Pearland boy makes remarkable recovery via stem cells

By Stem Cell Doctors

Six-year-old Pearland resident Tucker Beau Hyatt has known that he has been battling Monstritis for a long time. He has taken on the guise of Batman (shhh!) in order to beat it.

Monstritis was the then two-year-old Tuckers way of understanding his diagnosis of Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), a rare form of Rheumatoid Arthritis that affects about 300,000 children in the U.S. Over time, the membranes in the joints wear down, causing severe pain, loss of appetite and mobility.

Tuckers mother, Linsey Hyatt, recalls that it all started with a very high fever and a rash all over Tuckers body. We took him to the pediatrician thinking it was just some sort of infection, she said.

The blood work came back all over the place, and the youngster was referred to an Infectious Disease Specialist at Texas Tech.

The doctor took one look at Tucker and his chart and instantly knew what it was, Hyatt said.

By that time, Tucker had stopped eating and was unable to walk. We went to a rheumatoid specialist in Austin, which was the closest doctor to Midland, where we were living at the time, recalls Hyatt. They started him on chemotherapy, which was awful.

Tuckers mom and dad, Todd Hyatt, never stopped searching for a better solution to help their son, who was slowly wasting away from the disease. This is not a quick thing, said Linsey. Its slow and painful.

The Hyatts moved to Pearland in June of 2013 because of Todds job. They had become active with the Arthritis Foundation right after Tuckers diagnosis and attended an RAF luncheon in Austin featuring former Houston Oiler Earl Campbell, who suffers from osteoarthritis, in February 2014.

It was there that they first heard about Celltex, a company that facilitates stem cell therapy for RA, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsons and other autoimmune diseases.

We wanted to be able to tell Tucker Beau that we had done everything possible to help him, said Linsey.

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Pearland boy makes remarkable recovery via stem cells

Stem Cell Scandal Scientist Haruko Obokata Resigns

By Stem Cell Medicine

A Japanese Stem Cell Scientist At The Heart Of A Scandal Over False Claims And Fabricated Research Has Resigned.

Dr Haruko Obokata published supposedly groundbreaking research showing stem cells could be made quickly and cheaply.

There were irregularities in data, no other group in the world could repeat her findings and her own university concluded it could not be done.

In a statement Dr Obokata said: "I even can't find the words for an apology."

Stem cells can become any other type of tissue and hold great potential in medicine.

They are already being investigated to heal the damage caused by a heart attack and to restore sight.

But they are expensive and difficult to produce and one source - embryos - raises serious ethical questions.

'Major discovery'

Dr Obokata's scientific paper published in the prestigious journal Nature claimed that stem cells could be produced from normal adult cells by dipping them into acid for a 30-minute shock period.

The announcement of the creation of these "Stap" cells (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) sent shockwaves around the world.

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Stem Cell Scandal Scientist Haruko Obokata Resigns

Official lured big-dollar donor into giving $100 million for flashy stem cell center.

By Stem Cell Medical Center

A high-dollar fundraiser for the so-called health sciences branch of UCSD is heading off to the City of Hope in Duarte to become chief rainmaker there.

Kristin Jean Bertell, who was named associate vice chancellor for Health Sciences Development at UCSD two years ago in October, received gross pay of $247,800 in 2013, according to the University of California's salary website.

Set to report in February as "chief philanthropy officer, Bartell will "provide executive and strategic oversight for all aspects of City of Hopes philanthropic efforts, as the cancer treatment center and biomedical research institution enters a new era of growth and development," according to the nonprofit's announcement of the move.

A year before being named associate vice chancellor, Bertell became "executive director of development for principal gifts" for UCSD's health sciences operation.

Prior to that the UCLA graduate had variously served as vice president for Institute Relations at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and as a senior vice president of the Greenwood Company in San Francisco, which "is particularly well-known for the development of successful fundraising strategies for health care institutions grappling with the fundraising challenges caused by health systems, tightening institutional budgets, [and] dramatic changes in the delivery of health care and managed care," the firm's website says.

Luring elderly high-rollers into funding flashy medical centers named after themselves has grown into a multibillion-dollar national business, and Bertell is no slacker, credited in the City of Hope's December 15 news release with having been "the primary development lead in securing a landmark $100 million donation" for UCSD's Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center.

