A large-scale trial conducted in India has shown that stem cell therapy does not work in stroke patientsREUTERS

A study conducted on 120 patients in India has shown that stem cell treatment is not effective in treating paralysis resulting from a stroke.

The research which is thefirst large-scale study conducted in Indiacompared outcomes in those treated with stem cells to others and found no difference, reports Down to Earth.

While 60 patients with some form of disability of limbs caused by a stroke were given conventional treatment, an equal number received bone marrow stem cells in addition. All had experienced a stroke 3-4 weeks before the trial.

"We found that at the end of the first month, patients with stem cells showed more improvement compared to the control group. But at the end of the third month and one year, there was no difference," said Kameshwar Prasad, head, Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who led the study.

On an average 280 million bone marrow cells were injected, of which blood forming stem cells were around 2.9 million per patient.

The average age of patients in the study was around 50.

The study, published in the current issue of American journal Stroke, was conducted at AIIMS in New Delhi and four other hospitals covering four cities.

The study comes when many others have been suggesting that stem cells could help treat paralysis in stroke patients. The earlier study was done on a small number of patients as compared to the AIIMs study.

More research needs to be done, before stem cells are used in therapy as in India, many private clinics are openly offering stem cell treatment for various diseases.

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Stem Cells Treatment Not Useful In Stroke Patients Finds Indian Study

NOTRE DAME - You could be a life saver!

On Friday, November 21, 2014, the Saint Mary's College student club SMC Stands Up To Cancer will hold a bone marrow registration drive on campus.

It'll take place from 11am to 3pm in Reignbeaux Lounge in Le Mans Hall. For a campus map click here.

To participate, you must be between the ages of 18 and 44. It's completely painless to sign up, requiring just a swab of the inside of your cheek to get a sample of cells.

Your genetic information will be added to the Be the Match marrow database, which searches for possible matches for blood cancer patients. Suitable donors can provide bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells to patients, saving lives.

This will be the second annual bone marrow drive held on Saint Mary's campus. Typically, one person in 540 is a match for a patient with a blood cancer. But a match surfaced out of the 50 registered on campus at the last drive. Allison Lukomski '16, a communicative sciences and disorders major, was a match for a female cancer patient. Lukomski donated peripheral blood stem cells over fall break through a non-surgical procedure.

The bone marrow registration event comes on the heels of the Pink Party Zumbathon, hosted by SMC Stands Up to Cancer, which raised money for cancer research through the national organization Stand Up To Cancer.

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Bone marrow registration drive to be held at Saint Mary's College

November 13, 2014

Marc-Andr Skelling of East Angus needs help. The 23-year-old man has Hodgkins Lymphoma, a cancer affecting the bodys white blood cells and lymph nodes. He has been told that without a viable donation of bone marrow stem cells he has less than a month to live.

We need to find a donor, its urgent, said Muguette Skelling, Marc-Andrs mother. Were inviting everyone, no matter who they are, to register with Hma-Quebec.

Bone marrow is responsible for the production of red and white blood cells in the body and therefore a bone marrow transplant can be an effective treatment for a range of blood related diseases. Depending on the context, individuals can receive a transplant either from another part of their own body, or from an outside donor.

Individuals in good health who are between 18 and 35 years of age can register to donate in Quebec. Registration is done online through the Hma-Quebec website. Once registration is complete, a test kit containing a cheek swab is mailed to the registrant that must then be returned. According to Mnard, the whole process from registration to getting onto the list takes twelve weeks.

Read the full story in Thursday's Record.

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East Angus man looking for stem cells

TOWIE tonight will feature a fundraising event for the blood cancer charity and bone marrow register Anthony Nolan, in support of Bobby Norris' mum Kym.

The finale of the ITVBe show will centre around the gala - with a few TOWIE stars reportedly planning surprise fundraising stunts!

Bobby Norris started the campaign #SaveBobbysMum in the summer [PH]

OK! Online columnist Bobby Norris launched a campaign for the charity in the summer after his mum Kym, 54, was diagnosed with leukaemia.

The #SaveBobbysMum campaign led to an astonishing 750% increase in sign-ups for the bone marrow register, but a match for Kym is yet to be found.

