First-Ever Procedure Uses Patient's Own Adult Stem Cells to Treat Stroke Effects

LifeNews.com ^ | 4-1-09 | Steven Ertelt

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Doctors ... removed the stem cells from the patient's bone marrow in the leg, then separated or purified the stem cells and intravenously returned them to the patient within a few hours.

Because they are the patient's own stem cells, rejection was not an issue as is the case with embryonic stem cells.

"Research shows that stem cells have an instinctive guidance system and migrate to the area of injury. While the stem cells do not produce new brain cells for this patient, they enhance the repair process in the brain and reduce damage," the doctors said in a press statement.

"This breakthrough has the potential to drastically change the way stroke patients are treated in the future," they added.

Dr. David Prentice, a former biology professor at Indiana State University who is now a fellow with the Family Research Council, talked with LifeNews.com about the procedure.

"It is still early in this clinical trial, but the initial success is very promising," he said. "This trial to treat stroke builds on another study underway since 2006 at UT Medical School-Houston involving acute brain-injured children using their own stem cells, as well as studies in Germany and previously in the U.S."

Prentice says the results show adult stem cells are not only more ethical than embryonic cells but outpace them in terms of the ability to treat patients.

"Adult stem cells continue to prove their worth at treating patients for dozens of diseases and conditions," he said.

"The real science, as well as the real hope for patients, lies not with embryonic stem cells but rather with adult stem cells. If our government really cared about the patients first, more resources should be directed toward clinical trials with adult stem cells," Prentice continued.

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"stem cells have an instinctive guidance system and migrate to the area of injury."

That's amazing. So's this:

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090319-tows-dr-oz-brain

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"stem cells have an instinctive guidance system and migrate to the area of injury."

How do these cells get past the perivascular membrane of Held?

[xlib]

No clue. Not my area of expertise—I have no idea what a “perivascular membrane of Held” is, much less how to get past one.

[Spunky]

I heard that Oprah and Michael J. Fox didn't much like it when Dr. Oz said that embryotic stem cell research was dead. They changed the subject.

[count-your-change]

How many people have been successfully treated with embryonic stem cells? (1) None (2) None or (3) None?

[Rudder]

Functional name is the blood-brain barrier that serves to keep the brain protected from certain materials in the blood from getting into (or out of) the brain. Many agents do not pass this barrier and thus, many drugs have to be in the form of precursors (raw materials rather than the assembled drug) to be assembled in the brain.

Thanks for your reply.

[Cloverfarm]

That is so awesome about the adult stem cells and possibly treating stroke.

I remember my grandfather having one stroke after another, how he and the whole family struggled.

What promising news.

[MrStumpy]

Tommorrow’s headline BUSH WAS RIGHT ON STEM CELLS!!!!

Oh wait...nevermind

[True Republican Patriot]

DEMORAT will ignore these facts and continue to destroy Our Medical Health Care for their Own Private Joys! The DEMORATS dont care about Progress, they depend on funding their private ventures and destroying private eterprise and capitalism. They Lve Socialism, Communism and Corruption. There is No Right and Wrong for them, No Truth and No Rules or Laws They cant Break, Bend, or Ignore.