Hereditary deafness is passed on from parent to child. People born with this condition have a complete inability to hear on account of faulty cells in the inner ear. Currently, the only treatment for hereditary deafness is an artificial cochlear implant. Now, scientists have succeeded in growing healthy, functional human cochlear cells from stem cells, [Read More]
Everyone goes through ups and downs in life, but for people with bipolar disorder, these shifts in mood are dramatic and severe, affecting their ability to carry on with daily life. The illness, also known as manic-depressive disorder, is associated with distinct variations in emotions, mood, energy, sleep patterns, behaviors, and activity. Bipolar people alternate [Read More]
An American suffers a stroke every 40 seconds. This adds up to nearly 800,000 strokes nationwide each year. Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability and the third highest cause of death in the United States. Stroke claims an estimated 140,000 American lives each year. Nearly 75 percent of strokes affect people over the [Read More]
Type 1 diabetes is a rare form of diabetes, typically diagnosed during childhood or adolescence. Previously known as juvenile diabetes, it affects only 5 percent of the total number of people with diabetes. In people with type 1 diabetes, the islet beta cells in the pancreas do not produce a sufficient amount of insulin. Insulin [Read More]
Teeth play very valuable roles in the human body, from chewing food to keeping the jaw bones strong and healthy. But now scientists have revealed that your teeth could actually save your life. Similar to concept of harvesting stem cells from the umbilical cord after delivery and banking them in case of a health emergency [Read More]
The ongoing research regarding stem cell therapy and Parkinson’s disease has earned a high profile among scientists and patients alike who are eager to determine exactly how stem cells can combat such a devastating disease. International Stem Cell Corp. has added its name to the groups who are testing Parkinson’s disease therapy, and on November [Read More]
In one of the most divisive presidential elections in modern times, scientists are speaking out to make their feelings known. The most important issue to many scientists right now is the stance that President-elect Donald Trump will take regarding scientific research that uses embryonic stem cells and fetal tissue. In recent decades, both realms of [Read More]
A new documentary titled Mixed Match recently screened at the Reel Asian International Film Festival to highlight the struggles of ethnically diverse patients in search of stem cells for life-changing transplants. According to the Canadian Blood Services, stem cell transplants can treat more than 80 diseases and disorders, but recent research suggests that ethnically diverse [Read More]
Ten years ago, stem cell stocks were an attractive investment choice, but after many investors lost big, players in the financial markets are a little wary of companies involved in biotech and stem cell research. Brian Feroldi, who writes for The Motley Fool, narrates the checkered history of stem cell stocks. Companies that once had [Read More]
In what is an unprecedented achievement, researchers at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, have succeeded in making blood in the laboratory using stem cells. The team of scientists has overcome what is perhaps the biggest hurdle in creating on-order stem cell lines that can serve as an alternative to a bone marrow [Read More]
The most challenging part of using stem cells to treat diseased and damaged human tissues is converting adult cells to pluripotent stem cells. Now, scientists have discovered that vitamins A and C can induce amnesia in stem cells and aid in this process. Regenerative medicine technologies rely on the ability of scientists to erase DNA [Read More]
When three-year-old Ava Stark was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder earlier this year, her family was told that she would not survive without a stem cell transplant. Thus began a search for a potential donor who could give the gift of life to the toddler from Lochgelly in Fife, Scotland. Now, after two failed [Read More]
Professional athletes have millions of dollars riding on their backs. An injury can put a player out of commission for months and derail a promising career, leaving thousands of fans disappointed. Millions watched in horror when Brazilian soccer star, Neymar, was carried off the field with a fractured vertebra during a World Cup match in [Read More]
November 12, 2016 Marrow Cellution™ Bone Marrow Aspirating Needle and other Biologic Modalities for Spine, Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Faculty: Dr. Joseph Purita, Orthopedic Surgeon – Orthobiologics Pioneer Andy McGillicuddy, Developer – Marrow Cellution™ Needle Date: November 12, 2016 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Place: RMT Institute 304 Tequesta Dr. Tequesta, FL 33469 Learn and perform [Read More]
