Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

Life-changing results: Sandra Sharman is a private stem cell patient. Photo: Meredith O'Shea

Last week, Suzie Palmer, 44, travelled from her home in NSW to the Gold Coast for her second round of stem cell treatments for multiple sclerosis. OnTuesday morning,the wheelchair-bound poet underwent liposuction.

By 2.30pm, stem cells had been partially separated from her abdominal fat, suspended in plasma, and injected intravenously. Her doctor, Soraya Felix, is a cosmetic surgeon and molecular biologist with a sideline in regenerative medicine.

Palmer, a relentlessly upbeat and positive person, says the treatments have helped her cope better with heat, improved her mobility and flexibility and otherwise made her "feel like a normal human being". She has, she says, managed a few steps with a walker, still a long way from "running about, which is my dream".

Poster girl: Suzie Palmer is undergoing stem cell therapy for MS. Photo: Edwina Pickles

The rapidly growing stem cell industry is aglow with similarly positive testimonials, notably on behalf of practitioners who offer little documented scientific evidence of their success.

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Suzie Palmer is literally the poster girl for stem cell tourism within Australia. You can find her smiling sweetly, along with Dr Felix, on the Facebook page of a group called the Adult Stem Cell Foundation. She is one of an unknown number of unwell Australians pinning their hopes on an unregulated industry that is now under review by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The TGA public consultation, which closed earlier this month, was prompted by long-standing concerns raised by Stem Cells Australia that a loophole in the regulations has allowed dozens of doctors across Australia to provide experimental treatments without the ethics committee oversight that registered clinical trials are subject to. These treatments invariably cost $10,000 and up. The loophole is this: while the use of donor stem cells in therapies is tightly regulated, the use of a patient's own stem cells is not.

Professor Martin Pera is the program leader of Stem Cells Australia, which is administered by the University of Melbourne and includes scientists from Monash University, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, the Florey Institute and the CSIRO, among others. They are engaged in a seven-year Australian Research Council project to answer the big questions about stem cells and the potential for reliable therapies.

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Is a loophole in stem cell law helping new therapy to thrive, or allowing dubious science?

Can PRP and Stem Cell Therapy Help You? | Orlando Orthopaedic Center
How can PRP and stem cell therapy help you heal? Orlando Orthopaedic Center #39;s Dr. Matthew R. Willey explains. For more visit http://www.OrlandoOrtho.com.

By: OrlandoOrtho

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Can PRP and Stem Cell Therapy Help You? | Orlando Orthopaedic Center - Video

Orthopedic Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritic Joint Pain
Dr. Sergio Viroslav, board certified orthopedic surgeon and joint replacement specialist with The San Antonio Orthopaedic Group, appeared on Great Day SA on March 30th, 2015 to discuss the...

By: The San Antonio Orthopaedic Group

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Orthopedic Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritic Joint Pain - Video

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 31, 2015

This June 13th, a distinguished group of Ph.Ds, M.Ds and Professors from the top U.S and International Medical Schools will come together in Santa Monica, California, to share their latest research on the application of stem cell therapy in treatments and cures for blinding eye diseases. The symposium is organized and funded by the Ocular Research Symposia Foundation, Inc. (ORSF), an independent nonprofit that has been convening intimate meetings of top experts in the field of eye research since 2002 to move the research discussed forward at an accelerated pace.

Gerald J. Chader, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Ocular Stem Cell Project in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Southern California, and Dr. Michael Young of Harvard Medical School are co-chairs of this year's symposium. "ORSF has the unique ability to bring together experts in the key foundational issues of stem cell research, as well as a range of clinical applications," states Dr. Chader. "Beyond the academic presentations on stem cell therapy relating to glaucoma, corneal diseases, macular degeneration and other incurable eye diseases, the participants will devote time to discussing strategies to move the most promising research forward toward clinical trials and effective treatments and cures. Our approach is unique. We believe we can accomplish more in a few hours of frank discussions among colleagues than can be achieved in a week-long conference of hundreds of attendees."

After each symposium, ORSF produces a comprehensive report bringing together the many discussions and findings from the latest meeting. In 2013, their report on "The Aging Eye" was published as a special issue of "IOVS: Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science," the Journal of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. They will also be publishing this year's report. The reports offer a prime vehicle for spreading information beyond the symposium participants themselves to other researchers, clinicians,corporations, medical schools, government entities and the interested public. The reports are available free of charge through the ORSF web site.

ABOUT OCULAR RESEARCH SYMPOSIA FOUNDATION, INC.

The Ocular Research Symposia Foundation emerged from the Drabkin Research Symposia, held from 2002 to 2011. Founded by Robert Drabkin, the early symposia were presented biennially through The Washington Advisory Group. When this advisory group disbanded, ORSF was incorporated in California with ongoing support from the Drabkin Foundation, continuing the catalytic role of the symposia breaking down academic silos and making the exchange of critical information possible. Tax deductible donations to the organization go toward programming future meetings, inviting experts to the symposia, publishing reports, and spreading information throughout the ocular research field. This month, the Foundation was pleased to receive a small peer review grant for this symposium from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

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Sight Restoration Through Stem Cell Therapy - Subject of June Symposium of Experts

Phoenix, Arizona (PRWEB) March 30, 2015

Arizona Pain Specialists, are now offering stem cell therapy to help patients avoid hip and knee replacement. The outpatient treatments at Arizona Pain Stem Cell Institute have been exceptionally effective and are administered by Board Certified pain doctors at ten locations Valleywide. Call (602) 507-6550 for more information and scheduling.

