Free Republic

Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- Researchers at Harvard and Columbia have made advances dealing with ALS and stem cells without having to destroy human life. The scientists were able to use a new technique to transform the skin cells of patients with Lou Gehrig's disease into motor neurons. The process may one day be able to create tailor-made cells to replace the damaged ones and either reverse or slow down the deadly disease. An article on the research is scheduled for the July 31 edition of the medical journal Science describes the direct reprogramming process used to make the stem cells...

Adult Stem Cells to treat ALS: UBC Study Vancouver researchers pioneer safe pathway to slow ALS using stem cells A unique pilot study has established a safe pathway for using bone-marrow stem cells to slow down and potentially treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease without cure. The study, published in the journal, Muscle & Nerve and led by Dr. Neil Cashman, professor of neurology at The University of British Columbia and director of the ALS program at Vancouver Coastal Health and VCH Research Institute, tested the use of a growth factor stimulant in ALS patients and found...

Neurologists at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem, are the first in the world to help multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients by injecting their spinal columns with large numbers of adult stem cells taken from their bone marrow and multiplied in culture. The clinical trial, while "encouraging" and "promising," remains highly experimental, as all the patients have undergone a single injection with no untreated control group for comparison. With the first patients having received it two years ago, it is too early to know how successful it will be in the long term. Prof. Dimitrios Karousis, a...

From the living room of Dr. Richard Olney's Corte Madera home, sliding glass doors offer a wide-open view of the tidal marsh in front of his house, of passing clouds and of the shorebirds that fly in and fly out. Inside, the man who once rode mountain bikes and ran triathlons sits nearly motionless in his wheelchair. He watches the world with the same intense intellectual curiosity that made him one of the nation's leading experts in ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Since 2004, ALS has been slowly killing him. Of unknown origin,...

MIAMI - Bobby Dykes, a boxer in the 1940s and 1950s who fought Kid Gavilan and Sugar Ray Robinson, died at 77. He died Wednesday in his Coral Gables home, son-in-law Harry Roberts said. Dykes had Lou Gehrig's disease for about eight years, longtime companion Carolyn Carter said. Dykes was born in San Antonio and moved to Miami in the late 1940s. He became the area's most popular fighter at a time when boxing was king in Miami. "He remains the biggest drawing card in Miami boxing history," boxing historian Hank Kaplan said. Dykes, a lanky white left-hander, earned a...

Emmy-winning producer-director Scott Brazil, whose television shows included "The Shield" and "Hill Street Blues," has died. He was 50. Brazil died Monday at Sherman Oaks Hospital of respiratory failure due to Lou Gehrig's disease and lyme disease complications, FX Networks spokesman John Solberg said Wednesday. Brazil was executive producer of "The Shield," the first original drama series on FX Networks, and he directed 11 episodes. Brazil and "Shield" creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan won the 2002 Golden Globe for drama series. Although his condition had worsened, Brazil used a motorized wheelchair to go about his duties as "The Shield"...

How does a hairdresser meeting a comedian equal a Freeper working to assist in the battle against Lou Gehrig's Disease? Oprah made me do it.Not really, but she is part of this story. Confused? I am too, at least at the way that seemingly small events in one persons life can add up with events in anothers to become something very important. Its a strange and winding path to where I am today, let me show you the way thus far, I think you might wish to continue this journey with me... Tim Pfaffendorf was the owner of a hair...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher said he would ask federal regulators Friday to approve the first clinical trial injecting special stem cells into the spinal cords of people with the degenerative nerve ailment called Lou Gehrig's disease. The trial would test whether a technique anatomy professor Clive Svendsen has pioneered on rats afflicted with the disease is safe to use on people. If successful, Svendsen said a much larger clinical trial aimed at treating the disease could be under way in two or three years.About 30,000 Americans currently have the disease, which gradually kills brain cells...

Calling the Shots The realities of the Anthrax Vaccination Immunization Program By Kathryn Goodson 03/25/05 “Before I go into detail about my adverse reactions to the Anthrax vaccination, I’d like to point out that when I was vaccinated, I was not informed of any potential adverse side effects or of the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). There were no hand outs, product inserts, literature, or health questionnaires to read or fill out. I just had to report to immunization, turn in my shot records, and receive the shot. When I voiced my concerns about receiving this vaccine, I was...

Why soccer would be a risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a mystery. But a new study has found that Italian professional soccer players get the disease at a rate nearly six times as great as the general population. The study, led by Dr. Adriano Chiò, a professor in the department of neuroscience at the University of Turin, was inspired by the work of an Italian prosecutor, Raffaele Guariniello, who was investigating soccer players' use of illegal drugs. As part of his inquiry, he ordered a report on the causes of death among 24,000 men who played professional or semiprofessional...

Please pray for Freeper Friend Lex (has not posted here in awhile) who has cancer and is in much pain. I have posted to several threads but not an independent thread for prayer for her until now. Please pray for God's healing mercies for Lex, a dear one who attended the 1998 March for Justice and who was a frequent article poster here. Please pray for God to provide all the necessary wisdom and to supply every need involved with this situation. Thank you in advance, all you Free Republic prayer warriors. Also, a brother of my sister in law...