The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, said this week that the work by two scientists has shown adult stem cells to be much more promising for medical treatment than embryonic stem cells. The use of adult stem cells poses no ethical difficulties and has already contributed to advancing treatments for degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

In an article published by L’Osservatore Romano, the archbishop cited the work of two scientists, James Thomson of the United States and Shinya Yamanaka of Japan. Yamanaka was able to create adult stem cells in rats and later using human skin, which he called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, constituting a significant scientific development.

Archbishop Fisichella underscored that “the technique for producing iPS cells has allowed something to happen that was unthinkable in the field of cellular biology: to convert differentiated adult stem cells into immature, undifferentiated cells of an embryonic type.” Currently, he underscored, “nearly 300 labs throughout the world are studying these cells and what is significant is that numerous research teams have moved from the study of embryonic cells to the study of iPS cells.”

Adult stem cells outweigh embryonic stem cells in three ways, the archbishop continued. “The first is in the area of ethics, as iPS cells are not obtained through the destruction of human embryos (as is the case with embryonic cells.)” “With the development of iPS cells, the ethical debate that has raged in public opinion, parliaments and the scientific community can now be considered closed,” he said.

The second aspect “has to do with therapeutic applications: iPS cells have the great advantage of having been obtained from cells taken directly from the patient. This means that when they are injected they are compatible with the patient’s own immune system, and thus they are perfectly accepted,” as has been shown in cases involving stem cells taken from the umbilical cord.

The third aspect is that “iPS cells allow for the creation of pathological models,” Archbishop Fisichella said. “Thanks to Yamanaka, we can speak about the immediate future of generations of cellular models of diseases, in vitro, as the first practical application of this technology.”

The archbishop pointed to recent studies which have shown that iPS cells have been made from the cells of patients who carry the mutated genes that cause sclerosis, Parkinson’s, diabetes and other diseases, resulting in significant advances especially “in pharmacology.”

Archbishop Fisichella also highlighted the international congress “Adult Stem Cells: New Perspectives,” which will be held November 26-28 in Monaco to promote respect for life and the new methods in the field of stem cell research and treatment.

A research team in Germany evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of autologous (self-donated) umbilical cord blood mononuclear cell (UCMNC) transplantation on right ventricular (RV) function in a large animal model of chronic RV overload. Their study examined the potential therapeutic role of UCMNCs in treating one of the most common cyanotic congenital heart defects in the Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), a group of congenital heart defects.

They found that the transplant enhanced diastolic properties, likely through blood vessel growth (angiogenesis). The authors noted that UCMNCs have already been shown to be therapeutic agents in patients suffering from major hematological disorders.

“Surgical repair is inevitable and aims to normalize pulmonary blood flow by correcting the abnormal anatomy of the right ventricular outflow tract, but no experimental approach has been conducted to study the potential of stem cell treatment in RV volume overload,” said corresponding author Dr. Can Yerebakan of the University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.

They concluded that UCMNC transplantation was “feasible and safe” and seemed to “positively influence the diastolic properties of the RV under chronic volume overload.”

Three months post-transplantation into laboratory sheep, the researchers were able to observe an alteration in the RV function, which is one of the long-term determinants of morbidity and mortality after TOF correction.

“We observed significantly enhanced capillary formation in the cell group, which yielded the possible explanation of better diastolic function achieved by cell transplantation,” said Dr. Yerebakan. “This finding indicates the potential importance of UCB for RV modeling after infundibulotomy.”

“These two studies add to the plethora of potential uses for UBC, ranging from possible treatments for neurological disorders, such as stroke and Alzheimer’s disease to Diabetes, and now the repair of damaged heart and lungs,” commented Section Editor Dr. Julio Voltarelli, professor of clinical medicine and clinical immunology in the Head, Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at the University Hospital (Hospital das Clínicas), University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Scientist says mother’s milk may play vital role in helping children ‘fulfil their genetic destiny’

Breast milk, long revered for the nutritional advantages it gives a newborn, could be just as vital in terms of infant development, a leading scientist will claim this week. Up to three different types of stem cells have been discovered in breast milk, according to revolutionary new research.

Dr Mark Cregan, medical director at the Swiss healthcare and baby equipment company Medela, believes the existence of stem cells means breast milk could help a child “fulfil its genetic destiny”, with a mother’s mammary glands taking over from her placenta to guide infant development once her child is born.