Heart disease kills more Americans every year than any other single medical condition. Any disease or damage to this vital organ in the human body can have catastrophic consequences. Now, scientists are gaining ground in mending broken hearts in the laboratory. Slowly progressive heart failure is more common than sudden cardiac arrest. When a person [Read More]
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a hinge joint that connects the jaw to the skull. It sits on either side of the face in front of each ear and disorders affecting the joint can be extremely distressing to patients. In a promising advance to TMJ treatment, scientists have succeeded in manipulating stem cells in mice [Read More]
Stem cell treatments hold great promise for treating a range of medical conditions that afflict the human body, but delivering them to the precise location of disease, damage, or injury has been challenging. Now, a team of scientists has succeeded in delivering stem cells to the brain through a catheter threaded into an artery with [Read More]
Researchers at UCLA’s Ell and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have grown a three-dimensional lung in the laboratory to aid pulmonary disease research. The scientists coated sticky hydrogel beads with stem cells derived from lung tissue. These beads grew into the shape of air sacs in real human lungs, thus [Read More]
Former Texas Governor, Rick Perry, has joined the board of directors of a company that develops stem cell treatments. In 2011, Perry underwent an experimental therapy developed by this company. The 47th governor of the State of Texas, Perry announced his second bid for the Republican nomination for President in June 2015, but withdrew from [Read More]
Developmental biologists of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden have joined only a handful of others in a quest to genetically edit human embryos using CRISPR/Cas-9 technology. The controversial endeavor has underlined ethics talks on modification of human embryonic DNA, also known as ‘germline modification’. The Swedish group has pushed the boundaries by using viable [Read More]
In another successful application of stem cell therapy, doctors in India have succeeded in restoring sight in a 58-year-old American who had been legally blind for 40 years due to macular degeneration. Al Purdy chose to travel to India for the treatment after he was excluded from a study in Philadelphia due to a diagnosis [Read More]
Osteoporosis, literally meaning porous bone, is a disease that affects 54 million Americans. People with osteoporosis have low bone density and bones that are weak and more likely to break. It is estimated that approximately one in two women and one in four men above the age of 50 will suffer from a fracture due [Read More]
Worldwide, more than 8 million people die each year from cancer and its related complications. Approximately 14 million people receive a new diagnosis of cancer every year. The World Health Organization estimates that these figures will rise by about 70 percent over the next 20 years. Because it is one of the leading causes of [Read More]
With an eye on the future, the International Glaucoma Association and the UK and Eire Glaucoma Society have released funding to Professor Colin Willoughby and Dr. Carl Sheridan of the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Ageing and Chronic Diseases. This stimulus fund will be used to develop stem cell treatments for glaucoma. The type of [Read More]
Age, injury, and obesity can all lead to arthritis, resulting in painful and stiff joints. Arthritis affects more than 50 million Americans. The most common type is osteoarthritis, affecting 27 million people in America. Nearly one in two people have symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee by the time they are 85 years old. It is [Read More]
The end of September 2016 marked the first FDA approval of an artificial pancreas for the treatment of type 1 diabetes1. This new device measures the patient’s glucose levels every 5 minutes and determines whether and how much insulin needs to be given. The new treatment promises better control of glucose and a significant easing [Read More]
In what is being hailed as a remarkable success, doctors at Ottawa Hospital have used stem cell treatment and succeeded in reversing the effects of the disease in patients with severe MS (multiple sclerosis). MS is a crippling disease more common in females and more prevalent in temperate climates such as Canada and the United [Read More]
When you walk into the IMAC Regeneration Center in Chesterfield, Missouri, you are greeted by baseball memorabilia. And if you’re lucky, The Wizard himself might walk in. After a brilliant career with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals, Osborne “Ozzie” Smith retired from Major League Baseball after the 1996 season. A career in [Read More]
Researchers at Egypt’s Mansoura University have shown that mesenchymal stem cells hold promise in healing recalcitrant foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. In a study led by Ahmed Albehairy, MD, the scientists used a local injection of autologous bone-marrow-derived stem cells and found it greatly reduced ulcer size.
