Getting from discovery to trial in adult stem cell treatments

Scientists are syaing that the current bottleneck is moving forward from basic scientific discovery to a basic clinical trial in time to help people with devastating diseases.
Patience may well be a virtue, but if you are living with and/or loving someone who is dying before your eyes you would be keen to get help right now. Such a story was published this week from Utah where nine-year old twins died of Batten Disease - a rare and fatal neurological disorder. There is research going on now in Oregon using adult stem cells that one day soon may be able to help sufferers but it's a case of 'too little, too late'.
Many patients with end-stage heart disease, cardiomyopathy or ischemic heart disease can attest to the fact that it was impossible for them to get onto a trial. They were excluded because of age, co-morbid factors, prognosis, etc etc and left without hope. Yes, we need clinical trials on humans and longitudinal studies as well. But if you are a no-option heart patient or PAD patient at this moment, you do not have the luxury of time.
This is why people are taking charge of their own health and seeking treatment that is safe and readily available. All the better if they can get adult stem cell therapy that has a track record of good patient outcomes as measured by self-report and clinical measures. One day published trial results will catch up with what is happening now.
It is a good thing that heart failure, cardiomyopathy and ischemic heart disease patients can trust those who have gone before them and know that they will receive excellent care and the excellent odds of an outcome better than they could possibly have hoped for. Further, they are going to be helped by their body's own repair kit - their adult stem cells derived from their own blood - so there are no rejection problems to cope with.

A personal plea from a grateful adult stem cells recipient

DW - This is unedited and published just as received. The task of educating people is huge but it has to be done. I have no wish to be like Sisyphus but I have no choice but to keep rolling the stone!

Douglas T. Rice
Adult Stem Cell Recipient


My name is Doug Rice, I am 61 years old and have Congestive Heart Disease and am Diabetic. I could be one of over 500,000 people that die in the United States yearly, BUT I am not dead. Not because I shouldn’t be, but because there is a resolve to this problem. I am not a miracle, a phenomenon, but a living person that by the Grace of God was saved from a disease that kills daily about 1,400 people. However, I had to travel to Bangkok, Thailand and go in debt to do something that should be readily available in the United States. I used my own Stem Cells, and a simple Angio Plas procedure to have my live be given back to me. Your own stem cells have so much more to give than we give them credit for; a lot of other diseases are being treated successfully by just using the Adult Stem cell.

These 500,000 Heart patients don’t make the mainstream press, no newspaper articles of any significance and certainly most politicians in Washington D.C. don’t even like to discuss it. Sadly, it is a fact, if a family dies in a car wreck, children are gunned down in a school, a disgruntled person shoots or maims his or her coworkers, and it is BIG NEWS.

BUT, 500,000 people die at a rate of 1400 a day and no one takes the time of day to pray for them. Not all are old, some very young and with families and friends to care about, most people just don’t realize that they die although almost everyone knows someone that will die from this disease.

Did you know that over $613,000,000 has been spent researching the Embryonic Stem Cell as the miracle drug it is not? Did you know that to my knowledge not one person has been treated and the rats they treated ended up with tumors?

Did you know that over 400,000 people with various cancers have been successfully treated and most are alive to talk about the Adult Stem Cell treatment using their own stem cells or ones from the cord, not one by Embryonic stem cells.

To be honest, discussing Embryonic Stem Cells is like kicking a dead horse, “ They Don’t Work Now, They May Never Work “, maybe in ten or 20 years, but not now and there is something that works “NOW” the Adult Stem Cell!! What does it take to make people realize that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?

I bet if you ask someone what stem cells are, they will say Embryonic, not because they know, but because that is all they hear about. Education, Education, Education and the facts is the only way to get the job of moving the adult stem cell to the forefront is education, funding and actual treatment “NOW”.