“Breast milk is the only adult tissue where more than one type of stem cell has been discovered. That is very unique and implies a lot about the impressive bioactivity of breast milk and the consequential benefits to the breastfed infant,” said Dr Cregan, who is speaking at Unicef’s Baby Friendly Initiative conference this week. His research has isolated adult stem cells of epithelial (mammary) and immune origin, with “very preliminary evidence” that breast milk also contains stem cells that promotes the growth of muscle and bone tissue.

Scientists will use his discovery, made at the University of Western Australia, in Perth, Australia, to attempt to harvest stem cells from breast milk for research on a range of issues – from why some mothers struggle to produce milk to testing out new drugs that could aid milk production. “There is a plentiful resource of tissue-specific stem cells in breast milk, which are readily available and from a non-invasive and completely ethical source,” Dr Cregan said.

Advocates hope the discovery will help to lift the UK’s breastfeeding rates: only one-third of babies are exclusively breastfed at one week, the number dropping to one-fifth at six weeks. At five months, only 3 per cent of mothers still exclusively nurse their babies – although the World Health Organisation recommends that babies should consume only breast milk until they are at least six months old.

Rosie Dodd, campaigns director at the National Childbirth Trust, said: “This finding highlights the many factors that are in breast milk that we know so little about and that all have different advantages, such as helping a baby’s immune system to develop.”

Dr Cregan said the discovery of immune stem cells was the “most exciting development”, adding, “It’s quite possible that immune cells in breast milk can survive digestion and end up in the infant’s circulation. This has been shown to be occurring in animals, and so it would be unsurprising if this was also occurring in human infants.”

British scientists gave a cautious welcome to Dr Cregan’s discovery, warning that just because stem cells exist in breast milk did not mean that they could be used to develop a therapy – the ultimate goal of stem cell research. Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, said: “It may give us some insight into specific breast diseases and is potentially valuable when it comes to drug discovery and drug development but it is fanciful to think it could provide routine therapies.”

The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ability to walk. The transplant subjects also experienced fewer deaths than those who didn’t receive stem cells.

In the 12-month Phase II, double-blind trial, subjects’ own purified stem cells, called CD34+ cells, were injected into their hearts in an effort to spur the growth of small blood vessels that make up the microcirculation of the heart muscle. Researchers believe the loss of these blood vessels contributes to the pain of chronic, severe angina.

“This is the first study to show significant benefit in pain reduction and improved exercise capacity in this population with very advanced heart disease,” said principal investigator Douglas Losordo, M.D., the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist and director of the program in cardiovascular regenerative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the lead site of the study.

Losordo, also director of the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, said this study provides the first evidence that a person’s own stem cells can be used as a treatment for their heart disease. He cautioned, however, that the findings of the 25-site trial with 167 subjects, require verification in a larger, Phase III study.

He presented his findings Nov. 17 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009.

Out of the estimated 1 million people in the U.S. who suffer from chronic, severe angina — chest pain due to blocked arteries — about 300,000 cannot be helped by any traditional medical treatment such as angioplasty, bypass surgery or stents. This is called intractable or severe angina, the severity of which is designated by classes. The subjects in Losordo’s study were class 3 or 4, meaning they had chest pain from normal to minimal activities, such as from brushing their teeth or even resting.

The stem cell transplant is the first therapy to produce an improvement in severe angina subjects’ ability to walk on a treadmill. Twelve months after the procedure, the transplant subjects were able to double their improvement on a treadmill compared to the placebo group. It also took twice as long until they experienced angina pain on a treadmill compared to the placebo group, and, when they felt pain, it went away faster with rest. In addition, they had fewer overall episodes of chest pain in their daily lives.
[Ed. You can get this help right now! Right here!]
In the trial, the CD34+ cells were injected into 10 locations in the heart muscle. A sophisticated electromechanical mapping technology identifies where the heart muscle is alive but not functioning, because it is not receiving enough blood supply.

The study was supported by Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Losordo formerly was a paid consultant to Baxter.

A thesis composed by Dr Dimitri Zylberstein at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden links high levels of homocysteine in women with twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with low levels.