The cash came from billionaire T. Denny Sanford, who piled up big money at South Dakota's First Premier bank issuing high-interest credit cards to so-called credit-impaired customers.

"First Premier now has 3 million active cardholders," Forbes reported in 2007. "Its cards are to be avoided if possible they have 10% to 20% interest rates but cost $175 in fees to get a card with a $1,000 limit. The typical customer stays only 18 months before graduating to something better. 'We provide a lifeline for credit-impaired people,' Sanford says."

According to UCSD's website, "His gift to create the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center is the second largest donation received by UC San Diego in its 53-year history, following only the $110 million gift by Joan and Irwin Jacobs to endow the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering."

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Official lured big-dollar donor into giving $100 million for flashy stem cell center.

Knee meniscus fixed using revolutionary stem cell procedure

By Stem Cell Medical Center

Meg Goodale

Lise Fortier checks the meniscus of a sheep that she operated on last summer, using a groundbreaking new procedure to regenerate knee meniscus.

Researchers report on a revolutionary new procedure that uses 3-D printing and the bodys stem cells to regenerate knee meniscus, a tissue lining that acts as a natural cushion between the femur and tibia.

People with damaged menisci develop arthritis and are forced to limit their activity.

The procedure, published online Dec. 10 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, has proved successful in sheep at Cornell University six months after surgery, though the researchers will monitor the sheep for a year to ensure the animals do not develop arthritis. Sheep menisci are structurally similar to those of humans, and clinical trials in humans could begin in two to three years.

Most middle-aged people who end up with a degenerate meniscus have it trimmed up [surgically], but if you lose more than 20 to 30 percent, then you are very prone to arthritis, said Lisa Fortier, professor of large animal surgery at Cornells College of Veterinary Medicine and a co-author of the paper; she led the meniscus surgeries on sheep. If everybody who needed it could replace their meniscus they could slow arthritis and maintain their full function, Fortier added.

The technique was developed by the papers senior author Jeremy Mao, professor of dental medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, and involves taking an MRI of the patients (in this case sheeps) knee. Using a 3-D printer, Mao printed a biodegradable polyester scaffold in the exact shape of a patients meniscus. Through multiple lab experiments, Maos group discovered that two growth factors, when used in specific concentrations and at critical times, recruited the most stem cells for meniscal repair. The growth factors were then laced into the scaffold, allowing the bodys stem cells build a new meniscus four to six weeks after surgery.

Currently, a torn meniscus requires replacement with cadaver tissue, which has a low success rate and can lead to disease and rejection, and synthetic menisci have proved ineffective and hard to fit properly in diversely built patients.

Approximately a million people undergo meniscus surgeries each year in the United States.

Co-authors include Scott Rodeo, orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery, an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College; and Chang H. Lee, Chuanyong Lu and Cevat Erisken, all at Columbia University Medical Center.

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Knee meniscus fixed using revolutionary stem cell procedure

Stem Cell Therapy in Pune | Stem Cell Treatment | Inamdar …

By Uncategorized

The potential of SCs to replace dead or damaged cells in any tissue of the body heralds the advent of a new field of medicine that is delivering cures for diseases now thought to be untreatable

Stem cell therapy represents a promising avenue for the treatment of disorders like

Q1: What are stem cells? Answer: Stem cells are class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types .They have the unique properties of self renewal and differentiation. Differentiation property of stem cells help them to form another type of cell with more specialized function such as brain cell, red blood cell or muscle cell and also the entire organ. During the foetal development, cells divide, migrate, specialize and form the organ. After birth, stem cells are also present in bone marrow which can be used to treat various diseases.

Q2: Which disorders can be treated using Stem Cells? Answer: Currently stem cells are being used successfully to treat various (disorders) diseases like Cerebral palsy, Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic brain injury, Paralysis, Brain Stroke Osteoarthritis, Autism etc. Apart from this, stem cells can be used to treat liver disorders and Diabetes.

Q3: How is Stem Cell Therapy carried out? Answer: Stem Cell therapy is a very simple and painless process.Mesenchymal stem cells are injected directly into the synivial fluid in the knee. The whole process is carried out very carefully under sterile conditions.