I get many calls on a daily basis because I have been treated with my Adult Stem Cells, and the most frequent question is “Why did you have to go to Thailand”? Answer: “Because the Embryonic forum controls the press, the money and the education process as well as the medical industry, and you can’t get it done in the United States! Kid yourself not, there is a lot of money involved, and do you think if the Adult Stem Cell had the financial reward potential that the Embryonic Cell research has that we would even be having this discussion? There would be money coming out of the wood work, every medical enterprise would be all over it. However, your own Stem Cells are not for sale, they are free, no one can patent them and make Billions off of them, and does that tell you why the funding and education on the Adult Stem Cells is so far behind??

Listen, I am but one man, a very lucky man to have had my ex-wife Sheba Rice find the solution on the internet while looking for new technology for heart disease, without her efforts, I would be in a urn on the fireplace. But, she gave a damn and wanted me alive for whatever reasons, we all need to do the same for someone we know or people that need the help. We that care, need to educate everyone you meet, if not because I say it, because of the 500,000 people that will die this year!

I would get down on my knees and beg if I thought that I alone could do it, I can’t, I doubt if I make a difference, but you can, your Senators, Congressmen, Doctors and news media friends can make a difference. I will do what ever I can do to move this forward, but boy do I need your help! Ask me for anything that will help and I will do my best, I am asking everyone that reads this to do their best, one day you may be where I have been, or your mother, father, brother and sisters as well as relatives and friends. This is so serious I can’t imagine everyone not getting involved; by the way, I will admit I am a dreamer.

Feel free to contact me if I can be of help. http://www.info@douglastrice.org/ shortly I will have it full of helpful information.

Thanks for reading this and I know you will help!

Scientists throw another lifeline to heart failure patients

The momentum is speeding up. Researchers trying to help heart failure, cardiomyopathy and ischemic heart disease patients have discovered that adult stem cells within the heart perhaps can be hormonally stimulated to create new tissue.
The Victor Chang Cardiac Institute is researching stimulating adult stem cells to move from the bone marrow into the bloodstream where they can be painlessly obtained and harvested or just stimulating them to come into the circulation where they will find their own way to the heart and start the repair.
This research from Down Under is yet another example of how far and fast adult stem cells are becoming the preferred treatment option for patients formerly condemned to a resricted life on a treadmill of drugs, surgery, stents etc etc. The day is coming in many countries when with diet, exercise and adult stem cells poeple will be able to enjoy a longer and more active life. At present help is available now, but you have to travel for it - however, it is still considerably cheaper than a few days in a US hospital.

Ten years of embryonic stem cell research and nothing to show for it!

The politics of embryonic stem cell research are all about vested interest i.e. money. Many research institutes have had their noses in the public trough for some ten years now. What have they produced? Tumors in rats - not ONE treatment or cure for diseases in humans has been developed.
Now researchers from the California Institute of RegenerativeMedicine have warned that the press and public have exaggerated the nearness of successful embryonic stem cell research! So we have to wait years and years for any advances to be made.
I suggest we leave the embryonic stem cell researchers to their labs and their lifestyle dependent upon taxpayer dollars. Regenerative medicine is being driven by superior adult stem cells which RIGHT NOW are actually being used to develop cures and treatments. Adult stem cells are highly versatile and do not require the destruction of human life.Ask the hundreds of patients dying from congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease or cardiomyopathy how improved they were after adult stem cell treatment and they will tell you that adult stem cell treatment was safe, minimally invasive and gave them back an active and more energetic life. These patients chose not to retire to a hospice to await the inevitable; they took charge of their own heath, often in the face of skepticism from medical specialists, friends and family. Their stories are inspiring and they are at the vangaurd of a revolution.
I hope this revolution is a noisy one as the good news should be trumpeted loudly. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DIE, HELP IS AVAILBLE NOW FOR END-STAGE HEART FAILURE.

How much can we trust the FDA?

