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Posted on 03/13/2006 6:30:48 PM PST by Coleus
Japanese researchers have harvested stem cells from human menstrual blood, a medical conference has heard. The researchers say these stem cells could be coaxed into forming specialised heart cells, which might one-day be used to treat failing or damaged hearts.
At the meeting of the American College of Cardiology, Dr Shunichiro Miyoshi reported that he and his colleagues at Keio University in Tokyo collected menstrual blood from six women and harvested stem cells that originated in the lining of the uterus.
They were able to obtain about 30 times more stem cells from menstrual blood than from bone marrow, Miyoshi says. The stem cells were then cultured in a way to induce them to become heart cells. After five days about half of the cells contracted "spontaneously, rhythmical and synchronously, suggesting the presence of electrical communication" between the cells, Miyoshi says.
That is to say, they behaved like heart cells.
The researcher explains that already stem cells derived from bone marrow have been improved heart function, mainly by producing new blood vessels rather than new heart-muscle tissue. He emphasises that it is important that these cells be obtained from younger patients, because they would have a longer lifespan than cells harvested from older donors.
I thought menstrual shows were against the law?
I really don't understand the "yuck" responses on this thread.
If this is true, there could be an unlimited supply of these cells — with the concomitant benefits to research and health — with no loss of life or even potential life. That would be an unmitigated benefit to humanity.
To those who say "yuck," I say "yuck you." Menstrual blood is a completely natural phenomenon and is no more yucky than breathing or eating. Grow up.
I bet these doctors get ragged on for their research, but they serve a lot of credit, period.
Please tell me that you're not as snotty in real life as you were in this post.
Well, I'm female and it kinda struck me as "yuck" when I first read it. If you've ever menstruated, you will know what I mean. But, be that is it may, if this is an actual "discovery" and not a hoax, it will open up many new doors to curing age-old diseases that used to kill many people! And for that, we must be thankful!!
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"Never trust something that bleeds for five days and doesn't die"
Girls rule!
Nope. Never did, and never will (having one too many Y chromosomes). But I've been married many years, including each and every day of each and every month. And I still can't see what's yucky about the way women are contructed by their maker (at least no more yucky than men).
Not surprising. Doesn't the lining of the uterus break down and rebuild itself every month?
It wouldn't surprise me if they found them in the colon as well. I think the average person basically sheds the surface lining of their colon about once a week.
Corny, but LOL!
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Science does not favor one ideology over another. It does not favor evolution or creation. It does not favor the execution or preservation of the innocent.
Science can be one of our greatest friends... or worst enemies... depending on its wielder.
Adult Stem Cells: A Whole Bunch
Embryonic Stem Cells: Zero
Me!
There is only one type of building that has a chief cornerstone.
See the back of a dollar bill for details...
Yes I am, yes I have... but no, I don't know what you mean! I can see where men find it yucky, after all it's something foreign to them. But women should know better. I think this is EXCITING! Forget the "yuck" and concentrate on the possibilities...
Now two separate groups led by Xiaolong Meng of the Bio-Communications Research Institute in Witchita, Kansas, and Julie Allickson at Cryo-Cell International in Oldsmar, Florida, say they have found these cells in menstrual blood. Both groups say the cells show all the hallmarks of stem cells: they replicate without differentiating, they can be made to differentiate into many different cell types, and they show characteristic markers of stem cells on their surface. Meng's work was published in the Journal of Translational Medicine last week (DOI: 10.1186/1479-5876-5-57).
Cryo-Cell has now patented a collection and storage technique called "C'Elle", enabling women to preserve their own menstrual stem cells in case they could be used to treat heart disease, diabetes, and spinal cord injury in the future.
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