Pat receive a life altering Stem Cell Treatment with the help of World Stem Cells, LLC. Pat went from couch bound to walking 1.5 miles on country dirt road, climbing stairs, gardening and playing piano all thanks to a stem cell treatment.

(PRWEB) March 03, 2012

Pats neurological disorder is hereditary, and the official position of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is that CMT has no cure. Decades ago, Pat had gone to a neurologist for electromyography, or EMG. The purpose of the procedure was to evaluate her muscle function, and it involved painful needles and days of muscle soreness after each session. Pats neurologist had refused to tell her the results because he said that she would just give up if she knew how bad they were. At this point, Pats symptoms were so crippling and unbearable that she contacted World Stem Cells, LLC worldstemcells.com to explore stem cell treatment as an option. She knew that the procedures were still being developed and experimental, and that they came with no guarantees. She remained interested in learning more and becoming educated on the options presented. At the time, she was unable to walk without a four-leg quad cane, and air and car travel were exhausting and caused unbearable pain. Pat has a long history of surgeries and was told that further surgeries would not assist her. She decided that she was not interested in any treatment that involved surgery with incisions, which is an aggressive approach and would demand recovery time. Stem cell therapy met her requirements of being minimally uncomfortable, requiring only hours for recovery and having a high level of safety, along with a good potential for changing her health quotient for the better.

Pat arrived in Cancun, Mexico, to the treatment site of World Stem Cells, LLC contract clinics, doctors, and hospitals. The first day, she met with physicians to be evaluated, discuss her course of treatment and learn what to expect. She had been corresponding with Dr. Alan Kadish, the President of World Stem Cells, LLC. worldstemcells.com

Dr. Kadish is an unusual physician as he has training and practiced integrated primary care medicine combining conventional and naturopathic diagnostics and therapeutics for 27 years. He has been recognized as one of the leading quality physicians, in his field. Dr. Kadish is an American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine diplomat and completed numerous training programs in Achieving Clinical Excellence, or ACE, which provided opportunities to improve his practical skills in diagnosing and treating people based on their individual needs, using functional medical testing and treatment. He has been an advanced level practitioner (Autistic Research Institute) for autistic spectral disorder children and adults, since early 2000 and is certified in chelation therapy. As a naturopathic medical physician he lecturers frequently and is a host and guest on radio and internet outlets along with appearing in a number of print media publications. At World Stem Cells , LLC in addition to his management duties, he is a primary investigator engaged in research and designs of stem cell therapeutic protocols.

In Cancun, Pat met with specialists at Advanced Cellular Medicine Clinic. The clinic is headed by Dr. Sylvia Abblitt, who has the exclusive distinction of being among the few physicians who are licensed to perform autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants in Mexico. Dr. Abblitt is a board-certified hematologist and oncologist. She has 11 years of expertise as a laboratory director and head of the hematology department at the Fernando Quiroz Hospital. She is a member of the American Association of Blood Banks and the International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS). The Cancun clinic that Pat visited is a contract clinic of World Stem Cells, LLC. It houses the state-of-the-art Advanced Cellular Engineering Lab. The high-tech lab is suited for providing patients with the most up to date stem cell treatments and for conducting stem cell research to improve future opportunities for health.

After her evaluation and discussion of treatment options, Pat decided to go ahead with the stem cell therapy. The procedure involved a needle puncture to harvest her bone marrow utilizing her own stem cells. Only a local anesthesia was necessary and though she described the procedure as uncomfortable, she added that it was livable. The procedure took less than half an hour, and she experienced no side effects.

Pats improvement was remarkable and rapid. In fact, she did not feel fatigued and overwhelmed with pain, as she had in the past, when she traveled back home from Cancun by airplane and car. Within days, she had regained her ability to play piano. Playing at church concerts had always been a passion of hers, but she had been unable to play before her stem cell treatment because of a lack of coordination. She had much more energy after treatment, and was able to garden, run errands and work, without feeling exhausted. Her sleep was more restful. Her husband and friends noticed that her agility and balance were better. She could climb up and down stairs more easily and walk around the house without clutching the walls. Her speed on the treadmill was increasing gradually and she now walks a mile and a half on country roads.

Pat is extremely grateful to World Stem Cells, LLC for changing her life and giving her hope. For the first time, she has reversed many of the negative changes that she had been experiencing for years due to her CMT and lack of effective treatment. Now, Pat and her husband are experiencing a bright future and thankful that Pat was given this second opportunity, following stem cell therapy. worldstemcells.com.

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Excerpt from:
Pat was Diagnosed with “CMT” Disease and was Given a Second Chance with a Stem Cell Treatment

By Bonnie James Deputy News Editor The stem cell and regenerative therapy programme, constituting a major part of research at Qatar Cardiovascular Research Centre (QCRC), has important clinical and scientific implications, co-chairman Prof Sir Magdi Yacoub has said. He was giving a keynote presentation at the Qatar International Conference on Stem Cell Science and Policy 2012, which concluded on Thursday at Qatar National Convention Centre. Myocardium (the muscular tissue of the heart) regeneration and tissue engineering and valves tissue engineering are among the focal areas at QCRC, which aims to establish in Qatar an internationally competitive centre of excellence for cardio-vascular research. QCRC, which has a heart muscle lab and a tissue engineering, regeneration lab, works with a mission to maintain a translational focus, relevant to the development of health policy and practice, and provide opportunities for capacity building, professional development and research collaborations in Qatar. It is also meant to provide opportunities for biotechnology development in Qatar and contribute to cardio-vascular health in the developing world through improved knowledge base, capacity building and development of appropriate tools and strategies focused on poorer countries. Cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs) kill 17mn people per year globally and there is particularly high incidence in the Middle East and Gulf region, Prof Yacoub pointed out. The incidence of CVDs is three times more in the region than in the UK, the US or Europe. Smoking, one of the main reasons for CVDs, is also increasing in the eastern Mediterranean region compared to the Americas. There is a significant lack of clinical, epidemiological and genetic data from this region and an overwhelming need exists to better understand epidemiology and disease mechanisms of CVDs. Research should then be linked to development of appropriate tools and strategies to strengthen prevention, diagnosis and treatment, he said. Pointing out that heart transplant options for those suffering from severe heart failure are becoming increasingly rare, Prof Yacoub observed that the number of donor hearts is going down globally. While we used to do up to 130 heart transplants a year at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in the UK in the late 80s, now we would be lucky to do 20, he said while emphasising the need to focus more on the reversibility of heart failure. Few recent drug trials have shown evidence of minor reverse remodelling and there have been near-complete reversal of almost every change in myocardium in some patients. There are unprecedented opportunities to unravel the secrets of heart failure at cellular and molecular levels, he stressed.

Original post:
Stem cell study ‘should aim at innovation in treatment’

Public release date: 1-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Nicole Giese Rura rura@wi.mit.edu 617-258-6851 Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

FINDINGS: Devising a novel method to identify potential genetic regulators in planarian stem cells, Whitehead Institute scientists have determined which of those genes affect the two main functions of stem cells. Three of the genes are particularly intriguing because they code for proteins similar to those known to regulate mammalian embryonic stem cells. Such genetic similarity makes planarians an even more attractive model for studying stem cell biology in vivo.

RELEVANCE: Stem cells may hold the promise to regrow damaged, diseased, or missing tissues in humans, such as insulin-producing cells for diabetics and nerve cells for patients with spinal cord injuries. With its renowned powers of regeneration and more than half of its genes having human homologs, the planarian seems like a logical choice for studying stem cell behavior. Yet, until now, scientists have been unable to efficiently identify the genes that regulate the planarian stem cell system.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Despite their unassuming appearance, the planarian flatworms in Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien's lab are revealing powerful new insights into the biology of stem cellsinsights that may eventually help such cells deliver on a promising role in regenerative medicine.

In this week's issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, Reddien and scientists in his lab report on their development of a novel approach to identify and study the genes that control stem cell behavior in planarians. Intriguingly, at least one class of these genes has a counterpart in human embryonic stem cells.

"This is a huge step forward in establishing planarians as an in vivo system for which the roles of stem cell regulators can be dissected," says Reddien, who is also an associate professor of biology at MIT and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Early Career Scientist. "In the grand scheme of things for understanding stem cell biology, I think this is a beginning foray into seeking general principles that all animals utilize. I'd say we're at the beginning of that process."

Planarians (Schmidtea mediterranea) are tiny freshwater flatworms with the ability to reproduce through fission. After literally tearing themselves in half, the worms use stem cells, called cNeoblasts, to regrow any missing tissues and organs, ultimately forming two complete planarians in about a week.

Unlike muscle, nerve, or skin cells that are fully differentiated, certain stem cells, such as cNeoblasts and embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, having the ability to become almost cell type in the body. Researchers have long been interested in harnessing this capability to regrow damaged, diseased, or missing tissues in humans, such as insulin-producing cells for diabetics or nerve cells for patients with spinal cord injuries.

Several problems currently confound the therapeutic use of stem cells, including getting the stem cells to differentiate into the desired cell type in the appropriate location and having such cells successfully integrate with surrounding tissues, all without forming tumors. To solve these issues, researchers need a better understanding of how stem cells tick at the molecular level, particularly within the environment of a living organism. To date, a considerable amount of embryonic stem cell research has been conducted in the highly artificial environment of the Petri dish.