Dr Zylberstein reports the results of a study involving participants in the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, which enrolled nearly 1,500 subjects between the ages of 38 and 60 at the end of the 1960s. Blood samples obtained upon enrollment were analyzed for levels of serum homocysteine, an amino acid byproduct of metabolism which has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia when elevated. The women were followed for 35 years, making it the longest study to evaluate the relationship between homocysteine level and dementia.

“Alzheimer’s disease was more than twice as common among the women with the highest levels of homocysteine than among those with the lowest, and the risk for any kind of dementia was 70 per cent higher,” revealed Dr Zylberstein. “These days, we in our clinical practice use homocysteine analyses mainly for assessment of vitamin status. However, our results mean that we could use the very same analysis for assessment of individual’s risk profile for dementia development. This opens the possibility for future preventive treatment at a very early stage.”

If you’re ready to take control of your health, start by washing your hands for 15 to 20 seconds, about as long as it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Doing this simple act, while avoiding certain behaviors – smoking, excessive drinking and eating too much – can dramatically improve your health, said internist William Meller, who specializes in evolutionary medicine in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Prevention goes well beyond the mammograms, prostate screenings or blood tests that we can get at the doctor’s office. It’s the little steps you take that can keep you healthy.
“Ideally, prevention should also emphasize healthy lifestyles, a practice that isn’t only health-conscious, but (is) inexpensive,” said James Pivarnik, president of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Here are 10 easy ways to get started:
1. Take a walk.
Humans are designed to be on the move, Meller said. “Walking triggers all of our bodily systems: digestion, stress relief, thinking and preparation for sleep.” It’s easy, simple, free and confers the benefits of exercise without the risk of damage from more energetic pursuits, Muller said. Walk every day – barefoot is fine – and get a pedometer to track your steps, shooting for a minimum of 10,000. Stay committed by setting walking dates with a friend.
2. Keep a food journal.
Writing down everything you eat can double your weight loss, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. “The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost,” said lead author Jack Hollis, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research. Scribble down your dietary transgressions on a note pad, use an online food journal or send yourself text messages. “It’s the process of reflecting on what you eat that helps us become aware of our habits, and hopefully change our behavior,” said Dr. Keith Bachman, a member of The Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute’s Weight Management Initiative.
3. Stop drinking soda.
Soda and other caloric, sugar-sweetened beverages have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. But there’s also evidence that drinking diet soda leads to weight gain. Researchers suspect that tricking the brain – getting sweetness without the calories – makes you crave more sugar than ever. Your best bet is to stop drinking calories altogether, said obesity specialist Dr. Yoni Freedhoff. His most confused patients seem to be doing everything right but may have two glasses of milk, one glass of juice and one glass of wine a day. “That’s roughly 40 pounds of liquid calories per year,” he wrote on his blog, Weighty Matters. Freedhoff’s advice: Don’t rely on beverages for nourishment. “A well-balanced diet replete with fruits, vegetables and proteins should satisfy all of one’s nutritional needs,” he said. “Liquid calories are not satiating and in studies tend only to add calories to a meal,” said Freedhoff, founder of Ottawa’s Bariatric Medical Institute, a multidisciplinary weight-management center.
4. Strengthen your muscles.
If you want to keep your muscles from weakening as you age, start strength training. It’s “the only style of exercise that maintains and increases lean muscle tissue and burns between 22 and 36 calories per day,” said personal trainer Jim Karas. He suggests starting with push-ups for the upper body and lunges and squats for the lower body. “Move slowly, and think about the muscles you are engaging. One slow set of 10 is all you need, but make sure to fail,” which means you can’t perform another repetition.
5. Chill out.
Stressed-out people are more vulnerable to colds and other viruses, they take longer to recover from illness and they gain more weight than their relaxed counterparts, research has shown. We also know that “the inability to feel in control of stress, rather than the stressful event itself, is the most damaging to immunity,” wrote Joan Borysenko in “Mending the Body, Mending the Mind.” Another stress expert, Debbie Mandel, likes to lift weights when her stress levels creep up. “Then I’m ready to reframe negatives into positives to turn stress into strength,” said Mandel, the author of “Addicted to Stress.” In addition to exercise, deep-breathing techniques, meditation, tai chi and yoga are proven stress relievers.
6. Eat out less.
We often use restaurants in the same way our parents used supermarkets, one of the main reasons for the dramatic global rise in chronic diseases such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, said Freedhoff. “Nutrition and calories aren’t intuitive,” he said. “When restaurant salads can have more calories and fat than a Big Mac, you know you’re putting your health at risk. You’ll save more than your money by eating meals in. You might even save your life.”
7. Be a social butterfly.
Human beings are social creatures, if only because we need to reproduce. But research has shown that joining a club or sports team, belonging to a church group or keeping in contact with friends creates a sense of social identity that can help significantly reduce your risk of having a stroke, dementia and even the common cold. “We do not outgrow our need for others,” according to the MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America. “Loneliness breeds both illness and early death.”
8. Get your zzzzzzzz.
Sleeping well is the single most overlooked factor critical to good health, especially during the flu season, said sleep specialist Dr. Rubin Naiman, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine. But because focusing on doing all the right things before bed can make it harder to sleep, Naiman suggests lightening things up, perhaps by watching comedy on television before bed. “Too often sleep is approached with an anxious mind and heavy heart,” he said. “Laughter is good medicine – and good sleep medicine. I recommend it over sleeping pills.”
9. Eat whole foods.
Whole foods – fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs and whole grains – are unprocessed and unrefined and typically don’t have added sugar, salt or fat. They often have a low glycemic index, which means they don’t raise blood sugar and insulin levels as quickly as processed foods. Choose a baked potato instead of French fries, eat whole wheat bread instead of white bread, or start the day with oatmeal, rather than a sugary breakfast cereal. “I eat as many fresh veggies and fruits as possible and stay away from anything in a bag, a box or a can,” said Yvonne Conte of Syracuse, N.Y., the author of a guidebook to living a happier and healthier life. “When I started this, I lost 22 pounds. And it has stayed off. Best thing I ever did.”
10. Find your passion.
Do things that bring meaning to your days, said Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist in the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, whose research has shown that having a higher purpose can reduce the risk of death among older adults. “Purpose is cognitively stimulating, and this is very much along the lines of the adage ‘Use it or lose it,’ which certainly has merit,” said Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian study.