Over the past few years, stem cell therapy for hip and knee arthritis has become mainstream. The treatment involves either bone marrow derived or amniotic derived stem cells, neither of which involve fetal tissue. The previous ethical concerns over fetal tissue and embryonic stem cells are not an issue with these treatments, as neither are involved.

The stem cell procedures are outpatient and exceptionally low risk. The stem cells, growth factors, and additional proteins in the treatments are essential for the regeneration and repair of damaged soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments and arthritic cartilage.

Although hip and knee replacement have shown exceptionally good resuts, they are not risk free procedures. They are also not meant to last forever and should be avoided until absolutely necessary.

The procedures are available throughout the Valley with Arizona Pain Specialists highly skilled, Board Certified pain management doctors in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, East Valley and West Valley. Simply call (602) 507-6550. Research studies are available as well.

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Arizona Pain Stem Cell Institute Now Offering Stem Cell Therapy to Help Patients Avoid Hip and Knee Replacement

Deltona retiree Paul Jaynes was heartbroken when his 9-year-old Labrador, Cookie, suddenly stopped walking last year. The once-athletic dog struggled to stand and, if she moved at all, collapsed after a few steps.

He carried his 90-pound companion to his truck, drove her to the vet and braced himself for the bad news. Surely she couldn't live like this.

Instead, his veterinarian told him about a newly available procedure involving stem cells. In a single day, the vet said, they could remove the cells from Cookie's fatty tissues, process them and re-inject them into her joints. She could go home immediately.

"It was very dramatic," Jaynes says. "The day after surgery, she was standing. She was hesitant, but she was standing and walking a little. I thought: 'Are you kidding me?' Within a week, she was almost back to her old self."

That was last September, and six months later Cookie is still going strong, Jaynes says. While he has no doubts about the treatment, though, some veterinarians worry that marketing of stem-cell therapy for animals has gotten ahead of the scientific research needed to validate its use.

The results, while sometimes promising, are not universal.

"Most of what you hear is anecdotal 'Oh, I tried this, and it helped my dog,'" says Dr. Jeffrey Peck, a veterinary surgeon at Affiliated Veterinary Specialists, based in Maitland. "This has grown in its marketing exponentially greater than it has grown in evidence."

Much of his practice is in orthopedics typically, dogs with hip dysplasia or arthritis. He tried using stem-cell therapy with his patients in 2008 but dropped it after a dozen cases in which he saw no improvement.

"I don't refuse to do it if a client really wants to try, but I give them my disclaimer," he says. "I tell them: 'I don't think I'm going to hurt anything. But I doubt I'm going to help anything either.'"

At $1,400 to $3,000 for the procedure, most pet owners opt out, he says.

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Stem-cell therapy for dogs draws support, detractors

Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) March 28, 2015

Stem cells remain a fascination to the general public and to the medical profession as well.

While millions of dollars are being spent by most States each year on stem cell research, and while the National Institute of Health (NIH) spends $1 Billion dollars per year on stem cell research (Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC); (2015, February 5); http://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx), both the lay public and medical professionals continue to wonder: Where are we? How much have we learned? Are we making progress introducing stem cell therapy to the public?

Dr. Gionis will explore the many facets, intrigue and complexities of stem cells and stem cell therapy.

Dr. Gionis will have a frank and open discussion on the type of progress being made in advancing stem cell biology and therapy from the bench to the bedside. He will explore the current law regarding stem cell practice; both state law and federal law. The doctor will also investigate how new therapies like stem cell therapies get approved and the role of the FDA, an IRB, and the role of the US Department of Health, Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) in the provision of such approval.

The doctor will explore the different types of stem cells with respect to their potential uses. And, he will look at new and emerging stem cell therapies which are being considered to address various medical infirmities such as Emphysema, COPD, Asthma, Heart Failure, Heart Attack, Parkinsons Disease, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Lou Gehrigs Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohns Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Inflammatory Myopathies, and degenerative orthopedic joint conditions (Knee, Shoulder, Hip, Spine).

The format of The Stem Cell Show will be Questions and Answers, as well as Interviews of key thought leaders and researchers currently engaged in stem cell therapy both nationally and internationally.

The spirit of The Stem Cell Show will be that of honest, open and vibrant discussion in an effort to advance the publics health, well-being, and the amelioration of devastating chronic disease. To get more information, visit TheStemCellShow.com or call 949-679-3889.

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"The Stem Cell Show": Premiering on TalkRadio 790 KABC - Sundays @ 4pm, Hosted by Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, Surgeon-in ...