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Planarian genes that control stem cell biology identified

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) A*STAR scientists have for the first time, identified that precise regulation of polyamine[1] levels is critical for embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal -- the ability of ESCs to divide indefinitely -- and directed differentiation. This paper is crucial for better understanding of ESC regulation and was published in the journal Genes & Development on 1st March by the team of scientists from the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Embryonic stem cells hold great potential for the development of cellular therapies, where stem cells are used to repair tissue damaged by disease or trauma. This is due to their unique ability to renew themselves and differentiate into any specific types of cell in the body. One of the challenges with cellular therapies is ensuring that ESCs are fully and efficiently differentiated into the correct cell type. This study sheds light on understanding how ESCs are regulated, which is essential to overcome these challenges and turn the vision of cell therapies into reality.

Using a mouse model, the team of scientists from IMB showed that high levels of Amd1[2], a key enzyme in the polyamine synthesis pathway, is essential for maintenance of the ESC state and self renewal of ESCs. To further demonstrate the critical role of Amd1 in ESC self-renewal, the scientists showed that increasing Amd1 levels led to delayed ESC differentiation. The research also revealed that downregulation of Amd1 was necessary for differentiation of ESCs into neural precursor cells and that Amd1 is translationally regulated by a micro-RNA (miRNA), the first ever demonstration of miRNA-mediated regulation of the polyamine pathway.

While the polyamine pathway is well established and polyamines are known to be important in cancer and cell proliferation, their role in ESC regulation until now was unknown. This novel discovery, linking polyamine regulation to ESC biology, came about when the team set up a genome-wide screen to look for mRNAs under translational control in order to identify new regulators of ESC differentiation to neural precursor cells.

Dr Leah Vardy, principle investigator at the IMB and lead author of the paper, said, "The polyamines that Amd1 regulate have the potential to regulate many different aspects of self renewal and differentiation. The next step is to understand in more detail the molecular targets of these polyamines both in embryonic stem cells and cells differentiating to different cellular lineages. It is possible that manipulation of polyamine levels in embryonic stem cells through inhibitors or activators of the pathway could help direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells to more clinically useful cell types."

Notes:

[1] Polyamines are required for a wide range of cellular processes, including differentiation and cell proliferation, and their levels are tightly regulated.

[2] Amd1 (Adenosyl methionine decarboxylase) is a critical enzme required for the synthesis of the polyamines spermine and spermidine.

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Groundbreaking discovery on stem cell regulation

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) UCLA stem cell researchers have discovered a critical placental niche cell and signaling pathway that prevent blood precursors from premature differentiation in the placenta, a process necessary for ensuring proper blood supply for an individual's lifetime.

The placental niche, a stem cell "safe zone," supports blood stem cell generation and expansion without promoting differentiation into mature blood cells, allowing the establishment of a pool of precursor cells that provide blood cells for later fetal and post-natal life, said study senior author Dr. Hanna Mikkola, an associate professor of molecular cell and developmental biology and a researcher at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

Mikkola and her team found that PDGF-B signaling in trophoblasts, specialized cells of the placenta that facilitate embryo implantation and gas and nutrient exchanges between mother and fetus, is vital to maintaining the unique microenvironment needed for the blood precursors. When PDGF-B signaling is halted, the blood precursors differentiate prematurely, creating red blood cells in the placenta, Mikkola said.

The study, done in mouse models, appears March 1, 2012, in the peer-reviewed journal Developmental Cell.

"We had previously discovered that the placenta provides a home for a large supply of blood stem cells that are maintained in an undifferentiated state. We now found that, by switching off one signaling pathway, the blood precursors in the placenta start to differentiate into red blood cells," Mikkola said. "We learned that the trophoblasts act as powerful signaling centers that govern the niche safe zone."

The study found that the PDGF-B signaling in the trophoblasts is suppressing production of Erythropoietin (EPO), a cytokine that controls red blood cell differentiation.

"When PDGF-B signaling is lost, excessive amounts of EPO are produced in the placenta, which triggers differentiation of red blood cells in the placental vasculature," said Akanksha Chhabra, study first author and a post-doctoral fellow in Mikkola's lab.

Mikkola and Chhabra used mouse models in which the placental structure was disrupted so they could observe what cells and signaling pathways were important components of the niche.

"The idea was, if we mess up the home where the blood stem cells live, how do these cells respond to the altered environment," Chhabra said. "We found that it was important to suppress EPO where blood stem cell expansion is desired and to restrict its expression to areas where red blood cell differentiation should occur."

The finding, Chhabra said, was exciting in that one single molecular change "was enough to change the function of an important blood stem cell niche."

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Cell and signaling pathway that regulates the placental blood stem cell niche identified