StemCell Therapy

The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology covers a wide range of hormone-related disorders in children. We use a team approach to treat many children each day.About half of our patients are referred to the Division are forType 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes.

Other areas diagnosed, followed, and treated by UAB pediatric endocrinologists include, but are not limited to, adrenal gland disorders, bone and calcium disorders,growthdisorders,pituitary gland disorders, hypoglycemia,puberty disorders,thyroid disease, and genetic disorders.

Our Division services include a broad range of clinical, research, andfellowship program.

Diabetes Center

Cortisol Replacement Therapy

Growth Hormone Testing

Insulin Pump Therapy

Newborn Screening

Thyroid Ablation Instructions

Phone: 205-638-9107 or 1-877-276-6850 Fax: 205-638-9821

*Physicians needing to speak with our Physicians: 205-638-9107 option 0 *Labs to be faxed to our computer system 205-638-2725

Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm On call for night and weekend emergencies: 205-638-9100

Location: Children's Park Place 1601 4th Ave South Birmingham, AL 35233

Mailing Address: 1600 7th Ave South CPP 230 Birmingham, AL 35233

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Endocrinology Birmingham, Alabama (AL) - Children's of Alabama

Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Scientists are still studying the scope of human embryonic stem cells as they have the potential to develop into almost any cell in the human body. Using blastocyst, the inner cell mass of the early human embryos, they developed the first human embryonic stem cell lines. The focus was on discovering the true potential of these cells in treating diseases and conditions and to regenerate tissues for disfunctioning cells or organs. They had focused on spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes among others. The source of the stem cells included 7 day embryos which were left post an IVF infertility treatment and 5- 7 week old embryos obtained through abortions and developed tissues such as umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. Since 1998, there have been controversies surrounding extraction of stem cells from embryos as it involved destroying them. As these were far more useful than developed stem cells, researchers focused more on them.

Executive Action

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Stem Cell Research Legal Issues and Political Impact

THE NEW ENGLAND CENTENARIAN STUDY

A Model of Aging Well. Centenarians (age 100+ years) markedly delay disability towards the end of their very long lives, at an average age of ~93 years (thats 33 years beyond the age of 60!).1 Thus, we regard these individuals as wonderful models of aging well. Some of our subjects, ~15% have no clinically demonstrable disease at age 100 years and we call them escapers. About 43% are delayers, or subjects who did not exhibt an age related disease until age 80 years or later. Finally, there are about 42% of our subjects who are survivors, or those with clinically demonstrable disease(s) prior to the age of 80 years.2 Supporting the compression of morbidity hypothesis, that as one approaches the limits of lifespan, diseases (morbidity) must be delayed (or escaped) towards the end of these longest lived, we have observed amongst supercentenarians (age 110+ years), that health span equals lifespan. Thus we believe that instead of the aging myth the older you get the sicker you get, it is much more the case of the older you get, the healthier youve been.

History The study began in 1995 as a population-based study of all centenarians living within 8 towns in the Boston area. The prevalence of Alzheimers Disease and other dementias in centenarians was the focus. At the time, the prevalence of centenarians in industrialized countries wasapproximately one centenarian per 10,000 people in the population. Thus, at anyone time, we were studying approximately 46 centenarians within a total population of 460,000 people (2). The NECS has gone on to enroll centenarians from throughout the United States and other countries and has grown to be the largest comprehensive study of centenarians in the world. There are currently ~1,600 centenarians, 500 children (in their 70s and 80s) and 300 younger controls. Amongst this group is the largest sample in the world, by far, of supercentenarians (age 110+ years) -there are about 107 of these oldest of the old subjects in our study.

Current and Previous Funders: We are tremendously thankful and beholden to the following foundations for supporting our enrollment and data collection efforts: the Alzheimers Association, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Institute for the Study of Aging (now the Alzheimers Drug Discovery Foundation), the American Federation Aging Research, and the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research.Currently we receive our fundingfrom the National Institute of Aging (NIA), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the William Wood Foundation and the Martin Samowitz Foundation. Our studies are supervised and approved by the Boston University MedicalCampus Institutional Review Board.

Demographics: In the U.S. and other industrialized nations, centenarians occur at a prevalence rate of about 1 per 6,000. When the centenarian study began in 1994, the prevalence rate was one per 10,000, making centenarians one of, if not the fastest growing segments of the population. In 2010, there are about 80,000 centenarians in the U.S.

Eighty-five percent of cenenarians are women and 15% are men. Among supercentenarians, the female prevalence may increase to about 90%. Though women by far and away win the longevity marathon, paradoxically the fewer men are generally functionally better off and healthier. This may be because women handle age related diseases better (how they do this is not clear) whereas at these ages, the men more readily die from them. Thus, the men who survive have to be relatively healthy and functionally fit.

Supercentenarians, people who are 110+ years old occur at a rate of about 1 per 7 million. In 2010, there are about 60 to 70 supercentenarians in the US. In June, 2010, the New England Centenarian Study enrolled its 107th supercentenarian, thus constituting by far and away the largest sample of such subjects in the world.

Geography: There are several geographical areas that have claimed inhabitants with extreme longevity, but after closer examination, these claims have been found to be false. Vilacamba, Ecuador almost became a tourist attraction because natives claimed their water was a fountain of youth leading to the many super-centenarians (age >110 years) in that region. What about the reports of people in the Russian Caucases living to 150 years and beyond? Remember the Dannon yogurt commercials? In fact, those purported super-centenarians were taking on the identities of their parents, aunts and uncles. The oldest person from whom we have multiple forms of proof-of-age is Madame Calment who died at the age of 122 years in 1997.

These regions of purported exceptional longevity still merit careful study however. Though claims of extreme age are untrue, there still may be an unusually high prevalence of very old fit people in these regions. In the Tibetan mountains for instance, octogenarian and nonagenarian elders, impressively many of them men, still herd live stock and still lead physically strenuous lives.

Predictors of Reaching 100: Once it truly became apparent that living to 100 was a terrific advantage, not just in years of survival but importantly in many more years of quality life, we set out to understand what factors the centenarians had in common that might explain such an advantage. Not all centenarians are alike. They vary widely in years of education (no years to post-graduate), socioeconomic status (very poor to very rich), religion, ethnicity and patterns of diet (strictly vegetarian to extremely rich in saturated fats). However, the centenarians we have studied do have a number of characteristics in common:

Nature Versus Nurture: The Role of Genes Versus Environment in Aging and Exceptional Longevity. Gerontologists often cite studies of lifespans amongst identical twins reared apart to describe the genetic and environmental components of aging. Based upon these studies, the common answer is 70-80%environment and 30-20% genes. This makes sense in the context of results from the study of Seventh Day Adventists at Loma Linda University who as a group have perhaps the longest average life expectancy in the United States, 88 years or 88 years for men and 89 years for women. The main attributes that these individuals have in common is that their religion for the most part asks that they have very good lifestyle choices. That is, they tend to be vegetarian, they dont smoke, they regularly exercise and hey spend a lot of time with their families and with their religion. Many Americans do the opposite (e.g. excessive meat consumption, lack of exercise, smoking, etc) and thus it is not surprising that on average, Americans die 8-10 years sooner. What the 7th Day Adventist results also show us is that the average American has the genes to reach their mid-late 80s, they just nee to take very good care of themselves with proper lifestyle choices. Also note that the oldest subects in the twin studies lived to their early to mid-eighties. Therefore, again, these findings indicate what it takes to live to what should be average life expectancy for most of us, age 86 years for men and 89 years for women.

However, we have learned from our studies of the siblings of centenarians and of supercentenarians that excepional longevity runs very strongly in families. Also, a Danish study of nonagenarians and centenarians has noted that the power of an exceptional longevity (EL)study to discover genetic factors associated with EL increases with the age of the subjects. These and other study results strongly suggest that the genetic component of exceptional longevity gets larger and larger with increasing age and is especially high for those age 106 years and older. The week of July 1, 2010, we will have a paper come out in Science that dilineates the roles of genes in exceptional longevity much more clearly (media embargoed until July 1, 2 pm).

Neuropsychological and Neuropathological Studies. We are particularly interested in how centenarians are able to markedly delay or in some cases escape Alzheimers disease. We perform detailed and annual neuropsychological examinations on centenarians living within 3-4 hours of Boston. A number of these subjects have indicated their willingness to donate their brains for neuropathological studies once they pass away, thus allowing our scientific collaborators to better characterize the health of the centenarians exceptionally old brains.

We also expend significant resources to disseminate our findings and to advocate for older people, providing an optimistic and enabling view of aging. Most people have the genetic makeup to live into their mid to late eighties in very good health, and like centenarians, compress the time they are sick towards the end of their lives. Much of their ability to do so depends upon healthy behaviors including a diet conducive to being lean, not smoking, and strength training exercise. Promoting this philosophy will have a much greater impact now on many more people than our genetic research. Our collaborations with Dr. Robert Butler and the International Longevity Center have been extremely fruitful in furthing this mission.11-13

The New England Centenarian Study Boston Medical Center 88 East Newton Street, B-2400 Boston, MA 02118 Local Phone: (617) 638-6679 or (617) 638-6688

Toll Free: 1-888-333-6327

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Why Study Centenarians? An Overview New England ...

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Louisianans are increasingly feeling the effects of diabetes as thousands of people suffer from the disease, and many others may have diabetes and not know it! It is estimated that one out of every three children born after 2000 in the United States will be directly affected by diabetes.

That is why the American Diabetes Association's Louisiana office is so committed to educating the public about how to stop diabetes and support those living with the disease.

We are here to help.

The American Diabetes Association's New Orleans office covers Louisiana and Mississippi.

The American Diabetes Association's Greater Louisiana office provides great local programs for people living with diabetes, their friends and family. For information about programs, please contact Treva Lincoln at 888-3422383 ext. 6074 or tlincoln@diabetes.org.

The I Decide to Stop Diabetes campaign, formerly known as ID Day, is a nationwide annual three-week effort (from Nov. 9 to Nov. 30) that encourages faith and community-based organizations to join with other organizations across the country to Take the Pledge to live a healthier life to Stop Diabetes.

Workplace Giving

Interested in workplace giving? The American Diabetes Association Louisiana is a proud member of Community Health Charities Louisiana & Mississippi.

We welcome your help.

Your involvement as an American Diabetes Association volunteer whether on a local or national level will help us expand our community outreach and impact, inspire healthy living, intensify our advocacy efforts, raise critical dollars to fund our mission, and uphold our reputation as the moving force and trusted leader in the diabetes community.

Find volunteer opportunities in our area through the Volunteer Center.

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Louisiana Office of the American Diabetes Association

2009

"A UK and Canadian team have manipulated human skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells without using viruses making them safer for use in humans.

"Study leader Dr. Keisuke Kaji, from the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said nobody, including himself, had thought it was really possible. 'It is a step towards the practical use of reprogrammed cells in medicine, perhaps even eliminating the need for human embryos as a source of stem cells,' he said."