This week has seen the debacle over GlaxoSmithKline's diabetic drug Avandia. This FDA approved drug has been linked to "severe adverse effects" i.e. linked to increased risk of heart attack.
Many of us think that FDA approval automatically confers safety. Not so - just remember the horror outcomes of Thalidomide.
What has all this got to do with adult stem cells? Many say that adult stem cell therapy is experiemental - unproven, without sufficient clinical trails approved by the FDA etc etc. At this moment there are hundreds of trials in progress around the world but it will be quite some time before adult stem cells gain FDA approval. And when they do does that really mean they are efficacious and safe? I hope so, BUT we know right now that safety is the least concern over the use of adult stem cells - after all they come from the patient's own body so when re-introduced into the body there are absolutely no rejection problems.
The hundreds of patients treated to date with adult stem cells for heart failure, Cardiomyopathy, Ischemic Heart Disease and Periperal artery disease would have missed out on the opportunity to enjoy a more active and longer life if they had waited for FDA approval. These people have chosen to get help for their failing heart right now - safely and knowing that patient outcomes are leading the revolution in modern medicine.

Brothers ride adult stem cell express from heart failure to health

SUMMARY: Two brothers from Illinois who were running out of time and were beyond conventional medical help in the U.S. have had their heart failure treated successfully in Bangkok, Thailand.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Faced with massive heart problems beyond conventional help American brothers John and Walter Homeier traveled to Bangkok to receive the very latest in adult stem cell therapy for the failing heart. Fourteen months later the older brother, John, is back doing what he used to do before his illness – playing golf, walking as far as he likes and working every day. Younger brother, Walter, just one month after his treatment is already doing well, reporting that his energy is improving day by day.

Theravitae, the Israeli-Thai biotechnology company that has researched and developed its patented adult stem cell therapy, VesCell, has treated some 200 no-option heart failure patients to date. The results for around 75 percent of patients both by self-report and by clinical evaluation are dramatic. Patients have more energy and are able to resume activities they thought they had lost forever. They feel less tired and experience far fewer symptoms such as angina. Their heart is able to pump more efficiently than before treatment. For John this has meant, “I can do anything I want to do. Theravitae saved my life”.

Since adult stem cell therapies are not yet approved in the U.S. the brothers had to gain acceptance by an accredited hospital that performs the operation, in their cases Bangkok Heart Hospital. Here top cardiologists assess the patient and then withdraw a small amount of blood from the arm which is immediately flown to the laboratory in Israel. In the laboratory the stem cells that can help the heart muscle and increase blood flow to the affected areas are isolated and multiplied by many millions. This harvested concentrate of stem cells is then flown back to the hospital where the stem cells are either injected directly into the heart muscle or introduced by catheter into the blocked area. These stem cells have demonstrated the ability to do what they are ‘trained’ to do, namely repair, strengthen and revascularize. Within a few months (often sooner) the vast majority of patients notice the benefits

Both brothers were aware before receiving treatment that because the blood that is used is their own there is absolutely no possibility of the body rejecting the implantation of stem cells. They were also encouraged by reading about and speaking with patients who had already benefited from VesCell’s adult stem cell therapy. Like many other seriously ill heart failure patients there comes a point when they are told that apart from a heart transplant there is nothing more that can be done for them. Rather than choose a hospice or a rocking chair while they await their inevitable fate an increasing number are choosing to undergo what is rapidly becoming established as a safe, helpful and minimally invasive procedure in world class hospitals in Thailand.

Medical tourism is a huge and rapidly growing industry in Thailand. The reasons for this growth and world-wide acceptance by patients seeking treatment in the kingdom lie in the facts that the hospital facilities and equipment are truly first class and the care and support of medical and nursing staff is second to none. Many of the specialists involved in the treatment of foreign patients have been trained or had extensive post-graduate experience in western countries. The Homeiers experienced exceptional care from the company and the hospital staff. They found their hotel accommodation surpassed their expectations. Furthermore, Thailand has long been recognized as a safe, beautiful, welcoming and enjoyable place for tourists generally, let alone those needing some rest and relaxation after hospital treatment. The brothers were able to take advantage of all that the kingdom offers.

John has already seen his Ejection Fraction (the measure of the heart’s efficiency in pumping blood) rise from a mere 15 to 40. Small wonder that he feels so much better and is able to resume all the activities formerly denied him. The skeptics can say what they like but patient outcomes like those of the Homeiers are driving more and more end-stage heart patients to seek help. As more and more clinical trial results are published cardiologists will be suggesting to greater numbers of patients that adult stem cell therapy using their own blood is the preferred treatment option that can help them right now regain a quality of life they thought they had lost.

