Cord Blood Coupons

With a nearly paralyzed right side, Chloe Levine was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 1. Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects motor skills but not mental function. This is the condition that affects Geri Jewel, the actress and comedian who played the cousin of Blair Warner on the hit 1980’s show “The Facts of Life”. Cerebral palsy happens due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Chloe’s case happened to to a stroke in utero. While cerebral palsy does not worsen with time, it also has no cure. Or so it seemed. Until stem cells were used to treat Chloe Levine.

Before Chloe’s treatment, she was paralyzed on the right side of her body. Her right hand was balled into a tight, but almost useless, fist. She could only use her right leg as a “prop” while walking or crawling. She also could not use her peripheral vision on the right side. She also exhibited speech problems, a common symptom of cerebral palsy. Her parents were ready for years of physical therapy and did not know how much improvement they would see even after that.

The Levines learned of an experimental treatment at Duke University using cord blood stem cells to treat cerebral palsy. They enrolled Chloe and used the cord blood stem cells they had collected at her birth. After a one-time treatment at Duke University in May, Chloe progressed miraculously. She can now jump off beds, apply objects as tiny as doll barrettes with her right hand, and she is pronouncing new words every day. The stem cells were given to Chloe through an IV. The stem cells find the damaged cells wherever they are located, so they traveled to Chloe’s brain and began to repair her damaged cells. Scientists are unsure exactly how stem cells repair brain tissue, whether directly or by increasing blood flow to the damaged areas by rebuilding blood vessels.

Immediately after the treatment, Chloe’s right hand relaxed, and she began walking normally. She still has physical therapy once a month to check her foot tendons for mobility. The Levines say that most of the effects of cerebral palsy are gone.

Dottie Waldo, Chloe’s physical therapist, said, “I’ve never seen anything turn around this fast.” Waldo saw Chloe a month ago and was shocked at the recovery of movement in her hands and arms. “I’m a believer,” Waldo said. “I think it was the right thing to do, and I hope it helps a lot of kids in the future.”

Read more at Fox News Online.

Researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London treated patients during a clinical trial on treatments for loss of eyesight. The patients treated had lost their sight from chemical accidents or a rare genetic disease. Doctors used adult stem cells from tissue donors, grew the cells in the laboratory, and then the cells were transplanted onto the eyes of the patients.

Dr Julie Daniels is leading the research team. She said: “Before the surgery the patients were barely able to recognise when someone was waving a hand in front of their face but we have restored their vision to the point they can read three to four lines down the eye chart.”

The patients lost their sight through chemical burns or the rare genetic disease aniridia. They had injuries to the limbal cells in their eyes. These cells form the transparent layer on the outside of the cornea.

Dr Daniels explained why this damage causes blindness: “Their cornea becomes opaque, blood vessels grow across it and their eyes become inflamed and they can’t see anymore. It is very painful.” She continued, “By replacing the limbal stem cells, the cornea begins to clear up as the cells are replaced with the healthy transparent layer again.”

She explained that the procedure has not yet resulted in complete restoration of sight, though patients have reported improvements, including six who show unprecedented recovery.

Scientists at Moorfields Eye Hospital hope to use stem cells to treat other causes of blindness. They anticipate creating small patches of retina cells that detect light at the back of the eye.

Supporters of the research emphasize that while these treatments are groundbreaking, they will require a great deal of research, and therefore time, before they will become widely used.

Read more at the Telegraph.

University doctors used an experimental stem cell treatment for two brothers with a rare skin disease that most often ends in skin cancer and death before adulthood. The Liao boys, younger brother Nate and older brother Jake, suffered from a disease called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB).  People with this condition cannot produce a protein necessary to form one of the collagens that hold layers of skin together.

The disease has devastating effects. The slightest pressure or bump forms huge blisters on the skin. The blisters cause the skin to slough off.  The same process affects the lining of the mouth, esophagus and intestinal tract, making it impossible for children to eat normally. There was no treatment for this disease. That is, there was no treatment until the experimental process used on Nate and Jake.

Doctors at the University of Minnesota provided this treatment through a bone marrow stem cell transplant on each brother.  They collected cord blood and bone marrow stem cells from a healthy sibling of Nate and Jake. They first treated two-year-old Nate, despite that trying this experimental technique was a big medical risk. Until then, it had only been tested on mice. Theresa Liao’s two year-old had already lost fingers and bore numerous scars due to the disorder. Knowing there was no existing cure, she felt they had little to lose by trying.

Matthew Barmore is a 14 year-old basketball player. Already slightly over six feet tall, he jests about joining the NBA when he’s older.

About four children of every 1,000 show signs of scoliosis. In early 2008, Barmore learned that he was one of them. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine. It can eventually cause heart and lung problems, as well as pain. Unfortunately, procedures to treat the condition involve surgery to remove large bone fragments from the patient’s pelvis and use it to create a spinal fusion.