--

"'Ethical' stem cell creation hope," BBC News, March 1, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7914976.stm

***

"A groundbreaking medical treatment that could dramatically enhance the body's ability to repair itself has been developed by a team of British researchers. The therapy, which makes the body release a flood of stem cells into the bloodstream, is designed to heal serious tissue damage caused by heart attacks and even repair broken bones.

"A possible danger with some other stem cell therapies in the pipeline is their use of embryonic stem cells. Because these can turn into any type of tissue, there is a risk they could grow into cancer cells when injected into patients. [This] treatment uses stem cells that can only grow into blood vessels, bone and cartilage, so the risk of causing cancer is removed."

--

I. Sample, "Revolutionary stem cell therapy boosts body's ability to heal itself," The Guardian (United Kingdom) , January 8, 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/08/stem-cells-bone-marrow-heart-attack

***

"Controversial research into the use of 'hybrid' human-animal embryos to make stem cells is in danger of stalling because of a lack of funding, British scientists claim.

"Since the furore broke scientists have developed a cheap and powerful new technique in which adult skin cells are reprogrammed to create cells that are almost identical to stem cells. Researchers have already used the technique to make so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for patients with diabetes, muscular dystrophy and Down's syndrome.

[Quoting Harry Moore, head of reproductive biology at Sheffield University] 'What has happened is the field has moved on. You could argue that iPS cells are a more important area than hybrids now.' "

--

I. Sample, "Rival stem cell technique takes the heat out of hybrid embryo debate," The Guardian. January 13, 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/13/hybrid-embryos-stem-cells

***

"A dose of their own stem cells 'reset' the malfunctioning immune system of patients with early-stage multiple sclerosis and, for the first time, reversed their disability.

'This is the first study to actually show reversal of disability,' said Richard Burt, an associate professor in the division of immunotherapy at Northwestern, and the lead author of the study published yesterday in the British journal, the Lancet Neurology. 'Some people had complete disappearance of all symptoms.' "

--

R. Waters, "Dose of Own Stem Cells Reverses Patients' Multiple Sclerosis," Bloomberg News, January 30, 2009, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=akHXxf3bS3TY&refer=home

***

"A new study suggests that adult bone marrow stem cells can be used in the construction of artificial skin. The findings mark an advancement in wound healing and may be used to pioneer a method of organ reconstruction."

--

"Study Uses Bone Marrow Stem Cells to Regenerate Skin," Physorg, January 14, 2009, http://www.physorg.com/news151166956.html

***

2008

"The reality is that the bulk of today's stem-cell research relies on adult stem cells taken from bone marrow, blood, skeletal muscles, body fat and umbilical cord blood. Scientists have even managed to coax adult skin cells to mimic the versatility of embryonic stem cells, which can grow virtually any cell or tissue in the human body. Unlike embryonic stem cells, though, these adult stem cells are being tested in humans right now, with very real possibilities to change the way various diseases are treated in the next five to 10 years."

--

T. Wheeler, "Stem cells mature," Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio), April 6, 2008.

***

"For the first time, scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have discovered a unique population of adult stem cells derived from human muscle that could be used to treat muscle injuries and diseases such as heart attack and muscular dystrophy.

"Because this is an autologous transplant, meaning from the patient to himself, there is not the risk of rejection you would have if you took the stem cells from another source

"Myoendothelial cells also showed no propensity to form tumors, a concern with other stem cell therapies."

--

"Pittsburgh scientists identify human source of stem cells with potential to repair muscle damaged by disease or injury," Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, September 4, 2007, http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/28732E.htm.

***

2007

"An Ecuadorian stem cellexpert said on September 24 that transplants of autologous adult bone marrow stem cells restored some function in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients who have been paralyzed for an average of four years, some up to 22 years.

"Of the 25 patients who provided more than three months and up to 14 months follow up: 15 gained the ability to stand up, 10 could walk on the parallels with braces, seven could walk without braces and five could walk with crutches. Three patients recovered full bladder control, and 10 patients regained some form of sexual function. No adverse events or abnormal reactions to implantation were observed.

'By implanting an adult's own bone marrow stem cells, we've seen significant improvements in the quality of life for those who suffer from spinal cord injuries,' said Francisco Silva, executive vice president of research and development for PrimeCell Therapeutics."

--

"Marrow Stem Cell Transplants Restore Spinal Cord Functions," Stem Cell Business News, Sept. 24, 2007, http://www.stemcellresearchnews.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=867&z=15

***

"In recent years, scientists have discovered that red bone marrow is the body's Swiss Army repair kit. It contains a traveling laboratory of cells that can heal the liver, heart, kidneys, leg arteries, pancreas, and even ovaries and the brain. Up to 40 percent of the liver can be regrown from stem cells found in bone marrow, researchers at New York University School of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine and Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center found."

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B. J. Fikes, "Body parts Bone marrow: The body's repair kit," North County Times (San Diego, CA), May 20, 2006, http://www.nctimes.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/article_0bcace84-44ac-51bc-99a0-b1bf6ddb6d21.html

***

2006

"The results of a study published in the April issue of Stem Cells and Development suggest that human stem cells derived from bone marrow are predisposed to develop into a variety of nerve cell types, supporting the promise of developing stem cell-based therapies to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

"When transplanted into the central nervous system, [these cells] will develop into a variety of functional neural cell types, making them a potent resource for cell-based therapy."

--

"New Findings Support Promise of Using Stem Cells to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases," Business Wire, May 1, 2006, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_May_1/ai_n16135565/

2005

"A team of Texas and British researchers says it has produced large amounts of embryoniclike stem cells from umbilical cord blood, potentially ending the ethical debate affecting stem-cell research -- the need to kill human embryos. The international researchers said the cells -- called cord-blood-derived-embryoniclike stem cells, or CBEs -- have the ability to turn into any kind of body tissue, like embryonic stem cells do, and can be mass-produced using technology derived from NASA.... "Scientists believe the ability to replicate tissue could lead to the development of ways to replace organs as well as treat life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which have been the focus of stem-cell research." -- J. Price, "Advance made in stem-cell debate," The Washington Times, August 20, 2005, http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050820-122747-2417r.htm

* * *

"Various studies that have been conducted around the world, including a limited number performed in the United States, have suggested that when patients with heart failure receive stem cells taken from their bone marrow, their hearts show signs of improved function and recovery." -- "Stem Cells With Heart Bypass Surgery Trial To Begin At University Of Pittsburgh," ScienceDaily, August 25, 2005, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050825070117.htm

* * * "Researchers in Boston have isolated a kind of cell from human bone marrow that they say has all the medical potential of human embryonic stem cells.... "Tufts University researchers used specialized cell-sorting machines to pluck the peculiar cells from samples of bone marrow obtained from different donors. Tests suggested the cells are capable of morphing into many, and perhaps all, of the various kinds of cells that make up the human body. ...

"When a batch of the newly identified marrow cells were injected into the hearts of rats that had experienced heart attacks, some of the cells turned into new heart muscle while others became new blood vessels to support the ailing hearts. ...

"'I think embryonic stem cells are going to fade in the rearview mirror of adult stem cells,' said Douglas W. Losordo, the Tufts cardiologist who left the effort.... Bone marrow, he said, 'is like a repair kit. Nature provided us with these tools to repair organ damage.'"

-Rick Weiss, "Marrow Has Cells Like Stem Cells, Tests Show," Washington Post, Feburary 2, 2005, p. A3, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55369-2005Feb1.html .

* * * "[Erica] Nader, 26, of Farmington Hills, Mich., was the first American to travel to Portugal, in March 2003, for experimental sugery for spinal cord injury. She was injured in July 2001 in an auto accident... She was paralyzed from the top of her arms down. "In the procedure...a team of doctors opened Nader's spinal cord to clear out any scar tissue.... Then, using a long tube, they took a sample of olfactory mucosal cells from the ridge of her nose.... These cells are among the body's richest supply of adult stem cells and are capable of becoming any type of cell, depending on where they are implanted. In this case, these adult stem cells were to take on the job of neurons, or nerve cells, once implanted in the spinal cord at the site of an injury. ... "And after three years, magnetic imaging resonance tests show that the cells indeed promote the development of new blood cells and synapses, or connections between nerve cells, says Dr. Carlos Lima, chief of the Lisbon team. ... "Dr. Pratas Vital, one of two neurosurgeons on the team, calls the transplanted cells spinal cord autografts, a term that indicates the cells come from a person's own body, not fetal or embryonic stem cells. ...

"[Erica] is much stronger and much more capable of lifting her arms, bending her knees on a slanted exercise board and standing erect. ... Once, she was paralyzed from her biceps down. Now, she can push herself off an exercise ball, do arm lifts and help raise herself off a floor mat. ... In the past six weeks, she's started to walk in leg braces with a walker or on a treadmill." -Patricia Anstett, "Paraplegic improving after stem-cell implant," The Indianapolis Star, January 16, 2005, at http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/209449-5235-047.html.

* * * 2004

"[E]vidence from three different labs the University of Minnesota, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, and Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago have found three different ASCs [adult stem cells] that may be completely plastic. ... As the team leader at the Robert Wood Johnson School, Ira Black, told me, 'In aggregate, our study and various others do support the idea that one [adult stem cell] can give rise to all types of tissue.' ...

-Michael Fumento, "The Adult Answer," National Review Online, December 20, 2004, at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/fumento200412200902.asp.

* * * "Scientists have transplanted adult stem cells from the bone marrow of rats into the brains of rat embryos and found that thousands of the cells survive into adulthood, raising the possibility that someday developmental abnormalities could be prevented or treated in the womb. "Dr. Ira Black, chairman of the department of neuroscience at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said the cells took on the properties of brain cells, migrating to specific regions and taking up characteristics of neighboring cells. ... "Black and his colleagues used a specific type of bone marrow cell called a stromal cell, taken from the leg bones of adult rats. 'We see this potentially as an appropriate treatment for prenatal disease, mental retardation and congenital conditions,' Black said. The hope is that a patient's own bone barrow might someday be the source for replacing brain cells lost to illness and brain trauma, experts say, eliminating the need to use human embryonic stem cells. "In a separate study, Dr. Alexander Storch of the University of Ulm, Germany, recently took bone marrow and stromal cells from six healthy people and converted the cells into immature neural stem cells. ... 'A single cell culture could grow all major brain cell types,' said Storch, who used specific growth factors to help them differentiate. ...Storch is now transplanting the cells into mice with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and stroke symptoms. In the stroke study, the labeled adult stromal cells migrated to the area surrounding the stroke damage, he said. They had all of the chemical, electrical and functional properties of brain cells." -Jamie Talan, "Stem cell transplant a success," Newsday, May 12, 2004, at http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/May2004/SuccessfulRatStemCellTransplant.html.