Adult stem cells from the horse's mouth

Sometimes we cannot rely on the body's ability to repair itself naturally. Take tendons for example. After trauma the body's own repair system results in a tendon that is not as functional as the original. But what if tendon repair could be enhanced by adult stem cells?
This is where horse racing provides us with valuable insights. A horse with a less than perfect tendon repair is not likely to be a race winner.
Human trials will follow after the success of UK vets in treating race horses with damaged tendons with adult stem cells. The best horses may well help the best athletes - let alone all those with impaired function after injury - loss of work, pain, loss of mobility etc etc.
Exciting stuff that joins the ever-growing body of anecdotal and research based outcomes of the role that adult stem cells can play in helping people suffering from cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, peripheral artery disease - and now tendon trauma.The list grows almost daily.

Fat-derived stem cells helping urological conditions

Human fatty tissue has been shown to be a viable, pluripotent source for stem cells that can be differentiated into bone, muscle and neural cell types. San Francisco researchers studied whether fat stem cells taken from rats could differentiate into urologic tissues that could be used for reconstructive purposes.
Patients with urological conditions may take heart at this study with a control group of 16 rats, beacuse after injections of their stem cells into the bladder and urethra the cells differentiated into smooth and striated muscle, vascular and adipose tissues.
Fatty tissue may be an easily accessible cource of stem cells that can become urothelium, smooth muscle and other support tissue.
This study is another example of the ever-widening range of conditions where the application of adult stem cells is being shown to produce therapeutic results. The lieterature has been dominated by heart failure research and peripheral artery disease to date but new studies are throwing exciting progress in such diseases as diabetes, CVA (stroke), Parkinson's Disease and auto-immune diseases.

Adult stem cell success in Parkinson's Disease

Three stem cell infusions via local anaesthesia have been used to treat a US national suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
The man had spent a fortune on drugs, surgery and micr-electrode treatments - this procedure cost him a tiny fraction of earlier treatment.
His treatment in India involved his own bone marrow cells being harvested after the mesenchymal cells had been isolated. The dopamine producing part of his brain (Substantia Nigra) received the harvested cells and his symptoms of severe tremors, rigidity, freezing and slurring of speech were greatly reduced.
Hope or hype? It is early days yet and there is no telling whether there would be a degeneration of the infused cells in the future. The science is so new and much further research is needed - all of which takes time. This man took the risk. Who wouldn't?

More good news for heart failure patients

Way down there in Australia scientists are saying stem cells from a patient's own tissue could be used to make heart muscle. By stimulating them coming into the circulation they could be harvested, collected and administered to patients where they will go to work producing new heart tissue.
For patients with tissue damage post myocardial infarction and for those with end-stage heart failure this is exciting news indeed.
Luckily patients can receive this therapy right now - safely and without any rejection problems. Imagine returning to an active life, able to do what you want rather than merely existing as a cardiac cripple.

Scientist urges caution about signing up for adult stem cells

A scientist who works in research and development in the stem cell industry recently advised caution before signing up for any stem cell therapy. She advised that people should find out if the therapy was approved by regulators after experts reviewed its clinical data. She went on to question claims that adult stem cells could help many of the conditions that they are currently being used on in various parts of the world.
Okay - it is true that people wish for much more from stem cells than researchers are able to deliver at present, but what excuse does she have for her ignorance of the trials published thus far? Hundreds have been successfully treated and had their lives prolonged by adult stem cell therapy which has been proven safe and avoids any rejection problems. Ethically how do you do a double-blind study on patients with only months to live?
Oh, I see.Buried in the article was the fact that she is a researcher in embryonic stem cells. Her scattergun approach therefore lacks any validity. Of course there is a long way to go for embryonic stem cells. So far they have only produced cancers in rats and mice.
I wish people would learn that there is a world of difference between adult and embryonic stem cells.

