foremost experts in the subject, having spent most of his professional life involved in deep sea diving, where high levels of oxygen are routinely used for brain and spinal cord injuries.

His book, Oxygen and the Brain, which took him 20 years to write, was published at the end of last year . He passionately believes that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), still regarded with suspicion by much of the medical establishment, can be used to improve the treatment of a range of disorders, from traumatic brain injury like Bens to multiple sclerosis (MS).

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is still regarded as quackery by many doctors because it is not taught in our medical schools he says. But it is simply a means of giving more of the oxygen we all breathe. We need to use more oxygen in medical practice and especially in the treatment of brain disorders, which remains in the dark ages.

There is now overwhelming evidence from advanced imaging of brain injured patients that confirms the brain cells may not be dead but sleeping or dormant, rather, and can be revived after injury.

A second important discovery is that stem cells that form in the brain as we grow in the womb are still present in our brains as adults and retain the ability to grow new nerve cells, Prof James adds.

His book, which charts our understanding of the importance of oxygen, takes in the adventures of 19th century balloonists, vital work on the nature of gases by the Scottish physiologist J.S. Haldane, the pre-war popularity of compressed air baths, and the opening in Cleveland in 1928 of the renowned hyperbaric hotel for patients with a variety of conditions.

Prof Philip James, author of the book Oxygen and the Brain

Oxygen, he points out, is a key component of the natural healing process, although we seldom think of it that way. The oxygen we breathe normally is involved in repairing and regenerating tissue all the time he explains.

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The miraculous healing powers of oxygen

SEATTLE After tackling the brain, the Ebola epidemic, and a host of other issues, billionaire Paul Allen has a new target for scientific philanthropy: unraveling the inner workings of human cells.

On Monday, the Microsoft co-founder announced a $100 million, five-year grant to establish the Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle.

The goal is to better understand the teeming world inside cells, where thousands of organelles and millions of molecules interact in a dynamic ballet that researchers are just beginning to fathom.

We really dont have a good idea of how normal cells work, and what goes wrong in disease, said Rick Horwitz, the former University of Virginia professor who jumped at the chance to lead the new institute. People spend careers trying to understand little parts of the cell, but nobody has stitched it together because its too complicated for any individual to study.

The institute will take on the challenge by combining new technologies, like microscopes that can visualize living cells in three dimensions, with enough computational firepower to make sense of the flood of data that will result, Horwitz said.

Eventually, he and his team hope to develop computer models that mimic living cells. If they succeed, those models could also shed light on what goes haywire in cancer and other diseases and help develop cures, he said.

At a time when federal research budgets are shrinking, the announcement is one of the most exciting things to happen in Seattle science in a long time, said Dr. Chuck Murry, co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington. When the Allen folks get into something, they do it at a scale thats just mind-blowing.

The grant is one of Allens largest, on par with the $100 million he committed earlier this year to fight Ebola in West Africa, and a $100 million grant in 2003 to establish the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science. He has since plowed an additional $300 million into the brain institute.

Allen, who joined his old partner Bill Gates in pledging to donate the bulk of his wealth, has stepped up his philanthropic efforts in recent years. Its a good bet he will continue investing in the cell institute as long as it measures up, said Allan Jones, who leads the Allen Institute for Brain Science and helped organize its new sister institute.

We need to knuckle down and show that we can deliver something very powerful, Jones said.

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Paul Allen gives 100 million to explore how cells work

Seattle After tackling the brain, the Ebola epidemic, and a host of other issues, billionaire Paul Allen has a new target for scientific philanthropy: unraveling the inner workings of human cells.

On Monday, the Microsoft co-founder announced a $100 million, five-year grant to establish the Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle.

The goal is to better understand the teeming world inside cells, where thousands of organelles and millions of molecules interact in a dynamic ballet that researchers are just beginning to fathom.

We really dont have a good idea of how normal cells work, and what goes wrong in disease, said Rick Horwitz, the former University of Virginia professor who jumped at the chance to lead the new institute. People spend careers trying to understand little parts of the cell, but nobody has stitched it together because its too complicated for any individual to study.

The institute will take on the challenge by combining new technologies, like microscopes that can visualize living cells in three dimensions, with enough computational firepower to make sense of the flood of data that will result, Horwitz said.

Eventually, he and his team hope to develop computer models that mimic living cells. If they succeed, those models could also shed light on what goes haywire in cancer and other diseases and help develop cures, he said.

At a time when federal research budgets are shrinking, the announcement is one of the most exciting things to happen in Seattle science in a long time, said Dr. Chuck Murry, co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington. When the Allen folks get into something, they do it at a scale thats just mind-blowing.