* * * "'Cord blood stem cells have the same capacity to cure disease as do embryonic stem cells, as they can become any cell in the body...,' said Dr. William Schmidt, Jr., an oncologist with the Charleston Cancer Center in N. Charleston, SC. "'The use of umbilical cord blood stem cells in the treatment of disease is one of the most prominent advancements in medicine today. Developments in this field will revolutionize medicine and disease treatment,' said Dr. [Roger] Markwald [Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the Medical University of South Carolina]."

-Press Release, "CureSource Issues Statement on Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells vs. Embryonic Stem Cells," May 12, 2004, at http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/altavista/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040512005909&newsLang=en.

* * * "California scientists have found that neural stem cells can target and track deadly brain tumor cells. ...The discovery by researchers at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute in Los Angeles means that neural stem cells may someday be effective 'delivery systems' to transport cancer-killing gene and immune products. ... "'We have previously demonstrated the uncanny ability of neural stem cells to seek out and destroy satellites of tumor cells in the brain,' said John S. Yu, senior author of the study and co-director of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program a Cedars-Sinai. '...With this knowledge, we hope to expedite the translation of this powerful and novel strategy for the clinical benefit of patients with brain tumors.'" -Press release, "Neural stem cells may help fight cancer," May 5, 2004, at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_17570.html. * * * "'We're not trying to change the [adult stem] cells in any way before we put them in the body. These are very early precursor cells. They have the potential to become almost anything, and they adapt quickly once they're inside,' said [Tulane University Center for Gene Therapy research professor Dr. Brian] Butcher. Tests on rats with damaged spines have shown that cell growth occurs in the spine [after adult stem cell injection] and allows the animals to walk again. ... "Using adult stem cells sidesteps some of the legal and ethical issues involved in using fetal...or embryonic stem cells.... And there may be other benefits as well. 'We're not against stem-cell research of any kind,' said Butcher. 'But we think there are advantages to using adult stem cells. For example, with embryonic stem cells, a significant number become cancer cells, so the cure could be worse than the disease. And they can be very difficult to grow, while adult stem cells are very easy to grow.' "But perhaps the biggest advantage to adult stem cells is that they sidestep immunological concerns because the cells used to treat a patient come from his or her own body."

-Heather Heilman, "Great Transformations," The Tulanian, Spring 2004, at http://www2.tulane.edu/article_news_details.cfm?ArticleID=5155.

* * * "Had a major heart attack? In the not-too-distant future, doctors may be able to use stem cells to regenerate damaged heart muscle. And here's the exciting part: They can do it using stem cells that aren't extracted from human embryos. "[G]iven the controversy over harvesting cells from embryos, doctors have been exploring other possibilities. The payoff: A team from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston recently repaired heart muscles in animals by injecting them with stem cells extracted from human blood. It's the stem-cell equivalent of Columbus reaching America: Not only would cells harvested from one's own body eliminate the risk that they would be rejected, but obtaining them would be a simple, painless proposition. "'This work gives us a way to get the cells that's as easy as giving a blood sample,' says Edward Yeh, M.D., lead author of the study. The real mind boggler is what the stem cells might mean to the 1.2 million Americans who suffer heart attacks each year." -Special Report, "Good news about bad things that happen to your parents," USA Weekend magazine, March 5-7, 2004, p. 6, at http://www.usaweekend.com/04_issues/040307/040307aging.html#heart. * * * 2003

"Scientists in Canada have turned adult skin cells into the building blocks of brain cells --opening the way for their use in new therapies for such incurable diseases. The discovery, by a team at the University of Toronto, is particularly exciting as it promises to provide a readily accessible and ethically neutral source of neural stem cells -- the precursors of nerve and brain tissue. "While other groups have managed to create these cells before, they have generally required the use of adult stem cells from bone marrow, which are difficult and painful to extract, or embryonic stem cells, which require the destruction of a human embryo. "If the Toronto technique is perfected for clinical use it would allow neural stem cells to be made from a patient's skin, ensuring a perfect genetic match that would not be rejected by the body. The cells would then be transplanted into the brains of people with neurological disorders, to replace, for example, the specialized dopamine neurons that are lost in Parkinson's disease." -Oliver Wright, "Patients' Own Skin Cells Turned into Potential Alzheimer's Treatment," The Times (London), December 10, 2003, Home News, p. 8.

* * * "Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have harnessed newly discovered cells from an unexpected source, the spleen, to cure juvenile diabetes in mice, a surprising breakthrough that could soon be tested in local patients and open a new chapter in diabetes research... "'This shows there might be a whole new type of therapy that we haven't tapped into,' said Dr. Denise Faustman, MGH immunology lab director and lead author of the new study, which appears today in the journal Science. 'We've figured out how to regrow an adult organ'." -R. Mishra, "Juvenile diabetes cured in lab mice," The Boston Globe, November 14, 2003, p. A2. * * * "There is now an emerging recognition that the adult mammalian brain, including that of primates and humans, harbours stem cell populations suggesting the existence of a previously unrecognised neural plasticity to the mature CNS [central nervous system], and thereby raising the possibility of promoting endogenous neural reconstruction... Since large numbers of stem cells can be generated efficiently in culture, they may obviate some of the technical and ethical limitations associated with the use of fresh (primary) embryonic neural tissue in current transplantation strategies." -T. Ostenfeld and C. Svendsen, "Recent advances in stem cell neurobiology," Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery, vol. 28 (2003), p. 3. * * * "Stem cells in our bone marrow usually develop into blood cells, replenishing our blood system. However, in states of emergency, the destiny of some of these stem cells may change: They can become virtually any type of cell liver cells, muscle cells, nerve cells responding to the body's needs. Prof. Tsvee Lapidot and Dr. Orit Kollet of the Weizmann Institute's Immunology Department have found how the liver, when damaged, sends a cry for help to these stem cells. 'When the liver becomes damaged, it signals to stem cells in the bone marrow, which rush to it and help in its repair as liver cells,' says Lapidot...

"The findings could lead to new insights into organ repair and transplants, especially liver-related ones. They may also uncover a whole new stock of stem cells that can under certain conditions become liver cells. Until a few years ago only embryonic stem cells were thought to possess such capabilities. Understanding how stem cells in the bone marrow turn into liver cells could one day be a great boon to liver repair as well as an alternative to the use of embryonic stem cells." -"Weizmann Institute scientists find that stem cells in the bone marrow become liver cells," EurakAlert, August 11, 2003, at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/wi-wis_1081103.php.

* * * I.S. Abuljadayel, Chief Scientific Officer of Tri-Stem Inc., on his study published in the July 2003 Current Medical Research and Opinion on producing pluripotent stem cells from adult blood cells:

"This new technology offers a viable option for the generation of large numbers of pluripotent stem cells. These are likely to have many clinical and research applications. The source material is blood, the most accessible tissue in our body which can be extracted by simple venipuncture or aphaeresis. The procedure raises no ethical concerns and removes the need to resort to embryos or aborted fetuses. The technology is also cost-effective, donor-friendly producing relatively large quantities of stem cells within a short time, which could eventually save patient lives and shorten patient waiting lists." -"Stem cell-like plasticity induced in mature mononuclear cells," Reuters Health, July 7, 2003.

* * * "This is an example of promising experimental therapies involving stem cells from bone marrow. Until just a few years ago, conventional wisdom held that only embryonic stem cells could turn into any cell in the body. But that thinking began to change as studies showed that stem cells from bone marrow could become heart, muscle, nerve, or liver cells. Now, the results of clinical trials conducted in Britain, Germany and Brazil show that heart patients injected with their own bone marrow cells benefit from the treatment."

-N. Touchette,"Bone Marrow Stem Cells Heal the Heart," Genome News Network, May 2, 2003, at http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/05_03/sc_heart.shtml * * * "Stem cells from bone marrow can transform into insulin-producing cells, scientists have shown, suggesting a future cure for diabetes... "Transplants of pancreatic cells have been tried between people, but the supplies are restricted and recipients have to take strong anti-rejection medication. Embryonic stem cells have also been converted into insulin-producing cells, but also produce immune-rejection, in addition to ethical concerns. But taking bone marrow cells from a patient, developing them into beta cells and then reimplanting them would have none of these difficulties. Also, much of the technology for bone marrow transplantation is already well developed, says study leader Mehboob Hussain, at the New York University School of Medicine. "'I am absolutely excited by the potential applications of our findings,' he said. 'In our body, there is an additional, easily available source of cells that are capable of becoming insulin-producing cells.'" -S. Bhattacharya, "Bone marrow experiments suggest diabetes cure," NewScientist.com News Service, March 17, 2003, at http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993508. * * * 2002

"The use of human embryonic stem cells has been confronted with major obstacles because of bio-ethical and political issues involved obtaining them, as well as the suggestion that embryonic stem cells may lack appropriate developmental instructions, making them potentially less feasible for engrafting into adult tissue... "As compared to embryonic stem cells, adult derived stem cells are endowed with additional developmental instructions and may be better suited for therapeutic purposes. According to [Dr. Shahin Rafii of Cornell University Medical College], 'We are approaching a day when a patient's own stem cells can be induced to divide and develop into tissue that can replace that which is diseased or destroyed, making overcrowded organ transplant lists and rejection of foreign tissues a thing of the past'." -"Mechanism For Regulation Of Adult Stem Cells Found," UniSci - Daily University Science News, May 31, 2002, at http://unisci.com/stories/20022/0531021.htm * * * On the versatility of adult hematopoietic (blood-producing) stem cells, HSCs: "[R]ecent studies have suggested that a subpopulation of HSCs may have the ability to contribute to diverse cell types such as hepatocytes, myocytes, and neuronal cells, especially following induced tissue damage... These surprising findings contradict the dogma that adult stem cells are developmentally restricted." -K. Bunting and R. Hawley, "The tao of hematopoietic stem cells: toward a unified theory of tissue regeneration," Scientific World Journal, April 10, 2002, p. 983.

* * * 2001

Commenting on a study by researchers at New York University, Yale and Johns Hopkins: "'There is a cell in the bone marrow that can serve as the stem cell for most, if not all, of the organs in the body,' says Neil Theise, M.D., Associate Professor of Pathology at NYU School of Medicine... '(t)his study provides the strongest evidence yet that the adult body harbors stem cells that are as flexible as embryonic stem cells'." -"Researchers Discover the Ultimate Adult Stem Cell," ScienceDaily Magazine, May 4, 2001, at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010504082859.htm * * * "Umbilical cords discarded after birth may offer a vast new source of repair material for fixing brains damaged by strokes and other ills, free of the ethical concerns surrounding the use of fetal tissue, researchers said Sunday."

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Scientific Experts Agree Embryonic Stem Cells Are ...

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is a general term that literally means "inflammation of the joints." The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is caused by wear and tear on joint cartilage. Another form is rheumatoid arthritis, which causes joint inflammation due to an immune system disorder. This section only addresses osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis affects nearly 27 million Americans and is the most common cause of long-term disability. It is caused by degeneration of the cartilage in joints. Osteoarthritis, also called degenerative joint disease, not only reduces elasticity and lubrication in the joints, but weakens muscles and loosens ligaments. This degeneration of cartilage can occur in any joints, but is most common in the knees, hips, hands, neck, and lower back.

