By Leslie LoBueUNDATED (WJRT) -- (02/26/08)--
Most of what you hear about stem cells has to do with the controversy
surrounding them, but they are helping cancer patients.
A review of clinical trials involving adult stem cells during the
past ten years indicates they are helping patients who have a variety
of diseases and even heart trouble.
Adult stem cell therapy has become a standard of care when treating
several types of cancer.
HealthFirst reporter Leslie LoBue says one patient diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis says his symptoms are gone.
Barry Goudy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995. He began
to lose feeling in his left leg, and as trouble with his central
nervous system progressed, he started to lose his vision.
"You sit and you cry and you wonder why you and then I went back to
my neurologist and said tell me how I can fight this," he recalled.
He enrolled in a clinical trial in 2003. After five days of
chemotherapy to destroy his immune cells, doctors used his own stem
cells to rebuild his immune system.
"I have no symptoms of MS. I do no treatment for MS, I do no shots."
Dr. Richard Burt and his colleagues at Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine reviewed the outcomes of about 2,500
patients who had stem cell transplants. They found the cells appear
to be putting some patients with autoimmune diseases in remission and
offer some improvement in heart function to patients who have
suffered heart attacks.
"It's a whole new approach to these diseases. Rather than just
surgery or drugs that you can use, a cellular approach that seems in
many different studies to be benefitting the patient," Burt explained.
The review appears this week in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical
Association.
Unlike embryonic stem cells that result in the destruction of an
embryo, adult stem cells come from your own blood or bone marrow or
someone else's. The transplant appears to be safe.
" There's very low risk. Less than one percent mortality from the
procedure," said Burt.
Goudy now leads an active lifestyle. He even plays with a hockey team
he coaches. "I've had five years of good life. Five years. If I
didn't do the transplant I would probably be in a wheelchair today."
He knows there are no guarantees how long his remission might last,
but he says he's living proof stem cell transplants do work.
Stem cell clinical trials for liver disease have recently started,
and trials for cerebrovascular disease and spinal cord injuries are
being considered. If you would like more information about where
these trials are taking place and how to get involved you can go to
the government's clinical trials Web site by clicking the link in the
right margin of this story.
To contact Dr. Richard Burt, call Marla Paul at Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine at 312-503-8928
http://abclocal.
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