TOWIE stars including Chloe Sims have backed the campaign [PH]

Bobby said: "Both me and my mum were over the moon to hear about these huge increases in potential donors."

"It's given us something positive to focus on at a really difficult time."

Bobby Norris has shared this sweet snap of himself with mum Kym [PH]

He added: "For the donor, it's probably just a case of sitting still for a few hours while the stem cells are taken out of their blood.

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TOWIE cast gather to lend support to Bobby Norris' #SaveBobbysMum campaign at charity gala

Sabah becomes third to provide bone marrow transplant

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Women and Children's Hospital in Likas became the third government hospital in the country to provide bone marrow transplant after General Hospital Kuala Lumpur (GHKL) and Ampang Hospital.

State Health Director Dr Christina Rundi (pic) said, Tuesday, the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit is housed on the 7th Floor of the Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Centre of the hospital.

At the official handover of the hospital to the State Health Department in April, last year, she mentioned that bone marrow transplant (also called stem cell transplant) would be possible in Sabah in the near future.

"Since then, we have made the necessary preparations to set up the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.

Our nurses went for training at the Ampang Hospital in Kuala Lumpur while we procured the equipment such as stem cell processor and blood irradiator.

"We are fortunate to have the services of Paediatric Haemato-Oncologist, Dr Asohan Thevarajah who reported for work in July.

"And on Oct. 31, our dream came true when the Sabah Women and Children's Hospital performed the first bone marrow transplant on a 12-year-old leukaemic girl from Tuaran," she confirmed, when contacted.

The stem cell processor arrived last December followed by the blood irradiator in August this year. The purpose of the second machine is to sterilise the bone marrow donor's blood to reduce the risk of "graft (donor) versus host (patient)" disease.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft tissue inside the hollow part of bones which helps form blood cells. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of one's blood cells.

Excerpt from:
Sabah becomes third to provide bone marrow transplant

How donation is done

Stem cell donation: For peripheral bloodstream cell donation, stem cells are filtered from the donor's blood in a nonsurgical outpatient procedure. Donors may experience head or muscle aches that go away shortly after the donation. They are typically back to their normal routine in one to two days.

Marrow donation: This is a surgical, usually outpatient, procedure using anesthesia. Holes are drilled into the patient's spine to get the marrow. Donors may feel soreness in the lower back afterward. Recovery takes two to seven days.

Outcomes: Survival rate for recipients was 69 percent for unrelated donors and 79 percent for related donors in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Be the Match is a national registry that connects patients with their donor match for a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. The registry is looking for diverse donors between age 18 and 44. Information: 800-627-7692 or BeTheMatch.org

Something was killing his wife from within, and Todd Miller had no idea what it was.

He didnt understand why she needed more than 100 blood transfusions. He couldnt fathom why Joselyn, a healthy person who barely got the sniffles, suddenly struggled to lift her arms.

The symptoms started in April 2012, soon after the Millers returned to their Laguna Beach home from the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Joselyn Millers arm and thigh muscles were so tight, she could barely move them.

They saw 10 specialists. No one could figure out what it was.

The second neurologist they saw suspected it was a very rare disease Shulmans syndrome, or eosinophilic fasciitis. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, only 300 known cases have ever been recorded in medical literature.

Read more from the original source:
Laguna Beach family was given the gift of life, now they're giving it to others

CHENNAI: It is harder for natives of Tamil Nadu to find a matching donor for a stem cell transplant compared to other states in the country. The suspected villain: Their genes.

A study published recently in British medical journal 'The Lancet' found that the likelihood of finding a matching stem cell donor for patients with blood-related problems in Tamil Nadu is 44.2% provided the registry had 10 lakh donors. The situation is the opposite in Haryana, with people in that state having the best chances (81.2%) of finding a donor.

Experts say consanguineous marriages are to blame. Consanguineous marriages increase the chances of patients finding a match within their small community but limit the possibility of finding one from a general donor pool.

"Unlike in other countries, stem cell variation in India is complex and dependent on ethnic variation," said Dr Dolly Daniel, professor of the department of transfusion medicine at Christian Medical College, Vellore, who was party of the study team. "Our aim was to find the size and genetic composition of each region and its impact on the proportion of patients who will be able to ?nd a suitable match."