The biggest risk factors for osteoarthritis are simply aging and joint use, but osteoarthritis can also be due to obesity, injury, nutritional factors, metabolic disorders, and genetics.

Most people over age 60 have osteoarthritis to some degree, but its severity varies. Even people in their 20s and 30s can get osteoarthritis. In people over 50, more women than men get osteoarthritis.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis most often develop gradually and include:

The degree of arthritis seen on x-ray studies or arthroscopy doesn't directly correlate with the level of pain or disability someone experiences.

Conventional treatments for arthritis begin with protecting the joint from progressive joint degeneration, increasing joint movement, and providing pain control so that the individual can maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. When pain and disability from arthritis increase, surgery is an option.

Treatments that focus on pain control include:

When pain from arthritis cannot be controlled with medication, surgery is sometimes an option. The most common surgeries done for arthritis are:

Lifestyle changes that protect the joint from progressive cartilage degeneration include:

Studies done on people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis consistently show that regular exercise, including aerobics, strength training, and range of motion/flexibility, improves pain, increases walking tolerance, and decreases self-assessed disability.

This especially applies to those with knee arthritis. Using a cane, walker, or wedged insoles to help distribute the weight on joints can be helpful.

Staying physically active when you have arthritis is important because arthritis pain is typically worse after excessive activity as well as inactivity.

It is important to eliminate activities that cause joint wear and tear, such as running and high-impact aerobics.

Optimizing weight to reduce stress on the joints is important for both prevention and for decreasing symptoms and progression of disease. Losing weight helps reduce stress and strain on joints. In fact, for every pound of weight loss there is a four pound reduction in the load exerted on the knee.

In one study, a 10% weight loss led to a 28% improvement in function. Weight loss appears to alleviate more than just direct mechanical stress, because lowering body mass also improves the course of disease in the hand and wrist joints. Also, diabetics experience more severe osteoarthritis than those without diabetes, so if you have type 2 diabetes, losing weight could improve your arthritis both on its own and by possibly eliminating your diabetes.

An anti-inflammatory dietthat is, one low in saturated fats like red meat, dairy, and fried foodmay help reduce the inflammatory process in the joints. Increasing Omega-3 fatty acids may also help this balance. Some individuals may have symptomatic improvement with the elimination of nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, tobacco). A 2-3 week trial is worth considering.

In several US survey studies, many older patients with arthritis reported using complementary and alternative treatments. The most commonly used treatments were massage therapy (57%) and chiropractic (21%). The use of complementary therapies for arthritis was most common among those who considered themselves in poorer health and who also used traditional healthcare resources more.

Multiple studies have been done on the use of acupuncture for the pain of osteoarthritis. In a recent trial of almost 600 patients with knee arthritis, 26 weeks of acupuncture were compared to education sessions. Those receiving acupuncture showed significant improvement in function at 8 weeks, and in pain reduction at 26 weeks.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a program of meditation and gentle yoga that has been scientifically validated. It is currently used in more than 200 hospitals and medical centers to complement the medical management of chronic pain and stress-related disorders. Research has studied individuals with many different kinds of pain (not just arthritis) and shown dramatic reductions in pain levels and an enhanced ability of individuals to cope with pain that may not go away.

Yoga is a holistic discipline, including mental, physical, and breathwork practices. A pilot study has shown that yoga may provide a feasible treatment option for obese patients over 50 years old and offers potential reductions in pain and disability caused by knee osteoarthritis.

The level of effectiveness of manual therapy with arthritis is under-researched; however, there are clinical reports of effectiveness, and some early studies are very promising.

One study of over 100 patients with osteoarthritis in the hip compared a five-week manual therapy program, including manipulations and joint mobilization, to an exercise program. Eighty-one percent of individuals had general perceived improvement after manual therapies, while only 50% experienced that in the exercise group. Patients in the manual therapy group had significantly better outcomes on pain, stiffness, hip function, and range of motion. These improvements lasted through at least 29 weeks.

There have been limited studies on the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulation alone. However, studies of osteopathy combined with conventional medical care show that the combination was more effective than conventional medical care alone for individuals with chronic pain syndromes from degenerative joint disease.

Early studies have shown massage therapy to be efficacious in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee, though long-term-costs studies have not yet been done.

Ice massage can be used to improve range of motion and strength of the knee, and improve function. Cold packs may be used to decrease swelling.

There are some naturally occurring substances with anti-inflammatory effects and a lower risk of gastrointestinal bleeding than NSAIDs. As with any medications, these should ideally be used for limited periods of healing, not for indefinite, long-term use.

Typical doses for each botanical are indicated below. However, you should talk with your healthcare provider before adding botanicals to your health regimen and ask about the right dosage for you.

Many people who suffer from arthritis experience either severe chronic pain or moderate chronic pain with occasional episodes of severe pain. Since the degree of pain and disability is highly influenced by an individual's perception of pain and not necessarily correlated with the degree of cartilage degeneration, a treatment plan that includes both conventional and integrative therapies can be very effective. As always, you should make sure that you communicate and share your treatment plan with all of your care providers.

Since obesity increases the risk for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, maintaining ideal weight or losing excess weight may help prevent osteoarthritis of the knee and hip or decrease the rate of progression once osteoarthritis is established.

Acupuncture for pain relief may reduce the need pain medications, such as NSAIDs.

Maintaining activity as much as possible is helpful to delay disability and improve quality of life. A regular exercise program with stretching, strength training, and endurance and aerobic activities is important. Yoga is a good base activity for many people.

A regular meditation or relaxation practice can help you cope with pain, as can a self-reflection practice that honestly addresses emotional awareness and health.

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Arthritis | Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing

Arthritis is inflammation of a body joint. The two most common types are osteoarthritis (also known as degenerative joint disease) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Osteoarthritis occurs in older adults or after trauma and is caused in part by degeneration of the joint and increases with age. RA is an autoimmune disease that often occurs in younger adults where the bodys own defenses attack the joint lining.

Your doctor will likely conduct a complete physical and may perform blood tests to look for inflammation to help diagnose your condition. Additional tests may include bone x-ray, CT, MRI, or ultrasound. Treatment will depend on the type, severity and location of the arthritis and may include medication, therapy or surgery.

Arthritis means inflammation of one or more joints in the body. A joint is an area where two or more bones make contact and move against each other. The underlying cause varies with specific types of arthritis. There are over 100 forms of arthritis with the two most common being osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease, is caused in part by degeneration of parts of the joint such as cartilage and increases with age. The increasing wear and breakdown on parts of the affected joint can result in reactive inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), on the other hand, is an autoimmune disease where the bodys own defenses attack the normal joint lining. In this type of arthritis, the inflammation of the lining of the joint develops first and over time damages the component parts of the joint. Other relatively common causes of arthritis include trauma, abnormal limb alignment, infections, autoimmune conditions other than rheumatoid arthritis and abnormal deposits in the joints, such as in gout.

Some type of arthritis affects over 40 million people in the United States. More than half of those people have degenerative joint disease. Almost 60 percent of those affected by arthritis are women. While arthritis mainly occurs in adults, children can be at risk of certain types of arthritis such as those caused from injury and autoimmune diseases. Although any joint in the body can be affected, particular forms of arthritis have a tendency to occur in certain parts of the body. For example, rheumatoid arthritis commonly affects the wrists and knuckles, feet, neck, and larger joints in the limbs while degenerative joint disease may affect the thumb bases, finger joints, knees, hips, shoulders, and lower spine.

Symptoms of arthritis include:

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When diagnosing arthritis, your doctor will likely do a complete physical examination of your entire body, including your spine, joints, skin and eyes. You may undergo blood tests to detect inflammation. In cases where an infection or gout is suspected, it may be useful to draw some fluid from a joint with a needle in order to analyze the contents of the material. In addition, your physician may order one or more of the following imaging tests:

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Treatment for arthritis depends on the type, severity and location of the disorder. Common treatments include:

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Arthritis - RadiologyInfo.org

Welcome to Freehold Ophthalmology

Healthy eyes and good vision are important to your quality of life. That is why our doctors and office staff are committed to exceeding your expectations and providing the best comprehensive ophthalmic eyecare.

Freehold Ophthalmologyprovides a full range of eye related services including the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration, dry eyes, infections, and eye trauma. Routine eye care and contact lens fitting are also a priority, and there is a fully staffed on-site optical shop in all 3 offices.

Our doctors specialize in cutting edge cataract surgery as well as state-of-the-art Laser Vision Correction. Cosmetic Botox treatments and plastic surgery around the eyes are also available.Types of Payment Accepted We accept cash, personal checks, MasterCard, and Visa.

Insurance Plans We participate with VSPand most major medical insurance and vision plans.

Facilities and Equipment Lasers for treatment of eye diseases. Visual field testing, HRT/OCT, Pachymetry for glaucoma Retinal photography and angiography Full Optical and Contact Lens service

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Eye Doctor NJ Freehold Ophthalmology

Eating Carrots Will Improve Your Sight

Fact: Carrots are high in vitamin A, a nutrient essential for good vision. Eating carrots will provide you with the small amount of vitamin A needed for good vision, but vitamin A isn't limited to rabbit food, it can also be found in milk, cheese, egg yolk, and liver.

Sitting Too Close to the TV Will Damage Your Vision

Fiction: Sitting closer than necessary to the television may give you a headache, but it will not damage your vision.

Reading in the Dark Will Weaken Your Eyesight

Fiction: As with sitting too close to the television, you may get a headache from reading in the dark, but it will not weaken your sight.

Using Glasses or Contacts Will Weaken My Eyesight, and My Eyes Will Eventually Become Dependent On Them

Fiction: Your eyes will not grow weaker as a result of using corrective lenses. Your prescription may change over time due to aging or the presence of disease, but it is not because of your current prescription.

Children With Crossed Eyes Can Be Treated

Fact: Children are not able to outgrow strabismus on their own, but with help, it can be more easily corrected at a younger age. That's why it is important for your child to have an eye exam early, first when they are infants and then again by age two.

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Information on eyesight and vision: myths and facts at ...

Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggests, are derived from embryos. Most embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitroin an in vitro fertilization clinicand then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not derived from eggs fertilized in a woman's body.

Growing cells in the laboratory is known as cell culture. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) aregenerated by transferringcells from a preimplantation-stage embryointo a plastic laboratory culture dish that contains a nutrient broth known as culture medium. The cells divide and spread over the surface of the dish. In the original protocol, the inner surface of the culture dish was coated with mouse embryonic skin cellsspecially treated so they will not divide. This coating layer of cells is called a feeder layer. The mouse cells in the bottom of the culture dish provide the cells a sticky surface to which they can attach. Also, the feeder cells release nutrients into the culture medium. Researchers have nowdevised ways to grow embryonic stem cells without mouse feeder cells. This is a significant scientific advance because of the risk that viruses or other macromolecules in the mouse cells may be transmitted to the human cells.