Brothers in heart failure rejoin the active world

American brothers have made adult stem cell therapy a family affair by both having the same procedure to treat their advanced heart failure.
Twelve months later the first brother is back at work, playing golf and doing whatever he wants to do. Clinically he is much better and his heart is pumping far more efficiently.
The second brother has just recently been treated and is looking forward to picking up his life after years of illness.
Both of them had been through the usual mill of pacemakers, stents, bypasses and more and more drugs. Their life was dominated by their illness and to walk around the block became impossible.
They found the standard of care in the hospital in Bangkok absolutely fabulous and cannot speak highly enough of their cardiologist (who, incidentally, was a Co-founder of a prestigious clinic in Minnesota).
People like these will make their stories known and impress on other heart patients the fact that help is available right now.

Stem cell enhancers sold door-to-door

It is a fact that when people are desperately ill they will try anything that they believe may help them and alleviate their suffering. That's normal and understandable.
Enter the entrepreneurs, in this case marketing, online and door-to-door, a dietary supplement they claim will boost the number of circulating stem cells.
Doctors and scientists are warning consumers to be very wary of claims made by the company regarding their algae-based product. Blog sites are either pro or anti, with one that promotes a healthy lifestyle saying: "not everyone could turn a potentially deadly pond scum into the cure for all diseases." Scientists say there is a risk the product could activate dormant cancer cells.

Am I mistaken in being very suspicious of a MLM scheme that is selling some 50,000 bottles per month at $60 each. Shouldn't there first be testing and then selling?
What do you think?

Pediatricians Call for Adult Stem Cell Research

At last! A prestigious body of medical specialists have gone public about adult stem cell research - in this case the American College of Pediatricians.
"Not only does embryonic research require taking the life of human embryos, it also prolongs needless suffering by delaying the development of more promising adult stem cell treatments and cures," stated Michelle Cretella, Fellow of the American College of Pediatricians.
Adult stem cells are now routinely used in certain forms of cancer therapy. Over the last decade these cells have been used to successfully treat spinal cord injuries, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and dozens of other conditions in human trials.
This has not been the case with any embryonic stem cell trial. Instead, there have been catastrohic results with these cells producing the wrong tissue, forming tumors and triggering rejection.
Every dollar spent on the failed and unnecessary process of embryonic stem cell research steals resources away from the established utility and potential of adult stem cell research. This is fiscally irresponsible and medically unconscionable.
My pleasure is not just to have my beliefs reinforced, but because such a body represents the medical establishment and people will listen to them and believe what they say.

Thailand Asia's hub for medical tourism

Over a million tourists annually and some 40 billion baht come into Thailand for medical care. That's quite impressive, so I wondered why so many are choosing Thailand.
Clearly, Thailand is a highly favored destination for tourists anyway, but for those seeking medical and dental care at a fraction of the cost in their own country the industry is booming.
This can be explained in part because the kingdom is perceived as being a safe destination with beautiful scenery, unbeatable beaches, a superb range of accommodation and the world's friendliest people. Now can be added the fact that hospitals offering surgery, dental care, stem cell therapy etc etc are in the opinion of those who have experienced them world leaders. They often look like five star hotels and bristle with the very latest in technology. Add to that the fact that Thai doctors frequently have Western post-graduate experience and speak English well - or are, Westerners themselves and that nurses look like nurses, dress like nurses and excel in attentive and compassionate care and you have the perfect combination that offers peace of mind to those seeking care.
It is my cynical guess that one day the mighty US of A will make it difficult or even illegal for its citizens to travel for medical treatment outside its borders. Why? Because too many people are waking up to the fact that their health care at home is under-resourced, unavailable or not covered by their insurance. Vested interests always dominate!

Brave Scot faces doctor's scorn

I read yesterday of a Scottish man, who has been blind for many years, travelling to Germany for adult stem cell therapy he hopes will help him. I think most of us would wish him the very best of luck.
His doctor described the whole exercise as "implausible". Yes, doctor, it may be difficult to believe that people with incurable diseases are being helped and healed in wondrous ways. Your arrogance and ignorance will not turn back the tide. Please read the research and see just what is being done for people right now.
I once thought acupuncture was implausible. How could a few needles inserted into my feet and navel and then twiddled occasionally possibly help chronic and debilitating migraines? But they did. I have no explanation and need none. I'm just grateful that I was open-minded enough to accept something I didn't understand at all.
May our Scottish friend be another example of how patient outcomes will drive progress!