I often get asked: When are they going to allow us to use stem cells for autism in the US? I am getting impatient every treatment center I’ve called in the US say they won’t do it!
My response:
I expect that it will be at least 10 years and they will not be in the form you are expecting…the form that is so successful all over the world. Here’s why:
1. The US medical and pharmacological system is based upon the production and patenting of drugs for the treatment of symptoms.
2. The FDA has declared that stem cells are a regulated drug.
3. Clinical trials for bringing a drug to market take 7-12 years and 250-900 million dollars to develop, market and patent.
4. The US is JUST starting this process after being entirely focused on embryonic stem cells (that are currently irrelevant because they have produced zero treatments).
5. The beauty of stem cells, besides that they work so well, is that they are in so many forms, from so many parts of the body. Stem cell treatment is essentially a procedure, not a drug IMO. Patenting a drug means you have exclusive rights to sell it and you have no competitors. That is the desire of the pharma industry.
I hope all of that is clear. So as it stands, the hope for treatment over the next decade at least still lies only outside the US.

Most Americans are aware of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but less than half know that the serious lung disease can be treated, according to national survey results released this week by the U.S. government as part of National COPD Awareness Month in November.

COPD affects 20 percent of U.S. adults over age 45. Half of the 24 million people in the United States with COPD remain undiagnosed even though they have symptoms, such as wheezing, chronic cough, or shortness of breath while doing activities that used to be easy.

Smoking causes 80 percent of cases of COPD (including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), while the remaining cases are caused by other environmental exposures or genetics.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 2009 survey of 4,172 adults found that 68 percent of respondents were aware of COPD, compared with 64 percent last year and 49 percent in 2004. Among current smokers, awareness of COPD was 74 percent, compared with 69 percent last year. About 41 percent of smokers don’t talk to their doctors about COPD symptoms because they don’t want to be told to quit smoking.

Only 44 percent of adults know that COPD can be treated, the survey found.

Ed. COPD is one condition (of many) where adult stem cell therapy has a track record of great success.