She said Tamil Nadu could be at the tail-end of the list of states they surveyed because of inbreeding and a limited number of donors.

Stem cells are used to regenerate and repair diseased or damaged tissues. Adult stem cells are drawn from bone marrow, blood and the umbilical cord and are used to treat blood-related ailments like leukemia, thalassemia and as well as immunodeficiency.

The possibility of finding a matching stem cell donor within the family is around 30%.

"Finding a matching stem cell donor for the remaining 70% is a complex process. Most seek a graft from registries of unrelated adult donors or banked umbilical cord blood units," said Dr P Srinivasan, co-founder and chairman of Jeevan Stem Cell Bank.

Although the India stem cell industry is estimated to touch $540 million (Rs 3,250 crore) by 2015, the study noted that in terms of the number of donors, India has lagged in meeting demand. The study surveyed 10 adult donor and umbilical cord bank registries and clinical transplant centres in India and studied stem cells of 26 239 individuals.

The possibility of finding a perfect match within India is an average of 14.4% for a registry size of 25,000 and touches 60.6% for a size of 10 lakh. Registries in the country currently have around 1 lakh donors. The study said only when Indian registries have more than 2 lakh donors would patients have a good chance of finding the right match.

Read more from the original source:
Toughest for Tamil Nadu patients to get donor stem cells

An eight-year-old girl whose hunt for a bone marrow donor inspired hundreds to take selfies with their pants on their heads has died.

Hollie Clarks family broke the news on the Facebook page that they used to raise awareness of her battle with the bone marrow disorder MDS, Wales Online reports.

Her dad Stephen of Penylan, Cardiff, wrote: Sad news today Im afraid.

"After a seven month battle with MDS Hollie past away peacefully in her parents arms. It is utterly heartbreaking and makes no sense.

We have a million memories and take huge comfort in the number of Anthony Nolan registrations that the campaign made.

We are sure that someday soon one of you will be asked to donate stem cells and give someone like Hollie a chance.

Thank you all for your support. We would appreciate some time and space to try and pick ourselves up. Love from Hollies Dad. The proudest Dad in the world.

The family also used the @HelpHollie Twitter account to tell all those who had supported their campaign the news.

They wrote: Very sadly today our brave little angel passed away. Hollie was the happiest child ever and we are blessed that she was part of our family.

RIP Hollie. We tried our best. You were the best daughter any mum and dad could wish for. Thank you.

Read more:
Inspirational girl loses fight with rare condition - after encouraging hundreds to wear pants on head

TIME Health HIV/AIDS It May Be Possible To Prevent HIV Even Without a Vaccine "We're removing the doorway that HIV uses to get into cells"

Natural immunity is the most reliable way to protect yourself from viruses, bacteria and parasites. And the best way to acquire such immunity, in most cases, is to expose your immune system to the bug in questioneither by getting infected or getting immunized.

Until now, such protection was only possible with diseases like chicken pox or polio. But now, scientists at Harvard University say that people might soon arm themselves against HIV in a similar way, but through a different method.

Chad Cowan and Derrick Rossi, both in the department of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, and their colleagues report in the journal Cell Stem Cell that they have successfully edited the genomes of blood cells to make them impervious to HIV. In order survive, HIV needs to insert its genome into that of a healthy cell, and to infect these cells, HIV latches onto a protein on their surface called CCR5. If CCR5 is mutated, however, its as if the locks have been changed and HIV no longer has the right key; it cant attach itself and the cells are protected from infection. So the scientists tried a new gene editing technique called CRISPR that allows them to precisely snip out parts of a cells genome, and they spliced out the CCR5 gene. To their surprise, the technique was relatively efficient, transforming about half of the cells they treated with CRISPR into CCR5-free, or HIV-resistant, cells.

It was stunning to us how efficient CRISPR was in doing the genome editing, says Cowan.

Scientists have previously used CRISPR to make another change in how HIV infects cells; they snipped out the HIV genes that the virus inserted into healthy cells. That process essentially returned HIV infected cells back to healthy ones.