The grant is one of Allens largest, on par with the $100 million he committed earlier this year to fight Ebola in West Africa, and a $100 million grant in 2003 to establish the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science. He has since plowed an additional $300 million into the brain institute.

Allen, who joined his old partner Bill Gates in pledging to donate the bulk of his wealth, has stepped up his philanthropic efforts in recent years. Its a good bet he will continue investing in the cell institute as long as it measures up, said Allan Jones, who leads the Allen Institute for Brain Science and helped organize its new sister institute.

We need to knuckle down and show that we can deliver something very powerful, Jones said.

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Microsoft Co-Founder Establishes Cell Institute with $100 Million Grant

West Point Virginia, Stem Cell Therapy. Discover how Stem Cells can help you avoid having Surgery by simply coming to one of our Virginia Stem Cell Regeneration Centers of Excellence.

Dr. Dennis Lox M.D. is a Specilist in Regenerative Medicine that focuses on Stem Cell Therapy Regeneration within the Virginia area and has been helping patients since 1990 to increase their quality of life by reducing their pain. He emphasizes non-surgical treatments and appropriate use of medications.

Many patients in Virginia are turning to Stem Cell Therapy as a means of nonsurgical joint pain when their mobility and quality of life are severely affected by conditions like osteoarthritis, torn tendons, and injured ligaments. Dr. Dennis M. Lox, M.D. specializes in this progressive, innovative treatment that may be able to help you return to an active, fulfilling life in West Point.

Stem Cells used in Stem Cell Therapy are extracted from ones own body fat as opposed to embryos or bone marrow. The result is a much higher count of Stem Cells which provide better regeneration. The whole process can be done in one day making surgery a thing of the past.

If you live in West Point and are are looking in to having Stem Cell Therapy. Please Contact the Sports and Regenerative Medicine Center at (844) 440-8503 or fill out the form below if you live in the West Point area and find out if Stem Cell Therapy can help you have a better life.

Contact the Sports and Regenerative Medicine Centers if your located within the West Point Virginia area today.

Located in West Point, Virginia read about Stem Cell Therapy and how Stem Cells may help you live a more active life.

A stem cell is a precursor cell to other cells in the body. This means the stem cell can differentiate or turn into another type of cells. Some stem cells such as Embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any tissue type, while adult stem cells are committed to only certain cell types. Mesenchymal stem cells can become cartilage, bone, muscle, tendon, or fat. Hematopoietic stem cells can become blood forming cells.

Stem cells not only differentiate into other cell types, they also regulate cell processes such as immunomodulation. This can control inflammation by cell signaling. It turns out regulation of cell signals is a very important function. In degenerative states such as arthritis, the cell signals favor catabolism or cartilage breakdown over cartilage buildup. This is under a very complex communication network of cell signals. Redirecting undesirable cell signals to favor a cartilage repair state is yet another mechanism by which stem cells exert an effect. So much so that these mesenchymal cells have also been described as medicinal cells, due to their multitude of effects directed towards repair.

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West Point Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy West Point ...

West McLean Virginia, Stem Cell Therapy. Discover how Stem Cells can help you avoid having Surgery by simply coming to one of our Virginia Stem Cell Regeneration Centers of Excellence.

Dr. Dennis Lox M.D. is a Specilist in Regenerative Medicine that focuses on Stem Cell Therapy Regeneration within the Virginia area and has been helping patients since 1990 to increase their quality of life by reducing their pain. He emphasizes non-surgical treatments and appropriate use of medications.

Many patients in Virginia are turning to Stem Cell Therapy as a means of nonsurgical joint pain when their mobility and quality of life are severely affected by conditions like osteoarthritis, torn tendons, and injured ligaments. Dr. Dennis M. Lox, M.D. specializes in this progressive, innovative treatment that may be able to help you return to an active, fulfilling life in West McLean.

Stem Cells used in Stem Cell Therapy are extracted from ones own body fat as opposed to embryos or bone marrow. The result is a much higher count of Stem Cells which provide better regeneration. The whole process can be done in one day making surgery a thing of the past.

If you live in West McLean and are are looking in to having Stem Cell Therapy. Please Contact the Sports and Regenerative Medicine Center at (844) 440-8503 or fill out the form below if you live in the West McLean area and find out if Stem Cell Therapy can help you have a better life.

Contact the Sports and Regenerative Medicine Centers if your located within the West McLean Virginia area today.

Located in West McLean, Virginia read about Stem Cell Therapy and how Stem Cells may help you live a more active life.

Regeneration implies repair. There are obviously various degrees of repair or regeneration in the utilization of stem cells for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Some may not have overt changes on radio graphic images such as x-rays. Stem cells exert an immune regulatory effect which may alleviate inflammation which is causing degeneration. This is one aspect of how stem cells work in a regenerative fashion.