The process of generating an embryonic stem cell line is somewhat inefficient, so lines are not produced each time cells from the preimplantation-stage embryo are placed into a culture dish. However, if the plated cells survive, divide and multiply enough to crowd the dish, they are removed gently and plated into several fresh culture dishes. The process of re-plating or subculturing the cells is repeated many times and for many months. Each cycle of subculturing the cells is referred to as a passage. Once the cell line is established, the original cells yield millions of embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells that have proliferated in cell culture for for a prolonged period of time without differentiating, and are pluripotentare referred to as an embryonic stem cell line. At any stage in the process, batches of cells can be frozen and shipped to other laboratories for further culture and experimentation.

At various points during the process of generating embryonic stem cell lines, scientists test the cells to see whether they exhibit the fundamental properties that make them embryonic stem cells. This process is called characterization.

Scientists who study human embryonic stem cells have not yet agreed on a standard battery of tests that measure the cells' fundamental properties. However, laboratories that grow human embryonic stem cell lines use several kinds of tests, including:

As long as the embryonic stem cells in culture are grown under appropriate conditions, they can remain undifferentiated (unspecialized). But if cells are allowed to clump together to form embryoid bodies, they begin to differentiate spontaneously. They can form muscle cells, nerve cells, and many other cell types. Although spontaneous differentiation is a good indication that a culture of embryonic stem cells is healthy, it is not an efficient way to produce cultures of specific cell types.

So, to generate cultures of specific types of differentiated cellsheart muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells, for examplescientists try to control the differentiation of embryonic stem cells. They change the chemical composition of the culture medium, alter the surface of the culture dish, or modify the cells by inserting specific genes. Through years of experimentation, scientists have established some basic protocols or "recipes" for the directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells into some specific cell types (Figure 1). (For additional examples of directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells, refer to the NIH stem cell report available at http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/scireport/pages/2006report.aspx.)

Figure 1. Directed differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. Click here for larger image. ( 2008 Terese Winslow)

If scientists can reliably direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into specific cell types, they may be able to use the resulting, differentiated cells to treat certain diseases in the future. Diseases that might be treated by transplanting cells generated from human embryonic stem cells include diabetes, traumatic spinal cord injury, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, heart disease, and vision and hearing loss.

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What are embryonic stem cells? [Stem Cell Information]

July 20, 2015 Researchers have used models to identify a potential link between excess production of inflammatory proteins that cause rheumatoid arthritis and the development of heart valve disease. The research ... read more July 20, 2015 Researchers have successfully treated patients with moderate to severe eczema using a rheumatoid arthritis drug recently shown to reverse two other disfiguring skin conditions, vitiligo and alopecia ... read more Antibiotic Exposure Could Increase the Risk of Juvenile Arthritis July 20, 2015 Taking antibiotics may increase the risk that a child will develop juvenile arthritis, according to a study. Researchers found that children who were prescribed antibiotics had twice the risk of ... read more Common Mental Health Drug Could Be Used to Treat Arthritis July 16, 2015 Lithium chloride which is used as a mood stabiliser in the treatment of mental health problems, mainly bipolar disorder, could be used to treat arthritis according to a new ... read more Rheumatoid Arthritis: Novel Approach Identifies Unique DNA Signature July 14, 2015 Researchers have for the first time identified disease-associated changes to the DNA epigenome in joint fluid cells from patients with rheumatoid ... read more Arthritis Drug Could Be Used to Treat Blood Cancer Sufferers July 5, 2015 Scientists have discovered that a common drug given to arthritis sufferers could also help to treat patients with blood cancers, and is one thousandth of the cost of another drug that works in the ... read more New Test Could Predict Arthritis Drug Failure in Patients July 3, 2015 It may be possible to predict early which rheumatoid arthritis patients will fail to respond to the biologic drugs given to treat them, a study of 311 patients has found.These findings could help ... read more Vitamin B12 Supplement Linked to Pimply Skin June 24, 2015 Vitamin B12 tweaks how genes behave in the facial bacteria of some people who normally enjoy clear skin, leading to pimples, new research ... read more Patients With Primary Hand Osteoarthritis Should Not Be Prescribed Hydroxychloroquine, Study Suggests June 13, 2015 The results of an interventional trial showed that use of the disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug hydroxychloroquine for 24 weeks did not diminish mild-moderate pain from primary hand ... read more Biologics Improve Productivity and Reduce Missed Workdays in Rheumatic Disease June 12, 2015 The results of a systematic review of published studies showed that biologics improve both absenteeism (not showing up for work) and presenteeism (being at work but not functioning fully) in patients ... read more Low Birth Weight and Childhood Infections Predict Ankylosing Spondylitis June 11, 2015 The results of a new study showed that a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis can be predicted by low birth weight, having older siblings and hospitalization for infection between the ages of 5-16 ... read more Physical Trauma Associated With Onset of Psoriatic Arthritis Among Psoriasis Patients June 11, 2015 The results of a large population study showed an increased risk of developing Psoriatic Arthritis among psoriasis patients exposed to physical trauma, particularly when the trauma involved bone ... read more Ultrasound-Defined Tenosynovitis Identified as Strong Predictor of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis June 10, 2015 A new study showed that ultrasound diagnosis of tenosynovitis (inflammation of the tendon sheath) was superior to clinical symptoms and signs in the prediction of early Rheumatoid ... read more Intensive Initial Therapy With Triple DMARDs Improves Functional Ability in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis June 10, 2015 New research showed that initial therapy with combination DMARDs significantly improves measures of disease activity and functional ability in patients with early rheumatoid ... read more Stem Cell Discovery Paves Way for Targeted Treatment for Osteoarthritis June 9, 2015 Scientists have made a significant advance that could make cell-based treatments for arthritis less of a lottery. Researchers have identified individual stem cells that can regenerate tissue, ... read more June 3, 2015 A world-first vaccine-style therapeutic approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis has been developed by researchers. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the immune system attacks healthy tissues, ... read more New UK Research 'Challenges the Assumption That Arthritis Patients Take Their Medication Regularly' May 26, 2015 40% of UK arthritis patients scored low on an adherence questionnaire at least once during their time in a recent study, indicating that they might not be taking their expensive biological therapies ... read more Compound Has Potential for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis May 21, 2015 A new study outlines a chemical compound with potential for treating rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects an estimated 1.3 million people in the ... read more Scientists Reveal Potential New Drug Target for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis May 20, 2015 A novel drug target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has been identified, which focuses on the cells that are directly responsible for the cartilage damage in affected joints. Rheumatoid ... read more May 12, 2015 An important discovery has been made about an immune cell that is already being used in immunotherapy to treat diseases such as type I diabetes. The work details how regulatory T cells can cure ... read more

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Arthritis News -- ScienceDaily

This article is about a type of pregnancy. For other uses of the word "surrogacy", see Surrogate. Legal regulation of surrogacy in the world:

Both gainful and altruistic forms are legal

No legal regulation but is done

Legal only altruistically

Allowed between relatives up to second degree of consanguinity

Banned

Unregulated / uncertain situation

A surrogacy arrangement or surrogacy agreement is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two main types of surrogacy, gestational surrogacy (also known as host or full surrogacy[1]) and traditional surrogacy (also known as partial, genetic, or straight surrogacy[1]). In gestational surrogacy, the pregnancy results from the transfer of an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF), in a manner so the resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate. Gestational surrogates are also referred to as gestational carriers. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is impregnated naturally or artificially, but the resulting child is genetically related to the surrogate. In the United States, gestational surrogacy is more common than traditional surrogacy and is considered less legally complex.[2]

Intended parents may seek a surrogacy arrangement when either pregnancy is medically impossible, pregnancy risks present an unacceptable danger to the mother's health or is a same sex couples preferred method of procreation. Monetary compensation may or may not be involved in these arrangements. If the surrogate receives compensation beyond reimbursement of medical and other reasonable expenses, the arrangement is considered commercial surrogacy; otherwise, it is referred to as altruistic. The legality and costs of surrogacy vary widely between jurisdictions, sometimes resulting in interstate or international surrogacy arrangements.

Having another woman bear a child for a couple to raise, usually with the male half of the couple as the genetic father, is referred to in antiquity. Babylonian law and custom allowed this practice, and infertile woman could use the practice to avoid a divorce, which would otherwise be inevitable.[3]

Many developments in medicine, social customs, and legal proceedings worldwide paved the way for modern commercial surrogacy:[4]

Surrogacy has the potential for various kinds of clash between surrogate mothers and intended parents. For instance, the intended parents of the fetus may ask for an abortion when complications arise and the surrogate mother may oppose the abortion.[6][7]

A surrogate is implanted with an embryo created by IVF. The resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate. There are several sub-types of gestational surrogacy as noted below.

A surrogate is implanted with an embryo created by IVF, using intended father's sperm and intended mother's eggs.

A surrogate is implanted with an embryo created by IVF, using intended father's sperm and a donor egg where the donor is not the surrogate. The resulting child is genetically related to intended father and genetically unrelated to the surrogate.

A surrogate is implanted with an embryo created by IVF, using intended mother's egg and donor sperm. The resulting child is genetically related to intended mother and genetically unrelated to the surrogate.

A donor embryo is implanted in a surrogate; such embryos may be available when others undergoing IVF have embryos left over, which they opt to donate to others. The resulting child is genetically unrelated to the intended parent(s) and genetically unrelated to the surrogate.

This involves naturally[8] or artificially inseminating a surrogate with intended father's sperm via IUI, IVF or home insemination. With this method, the resulting child is genetically related to intended father and genetically related to the surrogate.

A surrogate is artificially inseminated with donor sperm via IUI, IVF or home insemination. The resulting child is genetically unrelated to the intended parent(s) and genetically related to the surrogate.

As of 2013, locations where a woman could legally be paid to carry another's child through IVF and embryo transfer included India, Georgia, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and a few U.S. states.[9]

The legal aspects of surrogacy in any particular jurisdiction tend to hinge on a few central questions:

Although laws differ widely from one jurisdiction to another, some generalizations are possible:

The historical legal assumption has been that the woman giving birth to a child is that child's legal mother, and the only way for another woman to be recognized as the mother is through adoption (usually requiring the birth mother's formal abandonment of parental rights).

Even in jurisdictions that do not recognize surrogacy arrangements, if the genetic parents and the birth mother proceed without any intervention from the government and have no changes of heart along the way, they will likely be able to achieve the effects of surrogacy by having the surrogate mother give birth and then give the child up for private adoption to the intended parents.

If the jurisdiction specifically prohibits surrogacy, however, and finds out about the arrangement, there may be financial and legal consequences for the parties involved. One jurisdiction (Quebec) prevented the genetic mother's adoption of the child even though that left the child with no legal mother.[10]

Some jurisdictions specifically prohibit only commercial and not altruistic surrogacy. Even jurisdictions that do not prohibit surrogacy may rule that surrogacy contracts (commercial, altruistic, or both) are void. If the contract is either prohibited or void, then there is no recourse if one party to the agreement has a change of heart: If a surrogate changes her mind and decides to keep the child, the intended mother has no claim to the child even if it is her genetic offspring, and the couple cannot get back any money they may have paid or reimbursed to the surrogate; if the intended parents change their mind and do not want the child after all, the surrogate cannot get any reimbursement for expenses, or any promised payment, and she will be left with legal custody of the child.