Barmore and his family opted for a less invasive procedure—using stem cells from Barmores own bone marrow to repair his spine. The stem cells catalyze new bone growth along the spine with the support of rods that fuse it into the right position. Matthew underwent this procedure, and it reduced the curvature in his spine from 50 degrees to just 15.

Three months after the operation, Matthew feels stronger every day and has no trouble playing his favorite sport–basketball.

For more information read News4Jax.com.

A clinical trial has yielded some restored function for patients who have been paralyzed for an average of four years, some up to 22 years. The trial was supported by PrimeCell Therapeutics LLC in pre-clinical research. The patients treated had spinal cord injury treated by transplantation of bone marrow stem cells extracted from the patients’ own bone marrow. The patients had been paralyzed for an average of four years up to the longest span of 22 years.

Dr. Luis Geffner presented a preliminary report on September 17 at the 2007 Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in San Diego. From May 2006 to August 2007, 38 patients with SCI were treated at Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Of 25 patients who provided between three and 14 months follow up, 15 gained the ability to stand up, 10 could walk on the parallels with braces, seven were able to walk without braces and five could walk with crutches. No harmful reactions to implantation were observed.

“Ongoing studies will help us clarify the benefits and any possible detriments to this approach, but so far this study demonstrates that bone marrow stem cells are safe for spinal cord injury patients,” said Geffner, Director of the Stem Cells program at the Junta de Beneficencia de Guayaquil.

“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. In addition, we are learning valuable information that will eventually help us apply other adult cells for spinal cord injury such as reprogrammed adult germ cells,” said Francisco Silva, executive vice president of research and development for PrimeCell Therapeutics. “We’re encouraged by the results. This approach may be useful for patients who cannot be treated by conventional medicine.”

Read more at Medical News Today online.

A new study indicates that cord blood stem cells can be used to successfully treat diabetes. Researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine studied twenty children aged with Type 1 Diabetes. The children’s ages ranged from two to seven. Seven of the children received cord blood stem cells. Over the six months following treatment, the children who received core blood stem cells needed about 35% less insulin than the others.

Insulin helps the body control blood sugar levels. Patients with type 1 diabetes need insulin because their immune systems destroy cells that produce it.

The study was presented at the 2007 annual conference of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago. The researchers explained that they are optimistic about the results but still have a lot to learn about the effects of stem cell therapy on diabetes. Dr. Haller said explained that while the team is pleased with the results, they have not found a cure for juvenile diabetes.

In 1996 Gayle Serls was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, an aggressive and often fatal cancer of the white blood cells. She underwent chemotherapy, but it would not cure the aggressive form of cancer she had. Serl’s doctor decided she should undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Age 45 at the time, Serls had a difficult time finding an adult bone marrow transplant program. When she finally found that Johns Hopkins University offered a procedure called an autologous bone marrow transplant—meaning taking her own cells, “cleaning them up,” and putting them back into her body. However, before Serls could undergo the transplant, she had a severe relapse and had to be flown back to Duke University Medical Center to undergo more chemotherapy.

Now, adult cord blood cells can be used to treat leukemia and lymphoma for adults with lymphocytic leukemia. However, in 1996, this procedure had been performed on children but was unheard of for adults. Serls was dying from leukemia, so she felt she had no alternative choice. Leukemia prevents the body from creating healthy blood cells, so in patients like Serls, transplanted stem cells can help the patient’s body generate healthy blood cells that replace cancerous cells. Upon learning about the experimental cord blood transplantation, Serls tracked down Mary Laughlin, who was an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University at the time. Laughlin was conducting a clinical trial on cord blood transplants in adults.

In May 1997, she underwent the cord blood transplantation. The procedure was surprisingly simple. She was hooked up to an IV that delivered life-saving liquid from a pint-sized bag. Serls was conscious throughout the procedure. Doctors had found a suitable cord blood stem cell donor for Serls, but because it was not an exact match, there was a chance Serls could develop a condition called Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHS), in which T cells of the recipient attack the new cells. A few weeks after the transplant, Serls did develop the condition; but fortunately it was treatable.

It took nine weeks after her treatment, Serls was able to go home. She was extremely fatigued and had a difficult time eating. Nevertheless, the healing had begun. Her body generated new, healthy blood cells. Now, 10 years since her procedure, Serls says proudly, “I’m one of the longest-surviving adults who have had the transplant in the world.” She adds, “The longer I live from that moment, the more it means to me to have had that opportunity.”

Read More at Scienceline.com.

An Italian research team did a study on mice with cochlear damage resulting in loss of hearing. They found that transplanation of cord blood stem cells (stem cells collected from the umbilical cord at birth) may repair hearing loss due to cochlear damage. They show that a small number of stem cells located the damaged cochlea and repaired sensory hair cells and neurons.

Researchers tracked the transplanted cells to ensure that they were capable of locating the cochlea. Then they tested whether the cells could help regrow neurons and sensory tissue in the cochlea.

The lead author of the study, Roberto P. Revoltella, MD, PhD, reported, “Our findings show dramatic repair of damage with surprisingly few human-derived cells having migrated to the cochlea.”

Read more at Medical News Today.