Dr. Dennis Lox an expert in Sports and Regenerative Medicine discusses Stem Cell Regeneration Medicine. Dr. Lox practices in the Tampa Bay Metro area and the Washington DC Metro/ Northern Virginia area.

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West McLean Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy West ...

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Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. William Tse, M.D., associate professor of medicine and eminent scholar in hematologic malignancies research at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University, has been named the new director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center, a part of KentuckyOne Health. Tse will join UofL Nov. 1.

Tse will hold the Marion F. Beard Endowed Chair in Hematology Research at UofL and become a member of the cancer centers Developmental Biology Program.

Dr. Tse is emerging as one of the thought leaders in bone marrow transplantation, said Donald Miller, M.D., Ph.D., director of the JGBCC. He has trained and worked at several of the leading blood cancer programs in the nation. We look forward to his leading our program at UofL.

Tse has been at West Virginia since 2009, where he also is the co-leader the Osborn Hematologic Malignancies Program. Prior to joining West Virginia, Tse was on the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver, where he was the director of translational research program for bone marrow transplantation and hematologic malignancies. He also previously was with Case Western Reserve University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Medical Center.

Tse is active in national organizations, serving in several capacities with the American Society of Hematology, including section chair for the annual meetings Oncogene Section and bone marrow transplantation outcome section, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology as an annual meeting abstract reviewer and the section chair on geriatric oncology. Tse also serves leadership roles on several editorial boards including as the senior editor of the American Journal of Blood Research, stem cell biomarkers section editor for Biomarker Research, senior editor of the American Journal of Stem Cells and the academic editor of PLoS One.

A graduate of the Sun Yat-Sen University School of Medicine in Guangzhou, Guangdong, in China, he did a thoracic surgical oncology residency at Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou before completing postdoctoral research fellowships in medical biophysics, immunology and cancer at the Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute and the Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario, Canada. He completed clinical pathology and internal medicine residencies at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital before undertaking a senior medical fellowship in clinical research and medical oncology divisions at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington Medical Center.

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Tse Named Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation Division at University of Louisville

On July 18, 2006, the U.S. Senate convened to vote on a proposed bill (H.R.810) that would amend the Public Health Service Act and provide federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. This bill was passed by the Senate but was later vetoed by President George W. Bush. The two West Virginia Senators, Democrats Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both voted in support of the bill.

As of early 2008, the only hospital offering blood stem cell transplants for therapeutics in the state of West Virginia was the West Virginia University Hospital System, under the leadership of Solveig G. Ericson, M.D., Ph.D. Ericson is the director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant and Hematologic Malignancy Program. This program offers blood stem cell transplants, clinical trials, and access to both national and international stem cell registries.

At the West Virginia University School of Medicine, Sreekumar Othumpangat, Ph.D., working in the laboratories of Laura Gibson, Ph.D., and Giovanni Piedimonte, M.D., in the Department of Pediatrics, studies embryonic stem cell differentiation.

In the Division of Exercise Physiology, Ming Pei, Ph.D., is the director of the Tissue Engineering Laboratory; he works to study how synovium-derived stem cells could be a starting point for engineering of new tissue to repair damaged knee joints. The synovium is a soft tissue in the joints that lines the noncartilaginous regions. Pei is also investigating the use of small intestinally derived stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells for this same purpose. He is funded by a number of sources, including the National Institutes of Health.

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West Virginia (Stem Cell) - what-when-how

Patricia

Thanks for the update. I went to Dr F on March 19th and my treatment was identical to yours. I have noticed improvements but for the first month I was getting over a nasty cold that started the day BEFORE treatment so I was unable to notice many changes for the first 6 weeks. Two weeks ago, I went out with my husband for brunch and shopping and was able to walk around for two hours without being short of breath (yes I was still using my oxygen). That was the start of seeing improvements. This past week, I had two days where I was able to walk up and down the aisles in Walgreens, get back in the car and go over to the pet store and walk around there for another 30 minutes without any shortness of breath. It was like a miracle for me. I hadn't felt that good for well over a year if not longer. Unfortunately, the rest of the week I've been back to not feeling as great, but I did go to brunch today and then shopping without any trouble. I am having more and more days of feeling stronger, breathing better and my O2 Saturation is a few points higher than it has been. Showering isn't a big ordeal anymore.

I also have ulcerative colitis and have not needed to take my pills for over a month now. This is the first time since last February that I am pain free and not needing meds.

I will keep everyone updated of any changes/improvements. I have not had a PFT since treatment (plan to in Sept) but my peak flow meter reading has gone from from 150 to 190 in the past two weeks.

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Stem cell treatment for copd