One of the biggest scientific debates of the current century has been whether it is ethical to use embryonic stem cells to treat human disease. It has even played a role in presidential politics, right up there with terrorism, immigration, and abortion. Humans, like all multicellular organisms, have certain cells in their bodies called stem [Read More]
Many parents are choosing to bank their baby’s cord blood at the time of birth. This blood contains stem cells which can be very useful in treating many different medical conditions, ranging from cancer to cerebral palsy. The stem cells derived from cord blood are more adaptive than those found in the bone marrow, which [Read More]
The innovative yet controversial procedure that is used to create three-parent babies has hit a roadblock. A risk has been identified in which the defective mitochondria, which are replaced with healthy mitochondria from the “third” parent, may stage a comeback. Mitochondria are the organelles in the cell that generate energy. When the DNA of mitochondria [Read More]
Researchers at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center are using stem cells obtained from human embryos to develop a pioneering technique that could help millions of people see again. Macular degeneration is the most frequent cause of blindness in people above the age of 60. It leads to the loss of sight in more people than [Read More]
From the time “the little blue pill” was first placed on the market in 1998 by Pfizer, Viagra has been a miracle drug for men suffering from erectile dysfunction. Its popularity is evident from the $2 billion in sales in 2008. But for Viagra to work, it has to be taken an hour or two [Read More]
Autism, and more broadly speaking autism spectrum disorder, is associated with a varying degree of poor brain development in which the affected child has difficulty with verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors. Parents of children with severe autism are painted a bleak picture for their child’s future. Meltdowns, compulsive behaviors, and a [Read More]
If you’ve ever had a pet, you know how quickly a little puppy can steal your heart. Dogs bring immense joy to children and adults alike and are like family. For pet owners, it is extremely distressing to see their best friend in pain. But as dogs age, that easy run turns into a slow, [Read More]
Preliminary results have recently been presented on a early-phase clinical trial that aims to treat paralysis as a result of spinal cord injury. Embryonic stem cells differentiated into early nerve cells are used to repair injury to nerves in the spinal cord. The researchers hope to restore muscle function in these recently paralyzed patients. Other [Read More]
One of the challenges in regenerative medicine is the 3-dimensional construction of the complex human tissue that is being attempted to replace. Two-dimensional cultures of functioning cells are a relatively simple laboratory technique for studying cells and disease, yet they are only a simple representation of the true function of an organ. To replicate real [Read More]
Platelet-rich plasma, commonly known as PRP, is hitting headlines on a regular basis for its many applications in sports injury remedies. Household names like Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods have both utilized the regenerative powers of PRP to heal from injuries and regain their elite sports status, but that’s not the only transformation that PRP [Read More]
Parkinson’s Disease is a devastating disease that slowly eats away at the central nervous system. What may begin as a subtle hand tremor can grow over the years into an uncontrollable and life-altering problem. It’s a condition that has been known since ancient times as “shaking palsy,” but it wasn’t officially detailed until London doctor [Read More]
As stem cell research and treatment has significantly accelerated in past years, it has garnered as much support as controversy. Opponents of experimental stem cell treatments cite the fact that most stem cell studies are small and cannot be generalized to wider populations, but supporters of stem cell therapies point to the undeniable success the [Read More]
Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA continue to make findings and developments that keep them at the forefront of regenerative medicine research and progress. In particular, Dr. Brigitte Gomperts, an associate professor of pediatric hematology/oncology, recently worked with a team to study lung-derived stem [Read More]
In the world’s first trial of stem cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease, neuroscientists at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia have injected a 64-year-old man with millions of precursor cells with the hope that they will metamorphose into healthy brain cells. The experimental treatment is a global collaboration, with the stem cells being flown in [Read More]
Sweden’s Nobel Prize panel, which hands out the prize for medicine among others, has been rocked by a scandal involving an Italian surgeon who specializes in stem cell therapy. Dr. Paolo Macchiarini is accused of falsifying his CV and falsely claiming he is Pope Francis’ personal physician. Two judges on the panel, Harriet Wallberg and [Read More]
A recent study has looked at platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy for female androgenetic alopecia, with somewhat conflicting results. Any excessive or abnormal loss of hair is known, in medical terms, as alopecia. Male pattern baldness is a well-known condition. Hair loss in women, although less common, can occur as a result of disease, stress, hormonal [Read More]
Scientists have conducted an animal study funded by the National Institutes of Health, the findings of which have brought the goal of healing injured brains with stem cell therapy closer to reality. The results, published in Nature Medicine, reveal that the innovative technique employed by the researchers was able to dramatically increase the number of [Read More]
Regenerative medicine can potentially treat any ailment that afflicts the human body. The ability to repair, regenerate and replace tissue means that injury, disease, and the natural aging process are all conceivably treatable or reversible. This field of medicine holds particular promise in degenerative disorders. Widespread applications of regenerative medicine across body systems—neurology, cardiology, dermatology, [Read More]
Researchers at the University of Utah are excited by a discovery that in patients with weak hearts, stem cells from the patient’s own body can be used to fix the damage. A study has revealed that treatment with stem cells brought the rate of repeat hospitalizations and death down by 37 percent in patients with [Read More]
The journal Cell Stem Cell recently reported that the number of clinics offering stem cell treatments in the United States has grown dramatically from 25 to nearly 600 in just five years. Physicians groups such as the Cell Surgical Network are offering a treatment menu that includes everything from arthritis to Alzheimer’s. Regenerative medicine physicians [Read More]
In March 2016, a car crash left 21-year-old Kristopher Boesen of Bakersfield, California, paralyzed from the neck down. In what is nothing short of a miracle, researchers have succeeded in restoring some hand and arm function in the young man with a stem cell treatment that is still experimental. The severe trauma Kris suffered to [Read More]