Jurisdictions that permit surrogacy sometimes offer a way for the intended mother, especially if she is also the genetic mother, to be recognized as the legal mother without going through the process of abandonment and adoption.

Often this is via a birth order[11] in which a court rules on the legal parentage of a child. These orders usually require the consent of all parties involved, sometimes including even the husband of a married gestational surrogate. Most jurisdictions provide for only a post-birth order, often out of an unwillingness to force the surrogate mother to give up parental rights if she changes her mind after the birth.

A few jurisdictions do provide for pre-birth orders, generally in only those cases when the surrogate mother is not genetically related to the expected child. Some jurisdictions impose other requirements in order to issue birth orders, for example, that the intended parents be heterosexual and married to one another. Jurisdictions that provide for pre-birth orders are also more likely to provide for some kind of enforcement of surrogacy contracts.

Ethical issues that have been raised with regards to surrogacy include:[12]

Different religions take different approaches to surrogacy, often related to their stances on assisted reproductive technology in general.

Paragraph 2376 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that: "Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral."[13]

Jewish law states that the parents of the child are the man who gives sperm and the woman who gives the egg cell. More recently, Jewish religious establishments have accepted surrogacy only if it is full gestational surrogacy with both intended parents' gametes included and fertilization done via IVF.[14]

A study by the Family and Child Psychology Research Centre at City University London in 2002 concluded that surrogate mothers rarely had difficulty relinquishing rights to a surrogate child and that the intended mothers showed greater warmth to the child than mothers conceiving naturally.[15][16][17]

Anthropological studies of surrogates have shown that surrogates engage in various distancing techniques throughout the surrogate pregnancy so as to ensure that they do not become emotionally attached to the baby.[18][19] Many surrogates intentionally try to foster the development of emotional attachment between the intended mother and the surrogate child.[20]

Surrogates are generally encouraged by the agency they go through to become emotionally detached from the fetus prior to giving birth.[21]

Instead of the popular expectation that surrogates feel traumatized after relinquishment, an overwhelming majority describe feeling empowered by their surrogacy experience.[19][22]

Although surrogate mothers generally report being satisfied with their experience as surrogates there are cases in which they are not. Unmet expectations are associated with dissatisfaction. Some women did not feel a certain level of closeness with the couple and others did not feel respected by the couple.[23]

Some women experience emotional distress when participating as a surrogate mother. This could be due to a lack of therapy and emotional support through the surrogate process.[23]

Some women have psychological reactions when being surrogate mothers. These include depression when surrendering the child, grief, and even refusal to release the child.[24]

A 2011 study from the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge found that surrogacy does not have a negative impact on the surrogate's own children.[25]

A recent study (involving 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation, and 54 natural conception families) examined the impact of surrogacy on motherchild relationships and children's psychological adjustment at age seven. Researchers found no differences in negativity, maternal positivity, or child adjustment.[26]

Fertility tourism for surrogacy is driven by legal regulations in the home country, or lower price abroad.

India is a main destination for surrogacy. Indian surrogates have been increasingly popular with intended parents in industrialized nations because of the relatively low cost. Indian clinics are at the same time becoming more competitive, not just in the pricing, but in the hiring and retention of Indian females as surrogates. Clinics charge patients between $10,000 and $28,000 for the complete package, including fertilization, the surrogate's fee, and delivery of the baby at a hospital. Including the costs of flight tickets, medical procedures and hotels, it comes to roughly a third of the price compared with going through the procedure in the UK.[27]

Surrogacy in India is of low cost and the laws are flexible. In 2008, the Supreme Court of India in the Manji's case (Japanese Baby) has held that commercial surrogacy is permitted in India. That has again increased the international confidence in going in for surrogacy in India. But as of 2014, a surrogacy ban was placed on homosexual couples and single parents.

There is an upcoming Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, aiming to regulate the surrogacy business. However, it is expected to increase the confidence in clinics by sorting out dubious practitioners, and in this way stimulate the practice.[27]

Liberal legislation makes Russia attractive for "reproductive tourists" looking for techniques not available in their countries. Intended parents come there for oocyte donation, because of advanced age or marital status (single women and single men) and when surrogacy is considered. Gestational surrogacy, even commercial is absolutely legal in Russia, being available for practically all adults willing to be parents.[28] Foreigners have the same rights as for assisted reproduction as Russian citizens. Within three days after the birth the commissioning parents obtain a Russian birth certificate with both their names on it. Genetic relation to the child (in case of donation) does not matter.[29] On August 4, 2010, a Moscow court ruled that a single man who applied for gestational surrogacy (using donor eggs) could be registered as the only parent of his son, becoming the first man in Russia to defend his right to become a father through a court procedure.[30] The surrogate mother's name was not listed on the birth certificate; the father was listed as the only parent.

Surrogacy is completely legal in Ukraine. However, only healthy mothers who have had children before can become surrogates. Surrogates in Ukraine have zero parental rights over the child, as stated on Article 123 of the Family Code of Ukraine. Thus, a surrogate cannot refuse to hand the baby over in case she changes her mind after birth. Only married couples can legally go through gestational surrogacy in Ukraine.

The United States is sought as a location for surrogate mothers by some couples seeking a green card in the U.S., since the resulting child can get birthright citizenship in the United States, and can thereby apply for green cards for the parents when the child turns 21 years of age.[31] However, this is not the main reason. People come to the US for surrogacy procedures, including to enjoy a better quality of medical technology and care, as well as the high level of legal protections afforded through some US state courts to surrogacy contracts as compared to other countries. Increasingly, homosexual couples who face restrictions using IVF and surrogacy procedures in their home countries travel to US states where it is legal.

Read more:
Surrogacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Often when a reader is confronted with a legal issue or concern, it is a time of confusion and emotional distress. Between possible physical injuries, medical bills and emotional stress, the legal processand just finding legal information or legal helpcan be overwhelming. We understand that. As a matter of fact, while everyone at LawyersAndSettlements.com is well-versed in legal matters, no one on the editorial staff is a lawyer or in any way a part of a law firm. Not only does that ensure our journalistic integrity, but it also allows us to see legal issues from the most important perspectiveyours. We understand the legal questions you have. From questions about personal injury settlements to what's involved in addressing medical legal issues or how to find a lawyer to help with employment law cases, LawyersAndSettlements.com provides the answers and legal information you need to help you make informed decisions and find legal help.

Finding a personal injury lawyer or joining a class action lawsuit as a lead plaintiff can be dauntingeven for those who've worked with a lawyer previously for personal matterssuch as to create a will, file for divorce or establish power of attorney. Knowing that, LawyersAndSettlements.com does accept advertising from personal injury lawyers and class action attorneysby doing so, lawyers who specialize in medical lawsuits, employment law cases, class action lawsuits and personal injury lawsuits make themselves more accessible to readers who have legal complaints. Having your case reviewed by a lawyer is freeand it only takes a minute or two to submit a claim.

One of the most challenging legal issues that a reader can face is a harmful drug case. Sometimes there has been a drug recall. More often, harmful drug side effects arise without warningand sometimes it takes quite some time before a diagnosis is made to connect the harmful drug to the negative side effects. As a patient, filing a medical lawsuit or even contacting a medical malpractice attorney, defective medical device lawyer or harmful drug attorney is often the last thing on a harmful drug victim's mind. Medical legal issues often have statutes of limitations for filing medical lawsuits and they can also require a fair amount of documentationall of which can be overwhelming for a victim. That's why it is often not only easier, but also recommended, to have the details of any medical legal issues reviewed by a lawyer who specializes in medical lawsuits. At LawyersAndSettlements.com, we provide readers with a convenient, trusted and free way to have their medical legal issues reviewed by a lawyer.

Millions of LawyersAndSettlements.com readers benefit from our in-depth coverage of the legal issues that affect all of us every day. Our Class Action and Personal Injury Newsletter provides weekly updates on top legal news stories, new lawsuits, class action suit filings and personal injury settlements. In addition, LawyersAndSettlements.com readers can subscribe to Instant Email Alerts that provide breaking coverage on emerging legal issues, defective product and harmful drug recalls, and FDA warnings and labeling changes on prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications.

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Lawsuits, Legal News & Issues, Lawsuit Settlements, Class ...

When Hypothyroid Mom launched on October 1st, 2012, I hoped my blog would reach a few readers outside of my family and friends, but never did I imagine the number of people that it would reach in such a short time. I was blown away when thyroid expert Dr. Kent Holtorf, medical director of the non-profit National Academy of Hypothyroidism and medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group, included @HypothyroidMom in his recommended list of people to follow on Twitter on a Friday in early November (#FF FollowFriday).

Dr. Kent Holtorf @HoltorfMed

#FF @HypothyroidMom @BHthyroid @crzythyroidlady @ThyroidMary @ThyroidChange @OutsmartDisease #hypothyroid #thyroid #hashimotos disease

When the Holtorf Medical Group contacted me recently about including this guest blog post at Hypothyroid Mom, I was so honored. Its pretty obvious by how I responded to his team.

Dr. Holtorf has been a great supporter of Hypothyroid Mom since I launched in October 2012. He shared my blog with his followers on Twitter in the very early days when no one but my family and friends had any idea I existed. Absolutely yes I would gladly include this guest blog post about Hashimotos disease.

Dr. Holtorf ROCKS! You let him know that.

What is Hashimotos thyroiditis or Hashimotos disease? It is a genetically inherited disorder of the immune system in which there is chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland. Its as though the bodys immune system is confused and turns against the thyroid gland, making antibodies that interfere with the thyroid hormones ability to function.

How common is it? It might be more common than you think. According to current published data, there are approximately 14 million Americans who have Hashimotos and women are seven times as likely to have it as men. The number one symptom of hypothyroidism, or sluggish thyroid functioning, is fatigue. This stands to reason, since the thyroid hormones help our cells absorb and utilize energy from sources such as food and other hormones.

People who have Hashimotos can find themselves feeling like theyve been short-changed, but so often, they dont know why. They think, Why am I so tired all the time? Even if I sleep all night long, I still feel like I could sleep all day, too. They push themselves just to make it through the day. Their routine might include caffeine in the morning in order to make it to lunch. Instead of eating, they drink a shake and take a nap until lunch is over. The short nap gives them just enough energy to get through the afternoon. They cant wait to get home so they can crawl into bed as soon as possible. If its been a rough day, they may not even have enough energy to put on pajamas before going to bed. Does this sound at all familiar to you or is there someone you know that this describes? You dont have to feel this way, and you dont have to live this way.

