TODAY I PRESENT A NICE COMMENTARY ON STEM CELL RESEARCH WRITTEN BY ANDREW SPARKS, CLASS OF '09, FOR THE COWL, WHICH SEEMS TO BE THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT PROVIDENCE UNIVERSITY.  IF ANDREW KEEPS WRITING LIKE THIS, I SEE A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR THIS WRITER.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND MAKE SURE YOU READ THE COMMENTS AT THE END.  THERE ARE SOME INTERESTING ONES INCLUDING SOME FROM YOURS TRULY.

 CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

TODAY I BRING TO YOU A FANTASTIC ARTICLE.  FANTASTIC BECAUSE IT IS PUBLISHED IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.  FANTASTIC BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE FEW TIMES THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA PRESENTS A POSITIVE ARTICLE ON ADULT STEM CELLS.

READ THIS-

NEW YORK - A gathering known as the Stem Cell Summit might sound so controversial it would need a steely moderator, or even police protection, so politically delicate is the science of using embryos in medical research.

But this affair at the Hilton New York on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan was all business because while the research community remains interested in embryonic stem cells, these days the focus is on the potential uses of adult stem cells, where it turns out that significant progress is being made away from the political spotlight.

BRUCE JAPSEN, THE REPORTER WHO WROTE THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR SUMMARIZING IN ONE SENTENCE WHAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SAY FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS!   AND WRITING FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, HE PROBABLY HAS A MUCH BIGGER AUDIENCE THAN I DO.  THE BUSINESS PEOPLE GO WHERE THE MONEY IS, WHERE THERE IS SUCCESS, WHERE THERE IS A PRODUCT WITH A DEMAND- ADULT STEM CELLS.  THE "RESEARCH COMMUNITY" GO TO THE TAXPAYER AND BEG BECAUSE THE SMART BUSINESS PEOPLE WON'T GIVE THEM MONEY BECAUSE THE PROMISE IS ALMOST NIL.

AND WHAT WOULD A GOOD POST ON MY BLOG BE LIKE WITHOUT A ADULT STEM CELL SUCCESS STORY INCLUDED IN THE SAME ARTICLE-
Gordon Chang said his daughter Chloe celebrated her 6th birthday in January thanks to the ability to preserve her younger sister's cord blood to combat a rare and deadly form of leukemia.

At age 1 1/2, Chloe embarked on 18 months of failed treatments that started with chemotherapy followed by a dangerous arsenic treatment and a transplant of stem cells from her own blood before she was treated with an infusion of 2 to 4 ounces of her sister's stem cells preserved by StemCyte.

Although each of her earlier treatments involved a month to several months of remission, they were not as effective as cord blood, said Gordon Chang, a Stanford University history professor. Side effects involved severe pain and bleeding, but Chang said his daughter today is healthy and in 1st grade, three years after the infusion with cells from cord blood.

"There are no guarantees about the future," he said. "But this would have been impossible without the umbilical cord [stem cell] transplant."

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

I HAVE HEARD THE THEORY OF STEM CELLS IN SPORTS, BUT NEVER REALIZED THAT IT IS ALREADY HERE. I THINK IF ADULT STEM CELLS CAN HELP HEAL AN INJURED SHOULDER OR A BLOWN OUT KNEE- THEN THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS! ALTHOUGH THIS IS PART OF A SERIES OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ARTICLES DETAILING STEROIDS USE IN SPORTS, I DON'T SEE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADULT STEM CELLS AND STEROIDS. USING ONE'S OWN STEM CELLS TO HELP HEAL HAS ZERO SIDE EFFECTS. STEROIDS HAVE NUMEROUS NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. I HOPE I WILL SEE THE DAY THAT GETTING AN ADULT STEM CELL TRANSPLANT WILL BE A NORMAL EVERYDAY OCCURENCE FOR NOT ONLY THE DYING HEART FAILURE PATIENT BUT THE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE WHO INJURES HIS SHOULDER AS WELL.

LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS FOOTBALL PLAYER!!

