Do you remember when we used to think some things were impossible? Modern technology has taught us to never say never or impossible. I think about the 1970s and 1980s growing up without cell phones, computers and many of the electronically advanced gadgets that our kids today take for granted. I can’t even imagine what the great innovators will come up with next.

When I was a young child, I remember watching science fiction movies about cloning people and remember how obscure and unbelievable it seemed at the time. It was common knowledge that cloning was strictly science fiction. Now, cloning is not only possible, but a procedure that has occurred with astonishing success. Fortunately, cloning has only been performed with animals and not yet humans.

Medically speaking, one of the most popular and potentially one of the most substantial advances in modern medicine is stem cell research and therapy. Initially, stem cell research was met with a great deal of resistance and controversy. The reason stem cell research had trouble getting started was because stem cells could only be collected from fetuses. With time, scientists have successfully harvested stem cells from other sources.

Stem cells are primitive or extremely young cells which are capable of dividing and changing into a variety of cell types. They have the ability to develop into cells that form muscle, cartilage, bone or other tissues. One of the remarkable findings about stem cells is that they seem to detect and “know” which tissue is damaged and automatically change into the cells needing repaired.

In actuality, the damaged tissue sends some type of signal to the stem cells allowing them to respond and promote healing of the injured tissues. Essentially, stem cells have the ability to grow into mature tissue cells wherever they are needed and this makes them very useful for repairing certain body tissues damaged by injury, disease and possibly aging.

Stem cell treatment is a type of medical therapy called regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is simply a category of medical therapy pertaining to growing new tissue. Although stem cell therapy is an extremely unique and obviously beneficial type of medical treatment, it is also a very vast field of medical research and certainly has not been completely perfected. There are countless possibilities and applications for stem cell therapy and medical researchers have barely scratched the surface with regards to stem cell potential.

Until now the gold standard for treating arthritis in pets has been to give them anti-inflammatory medications, joint supplements and sometimes acupuncture. Over the years, these types of medications have improved greatly and pets have benefitted wonderfully from receiving this kind of treatment. However, even with the improvements, these medications have potential side effects. Sometimes, the side effects may even outweigh the benefits, depending on the individual circumstance.

Therefore, stem cell therapy offers treatment that doesn’t just relieve the symptoms, but actually regenerates or grows new tissue allowing for complete healing and without side effects. Presently, there are some stem cell applications already being used in veterinary medicine!

Recently, veterinary specialists have developed a technique for collecting stem cells from fat tissue and administering the stem cells into dogs, cats and horses specifically for treatment of arthritis. The process involves collecting a small amount of fat from the patient and then the fat is placed into a machine which extracts and concentrates stem cells. Next, the stem cells are injected back into the patient’s joints forthe treatment of arthritis.

There is a certain protocol for proceeding with the stem cell therapy. First, a definitive diagnosis of arthritis, using X-rays, must be made by your veterinarian. Additionally, your pet would need a complete workup including blood tests and additional X-rays to rule out any other disease processes such as infection or cancer. Any patient with cancer would not be a good candidate for stem cell therapy and any infection would need to be cleared prior to stem cell therapy.

Following the initial workup, your pet would be sedated or anesthetized for surgical collection of fat tissue. The fat tissue would then be sent to a lab to have the stem cells extracted and processed from the fat. Then, your pet would need to be sedated again to administer the injections containing the stem cells into their arthritic joints.

In pets, stem cell therapy is primarily available and being used for arthritis. However, I have no doubt that it won’t be long before stem cell therapy will be used in pets to treat many diseases and conditions. It has already shown to be effective for diabetes, allergies, gastrointestinal diseases, pancreatitis and many other diseases.

If you have a pet that you think might be suffering from arthritis, contact your veterinarian as soon as possible to consider stem cell therapy and to ensure your pet lives a long, healthy and happy life.

Read the original:
The Pet Corner: Behold! The future of modern medicine is here

The federal government is pledging up to $67.5 million for research into "personalized medicine," which tailors treatment to a patient's genetics and environment.

The funds will flow through Genome Canada, the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the federal government's health research agency.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Minister of State for Science Gary Goodyear made the announcement at the University of Ottawa's health campus Tuesday.

The field of personalized medicine is touted as having the potential to transform the way patients are treated. It looks at the genetic makeup of a person, the patient's environment and the exact course of a particular disease so that an appropriate and effective treatment can be tailored for that individual.

The idea is to move from a one-size-fits-all approach to one that is designed for a specific person and relies on the genetic signatures, or biomarkers, of both the patient and the disease.

Proponents of personalized medicine say it is likely to change the way drugs are developed, how medicines are prescribed and generally how illnesses are managed. They say it will shift the focus in health care from reaction to prevention, improve health outcomes, make drugs safer and mean fewer adverse drug reactions, and reduce costs to health-care systems.

"The potential to understand a person's genetic makeup and the specific character of their illness in order to best determine their treatment will significantly improve the quality of life for patients and their families and may show us the way to an improved health-care system and even save costs in certain circumstances," Aglukkaq said in a news release.

Research projects could last four years

The sequencing of the human genome paved the way for personalized medicine and there have been calls for more research funding so that the discoveries in laboratories can be translated further into the medical field so they will benefit patients more.

Identifying a person's genetic profile, for example, could then indicate a susceptibility to a certain disease, if the biomarkers of that disease have also been discovered. If people know they are genetically at risk of an illness they can take actions to prevent it, and their health-care providers can monitor for it.

Cancer patients could be pre-screened to determine if chemotherapy would work for them, which could not only save a lot of money on expensive treatments but also prevent pain and suffering for patients.

Genome Canada is leading the research initiative, in collaboration with Cancer Stem Cell Consortium and CIHR which on Tuesday launched its Personalized Medicine Signature Initiative. CIHR is committing up to $22.5 million to the large-scale initiative with the other two partners, but it will be providing more funding for other projects under its personalized medicine program.

The research projects are aiming to bring together biomedical, clinical, population health, health economics, ethics and policy researchers to identify areas that are best suited to personalized medicine.

Oncology, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders, diabetes and obesity, arthritis, pain, and Alzheimer’s disease are all considered to be areas that hold promise for personalized medicine.

Funding will also go to projects that are aimed at developing more evidence-based and cost-effective approaches to health care.

Researchers can get up to four years of funding, but 50 per cent of their requested funding must be matched from another source, such as a provincial government or from the academic or private sectors.

Genome Canada, CIHR and the cancer consortium will invest a maximum of $5 million in each individual project.

The successful applicants for the $67.5 million worth of funding won't be announced until December.

Follow this link:
'Personalized medicine' gets $67.5M research boost

OTTAWA , Feb. 1, 2012 /CNW/ - The following is a statement by Russell Williams , President of Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) on the announcement by the Government of Canada today to ensure that personalized medicine will allow for more effective treatments, thus supporting our Canadian health care system in a more sustainable way.

"Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies welcome this commitment by the Government of Canada to establish personalized medicine as the way to transform the delivery of health care to patients.

"At Rx&D, we believe that providing the right medicine with the right dose to the right patient at the right time is crucial to improving health outcomes for Canadians. With the rise of chronic disease and an aging population, all governments are grappling with unprecedented demand for health care services. It is clear that we face a collective challenge to sustain and improve our health care system where traditional approaches are no longer efficient.

"We commend the Government of Canada's commitment to engage in this work. Pharmaceutical innovation is a proven tool to help Canadians live longer, healthier, more productive lives. It is critical to the future productivity of our country, our workplaces, our communities and our citizens. Innovation is essential for "patient-centered" care.

"The development of new and more effective medicines and vaccines continues to change the face of health care in Canada . Canadians now survive life threatening illnesses and live with chronic conditions in ways not possible for previous generations.

"We applaud the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome Canada and the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium for their vision and leadership to develop and implement a scientific innovation that will result in better health for Canadians."

About Rx&D

Rx&D is the association of leading research-based pharmaceutical companies dedicated to improving the health of Canadians through the discovery and development of new medicines and vaccines. Our community represents 15,000 men and women working for 50 member companies and invests more than $1 billion in research and development each year to fuel Canada's knowledge-based economy. Guided by our Code of Ethical Practices, our membership is committed to working in partnership with governments, healthcare professionals and stakeholders in a highly ethical manner.

The rest is here:
Statement - Rx&D Applauds Government of Canada for Investing in Personalized Medicine