The word may be reaching high places!

Surprising, but true, at least three elected officials in the U.S. have heard of (and support) adult stem cell research.
During the 1st 2007 Republican Debate 10 candidates were asked about embryonic stem cells and responded by mentioning adult stem cells. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) said "I have studied tthis matter a great deal. We are curing and healing people with adult stem cells. It is not necessary to kill a human life for us to heal people, and we are doing it with adult stem cell work and it's getting done."
Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said: "I would like to show the alternatives.....which are adult stem cells."
Tommy Thompson, former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from Feb 2001 to Jan 2005 added: "There is research going on right now at the Waisman Center in Madison, Wisconsin, thats going to allow for adult stem cells to become pluripotent, which will have the same characteristics of embryonic stem cells. So you do not have to kill an embryo."
It's great to know that some people in high places are at least informed and can lead from knowledge not ignorance or because of influence from powerful lobby groups.

Access to healthcare limited to those who can afford it

One of my biggest gripes about so-called Western medicine is that it is designed for and able to be accessed by only a small percentage of the population - those with money. Labor and plant costs are not the only reasons why many cannot get the help they need. In the U.S., for example, we see that medicine is driven not by doctors but by lawyers. In the name of safety (from litigation) what doctor is his/her right mind going to recommend a treatment like adult stem cell therapy? If the patient doesn't get the outome they wanted, then they will rush to a lawyer and scream malpractice.
While it is a sad commentary on modern health care that best practise means covering your butt, the reality is that more and more will step outside the system and avail themselves of what works - regardless of where it is or how the science helps. To take this step requires a courage and assertiveness that is admirable, but it is an impossible dream for those without the bread. They will remain receiving second or third rate care and, of course, die earlier. Heart disease, PAD, diabetes etc have little respect for class or color. May the day come when the benefits of safe, affordable adult stem cell therapy can help everyone, not just a few.

New clues about how adult stem cells work

The Director of Tulane University's Center for Gene Therapy speaking recently at the American Association of Anatomists had this to say: "New studies show that not only do stem cells from the patient's own body readily repair all sorts of damaged tissue, they stimulate the growth and differentiation of existing stem cells."
He repeated what is already well established in the literature regarding animal studies in which stem cells injected into diabetic mice travelled to and engrafted themselves into the pancreas where they increased the production of insulin and lowered blood sugar. However, they also engrafted themselves onto the kidneys and repaired the damage normally associated with diabetes.
According to the doctor there is a mitochondrial transfer of DNA to existing local cells whose own mitochondria are inactive and stimulates those cells to start working.
News like this was hard to come by, even though the implications for further advances in the treatment of diseases using adult stem cells (like Parkinson's, kidney and liver disease, diabetes and various forms of heart disease and cancer) are more than exciting. So frustrating!!!

Who wants to read the good news?

Coming, as I do, from a journalism background I am well aware that good news doesn't sell. It is very difficult to spread the word about dramatic changes in people's lives, when those changes are all about good news. Headlines are about the opposite! Mayhem, tragedy, corruption, and disasters sell newspapers.
So what to do when surrounded by stories about people who were told to go home and die and who courageously decline that offer, travel half way around the world and receive a relatively simple procedure that gives them back their life? Congestive Heart Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, Cardiomyopathy and PAD patients know all too well the tiredness and despair that accompany a deteriorating and terminal condition. So, too, do their loved ones who stand by helplessly as the patient uses up all that modern medicine has to offer - more drugs, more surgery, more stents. And then, "I'm sorry but there is nothing more we can do for you."
Hearing the stories about these people without hope and seeing them become more active and energetic, throwing away their wheelchair for the golf course or simply being able to lift and cuddle a grandchild is inspiring. Getting their stories published is frustrating!!