The latest results, however, suggest that the technique may be useful even before HIV gets inside cells. CRISPR could be useful in treating HIV patients if it can replace patients own immune cells with the blockaded versions. The cells Cowan and Rossi used were blood stem cells, which give rise to the bodys entire blood and immune system. In order to work as a potential treatment for HIV, patients would provide a sample of blood stem cells from their bone marrow, which would be treated with CRISPR to remove the CCR5 gene, and these cells would be transplanted back to the patient. Since the bone marrow stem cells populate the entire blood and immune system, the patient would eventually have blood cells that were protected, or immunized, against HIV. Were removing the doorway that HIV uses to get into cells, says Cowan.

To test this idea, they are already working with another research group to see if the HIV-impervious cells can treat mice infected with HIV.

Because healthy cells would be barricaded from HIV, the process might also lead to a cure for the disease. While the results are currently being tested to treat animals already infected with HIV, it may also be possible to one day transform a persons immune cell genomes to be protected against the virus. Some people are already fortunate enough to be protected this waya small percentage of people of European ancestry have natural immunity against HIV because they have two copies of mutated CCR5. They have been well studied and so far, their CCR5 aberrations dont seem to be linked to any known health issues. They are totally normal except for the fact that they are resistant to HIV, says Cowan. Thats a heartening thing: to have a group of people who are alive today who have been studied and looked at and seem totally fine.

Thats why clinicians who research the virus and treat HIV patients are excited by the possibilities of CRISPR-aided strategies. If its possible to close the door on HIV, then it may be realistic to start thinking about closing the door on the AIDS epidemic in the near future.

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It May Be Possible To Prevent HIV Even Without a Vaccine

Durham, NC (PRWEB) November 05, 2014

Half of all traumatic injuries to the face result in a loss of teeth and the surrounding tissue and bone that once supported them, which in turn makes these types of injuries very debilitating and difficult to treat. But in a new study published in the latest issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, doctors at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSoD), Ann Arbor, have found a new way to regenerate a patients jawbone through the use of stem cells.

The procedure, done under local anesthesia, significantly speeds up the healing time relative to that of traditional bone grafting while allowing a patient to experience only a minimal amount of pain.

Part of a larger clinical trial, the findings highlighted in this issue focus on a 45-year-old woman missing seven front teeth plus 75 percent of the bone that once supported them, the result of a blow to her face five years earlier. She was left with severe functional and cosmetic deficiencies, since the missing bone made it impossible for her to have dental implant-based teeth replacements.

Darnell Kaigler, DDS, MS, PhD, an assistant professor of dentistry in the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, was a lead member of the study team. "In small jawbone defects of the mouth created after teeth were extracted, we have placed gelatin sponges populated with stem cells into these areas to successfully grow bone."

Since the sponge material is soft, it does not work in larger areas. Thus, he and his team of researchers decided to try b-tricalcium phosphate (b-TCP) as a scaffold upon which to place the cells instead. "For treating larger jawbone defects, it is important to have a scaffold material that is rigid and more stable to support bone growth," he explained.

They then placed the b-TCP scaffold, which had been seeded with a mixed population of bone marrow-derived autologous stem and progenitor cells 30 minutes prior to treatment at room temperature, into the defective area of the patients mouth during a procedure that requires only local anesthesia. Four months later, 80 percent of her missing jawbone had been regenerated, allowing them to proceed with placing oral implants that supported a dental prosthesis to once again give her a complete set of teeth.

Study team member Sharon Aronovich, DMD, FRCD(C), a clinical assistant professor of dentistry in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the UMSoD, said, I am very grateful to all the patients and researchers that participated in this study. Thanks to everyone's efforts, we are one step closer to providing patients with a minimally invasive option for implant-based tooth replacement.

As the first report to describe a cell therapy for craniofacial trauma reconstruction, this research serves as the foundation for expanded studies using this approach, said Anthony Atala, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

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Stem cells help doctors restore womans smile, regenerating bone to hold dental implants

Mark and Mindy Ammons lost their 2-year-old son, Christopher, in 1988 to neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer. In 2009, Mindy Ammons donated her own stem cells to a woman with cancer. And this weekend, the family's youngest son will prepare a bone marrow donor registry in memory of his oldest brother as an Eagle Scout project.