The Royal Thai Government’s strategy in 2004 for Thailand to become Asia’s medical hub is becoming a reality as Thailand continues to see an increase in medical tourism. With an annual growth rate of 14% for the sector, ahead of the county’s GDP, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Department of Export Promotion (DEP) expects to see two million visitors wanting to take advantage of lower medical treatments by 2010.
In 2008 Research and Markets reported that, although Thailand is faced with tough competition from India and Malaysia, Thailand has treated the highest number of international tourists in Asia. High health care costs, overloaded medical facilities and the fact that Thailand provides the most advanced treatments by internationally trained medical staff are reasons why medical tourists are choosing Thailand. “Thailand’s ultra-new and modern hospitals are less than a decade old and feel more like luxury hotels catering to tourists, than places to treat the infirm” (Tourism Authority of Thailand). The cost for health care in Thailand is about one fifth of what you would pay in the United States or Europe, making it more significant that in 2008, foreign patients generated an estimated $6 billion USD for Thailand. According to one international medical travel journal, the Royal Thai Government has put together a five-year plan that aims to double this revenue by 2014.
Deloitte Consulting estimated 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for health care services in 2007, a figure that was expected to double last year, with a forecasted global market expansion of more than 20% annually going forward to 2012. Thailand is ready to meet the growing industry by continuously making sure international standards are met and offering a level of hospitality not found in any other medical center around the world at affordable prices.

Washington, D.C.: Today on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul introduced three bills that would restore constitutional government; end FDA censorship of health claims; and end FTC censorship of health information.

HR 3396: The Congressional Responsibility and Accountability Act. This bill prohibits regulations promulgated from regulatory agencies from going into effect unless passed into law by Congress in the way in which the Constitution designates. Under Article I of the Constitution, the Congress of the United States, our elected representatives, are the ones given the exclusive power to make laws. In violation of the non-delegation doctrine, about 90% of all law created by the federal government is the product of unelected heads of bureaucratic agencies, not our elected representatives. From 1934 to the present, the Congress of the United States has delegated executive, legislative, and judicial governing power to these agencies. The founding fathers warned that this combination would give birth to tyranny, self-dealing, and corruption and would be the death of liberty. Because the unelected bureaucracy makes the laws, the nation has been transformed from a republic into a bureaucratic oligarchy. Congressman Ron Paul’s Congressional Responsibility and Accountability Act restores constitutional government by returning to Congress the responsibility to make laws, thereby making them once again accountable for the laws to those who elect them.

HR 3395: The Health Freedom Act. This bill removes FDA’s power of prior restraint over all nutrient-disease relationship claims. Under the bill, the FDA may not prohibit any statement concerning a nutrient affecting a disease (including treatment effects) from being made in the market and may only act against a statement once made if it possesses clear and convincing evidence that the statement is false. Presently the FDA blocks an enormous quantity of truthful information concerning the effects of nutrients and foods on disease from reaching consumers. That barrier is removed by the Health Freedom Act, but the Act preserves the power of the government to prosecute those who communicate falsehood. The essential purpose of the First Amendment is to disarm the federal government of the power to impose a prior restraint on speech. The FDA has imposed a prior restraint for decades to the health detriment of the public. Passage of the Health Freedom Act will restore constitutional governance by reasserting the supremacy of the First Amendment over the Food and Drug Administration.

HR 3394: The Health Information Protection Act. This bill prevents the Federal Trade Commission from taking action against any advertiser that communicates a health benefit for a product unless the FTC first establishes based on clear and convincing evidence that the statement made is false and that its communication causes harm to the public. Presently, the FTC reverses the Fifth Amendment burden of proof on the government when it charges advertisers with deceptive advertising and then demands that they prove their speech true based on contemporaneously held documentation or be deemed to have advertised deceptively. The Fifth Amendment requires that FTC bear the burden of proving advertising deceptive. It may not constitutionally shift the burden to the advertiser to prove its statements not deceptive. The First Amendment requires that FTC not act against speech unless the speech is probably false. It may not constitutionally accuse a party of false advertising yet lack proof that the advertising is false and condemn advertising based on an absence of documentation concerning the truth of the statement rather than the presence of evidence establishing the falsity of the statement.

Dr. Paul’s introduction of these three momentous bills offers hope to those who presently perceive themselves as disenfranchised and seek a return to constitutional government.