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Stem Cell Therapy in Pune | Stem Cell Treatment | Inamdar ...

Family: Experimental stem-cell treatment does wonders for Gordie Howe

By Stem Cell Treatment

Updated DEC 19, 2014 6:19p ET

Call it a Christmas miracle. That's pretty much the way Gordie Howe's family is describing his extraordinary recovery -- thanks to an experimental stem-cell treatment -- from a series of strokes that appeared to threaten the 86-year-old hockey legend's life only a few weeks ago.

"This is truly a Christmas miracle," said Dr. Murray Howe, a Toledo physician and one of Gordie's four children. "I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. "

Howe, gravely ill at the time, underwent the treatment on Dec. 8 in San Diego.

"As a family, we are thrilled that Dad's quality of life has greatly improved, and his progress has exceeded our greatest expectations," the Howe family said Friday in a news release in which it thanked a legion of fans praying for its father's recovery. "Once again, we cannot emphasize how much you have fueled Mr. Hockey's recovery, and we thank everyone for their continued prayers and support."

The neural stem cells were injected into the spinal canal on Day 1 and mesenchymal stem cells by intravenous infusion on Day 2, according to the release.

"His response was truly miraculous," the family said. "At the end of Day 1, he was walking with minimal effort for the first time since his stroke. By Day 2, he was conversing comfortably with family and staff at the clinic. On the third day, he walked to his seat on the plane under his own power."

Just five days later, Howe was walking unaided and even taking part in daily household chores, according to the release.

When tested, his ability to name items has gone from less than 25 percent before the procedure to 85 percent today, the release said.

"His physical therapists have been astonished," the family said. "Although his short-term memory, strength, endurance and coordination have plenty of room for improvement, we are hopeful that he will continue to improve in the months to come."

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Family: Experimental stem-cell treatment does wonders for Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe's condition improves after stem-cell treatment

By Stem Cell Treatment

Hockey legendGordie Howehas made strides in his recovery from a stroke after underdoing adult stem-cell treatment earlier this month inMexico.

The 86-year-old Howe had a significant stroke in October and his family said in an update on Friday that he has shown significant improvement since participating in a clinical trial.

In a statement issued through theDetroit Red Wings, the family described the procedure and his recovery:

"Following the press coverage of our father's deteriorating medical condition, the Howe family was contacted in late November by Dr.Maynard Howe(CEO) andDave McGuigan(VP) ofStemedica Cell Technologies. McGuigan knew our family as a result of his previous employment with theDetroit Red Wings.

"Stemedica is abiotechnologycompany that manufactures allogeneic adultstem cellsin itsU.S. governmentlicensed,cGMP facilityinSan Diego,California. Although no relation, Dr. Howe and his brothers Drs. David and Roger are hockey players and bigGordie Howefans, having grown up inMinnesota. They wished to help our father by generously facilitating Dad's participation in a stem cell clinical trial at Novastem, a licensed distributor of Stemedica's products inMexico.

Novastem (www.novastem.mx) is currently conducting federally licensed andInstitutional Review Boardapproved clinical trials for several medical conditions, including stroke, using Stemedica's stem cell products. At the time, we were contacted, Mr. Hockey had been rapidly declining and was essentially bedridden with little ability to communicate or to eat on his own.

"After reviewing the information on Stemedica and Novastem, our family decided to give our father this opportunity. On December 8, Mr. Hockey underwent a two-day, non-surgical treatment at Novastem's medical facility. The treatment included neuralstem cellsinjected into the spinal canal on Day 1 and mesenchymalstem cellsby intravenous infusion on Day 2. His response was truly miraculous. At the end of Day 1, he was walking with minimal effort for the first time since his stroke. By Day 2, he was conversing comfortably with family and staff at the clinic.

"On the third day, he walked to his seat on the plane under his own power. By Day 5, he was walking unaided and taking part in helping out with daily household chores. When tested, his ability to name items has gone from less than 25 percent before the procedure to 85 percent today. His physical therapists have been astonished. Although his short-term memory, strength, endurance and coordination have plenty of room for improvement, we are hopeful that he will continue to improve in the months to come.