Family photo

Bone marrow donation is close to the heart for the Ammons family of Provo.

Mark and Mindy Ammons lost their 2-year-old son, Christopher, in 1988 to neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer. In 2009, Mindy Ammons donated her own stem cells to a woman with cancer. And this weekend, the familys youngest son will lead a bone marrow registry drive as an Eagle Scout project in memory of his oldest brother.

We are in the unique position of having been on both sides of the process, Mindy Ammons said.

In the "Be The Match" flier created for the project, Will Ammons, 13, explains that Christophers only chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant, but sadly, no one in our family was a match, so he had to be his own donor.

Christopher underwent treatment at the UCLA Medical Center where, after five days of chemotherapy, three days of full-body radiation and then surgery, he received his own marrow as a transplant. He died two weeks into the process, just shy of his third birthday.

Over the years, the Ammonses talked about this experience with their children and stayed informed on treatment advances. When it came time for their second oldest son, Jon, to do his Eagle Scout project, he didn't just want to do something to check off on a list. He wanted a meaningful project.

He wanted to do something that would make a difference and was cancer-related," Mindy Ammons said.

They discussed raising money for cancer research but decided that would be like dropping a coin in a well, she said.

See the rest here:
Family honors child's memory through bone marrow registry and stem cell donation

Mark and Mindy Ammons lost their 2-year-old son, Christopher, in 1988 to neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer. In 2009, Mindy Ammons donated her own stem cells to a woman with cancer. And this weekend, the family's youngest son will prepare a bone marrow donor registry in memory of his oldest brother as an Eagle Scout project.

Family photo

Bone marrow donation is close to the heart for the Ammons family of Provo.

Mark and Mindy Ammons lost their 2-year-old son, Christopher, in 1988 to neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer. In 2009, Mindy Ammons donated her own stem cells to a woman with cancer. And this weekend, the familys youngest son will lead a bone marrow registry drive as an Eagle Scout project in memory of his oldest brother.

We are in the unique position of having been on both sides of the process, Mindy Ammons said.

In the "Be The Match" flier created for the project, Will Ammons, 13, explains that Christophers only chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant, but sadly, no one in our family was a match, so he had to be his own donor.

Christopher underwent treatment at the UCLA Medical Center where, after five days of chemotherapy, three days of full-body radiation and then surgery, he received his own marrow as a transplant. He died two weeks into the process, just shy of his third birthday.

Over the years, the Ammonses talked about this experience with their children and stayed informed on treatment advances. When it came time for their second oldest son, Jon, to do his Eagle Scout project, he didn't just want to do something to check off on a list. He wanted a meaningful project.

He wanted to do something that would make a difference and was cancer-related," Mindy Ammons said.

They discussed raising money for cancer research but decided that would be like dropping a coin in a well, she said.

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Family saves lives through bone marrow registry and stem cell donation

Adult stem cells can change the healthcare landscape

A recent Colorado political advertisement highlighting a candidates stance on stem cell research shows the issue is still at the forefront of public consciousness. Part of what makes stem cell research such a hot button issue is the number of persistent myths that propagate many of the heated emotions surrounding the topic.

Much of the stem cell controversy comes from the fact many people only know of embryonic stem cells, which are generated from fertilized, frozen eggs at in-vitro fertilization centers. These are not the only type of stem cells. Other types include umbilical cord blood and adult stem cells.

Umbilical cord blood is extracted from birth and preserved for the future benefit of the child. While this type of stem cell technique is safe and it is becoming commonplace to store the cells, there is currently no way to utilize these cells beyond compassionate care cases which are few and far between. However, adult stem cells are currently in clinical use today and are easily and safely harvested from the patients fat and bone marrow reserves. The adult stem cells can be utilized for a variety of treatment options, which include joint, ligament and tendon injuries, back pain, and autoimmune diseases.

Polls indicate a shifting paradigm in how people view stem cell use and research. A Pew Research survey conducted in 2013 revealed only 16 percent believed non-embryonic stem cell research was immoral. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI recently gave his approval on adult stem cell research, I pray that your commitment to adult stem cell research will bring great blessings for the future of man and genuine enrichment to his culture.

