Stem Cell Therapy Save Her Dog, And Saved Her | Steve Dale …

The same remedy that healed journalist Julia Szabo's dog wound up saving her life.

Part of Szabo's book, "Medicine Dog: The Miraculous Cure that Healed My Best Friend and Saved My Life" (Lyon's Press, Guilford, CT, 2014; $16.47), is devoted to a black pit bull who found a sort of fountain of youth through stem cell therapy. Another portion focuses on how a similar therapy may have saved Szabo's own life.

Szabo says she purposefully intended to adopt a black pit bull from animal care and control in New York City because such a dog might otherwise never be adopted. It's true that black dogs of any breed are least likely to find homes, and dogs that resemble pit bulls aren't for everyone. Like most municipal animal control facilities, New York's is inundated with pits.

She recalls that when she first saw Sam, "He reached out his big bear-like paw, and I took it to my heart. It turned out the decision to adopt Sam was the best choice of my life." Sam was the "perfect dog," he adds, though large at 75 lbs. He was about a year old when adopted in 1996.

As the years passed, Sam became increasingly arthritic. Things got so bad that he could barely lift his leg to relieve himself. Szabo was treating Sam as her veterinarian suggested, but he continued to decline. One day, Sam collapsed on the street. Thing is - though he was about 14, aside from the arthritis, Sam was otherwise healthy.

Desperate to try anything, via Google, Szabo discovered Vet-Stem, a company that provides regenerative stem cell therapy for animals.

"It's an amazing thing," Szabo says, "While people in Europe know about this (treatment) and accept it, most Americans think embryonic stem cells (come) from aborted fetuses, but this isn't it; these stem cells are carried in belly fat. This is a case of loving fat."

Sam shortly after stem cell treatment

Under anesthesia, the animal undergoes liposuction, literally a tummy tuck. The fatty or adipose tissue is overnighted to Vet-Stem in San Diego, CA., where it's processed in a centrifuge to separate the stem cells from the fat. Then, the stem cells are placed in vials and delivered to the veterinarian on dry ice. The cells are then directly injected into the pet's arthritic joints and intravenously into the bloodstream.

"It's like the movie 'Fantastic Voyage,' where they shrink down the scientists into a tiny little capsule and go through the guy's bloodstream," says Szabo. "The stem cells naturally target places in the body that are inflamed and need an assist. In Sam's case, they went right to his inflamed joints, and it worked."

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