"As a family, we are thrilled that Dad's quality of life has greatly improved, and his progress has exceeded our greatest expectations. Once again, we cannot emphasize how much you have fueled Mr. Hockey's recovery and we thank everyone for their continued prayers and support."

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Gordie Howe's condition improves after stem-cell treatment

First stem-cell therapy approved for medical use in Europe

By Stem Cell Treatment

This treatment will only be allowed under carefully defined conditions, however, so that the outcomes can be carefully monitored to see if the treatment works and doesnt have any unexpected side-effects.

Stem cells can act as a repair system for the body.

Limbal stem cells are located in the eye at the border between the cornea the clear front part of the eye - and the sclera the white of the eye.

Physical or chemical burns can cause loss of these stem cells, resulting in limbal stem cell deficiency, LSCD, a condition that is estimated to affect about 3.3 out of 100,000 people in the European Union and around 650 people in Britain.

Symptoms include pain, sensitivity to light, inflammation, excessive blood vessel growth, clouding of the cornea, and eventually blindness.

In LSCD the limbal stem cells become so diminished that they eyes can no longer make new cells to repair damage.

The new treatment takes a small sample of the patients healthy cornea, removes the stem cells and grows them until there are sufficient numbers to put back into the eye. The cells themselves then repair the damage.

Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has successfully treated around 20 people with Holocar so far in trials.

Prof Chris Mason, from University College London, told the BBC: "This move would enable far more people to access it, you could now prescribe this."

The EMA decision to approve Holoclar will now be sent to the European Commission for market authorization. It will then be up to Nice to decide whether to approve the therapy for use on the NHS.

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First stem-cell therapy approved for medical use in Europe

Howe's Family Reports Rapid Improvement

By Stem Cell Treatment

Gordie Howe's family says the hockey great has made a dramatic improvement after he participated in a stem cell clinical trial.

The 86-year-old Howe had a serious stroke in late October, but in a statement released through the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, his family said his physical therapists have been "astonished" by his progress.

Executives from Stemedica Cell Technologies contacted the family and facilitated Howe's participation in the clinical trial. He had a two-day, non-surgical treatment earlier this month.

"The treatment included neural stem cells injected into the spinal canal on Day 1 and mesenchymal stem cells by intravenous infusion on Day 2," the family said. "His response was truly miraculous. At the end of Day 1 he was walking with minimal effort for the first time since his stroke. By Day 2 he was conversing comfortably with family and staff at the clinic."

The family says Howe has been able to help out with daily household chores, and when tested, his ability to name items has gone from less than 25 percent before the treatment to 85 percent.

"Although his short-term memory, strength, endurance and coordination have plenty of room for improvement, we are hopeful that he will continue to improve in the months to come," the family said. "As a family, we are thrilled that dad's quality of life has greatly improved, and his progress has exceeded our greatest expectations."

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Howe's Family Reports Rapid Improvement

Howe shows steady progress following stem cell treatment

By Stem Cell Treatment

Saturday, 20 December 2014 12:07

LOS ANGELES: Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe has made an "astonishing" recovery after receiving stem cell treatment earlier this month from a Mexico-based medical firm, the Howe family said on Friday.

The 86-year-old Hall of Famer, who suffers from severe dementia, has gone from being bedridden in a semi-comatose state to walking on his own and doing daily chores as he "shuffles" around his daughter's Texas home, the family said in a statement.

"We are thrilled that Dad's quality of life has greatly improved, and his progress has exceeded our greatest expectations," the family wrote.

Howe underwent two days of a stem cell clinical trial from Tijuana-based firm Novastem. Two days after the start of treatment Howe was talking to the nurses, the family said.

After three days he left the hospital and walked on his own to the airplane, and after five days he was "taking part in helping out with household chores."

The family said his treatment included injecting neural stem cells into the spinal canal.

"His response was truly miraculous. His short-term memory, strength, endurance and coordination have plenty of room for improvement. We are hopeful that he will continue to improve in the months to come."

Howe suffered a serious stroke on October 26 and because of his deteriorating condition he had to be hospitalized at the beginning of December.

Confined to his bed and unable to speak or communicate, Howe had to rely on the nurses and family to feed him. Doctors said at one point he was "unresponsive" for 30 minutes.

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Howe shows steady progress following stem cell treatment