Those with an understanding of adult stem cells know there is no controversy as they do not require the harming of an embryo. While progress in the realm of public opinion is being made, regulatory and administrative difficulties are still hampering medical innovation according to some healthcare experts.

Adult stem cells hold great promise for the future of medicine because of their potential to improve cartilage health, repair lumbar discs, and slow progression of autoimmune diseases. The ability to utilize stem cells from ones own body to safely and naturally heal itself from many different ailments is beginning to revolutionize healthcare.

With more public support and cooperative regulatory policies, adult stem cells have the potential to forever change the healthcare landscape as profoundly as the mark antibiotics made on medicine.

Dr. Scott Brandt

ThriveMD Aspen

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Letter: Adult stem cells can change the healthcare landscape

Irelands first human stem cell trial using lab-grown cells is due to get underway in Galway in the new year following approval from the medicines watchdog.

The trial will involve extracting adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from the bone marrow of patients with a condition known as critical limb ischemia (CLI) a severe blockage of the arteries resulting in marked reduction in blood flow to the extremities.

Reduction in blood flow to the legs puts patients at risk of gangrene, ulceration, and amputation, and the Galway trial will look at the use of MSCs to grow new stems cells which will then be injected back into the patients leg with the hope of growing new blood cells and improving circulation.

The harvested stem cells will be grown to much greater quantities in a highly specialised lab before being injected back into the patients leg.

Tim OBrien, director of the Galway-based Regenerative Medicine Institute, said their research was focused on whether MSC therapy could improve blood flow to the legs in patients with CLI a condition common in diabetics and therefore avoid the need for amputation. The trial is aimed predominantly at testing the safety and feasibility of what is very much an experimental therapy, Prof OBrien said.

We will be doing a dose escalation study, with some patients given a small dose, others a medium dose and the remainder a high dose, he said. We want to try and establish how many cells do you need to give a patient.

The study, the first in humans in Ireland, will be a year-long study involving nine patients. Prof OBrien said they would not be advertising for participants, but rather would let clinicians know and await referrals of suitable patients.

In the meantime, they would be preparing the custom-built facility where the cells are grown, at the Centre for Cell Manufacturing Ireland in NUI Galway, the first such facility in Ireland to receive a licence from the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

Prof OBrien said MSCs have a lot of properties that may make them useful in treating a wide variety of disease because of their reparative and regenerative qualities.

Prof OBrien delivered a talk yesterday on the Therapeutic Potential of MSCs in Diabetic Complications on the second day of a two-day international stem cell conference at NUI Galway.

Continued here:
Lab-grown stem cell trial gets green light

Published: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 12:39 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 12:39 p.m.

Jaimonee Hagins, 12, a seventh-grade student at Howard Middle School, needs a blood and marrow transplant to help battle the disease, which often has her in such deep pain she cannot attend classes.

Understanding only too well the ravages of sickle cell anemia is her mother, Charlet Harrison, of Ocala. She and her brother Myron Harrison grew up with the condition.

Sickle cell anemia is the most common form of sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder in which red blood cells are abnormally shaped. This results in painful episodes, serious infections, chronic anemia and damage to body organs.

According to the National Institutes of Health, a blood and marrow stem cell transplant can work well for treating sickle cell anemia as it replaces faulty stem cells with healthy ones. Stem cells are found in bone marrow.

According to Dr. Ali Nassar of Munroe Heart, A bone marrow transplant produces new cells. Donor to recipient genetically must be a close match. Only with identical twins is the match 100 percent. If the procedure is a success, it is considered a cure.

I hope I will find a donor. If they help me, they will save my life, Jaimonee said.

When asked what has been the most difficult part of her disorder, she said the surgeries. She also said the frequent pain is real achy.

According to her mother, Jaimonees surgeries have included removal of her spleen, at age 1, and her gall bladder, at age 4. She has had episodes affecting other major organs.

Blood cells get clogged. Normally, they are round in shape in order to flow through the body. When they get clogged, they cause pain, Charlet Harrison said. A clog on an arm or leg is easy to get over; it is when they get clogged in your heart or another major organ that damage occurs. The spleen and gall bladder, with sickle cell patients, are the first to go. Seventy-five percent of patients have these organs removed.

