Category Archives: Stem Cell Treatment

Awareness about Parkinson's disease on shaky ground

By Stem Cell Treatment

Parkinson's is an incurable progressive condition of the brain. It affects movement, speech and balance and causes incessant shivering of the face and limbs. Genetic and environmental factors are believed to contribute to the degeneration of brain cells that maintain bodily movement. There is no particular test to detect the disease, with only physical symptoms enabling doctors to make a diagnosis.

After 15 years of suffering and two failed stem cell transplantation surgeries, a 68-year-old businessman finally decided to undergo surgery on the eve of World Parkinson's Day at Jaslok Hospital. According to the doctors, the businessman, who is from Gujarat, had uncontrolled Parkinson's disease (PD) and was lured by the temptation of finding a 'cure' for the disease.

"He was lured by the temptation of finding a 'cure' for Parkinson's disease he underwent intracranial stem cell transplantation (a neurosurgical procedure) in Bangalore. As he did not obtain any benefit, he was given a 'top up' by the intravenous stem cell route. Obviously, none of these worked and his disease progressed," said Dr Paresh Doshi, Director, Neurosurgery Department at Jaslok Hospital.

As the disease progressed, Jain decided to go for deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, a standard surgical treatment for PD. "He had unbearable stiffness and discomfort and was taking large doses of medications. With the disease being in an advanced stage, DBS surgery was the only option," said Dr Doshi.

Since Jain had already undergone two operations, the team of neurosurgeons had a tough time executing the surgery. "Jain's case was tricky as the area we were interested in had already been operated on. Advanced technology and expertise helped us find our way into the brain and successfully accomplish the surgery," said Dr Doshi.

While Jain is now recuperating at the hospital, Dr Doshi said he is a classic example of poor awareness on PD. "The important message to convey is that stem cell treatment is a still at the laboratory stage. It can be tested on humans only after careful animal experimentation. So far, the efficacy of the stem cell therapy hasn't been proven and people shouldn't get misled," he said.

Neurologists say PD affects roughly one lakh people in India most of them over the age of 50, although it can sometimes affect younger adults. Awareness about the disease is a must in India, as the number of PD cases affecting those over the age of 60 are increasing sharply. "Parkinson's affects one in hundred individuals. While 55 crore Indians over 60 were afflicted in 2013, the number is estimated to triple to 160 crores by 2050. By then, over 22% of the Indian population will comprise of the elderly. It is therefore important to have more awareness on management of the disease," said Dr Doshi.

Dr Maria Barretto, CEO of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Society (PDMDS), which has twenty support groups in India including in Mumbai, Nasik and Baroda, agreed on poor general awareness about PD. "At PDMDS, we conduct various programs to spread awareness on the disease among both caregivers and the patients," she said.

Dr Charulata Sankhla, neurophysician at PD Hinduja Hospital who is also part of PDMDS, said that PD cases may be underreported due to lack of awareness. "Patients come to us very late because they don't recognise the symptoms. PD has to be diagnosed early, and it is very important to keep the patient active to ensure s/he has better mobility and a longer life."

Talking about surgery intervention, Dr Sankhla added that doctors would earlier wait for 5-6 years before taking a patient for surgery. However, surgery is being opted for in 3-4 years post the onset of PD. "Patients need to approach neurophysicians at the earliest so that it can be determined which stage of the disease the patient falls in. Treatment and surgery are recommended accordingly."

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Awareness about Parkinson's disease on shaky ground

The New Botox: Stem Cell Therapy Cream Reviews- Wellington Anti Aging Centre Loxahatchee FL – Video

By Stem Cell Treatment


The New Botox: Stem Cell Therapy Cream Reviews- Wellington Anti Aging Centre Loxahatchee FL
The New Botox: Stem Cell Therapy Cream Reviews http://GoAgelessNow.com The New Botox: Stem Cell Therapy Cream Reviews Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease.

By: Jamal Spikes

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The New Botox: Stem Cell Therapy Cream Reviews- Wellington Anti Aging Centre Loxahatchee FL - Video

Degenerated Discs/Shoulder Arthritis 7 months after stem cell treatment by Harry Adelson, N.D. – Video

By Stem Cell Treatment


Degenerated Discs/Shoulder Arthritis 7 months after stem cell treatment by Harry Adelson, N.D.
Len describes his outcome seven months after fat-derrived stem cell treatment by Harry Adelson N.D. for his degenerated lumbar discs and arthritic shoulders http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Degenerated Discs/Shoulder Arthritis 7 months after stem cell treatment by Harry Adelson, N.D. - Video

Stem cell disease model clarifies bone cancer trigger

By Stem Cell Treatment

Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a team led by Mount Sinai researchers has gained new insight into genetic changes that may turn a well known anti-cancer signaling gene into a driver of risk for bone cancers, where the survival rate has not improved in 40 years despite treatment advances.

The study results, published today in the journal Cell, revolve around iPSCs, which since their 2006 discovery have enabled researchers to coax mature (fully differentiated) bodily cells (e.g. skin cells) to become like embryonic stem cells. Such cells are pluripotent, able to become many cell types as they multiply and differentiate to form tissues. The iPSCs can then be converted again as needed into differentiated cells such as heart muscle, nerve cells, bone, etc.

While some seek to use iPSCs as replacements for cells compromised by disease, the new Mount Sinai study sought to determine if they could serve as an accurate model of genetic disease "in a dish." In this context, the dish stands for a self-renewing, unlimited supply of iPSCs or a cell line - which enables in-depth study of disease versions driven by each person's genetic differences. When matched with patient records, iPSCs and iPSC-derived target cells may be able to predict a patient's prognosis and whether or not a given drug will be effective for him or her.

In the current study, skin cells from patient with and without disease were turned into patient-specific iPSC lines, and then differentiated into bone-making cells where both rare and common bone cancers start. This new bone cancer model does a better job than previously used mouse or cellular models of "recapitulating" the features of bone cancer cells driven by key genetic changes.

"Our study is among the first to use induced pluripotent stem cells as the foundation of a model for cancer," said lead author Dung-Fang Lee, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "This model, when combined with a rare genetic disease, revealed for the first time how a protein known to prevent tumor growth in most cases, p53, may instead drive bone cancer when genetic changes cause too much of it to be made in the wrong place."

Rare Disease Sheds Light on Common Disease

The Mount Sinai disease model research is based on the fact that human genes, the DNA chains that encode instructions for building the body's structures and signals, randomly change all the time. As part of evolution, some code changes, or mutations, make no difference, some confer advantages, and others cause disease. Beyond inherited mutations that contribute to cancer risk, the wrong mix of random, accumulated DNA changes in bodily (somatic) cells as we age also contributes to cancer risk.

The current study focused on the genetic pathways that cause a rare genetic disease called Li-Fraumeni Syndrome or LFS, which comes with high risk for many cancers in affected families. A common LFS cancer type is osteosarcoma (bone cancer), with many diagnosed before the age of 30. Beyond LFS, osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer in all children, and after leukemia, the second leading cause of cancer death for them.

Importantly, about 70 percent of LFS families have a mutation in their version of the gene TP53, which is the blueprint for protein p53, well known by the nickname "the tumor suppressor." Common forms of osteosarcoma, driven by somatic versus inherited mutations, have also been closely linked by past studies to p53 when mutations interfere with its function.

Rare genetic diseases like LFS are good study models because they tend to proceed from a change in a single gene, as opposed to many, overlapping changes seen in more related common diseases, in this case more common, non-inherited bone cancers. The LFS-iPSC based modeling highlights the contribution of p53 alone to osteosarcoma.

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Stem cell disease model clarifies bone cancer trigger