The thyroid antibodies the immune system makes with Hashimotos are proteins that attach themselves to thyroid hormone, decreasing the amount of hormone that is available in the bloodstream. This is the primary reason it is so important to find a physician who will work with you to determine the appropriate treatment for you. The first course of treatment is determining the best thyroid replacement for you.

Once you find a Hashimotos disease doctor they will begin by treating you with thyroid hormone replacement therapy, but there are other medical and nutritional additions that can help.

Individuals with Hashimotos disease often have low levels of DHEA and testosterone. When these are supplemented, it can decrease levels of antibodies and decrease the ongoing destruction of the thyroid gland. It has also been shown that selenium deficiency can play a role in Hashimotos disease. Taking Selenium supplementation can often reduce antibody levels, though selenium is not a replacement for thyroid medication.

Low Dose Naltrexone has also shown to be very effective for autoimmune diseases such as Hashimotos disease and it can lower anti-thyroid antibodies.

Identifying and treating any chronic viral or bacterial infection that may be the underlying cause of the immune dysfunction can reverse the disease.

It might seem strange, but immune boosters can help Hashimotos disease. But they must boost the TH1 portion of the immune system and not the TH2 immunity. Treating with TH1 immune boosters can cause a reduction of the hyperactive TH2 immune response that is present in Hashimotos disease and help reverse the underlying cause. This may be especially helpful when a chronic infection is present, which is often the case (especially in chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia). The immune-modulatory properties of gamma globulin, either given intramuscularly or intravenously, can be very beneficial.

As you now know, there are a variety of treatments for Hashimotos and finding a hashimotos doctor that can assess you correctly and understand the treatment options can make all the difference in your quality of life.

Continued here:
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - It's a Genetics Thing by Holtorf ...

Stem Cell Death caused by Common Medications used by Physicians

In yet another study, researchers have again determined that steroid medication and local anesthetics are really bad for cells.Steroid is a strong anti-inflammatory that iscommonlyused by physicians to treat swelling. The most common steroid medications are Cortisone, Hydrocortisone, Depomedrol, and Betamethasone. Local anesthetics are medications injected by physicians that help numb an area. The most common are Lidocaine, Novacaine, and Marcaine (bupivicane). Several years ago we tested local anesthetics with stem cells in our stem cell culture lab and thisexperiencechanged the way we harvest cells.However, we still see fat based stem cell clinics using common liposuction methods to collect stem cells. The problem with the most common aspiration method for fat liposuction is the use of large amounts of stem cell killing local anesthetic infiltrated into the adipose tissues. While this helps with patient comfort and the technique is easy and straightforward for the doctor, since the doctor has no idea about the viability of the cells being harvested, he has no way of knowing if he is killing the cells with the anesthetic. As discussed, several years ago we investigated the effects of these anesthetics with stem cells after we began to notice that certain harvest techniques used by certain clinic doctors would lead to much lower stem cell yields in culture. In addition, we began to see stem cell culture failures in certain patients on steroid medications. To determine why this was happening, we began to isolate the slight variables in technique used by different physicians and patient medications and ultimately this lead us to test various anesthetics with stem cells. We were blown away by how toxic these anaesthetics like lidocaine and bupivicane (the two most common used by doctors) were to cells. In fact, even at doses about 100 to 1,000 times less that what physicians normally use, some of these anesthetics are still effective at killing stem cells. So if youre planning an adipose or bone marrow stem cell procedure and your doctor wants to use generous amounts of local anesthetics that will come in contact with your cells, the stem cells the doctor is harvesting are likely DOA. While there are ways to keep patients comfortable with local anesthetics and keep cells safe, these procedures have to be carefully developed over time with viability being periodically checked in an advanced culture facility. Since our first 4 years of stem cell experience involved a check for cell viability every time (live cells grow in culture, dead cells dont), we developed our harvest techniques to keep cells alive. In addition, if youre on steroid medications, you may want to speak with your doctor about getting off these medications for your stem cellprocedure, as our experience (and this recent study) show that these medications are also hard on cells.

Disclaimer: Like all medical procedures, Regenexx Procedures have a success & failure rate. Not all patients will experience the same results.

If you liked this post, you may really enjoy this book by the same author - Dr. Chris Centeno

Written by Regenexx Founder, Dr. Chris Centeno, this 150 page book explains the Regenexx approach to patients and orthopedic conditions. Whether youre are an existing patient or simply interested in the human body and how everything in the body ties together, you will enjoy exploring this book in-depth. With hyperlinks to more detailed information, related studies and commentary, this book condenses a huge amount of data and resources into an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Chris Centeno, M.D. is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics.

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Stem Cell Death caused by Common Medications used by ...

What is it?

Vischeck is a way of showing you what things look like to someone who is color blind. You can try Vischeck online- either run Vischeck on your own image files or run Vischeck on a web page. You can also download programs to let you run it on your own computer.

Roughly 1 in 20 people have some sort of color vision deficiency. The world looks different to these people: they often find it hard to tell red and green things apart. This often means that they sometimes can't see things that 'color normal' people can see (examples).

Many pictures, documents and web pages are hard for color blind people to read because the people who designed them didn't think about the problem. Vischeck lets them check their work for color blind visibility. It is also interesting to anyone who is just plain curious about what the world looks like if you're color blind.

Vischeck is a computer simulation of the entire process of human vision. The model can be divided into three parts.

The first stage includes the physical properties of the display devices (including various CRT and LCD monitors, and standard CYMK print on paper), the ambient lighting and the effects of physiological factors such as corneal haze, lens opacities and short or long-sightedness which might degrade the optical image.

The second stage of the model describes the transformation of optical image on the retina into a neural representation of that image in the optic nerve. At this point, visual disabilities and anomalies such as color-blindness or retinal degeneration can be included in the model.

The final stage in Vischeck is a model of human cortical vision. At this stage, we include information about the way in which color, spatial patterns and motion are combined and processed in the visual cortex, to form the observer's perception of the image

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Vischeck: About Vischeck

Last year, Patricia Beals was told she'd need a double knee replacement to repair her severely arthritic knees or she'd probably spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

Hoping to avoid surgery, Beals, 72, opted instead for an experimental treatment that involved harvesting bone marrow stem cells from her hip, concentrating the cells in a centrifuge and injecting them back into her damaged joints.

"Almost from the moment I got up from the table, I was able to throw away my cane," Beals says. "Now I'm biking and hiking like a 30-year-old."

A handful of doctors around the country are administering treatments like the one Beals received to stop or even reverse the ravages of osteoarthritis. Stem cells are the only cells in the body able to morph into other types of specialized cells. When the patient's own stem cells are injected into a damaged joint, they appear to transform into chondrocytes, the cells that go on to produce fresh cartilage. They also seem to amplify the body's own natural repair efforts by accelerating healing, reducing inflammation, and preventing scarring and loss of function.

Christopher J. Centeno, M.D., the rehab medicine specialist who performed Beals' procedure, says the results he sees from stem cell therapy are remarkable. Of the more-than-200 patients his Bloomfield, Colo., clinic treated over a two-year period, he says, "two thirds of them reported greater than 50 percent relief and about 40 percent reported more than 75 percent relief one to two years afterward."

According to Centeno, knees respond better to the treatment than hips. Only eight percent of his knee patients opted for a total knee replacement two years after receiving a stem cell injection. The complete results from his clinical observations will be published in a major orthopedic journal later this year.

The Pros and Cons

The biggest advantage stem cell injections seem to offer over more invasive arthritis remedies is a quicker, easier recovery. The procedure is done on an outpatient basis and the majority of patients are up and moving within 24 hours. Most wear a brace for several weeks but still can get around. Many are even able to do some gentle stationary cycling by the end of the first week.

There are also fewer complications. A friend who had knee replacement surgery the same day Beals had her treatment developed life-threatening blood clots and couldn't walk for weeks afterwards. Six months out, she still hasn't made a full recovery.

Most surgeries don't go so awry, but still: Beals just returned from a week-long cycling trip where she covered 20 to 40 miles per day without so much as a tweak of pain.

As for risks, Centeno maintains they are virtually nonexistent.

"Because the stem cells come from your own body, there's little chance of infection or rejection," he says.

Not all medical experts are quite so enthusiastic, however. Dr. Tom Einhorn, chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at Boston University, conducts research with stem cells but does not use them to treat arthritic patients. He thinks the idea is interesting but the science is not there yet.

"We need to have animal studies and analyze what's really happening under the microscope. Then, and only then, can you start doing this with patients," he says.

The few studies completed to date have examined how stem cells heal traumatic injuries rather than degenerative conditions such as arthritis. Results have been promising but, as Einhorn points out, the required repair mechanisms in each circumstance are very different.

Another downside is cost: The injections aren't approved by the FDA, which means they aren't covered by insurance. At $4,000 a pop -- all out of pocket -- they certainly aren't cheap, and many patients require more than one shot.

Ironically, one thing driving up the price is FDA involvement. Two years ago, the agency stepped in and stopped physicians from intensifying stem cells in the lab for several days before putting them back into the patient. This means all procedures must be done on the same day, no stem cells may be preserved and many of the more expensive aspects of the treatment must be repeated each time.

Centeno says same day treatments often aren't as effective, either.

But despite the sky-high price tag and lack of evidence, patients like Beals believe the treatment is nothing short of a miracle. She advises anyone who is a candidate for joint replacement to consider stem cells first.

"Open your mind up and step into it," she says. "Do it. It's so effective. It's the future and it works."

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Stem Cell Treatment May Help Ease Osteoarthritis Pain ...

Nanorobots in Medicine

Future applications of nanomedicine will be based on the ability to build nanorobots. In the future these nanorobots could actually be programmed to repair specific diseased cells, functioning in a similar way to antibodies in our natural healing processes.

Developing Nanorobots for Medicine

Design analysis for a cell repair nanorobot: The Ideal Gene Delivery Vector: Chromallocytes, Cell Repair Nanorobots for Chromosome Repair Therapy

Design analysis for an antimicrobial nanorobot: Microbivores: Artifical Mechanical Phagocytes using Digest and Discharge Protocol

A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell: Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology

Nanorobots in Medicine: Future Applications

The elimination of bacterial infections in a patient within minutes, instead of using treatment with antibiotics over a period of weeks.

The ability to perform surgery at the cellular level, removing individual diseased cells and even repairing defective portions of individual cells.

Significant lengthening of the human lifespan by repairing cellular level conditions that cause the body to age.

Nanomedicine Reference Material

An online copy of volume one of the bookNanomedicine by Robert Freitas.

Chapter 7: "Engines of Healing" from the book Engines of Creation, The Coming Era of Nanotechnology by Eric Drexler

For a fun, fictionalized account of miniaturized medicine rent the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage, or read the novelization of the movie by Isaac Asimov.

Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems

Nanomedicine Center for Nucleoprotein Machines

Related Pages

In about 20 years researchers plan to have the capability to build an object atom by atom or molecule by molecule. Molecular manufacturing, also called molecular nanotechnology will provide the ability to build the nanorobots needed for future applications of nanomedicine.