See more here:
Blood, donor drive to benefit girl with sickle cell anemia

Nonsurgical pain management for joint arthritis, such as in the knee, shoulder or hip, has so far consisted predominantly of pain suppressing medicines. This usually entails steroid injections, topical analgesic creams and medications by mouth such as anti-inflammatory medications. What has really been necessary, though, is a treatment that truly alters the underlying problem.

Stem Cells are like a blank slate and can differentiate into all types of cells for regeneration.

Regenerative medicine provides the opportunity for a real cure with stem cells, platelet rich plasma and growth factors to heal damage. One of the foremost procedures at TeleHealth Medical Group that continues to increase in popularity is bone marrow derived stem cell injections. A persons own bone marrow contains a substantial amount of the stem cells and additional biologic materials necessary for regeneration, with the added benefit of being low risk and outpatient.

What are bone marrow derived stem cell injections?

The main reason that stem cells are used as therapy for arthritis and other conditions that experience joint pain is that they maintain regenerative properties with the potential to repair and reverse damaged joints.

Bone marrow is a spongy tissue contained inside ones bones, and makes cells that are crucial to existence including platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells. All of these cells start in the marrow as stem cells, which are basically a blank slate type of cell. With a blank slate, the cell can then turn into many different types of cells needed in the body including cartilage, tendon or muscle. There are three types of adult stem cells in the human body. The first type of stem cell turns into blood components, with a second destined to become lining of the endometrium.

The third, and most important for musculoskeletal regenerative medicine, are mesenchymal stem cells found in bone marrow. They have been used in animal models to regenerate cartilage and in human models to regenerate bone. (Centeno et al, 2008)

The largest and easiest sources of stem cells for concentrated amounts of bone marrow are in the iliac crest of the hip and the bones of the spine. For the easiest process at TeleHealth, the iliac crest is used for the procedures in an outpatient setting.

Harvesting bone marrow from the iliac crest hip bone.

How are these injections performed?

Original post:
Bone Marrow Stem Cell Injections, Mesenchymal Stem Cell ...

The bone marrow and stem cell transplant program at the Siteman Cancer Center is one of the largest in the world, completing nearly 500 transplants each year and more than 5,000 since 1982. The program has performed unrelated donor transplants since 1992.

Our physicians use the latest clinical techniques and resources to collect stem cells or peripheral blood for allogeneic transplants, in which transplanted cells come from siblings and unrelated donors. By manipulating stem cell grafts, they also are working to reduce tumor contamination and bolster immunity. Whenever it is appropriate, they recommend that patients participate inclinical trials, research studies that test whether new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer are safe and effective.

At any given time, Siteman offers more than 40 therapeutic clinical trials for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and related disorders, including studies that incorporate transplant. Our large patient population allows us to offer single-institution studies and provides us with access to a wide range of tissue samples for future study.

In recent years, Siteman physicians have conducted clinical studies that led to the approval of the drug plerixafor to mobilize, or harvest, stem cells for transplant in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. They participated in studies that showed decitabine and high-dose lenalidomide were effective treatments for elderly patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). And they were the first to use a novel suicide gene for gene therapy to control graft-versus-host disease, a serious complication of transplantation.

Dedicated facilities include a 26-bed unit for patients undergoing transplant, which offers eight ICU beds and special HEPA filtration systems to reduce the risk of infection and a second unit for transplant patients and those with blood-related cancers, currently licensed for 38 beds.

Our program has long been an active member of theNational Marrow Donor Program, International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry, North American Bone Marrow Transplant Registry, Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network and Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Transplant Consortium.

Excerpt from:
Bone Marrow Transplant and Stem Cell Transplant Program ...

Using stem cells from blood, researchers have been able to grow blood vessels in a week.REUTERS

Researchers at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden have been successful in transplanting blood vessels made from three spoons of blood.

Two years ago two patients at the hospital received the blood vessels made from stem cellsin the blood.

Earlier, another patient too was treated using blood vessels made by her stem cells but in that case, the researchers had to drill into the bone marrow to obtain the stem cells.

