Posted on 03/23/2008 10:54:16 PM PDT by neverdem
Reuters
RESEARCHERS who used cloned embryonic stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease in mice said today they worked better than other cells.
The researchers were trying to prove that it is possible to make embryonic stem cells using cloning technology and use them to provide a tailor-made treatment.
But they found that a mouse's own cloned stem cells were far less disruptive to its body than cloned cells taken from other mice.
"It demonstrated what we suspected all along - that genetically matched tissue works better," said Viviane Tabar of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York, who worked on the study.
"When you give the other type of tissue, non-autologous tissue, you get more inflammation than we anticipated. This is in a lab animal where we expect it to be tolerant. Normally when you do this in mice, you don't give matched cells," Ms Tabar said.
The mice given non-matched brain cells did more poorly than the mice given cells from their own clones, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.
Stem cells are the master cells of the body and embryonic stem cells are the ultimate master cells, giving rise to all the other cells and tissue. Cloning researchers hope one day to be able to take a little piece of skin and grow embryonic stem cells from it for personal, tailor-made medical treatments.
One disease always named that may benefit from this technology is Parkinson's. The incurable, fatal illness is caused by the destruction of specific brain cells.
It is sometimes treated with transplants of brain cells from cadavers or aborted foetuses. Stem cell researchers have argued that cloning technology might provide a better source of cells for treatment.
Ms Tabar and her team first created a Parkinson's-like disease in mice using chemicals to destroy their brain...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Mice With Parkinson's Cured Using Cloned Stem Cells in Study
Bloomberg's version is better than Reuters, IMHO, but it only can be linked.
It seems like my mother’s Parkinson’s get worse everyday...
When was she seen last by the neurologist? Maybe dose/doses can be increased. Would she, you and the family consider entering a government clinical trial?
I take my mother, who is 86, regularly to the neurologist. In the past few months, her foot has completely turned inward or dropped. She has absolutely NO balance and needs a lot of assistance transferring from the wheelchair to bed, toilet, or car, etc.
She needs help bathing and dressing. Her voice is very low and people can’t hear her, so we bought her a portable microphone and speaker. She can’t ever be left alone, so all of us take turns being with her. We had to turn to an agency to also fill in some of the hours.
BTW, my daughter had a baby girl yesterday, and she and her husband named the baby after my mother. I was in the delivery room, and it was a miracle. A true gift from God...
Congratulations!!!
Thank you!
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