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Nanorobots in Medicine - Nanomedicine

Cloning/Embryonic Stem Cells

The term cloning is used by scientists to describe many different processes that involve making duplicates of biological material. In most cases, isolated genes or cells are duplicated for scientific study, and no new animal results. The experiment that led to the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997 was different: It used a cloning technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer and resulted in an animal that was a genetic twin -- although delayed in time -- of an adult sheep. This technique can also be used to produce an embryo from which cells called embryonic stem (ES) cells could be extracted to use in research into potential therapies for a wide variety of diseases.

Thus, in the past five years, much of the scientific and ethical debate about somatic cell nuclear transfer has focused on its two potential applications: 1) for reproductive purposes, i.e., to produce a child, or 2) for producing a source of ES cells for research.

The technique of transferring a nucleus from a somatic cell into an egg that produced Dolly was an extension of experiments that had been ongoing for over 40 years. In the simplest terms, the technique used to produce Dolly the sheep - somatic cell nuclear transplantation cloning - involves removing the nucleus of an egg and replacing it with the diploid nucleus of a somatic cell. Unlike sexual reproduction, during which a new organism is formed when the genetic material of the egg and sperm fuse, in nuclear transplantation cloning there is a single genetic "parent." This technique also differs from previous cloning techniques because it does not involve an existing embryo. Dolly is different because she is not genetically unique; when born she was genetically identical to an existing six-year-old ewe. Although the birth of Dolly was lauded as a success, in fact, the procedure has not been perfected and it is not yet clear whether Dolly will remain healthy or whether she is already experiencing subtle problems that might lead to serious diseases. Thus, the prospect of applying this technique in humans is troubling for scientific and safety reasons in addition to a variety of ethical reasons related to our ideas about the natural ordering of family and successive generations.

Several important concerns remain about the science and safety of nuclear transfer cloning using adult cells as the source of nuclei. To date, five mammalian species -- sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, and mice -- have been used extensively in reproductive cloning studies. Data from these experiments illustrate the problems involved. Typically, very few cloning attempts are successful. Many cloned animals die in utero, even at late stages or soon after birth, and those that survive frequently exhibit severe birth defects. In addition, female animals carrying cloned fetuses may face serious risks, including death from cloning-related complications.

An additional concern focuses on whether cellular aging will affect the ability of somatic cell nuclei to program normal development. As somatic cells divide they progressively age, and there is normally a defined number of cell divisions that can occur before senescence. Thus, the health effects for the resulting liveborn, having been created with an "aged" nucleus, are unknown. Recently it was reported that Dolly has arthritis, although it is not yet clear whether the five-and-a-half-year-old sheep is suffering from the condition as a result of the cloning process. And, scientists in Tokyo have shown that cloned mice die significantly earlier than those that are naturally conceived, raising an additional concern that the mutations that accumulate in somatic cells might affect nuclear transfer efficiency and lead to cancer and other diseases in offspring. Researchers working with clones of a Holstein cow say genetic programming errors may explain why so many cloned animals die, either as fetuses or newborns.

The announcement of Dolly sparked widespread speculation about a human child being created using somatic cell nuclear transfer. Much of the perceived fear that greeted this announcement centered on the misperception that a child or many children could be produced who would be identical to an already existing person. This fear is based on the idea of "genetic determinism" -- that genes alone determine all aspects of an individual -- and reflects the belief that a person's genes bear a simple relationship to the physical and psychological traits that compose that individual. Although genes play an essential role in the formation of physical and behavioral characteristics, each individual is, in fact, the result of a complex interaction between his or her genes and the environment within which he or she develops. Nonetheless, many of the concerns about cloning have focused on issues related to "playing God," interfering with the natural order of life, and somehow robbing a future individual of the right to a unique identity.

Several groups have concluded that reproductive cloning of human beings creates ethical and scientific risks that society should not tolerate. In 1997, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommended that it was morally unacceptable to attempt to create a child using somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning and suggested that a moratorium be imposed until safety of this technique could be assessed. The commission also cautioned against preempting the use of cloning technology for purposes unrelated to producing a liveborn child.

Similarly, in 2001 the National Academy of Sciences issued a report stating that the United States should ban human reproductive cloning aimed at creating a child because experience with reproductive cloning in animals suggests that the process would be dangerous for the woman, the fetus, and the newborn, and would likely fail. The report recommended that the proposed ban on human cloning should be reviewed within five years, but that it should be reconsidered "only if a new scientific review indicates that the procedures are likely to be safe and effective, and if a broad national dialogue on societal, religious and ethical issues suggests that reconsideration is warranted." The panel concluded that the scientific and medical considerations that justify a ban on human reproductive cloning at this time do not apply to nuclear transplantation to produce stem cells. Several other scientific and medical groups also have stated their opposition to the use of cloning for the purpose of producing a child.

The cloning debate was reopened with a new twist late in 1998, when two scientific reports were published regarding the successful isolation of human stem cells. Stem cells are unique and essential cells found in animals that are capable of continually reproducing themselves and renewing tissue throughout an individual organism's life. ES cells are the most versatile of all stem cells because they are less differentiated, or committed, to a particular function than adult stem cells. These cells have offered hope of new cures to debilitating and even fatal illness. Recent studies in mice and other animals have shown that ES cells can reduce symptoms of Parkinson's disease in mouse models, and work in other animal models and disease areas seems promising.

In the 1998 reports, ES cells were derived from in vitro embryos six to seven days old destined to be discarded by couples undergoing infertility treatments, and embryonic germ (EG) cells were obtained from cadaveric fetal tissue following elective abortion. A third report, appearing in the New York Times, claimed that a Massachusetts biotechnology company had fused a human cell with an enucleated cow egg, creating a hybrid clone that failed to progress beyond an early stage of development. This announcement served as a reminder that ES cells also could be derived from embryos created through somatic cell nuclear transfer, or cloning. In fact, several scientists believed that deriving ES cells in this manner is the most promising approach to developing treatments because the condition of in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos stored over time is questionable and this type of cloning could overcome graft-host responses if resulting therapies were developed from the recipient's own DNA.

For those who believe that the embryo has the moral status of a person from the moment of conception, research or any other activity that would destroy it is wrong. For those who believe the human embryo deserves some measure of respect, but disagree that the respect due should equal that given to a fully formed human, it could be considered immoral not to use embryos that would otherwise be destroyed to develop potential cures for disease affecting millions of people. An additional concern related to public policy is whether federal funds should be used for research that some Americans find unethical.

Since 1996, Congress has prohibited researchers from using federal funds for human embryo research. In 1999, DHHS announced that it intended to fund research on human ES cells derived from embryos remaining after infertility treatments. This decision was based on an interpretation "that human embryonic stem cells are not a human embryo within the statutory definition" because "the cells do not have the capacity to develop into a human being even if transferred to the uterus, thus their destruction in the course of research would not constitute the destruction of an embryo." DHHS did not intend to fund research using stem cells derived from embryos created through cloning, although such efforts would be legal in the private sector.

In July 2001, the House of Representatives voted 265 to 162 to make any human cloning a criminal offense, including cloning to create an embryo for derivation of stem cells rather than to produce a child. In August 2002, President Bush, contending with a DHHS decision made during the Clinton administration, stated in a prime-time television address that federal support would be provided for research using a limited number of stem cell colonies already in existence (derived from leftover IVF embryos). Current bills before Congress would ban all forms of cloning outright, prohibit cloning for reproductive purposes, and impose a moratorium on cloning to derive stem cells for research, or prohibit cloning for reproductive purposes while allowing cloning for therapeutic purposes to go forward. As of late June, the Senate has taken no action. President Bush's Bioethics Council is expected to recommend the prohibition of reproductive cloning and a moratorium on therapeutic cloning later this summer.

Prepared by Kathi E. Hanna, M.S., Ph.D., Science and Health Policy Consultant

Last Reviewed: April 2006

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Cloning/Embryonic Stem Cells - Genome.gov

The recent sequencing of the human genome has accelerated scientific discoveries in genetics related to medicine and animal and plant science. Research universities in Georgia, supported by government funding and collaborations with private industry, conduct leading-edge research that contributes to improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of genetically caused diseases. The Georgia Research Alliance, a university, business, and government partnership, has been a key supporter of genetics research through eminent scholars, research laboratories and equipment, and technology incubators. Newborn Genetics Screening The state of Georgia has paid for newborn genetics screening since 1978. The program, developed in collaboration with the Emory University School of Medicine's Department of Human Genetics and Genetics Laboratory, tests all Georgia newborns for thirteen inherited diseases, including metabolic diseases. Emory, located in Atlanta, is one of the nation's leading research and treatment centers for inherited diseases, including lysosomal enzyme diseases, fragile X syndrome, and Down syndrome. Emory scientists are leaders in developing new enzyme replacement therapies for children born with Gaucher disease and Fabry disease, screening and treatment for maple syrup urine disease, and FISH technology (fluorescence in situ hybridization, which allows physicians to look for chromosomal abnormalities under a microscope). Emory's large staff of genetics counselors works with parents and prospective parents at centers throughout the state. In addition, genetics counseling and screening to predict adult cancers has developed rapidly since scientists discovered altered genes that increase the risk of breast, ovarian, and colon cancers. University Genetics Research Several of Georgia's research universities have extensive research centers focused on genetics. The Department of Human Genetics at the Emory University School of Medicine includes both laboratory research and clinical treatment programs in one of the largest academic genetics departments in the nation. Emory has the world's largest research program on fragile X syndrome to be funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The gene responsible for fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental retardation, was discovered by Emory professor Steven T. Warren, who led an international team of scientists. Warren and his team also have developed screening techniques and are working on potential new therapies for fragile X syndrome, which affects 3,500 individuals in Georgia either directly or as carriers. Emory geneticist Stephanie Sherman's discovery of what is known as the "Sherman Paradox," in which genetic diseases caused by the triplet repeat of amino acids are not passed on to offspring with the usual probabilities common among most genetic disorders, has been invaluable in helping physicians predict risk for these genetic diseases. Through support from the NIH, scientists at Emory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have conducted sixteen years of research on the causes and clinical consequences of Down syndrome through the Atlanta Down Syndrome Project. All Atlanta-area newborns with Down syndrome and their parents are eligible to participate in the project. In 2000 the NIH expanded the Atlanta project into the National Down Syndrome Project by adding five other research centers (in Arkansas, California, Iowa, New Jersey, and New York). The Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens includes many faculty who teach genetics to undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate research and training includes molecular genetics, evolutionary biology, and genomics. Four genetics faculty members are also members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.

The UGA Center for Applied Genetic Technologies (CAGT) brings together diverse expertise in plant and animal genomics, DNA markers, and transformation (a process of genetic alteration) and provides state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation. Within CAGT are research labs and the Georgia BioBusiness Center incubator, which supports start-up companies in the biosciences by providing them access to management expertise and sophisticated instrumentation.

Link:
Genetics in Georgia | New Georgia Encyclopedia