In the later cases, all they needed was three spoons of the patient's blood and a waiting period of a week.

The children did not have the vein that goes from the gastrointestinal tract to the liver. This was rectified using the new blood vessels, a treatment that holds out promise for people with varicose veins and myocardial infarction.

The method also rules out rejection normally accompanying any foreign body transplant.

Professors Olausson and Sumitran-Holgersson have treated three patients so far. Two of the three patients are still doing well and have veins that are functioning well.

They now hope to be able to grow complete organs to overcome organ shortage from donors.

Use of embryonic stem cells to treat macular dystrophy and degeneration has been proven to be safewith low rejection rates.

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Blood Vessels Made from Three Spoons of Blood in a Week's Time

Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cell Prolotherapy
Stem Cell Prolotherapy is a procedure in which adult mesenchymal stem cells are transplanted directly into the damaged tissue or injury and promotes healing....

By: Kab S. Hong M.D.

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Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cell Prolotherapy - Video

While megakaryocytes are best known for producing platelets that heal wounds, these "mega" cells found in bone marrow also play a critical role in regulating stem cells according to new research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. In fact, hematopoietic stem cells differentiate to generate megakaryocytes in bone marrow. The Stowers study is the first to show that hematopoietic stem cells (the parent cells) can be directly controlled by their own progeny (megakaryocytes).

The findings from the lab of Stowers Investigator Linheng Li, Ph.D., described in the Oct. 19 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, could cause researchers to rethink what they know about the workings of megakaryocytes and potentially lead to new treatments for patients recovering from chemotherapy or organ transplantation.

"Our results suggest that megakaryocytes might be used clinically to facilitate adult stem cell regeneration and to expand cultured cells for adult stem cell transplants," says Meng Zhao, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Stowers and lead author on the study. Stowers researchers discovered that megakaryocytes directly regulate the function of murine hematopoietic stem cells -- adult stem cells that form blood and immune cells and that constantly renew the body's blood supply. These cells can also develop into all types of blood cells, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.

Because of their remarkable ability to renew themselves and differentiate into other cells, hematopoietic stems cells are the focus of intense research and have been used to treat many diseases and conditions. The transplantation of isolated human hematopoietic stem cells is used in the treatment of anemia, immune deficiencies and other diseases, including cancer.

Basic research has centered on identifying and characterizing hematopoietic stem cells, however, it is still not clear how hematopoietic stem cells actually work, and how they are regulated because of the complexity of the bone marrow microenvironment. Zhao and his colleagues discovered that as a terminally differentiated progeny, megakaryocytes regulate hematopoietic stem cells by performing two previously unknown functions.

"Megakaryocytes can directly regulate the amount of hematopoietic stem cells by telling the cells when they need to keep in the quiescent stage, and when they need to start proliferating to meet increased demand." Maintaining that delicate balance is important, he adds. "You don't want to have too many or too few hematopoietic stem cells."

These findings are supported by similar research from the laboratory of Paul S. Frenette, Ph.D., at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, also reported in the Oct. 19 issue of Nature Medicine.

Employing the advanced technology of the Institute's Cytometry, Imaging and Histology centers, the researchers examined the relationship between megakaryocytes and hematopoietic stem cells in mouse bone marrow. In the course of their research, they found that the protein transforming growth factor B1 (TGF-B1), contained in megakaryocytes, signaled quiescence of hematopoietic stem cells. They also found that when under stress from chemotherapy, megakaryocytes signaled fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1), to stimulate the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells.

"Our findings suggest that megakaryocytes are required for the recovery of hematopoietic stem cells post chemotherapy," explains Li. The discovery could provide insight for using megakaryocyte-derived factors, such as TGF-B1 and FGF1, clinically to facilitate regeneration of hematopoietic stem cells, he adds.

Engineering a megakaryocyte niche (a special environment in which stem cells live and renew) that supports the growth of hematopoietic stem cells in culture, is the next step for the researchers. Zhao and his colleagues are also investigating whether a megakaryocyte niche can be used to help expand human hematopoietic stem cells in vitro and stem cell transplantation for patients.

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'Mega' cells control growth of blood-producing cells