A second type of stem cell therapy that is gaining proponents in sports applications is autologous treatment -- reimplanting the cells extracted from one's own body. Christopher Dalton, 18, a Texas all-state offensive tackle, injured the tendons in his left shoulder last year. He ­couldn't do a single push-up or lift more than a couple of pounds. Three days after an autologous stem cell ­treatment -- the cells were extracted from Dalton's tibia -- he had regained 90 percent of his shoulder function, and within a month, the 6'2", 240-pounder was bench-­pressing 285 pounds. "His stem cell shoulder was actually stronger than his uninjured shoulder," says his father, Stephen, a family practitioner who sent his son to California for the treatment.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE

THIS IS ANOTHER FANTASTIC STORY ABOUT HOW ADULT STEM CELLS CAN HELP MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) PATIENTS.  IN THE STEM CELL TREATMENT STUDY DESCRIBED IN THE ARTICLE, THE MS PATIENTS WERE FIRST GIVEN CHEMOTHERAPY WHICH DESTROYED THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THEN WERE TREATED WITH THEIR OWN ADULT STEM CELLS TO REBUILD A NEW IMMUNE SYSTEM IN THE BONE MARROW-- A NEW IMMUNE SYSTEM THAT IS FREE OF MS! IMAGINE BEING THE PARENTS OF THIS WOMAN, SEEING HER WALK OFF THE PLANE, THIS STORY MADE MY DAY. -DM

Parents rejoice over daughter's stem-cell miracle

A midnight flight from Ottawa to Vancouver delivered something of a miracle to Surrey couple Jacky and Tom Telder.

There she was, the Telders' youngest child, Leah, walking towards them in the airport lobby late Monday amidst the disembarking passengers, grinning and waving a greeting.

"That was amazing. She walked off. ... I mean, there she was, actually walking," said Jacky of the moment.

Like the patients before her, Leah was required to undergo heavy doses of chemotherapy - enough to completely wipe out her immune system and cause her shoulder-length hair to fall out in chunks.

Twice, she endured an uncomfortable six-hour procedure that saw her strapped to a chair, unable to even flinch, as a team of specialists carefully siphoned stem cells from her blood.

"If she moved even a little, alarms would beep," said Jacky of the extremely delicate procedure.

The stem cells were then sent to a laboratory where they were "cleaned" before being pumped back into her body.

The theory behind the $4-million study is that the pure stem cells will find their way into the bone marrow and build up a new immune system in the patient, free of MS.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

STEM CELL THERAPY FOR DOGS AND HORSES-- AND ADULT STEM CELL THERAPY AT THAT!  THIS IS GREAT NEWS AND IT REALLY SEEMS TO BE WORKING! ALTHOUGH THE ARTICLE BELOW DOES NOT MENTION THE NAME OF THE STEM CELL THERAPY COMPANY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANIMAL STEM CELLS, I SUSPECT IT IS VET-STEM SINCE THEY ARE LOCATED NEAR SAN DIEGO WHICH THE ARTICLE MENTIONS.   SO IF YOU HAVE A PET IN PAIN, TRY CONTACTING THEM AS THEY MAY BE ABLE TO HELP.  -DM

Stem cells ease pain of horses and dogs

Local veterinarian Dr. Kathy Mitchener is using a new stem cell replacement procedure to relieve pain in arthritic dogs and horses.

In the stem cell procedure, Mitchener removes fat cells from animals that are fully sedated. The cells are shipped overnight to a clinic in San Diego, which recovers stem and regenerative cells from the fat and ships them back within 48 hours. The cells are implanted into problem areas, such as hips or knees, through an injection and intravenous line. Within days, the animals are moving more freely and with less pain.

Her first four patients showed improvement in movement in just a few days. Mitchener said it helps rejuvenate torn ligaments in horses and joint tissue in dogs suffering from arthritis.

Between 75 to 85 percent of the animals showed improvements after the procedure, lasting for as long as 18 months.It costs between $2,600 to $3,000 for the procedure, which includes all the blood work and two surgical procedures.

To find out more, call Angel Care at 385-9172. The clinic is in Shelby Center Hospital for Animals at 6923 Stage near Summer.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE