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Debbie's birthday
Tuesday January 10, 2006
All Day
This event repeats every year.
Notes:
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Artzangelgal@...
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Monday. Jan. 9. 2006
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FDA Approves Boniva Injection as First IV Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Drug
The FDA approved Boniva Injection Friday, making it the first quarterly intravenous treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Roche and GlaxoSmithKline jointly promote Boniva and started their collaboration in December 2001. Boniva belongs to the bisphosphonate drug class, the most often prescribed medicine for osteoporosis. Physicians will inject Boniva patients every three months. The injection will become available soon.
Boniva Injection offers a new option to patients who have problems with oral bisphosphonate dosing requirements, such as not being able to sit upright for 30 to 60 minutes or swallow a pill. Physicians offering the Boniva Injection will be able to track patient compliance. In March 2005, the FDA approved a once-monthly Boniva formulation which made the drug the first once-a-month tablet for postmenopausal osteoporosis.
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Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead Disclose Bioequivalent Data for Sustiva and Truvada Combination
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Gilead Sciences, Inc. said today they have data to support bioequivalence for a new formulation of the fixed-dose combination of anti-infective drugs Sustiva and Truvada. The combination is intended to treat adults with HIV-1 infection. Bristol-Myers Squibb markets Sustiva, Gilead is the maker of Truvada. The companies plan to file a new drug application with the FDA in the second quarter of this year.
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FDA, Baxter and Cangene Send Warning Letter for WinRho SDF Immune Globulin Intravenous
The FDA posted on its site Friday a warning letter to healthcare professionals from Baxter Healthcare and Cangene about severe and sometimes fatal complications connected to immune globulin intravenous product WinRho SDF. Reports came in about serious and in some cases deadly, intravascular hemolysis and potentially severe complications, including disseminated intravascular coagulation in ITP patients.
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Court Rules in Emisphere's in Breach of Contract Case Against Lilly
Emisphere Technologies, Inc. said today that an Indiana court ruled Eli Lilly & Co. breached its contractual obligations for the oral parathyroid hormone PTH 1-34. The court decided Emisphere properly ended the deal with Lilly in August 2004. The ruling allows Emisphere to license its technology to Novartis, which the companies agreed upon if the court ruled in Emisphere's favor.
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Lilly and Alkermes Sign for Inhaled Parathyroid Hormone for Osteoporosis Treatment
Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. said today they penned an agreement to develop and market inhaled formulations of parathyroid hormone (PTH). The program will include Alkermes' AIR pulmonary drug delivery system. Alkermes will receive funding for product and development activities and upfront and milestone payments. Lilly will have global rights to products that come from the partnership and will pay Alkermes royalties based on product sales. In 2001, the companies entered an agreement to develop an inhaled insulin system that delivers human insulin inhalation (HIIP). HIIP Phase III trials began in July 2005.
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Thalomid Phase III Multiple Myeloma Trial Stopped Early
Celgene Corporation said today it ended its Phase III trial with thalidomide for previously untreated multiple myeloma early because the drug limited disease progression. The trial compared combination thalidomide plus dexamethasone versus dexamethasone alone as induction therapy. A total of 270 patients received thalidomide plus dexamethasone, or placebo plus dexamethasone.
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Roche and Evotec Set About License Deal for Alzheimer's Compounds
Roche and Evotec AG said today they signed a global license deal for two Alzheimer's disease compounds in phase I clinical development. The compounds are orally active, selective and reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B). EVT 301 is the most advanced compound. Evotec will receive a global license to two MAO-B compounds. Roche will receive an upfront fee and is eligible for later milestone payments and royalties on product net sales.
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Roche and Amira Pharmaceuticals Reveal Alliance Model
Roche and Amira Pharmaceuticals said today they started a research arrangement for inflammatory diseases. Roche will screen to examine three anti-inflammatory targets that both companies agreed upon. Amira will optimize the lead compounds created. Amira could receive up to $287 million in total event payments and plus royalties should Roche exercises its opt-in rights on two of the programs. If the programs are successful, Roche could receive up to $20 million plus royalties.
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NFL Says it Will Halt Erectile-Dysfunction Drug Ads
The National Football League will stop accepting sponsorship from erectile-dysfunction drug makers, according to AdAge.com. The NFL did not renew its three-year $18 million sponsorship deal with Bayer HealthCare and Schering-Plough's Levitra, which expires March 31, and plans to distance itself from erectile-dysfunction drugs completely, AdAge.com reported. The content of the ads evolved from focusing on a men's health issue and became more sexual in nature, bringing fire from consumers and politicians about direct-to-consumer advertising, AdAge.com reported.
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http://www.mcg.edu/news/2006NewsRel/MSGrant.html
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=12906
Hopes Founder on 'Big Lie'
Scientific scandal has shattered the vow made by a South Korean veterinarian that cloned stem cells would help a paralyzed boy walk.
By Barbara Demick, Times Staff Writer
SIHEUNG, South Korea -- The boy who became known as "Donor 2" was propped up in a wheelchair when a team of esteemed scientists strolled into his hospital room nearly three years ago.
Nine-year-old Kim Hyeoni had been hit by a car while crossing the street the previous year. Once a chubby-cheeked child who loved baseball and practical jokes, he now was paralyzed from the chest down.
[INLINE]
"Sir, will I be able to stand up and walk again?" he asked the leader of the team, a South Korean veterinarian named Hwang Woo Suk, according to an account by his father.
"I will make you walk. I promise," replied Hwang, who would soon afterward announce a breakthrough in the cloning of human stem cells.
With that meeting in April 2003, Hyeoni in effect became a poster boy in the quest to use cloned stem cells for experimental treatments of spinal-cord injuries.
His father, a Methodist minister, defied the beliefs of many of his fellow church members and allowed Hwang to cut skin samples from his son's abdomen for the research. Hyeoni's mother, a nurse, volunteered for the invasive procedure of having her eggs extracted to donate to Hwang's laboratory.
Now the family is faced with the sinking realization that "it was all a big lie," said Kim Je Eon, the boy's 43-year-old father.
The family's saga captures at its most vivid the disappointment felt by millions around the world. Not only has much of Hwang's work proved to be a fabrication, the scandal surrounding him is believed to have set back legitimate research for years.
"My heart breaks at the thought we might be further behind than before. But I firmly believe that this kind of research must go on," Kim said. "We are prepared to do anything for this boy."
In a lengthy and emotional interview in the basement of Neulsaerom Church in this beachfront community 18 miles southwest of downtown Seoul, Kim described how members of this otherwise ordinary family of modest means became unwitting participants in -- and victims of -- one of the biggest science scandals of all time.
"Everyone was misled by Hwang. We worked with him under the belief that he was producing stem cells," said Kim, who smiled serenely through the wrenching account of his family's tragedy, saying their faith has allowed them to persevere.
"We believe in God," he said, "not Hwang."
Photographs on the minister's desktop computer show a boy in a baseball uniform grinning mischievously at the camera. Before his accident, Hyeoni was something of a troublemaker, but an excellent student just the same.
His parents were proud and full of ambition for their only son. As is common for many South Korean children, he was sent to cram schools late at night and on weekends to further his academic performance.
On Aug. 26, 2002, at 11 p.m., Hyeoni was crossing the street on his way home from cram school when he was hit by a car.
The first report at a neighborhood hospital was dire; in the unlikely event that the boy survived, he would be severely brain-damaged. Nevertheless, Hyeoni was moved at 2 a.m. to the larger Gil Medical Center in nearby Incheon, where he underwent surgery. After 28 days, he emerged from a coma. But he was left paralyzed, with difficulty speaking and breathing.
The following year, doctors at Gil informed Kim that his son had been chosen from a group of paralyzed patients as a participant in Hwang's groundbreaking research into creating the first cloned human embryo for therapeutic purposes.
Family members were thrilled. They knew that such research was thought the best hope for curing otherwise irreversible spinal-cord injuries and nerve diseases such as Parkinson's. The theory is that cells from a 4- or 5-day-old embryo can potentially grow into replacement tissue for destroyed nerves and that if they come from a genetic clone, the body won't reject them.
"With this man's help, you will be able to go back to school," Kim recalled telling his son. The boy didn't say much, because "after the accident, he became quiet and obedient. His personality had changed. But I knew that deep inside his hopes were growing."
Hwang was apparently moved as well by his meeting with the boy.
"I felt like crying. Something about that boy stabbed me in the heart," Hwang told Jeong Ha Gyun, the president of the Korean Spinal Cord Injury Assn., according to Jeong's recollection.
Jeong, who is 49 and has used a wheelchair since a car accident 20 years ago, says that Hwang had told him he could not help him because he was an adult with an old injury, but that the boy could be cured.
"He is a young boy who is still growing. I want to turn him back into a normal boy so that he can fight with his friends and pull girls' hair," Jeong says he was told.
The boy gave three skin samples taken under local anesthesia. His case appeared in a now-discredited paper published last May in the U.S.-based Science magazine in which Hwang claimed to have produced genetically matching stem cell lines from 11 patients.
Hyeoni is the only one whose name has been made public.
Hwang, who was fond of displaying a photo of himself and Hyeoni, told people that the boy would be the first in line when his research was sufficiently advanced for stem cells to be injected into a human patient.
The relationship with the family deepened. Kim and his wife agreed that she would donate her eggs for Hwang's research.
When a South Korean law took effect last year requiring Seoul National University to appoint an eight-member ethics board to oversee Hwang's stem cell research, Kim readily accepted Hwang's suggestion that his participation as a Christian cleric would be helpful.
The increasingly famous veterinarian invited Kim to his laboratories on campus. There, Kim would put on sterile blue coveralls and peer through a microscope as Hwang explained how the genetic material of an egg was removed and replaced by that of the animal to be cloned -- a process known as somatic cell nuclear transfer.
"I'm not a scientist, so I didn't fully understand it. But I did believe he had created a stem cell line for my son," Kim recalled.
Seoul National University reported last month that Hwang had not created stem cells for the boy or for any other patients and that his May 2005 report was an "intentional fabrication." On Tuesday, the university is expected to release its findings on Hwang's earlier claims of creating the first cloned human embryo and the first cloned dog.
"If one paper is fabricated, you have to verify everything published previously. We want to know what is true and what is not," said Moon Shin Yong, a doctor who is a former partner of Hwang in the cloning effort.
Many South Koreans hold out hope that there is at least a kernel of truth behind the fabrications. The grieving father is among them. He says he will forgive Hwang if he continues his research, toiling away in poverty and obscurity to find treatments for incurable diseases.
"That would be the appropriate penance," he said.
The minister has been speaking out publicly in favor of therapeutic cloning and even addressing the subject in sermons in his church. He says the 4- or 5-day-old embryo -- or blastocyst -- that is created and destroyed to produce stem cells does not constitute a life.
"In the Bible, we consider life to be the soul. An organism is not truly created until it has nerves," he tells his parishioners.
Kim's views go against those of many churchgoers and have brought him torrents of abuse.
"You are a minister who doesn't trust God's providence and power. Do you really think your son can be cured with such egotistic science?" one critic wrote last week on a website reporting on the issue.
One welcome outcome was that in the process of taking fertility drugs in order to donate eggs, Kim's 40-year-old wife became pregnant. A month ago, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Hyeoni, now 11, still uses a wheelchair and spends most of his time at home with his baby brother and a 15-year-old sister. He rarely goes to school. But his father says he has a positive outlook. When word of Hwang's fabrications first began leaking in November, the family girded the boy for disappointment so he would not learn about it on television.
"We told him, yes, one day you will walk again," Kim said. "But you might have to wait a little longer."http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-boy9jan09,1,3845133,full.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true
http://www.msif.org/en/research/research_news/a_randomized_3.html
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines06/0108-01.htm
Posted: 08 January 2006 1616 hrs
Iranian scientists successfully use stem cells to treat injured rats
By Channel NewsAsia's Iran Correspondent Roxana Saberi
Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd
TEHRAN : A research and clinical centre in Iran has attracted much
attention by successfully using stem cells to treat rats with spinal
cord injuries.
Researchers there claim the procedure they used is a world first.
After four months of monitoring rats with spinal cord injuries,
researchers at Iran's Royan Institute healed them by using
injections of stem cells from human embryos.
Various kinds of stem cells have been used to treat rats with these
injuries before, but researchers say never have neural tubes -
structures that give rise to the brain and spinal cord - been used.
Dr Reza Samani of the Royan Institute, said: "She is differentiating
the different embryonic stem cells to the neurons, nervous system."
You can see the differentiated cells from embryonic stem cells to
the neurons.
Stem cells are cells that can transform themselves into many
different cell types that make up a body.
Optimists hope they can eventually be used to generate replacement
tissues and even organs for people who are ill or injured.
These researchers have used different types of stem cells in their
various studies.
Some, they take from adults - for example, from bone marrow or the
liver.
But to treat these rats, they have injected stem cells from human
embryos - an ethical taboo, say critics, who argue embryos could
otherwise grow into people.
Dr Reza added: "In Iran we don't have this because we don't call an
embryo a human until 120 days. At that time, in our texts, Islamic
texts like Koran said that the ghost, the soul of the human comes to
the embryo. At that time we call it human."
The Institute got permission from couples taking part in its in-
vitro fertilisation programme to use left-over embryos for research -
instead of throwing them away.
Dr Reza said: "All around the world, including America, there are so
many embryos they're throwing away. What's the difference between an
embryo dying for research and an embryo dying in the garbage bag?"
28 days after treating the injured rats, researchers saw full
movement of the animals' limbs.
Now the news of this success is spreading across the country.
Hundreds of people - many spinal cord victims from the country's war
with Iraq in the 1980s - have asked the Institute to try using the
same method to treat them.
But researchers say they are planning to experiment on monkeys
first. - CNA/de
Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd
Reminder Reminder from the Calendar of MS_Community
It's Kim's birthday!
Monday January 9, 2006
All Day
This event repeats every year.
Notes:
is Kim "PeacefulWaters@..."?
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January 2006
EXCLUSIVE: MUM'S LOAN VOW TO BEAT M.S. HELL
EXCLUSIVE
By Stuart Patterson
MAIL.CO.UK
A DISABLED mum could be forced to get a bank loan to pay for
revolutionary treatment not available on the NHS.
Wheelchair-bound Mary Hendry, 54, is trying to raise £12,500 for a
controversial stem-cell operation, which could alleviate the
symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
If the fundraising fails, the former shop assistant, from
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, and husband Jim, 57, may take out a
loan.
She said: "I'm determined to do whatever it takes to get this
treatment."
The condition, which has blighted her life for the past 15 years,
causes her constant agony and has left her unable to walk.
Stem-cell treatment being offered in Holland is her only hope. The
treatment is not yet available in the UK.
Mary said: "At this time in our lives, my husband and I don't want
to be getting into debt, but we don't feel we've got any other
choice. The National Health Service has nothing to offer me. "My
dream is that I'll one day be able to walk again. Just being able to
move a few steps will make a huge difference."
Fixing the Heart Eliminates Migraines -- In-Depth Doctor's Interview
Reported June 20, 2005
Mark Reisman, M.D., Director of Cardiovascular Research and Education at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, discusses the connection between fixing the heart and eliminating migraines.
Ivanhoe Broadcast News Transcript with
Mark Reisman, M.D., Director of Cardiovascular Research and Education,
Swedish Medical Center, Seattle,
TOPIC: Fixing the Heart Eliminates Migraines
How was the connection between fixing the heart and eliminating migraines first discovered?
Dr. Reisman: We began a program for closing holes in patients who had previous strokes. The majority of the patients were quite young and we had an opportunity early on to spend a lot of time with them since this was a new procedure. Based on the discussions and subsequent follow ups we were told by the patients they were very pleased we provided them the opportunity to reduce their risk of stroke, but also that the procedure had provided them with relief from their migraine headaches.
Was this something you were expecting?
Dr. Reisman: This was completely unexpected, in fact it wasn't until we heard the same story two or three or four times that we started to acknowledge there was something special going on. If a patient came in with a prior stroke and they were offered the opportunity to get their PFO closed we didn't solicit them and say, oh and by the way we think your migraine headaches will go away, they just openly told us about the effect afterward.
How do we think it works?
Dr. Reisman: What we understand is when the hole or slit is open, which traditionally closes shortly after birth, blood is bypassed from the right side of the heart to the left side without having to go through the lungs. We believe by virtue of being bypassed there's either a chemical substance or some other substance that we have not yet identified that could potentially provoke headaches.
How big is this for migraines sufferers?
Dr. Reisman: For migraine sufferers it's an enormous opportunity. The benefit of drugs has been seen, the opportunity is there for medical therapy. But the concept of potentially having a solution with a fairly straightforward medical procedure would obviously be very enticing for them.
Is this a simple procedure?
Dr. Reisman: Yes. It's an invasive procedure, so it requires us to put a tube or a catheter up to the heart. There are several devices applicable for this application. What is challenging is that nothing has yet been approved by the FDA in order to provide this opportunity to patients. So we really need to do the clinical investigations.
Where are you now with the clinical phases?
Dr. Reisman: Well we're just at the beginning. Fortunately a migraine headache is not a catastrophic event so we have the opportunity to study the problem. What's also encouraging is that the affect we have seen is so dramatic we believe the number of patients required to complete a clinical study will be very small. So we think we can get the answers in a timely manner once we fulfill our obligations to the FDA in terms of submitting our investigational plan.
Should everyone who has migraines have this procedure done?
Dr. Reisman: No, I don't believe so. If the research shows that it does demonstrate benefit I think it should be reserved for patients who were refractory to medical therapy and cannot tolerate medical therapy. I don't believe all migraine sufferers are going to be the types of patients that would want to commit to a procedure like this.
Why is this such a big development for migraine sufferers?
Dr. Reisman: It could have enormous benefits, for one a lot of the medications presently used have moderate to significant side affects.
END OF INTERVIEW
[INLINE]
U of L researchers find adult stem cells that could lead to cures,
resolve controversy
By Laura Ungar
lungar@...
The Courier-Journal
12/12/2005
University of Louisville researchers have coaxed stem cells from
adult mice to change into brain, nerve, heart muscle and pancreatic
cells - a discovery that could lead to therapies for a host of human
diseases and possibly end the national debate over use of embryonic
stem cells.
"We have found a counterpart for embryonic stem cells in adult bone
marrow. This could negate the ethical concerns," said Mariusz
Ratajczak, leader of the research team and director of the stem cell
biology program at U of L's James Graham Brown Cancer Center.
The next step is to replicate the experiment with similar cells
identified in adult humans.
"It's huge. It's an amazing discovery," said Ryan Reca, one of the
researchers.
Ratajczak was planning to announce the findings this afternoon at
the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta.
His team also plans to present a paper tomorrow showing that these
type of cells - called "very small embryonic-like" or VSELs - help
repair damaged tissue after a stroke in mice.
Although treatments based on this discovery are most likely many
years off, the research holds promise for people with heart disease,
stroke, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Using a patient's own
VSELs to repair damage to their bodies could eliminate the danger of
rejection that exists if cells are taken from a donor.
Dr. Scott Whittemore, scientific director of the university's
Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, said more research is
needed.
"This is a very important first step," Whittemore said. "There are
some major issues that need to be resolved before you can think
about" translating this research into concrete therapies.
Doctors and researchers have been extremely interested in stem cells
because they have the potential to develop into many cell types in
the body. Embryonic stem cells are able to give rise to any type of
cell except those needed to develop a fetus, according to the
National Institutes of Health.
Although the potential for adult stem cells has been thought to be
more limited, the use of embryonic stem cells has been controversial
because it involves the destruction of embryos, which opponents say
amounts to the destruction of human life.
"Specifically, embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that
develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro - in an in
vitro fertilization clinic - and then donated for research purposes
with the informed consent of the donors," according to a stem cell
primer from the National Institutes of Health.
In 2001, President Bush restricted federal funding of research to
existing lines of cells developed from embryos. He cited ethical
concerns - voiced strongly by conservative Christian groups - that
destroying such embryos to extract their stem cells destroys human
life.
But many researchers and liberal religious groups have persisted in
urging such funding, saying embryonic stem cells hold the best
potential for medical research. They also say some of the older stem
cell lines funded under Bush's policy have been contaminated and are
not as useful as producing new ones would be.
Ratajczak's recent discoveries are groundbreaking because they show
that newly identified adult cells appear to act like embryonic stem
cells. He first described a strategy for identifying and isolating
them in a 2004 issue of the journal Leukemia. But that earlier
research also showed that VSELs are very rare and difficult to grow
in a laboratory.
The research announced today appears to show that VSELs can be grown
in the laboratory, multiply into clusters of cells and then be
caused to change into other types of cells such as brain or cardiac
muscle cells.
In their experiment, they extracted bone marrow cells from adult
mice, put them into a cell sorter to extract the VSELs, put those
cells into a petri dish and used a confidential process that is part
of a patent application by U of L. Then, the cells were exposed to
chemicals generated by the body called "factors" and changed into
cardiac muscle cells, pancreatic cells, nerve cells and brain cells.
"We've established how to isolate and how to unleash the power of
this cell," Ratajczak said.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={EEB969C8-BD1F-4844-826B-FC292E6A3A64}&siteid=google
Editorial
Stem-cell policy has long reach
THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER
1/7/2005
The shortsighted federal restrictions on stem-cell research have
greater implications than one might think. Those implications reach
from South Korea, where fraud has been exposed in research, to our
state, where they impede important research at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham. Surely there's a lesson to be learned here.
In an interview with the Birmingham News, Tim Townes, chairman of
the biochemistry and molecular genetics department at UAB, said the
faking of data and results in the South Korean research was possible
at least partly because of the restrictions on using federal funding
for similar research in this country.
These restrictions -- ideological in nature, rather than scientific -
- limited the checks and balances of modern scientific
research. "There weren't enough people doing this at the same time,"
Townes told the News. "People in the world doing the same thing and
sharing data and confirming each other's work -- that's how science
works."
Townes is exploring potential cures for sickle-cell anemia through
gene therapy, in which stem-cell research is crucial. A colleague in
the UAB department, Tom Ryan, is studying thalassemia, an inherited
form of anemia, and employing stem-cell research in that effort.
However, the stem cells to which Ryan has access under the federal
regulations don't have the genetic flaw that produces the disorder,
which limits their value to his research.
This is enormously complex work, far beyond anything that can be
easily explained in a newspaper editorial. Stem-cell research has
vast potential for the treatment of a variety of diseases that now
largely defy the efforts of science, such as Alzheimer's disease.
Not every hoped-for development will be achieved, of course, but the
pursuit of stem-cell research is vital nonetheless.
What can be cited in a newspaper editorial is the stifling effect of
an unwise, ideologically driven decision on research of such
staggering potential. That effect is felt from Seoul to Birmingham.
Stem Cell Research - Changing Wishes to Possibilities and
Possibilities to Reality
MEDINDIA
07 Jan 2006
http://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?str=1&x=6885
<http://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?str=1&x=6885
The first International symposium on Stem cell Research and Therapy
was conducted in Chennai, on the 6th of January. The programme was
organized by LifeCell, a pioneer in stem cell banking in association
with Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, one of
the reputed medical institutions in the country.
Dr. Mammen Chandy, a leading hematologist, CMC, Vellore, headed the
symposium. Following a small introduction about `Journey of
LifeCell', the scientific session was held. Dr. Paul. R. Sanberg,
Dr. Umesh Banakar, Dr.Michael E.Trigg, Dr. Naynesh Kamani were
amongst the participants.
Different aspects related to the potential of stem cell therapy and
research was discussed in detail. The results of `Stem cell therapy
in the treatment of neurological disorders such as ALS and stroke'
(in animal models), the `Role of stem cell transplantation in
hematological malignancies' (chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), acute
myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL),
myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), aplastic anemia, Hodgkin's disease),
an `Overview of the ethical concerns associated with human stem cell
research', the possibility of `Stem cell transplantation as a
curative therapy: Examples of Cord Blood use in Children- Outcome
and Complications' and the use of `Cord blood as an alternative
source of haematopoietic Stem Cells for Transplantation in Children'
were some of the topics discussed.
The ultimate goal of stem cell research is to repair a damaged
tissue that cannot heal by itself. Stem cells that are rightly
termed as the `proverbial nectar of immortality', can be used in the
treatment of many diseases, which are often thought incurable. A few
areas where this new treatment modality can be applied range from
chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease to
acute conditions like traumatic brain injury and limb amputation.
Stem cell therapy and research has drawn much excitement and
attention, both from members of the scientific community and general
public due to the ethical concerns associated with it. Concepts of
respect for human life, immortality, damage caused to human embryo
(generated for reproductive purposes) during stem cell harvest, and
the possibility of cloning human embryos for research are a few of
the ethical considerations to be tackled before initiating stem cell
research on a large scale.
Even though stem cell experiments conducted on animal models show
much hope and promise in miracle cures, extreme caution has to be
excised before this excitement can be translated to practical human
clinical applications.
Pitt biologist trying to patent human cloning process
By Jennifer Bails
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, January 7, 2006
A University of Pittsburgh researcher embroiled in an international
cloning scandal is seeking to patent technology to create embryonic
stem cells without crediting his now-estranged colleagues in South
Korea, government documents show.
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is processing a application --
still active as of Friday -- filed on April 9, 2004, by reproductive
biologist Gerald Schatten, who heads the university's Pittsburgh
Development Center at Magee-Womens Research Institute in Oakland.
Schatten and two Pitt researchers listed as co-inventors -- Calvin
Simerly and Christopher Navara -- state their methods would make
human cloning "a practical procedure," according to the patent
application. These methods also could be used to create embryonic
stem cells with the potential to cure human diseases, the
application states.
Embattled Korean researcher Hwang Woo-Suk claimed to have achieved
these very same scientific milestones using similar techniques. The
breakthrough -- now discredited -- was announced in a paper
published in the journal Science in June 2005 and co-authored by
Schatten.
With the financial support of the Magee-Womens Health Foundation,
Schatten served in an advisory role to prepare the landmark paper
for publication, helping to analyze and interpret the results
obtained by Korean scientists, the Science article said.
An international furor erupted last month when a Seoul National
University panel ruled Hwang deliberately fabricated results and
committed ethics violations in soliciting donor eggs. A final report
is expected early next week.
Schatten publicly severed ties with the Korean scientist when these
allegations surfaced. Schatten now is being investigated by Pitt for
scientific misconduct.
Neither Schatten nor the University of Pittsburgh would comment on
the patent application yesterday. Simerly and Navara also declined
comment through university spokeswoman Jane Duffield.
The methods outlined in Schatten's stem-cell patent application were
invented in part using money from two grants awarded to him by the
National Institutes of Health, worth a total of about $1.8 million.
"I think that it is outrageous that the University of Pittsburgh
refuses to discuss its patent claims on a technology that was funded
by the U.S. taxpayers," said Merrill Goozman, director of the
Integrity in Science project at the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based science watchdog nonprofit group.
The rush to file biomedical patents for early-stage technologies
creates roadblocks to research that do a disservice to the public by
requiring scientists to dish out licensing money whenever they have
an idea that might be worth pursuing, Goozman said.
"It sets up arbitrary financial roadblocks to research," Goozman
said. "We need new systems that make these technologies open to all
scientists at the lowest possible price, and when the government
funds them, it should be the government insisting that's how they
are managed."
Since the scandal became public, Hwang has resigned his university
post and stepped down as head of the World Stem Cell Hub, a Seoul-
based project launched with Schatten and several other scientists.
But Hwang continues to assert that his cloning methods work despite
the falsified data -- and that the intellectual rights to the
underlying technology belong to South Korea.
Hwang and other South Korean researchers filed for an international
patent Dec. 30, 2004, to protect their methods for deriving stem
cells from cloned human embryos.
Schatten is not listed as an inventor on the international patent
application -- filed eight months after the Pitt researcher applied
for a U.S. patent for a similar method, according to documents
obtained from the World Intellectual Property Organization. The 46-
page international patent application also does not cite any of
Schatten's previous research.
Similarly, Schatten's 18-page U.S. patent application makes no
reference to Hwang's work, including another paper published by the
Korean scientist in Science the month before that which outlines
supposed breakthroughs in the same cloning field.
"If these people are co-authors on important articles in the
scientific literature, it is difficult to see how they could file
patent applications that make no mention of the work of the other,"
said intellectual property attorney Robert L. Potter of Pittsburgh
law firm Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick & Potter.
It was unclear yesterday which patent would hold the most sway under
an international patent treaty.
Hwang did not reply to an e-mail message sent Thursday.
Attorney Don Pelto, of the Washington, D.C., law firm Preston Gates
Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, helped to file Schatten's patent. He did not
return a phone message left yesterday.
Schatten has a history of filing for patents for his research. He
was awarded two patents, along with Navara and Simerly, for methods
for analyzing sperm quality they developed while at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. Including the stem-cell patent, Schatten has
five patent applications still being considered for approval,
federal records show.
Policies outlined by Pitt's Office of Technology Management on its
Web site declare that the university claims ownership and control of
the worldwide patent and intellectual property rights resulting from
the activities of its faculty.
Jennifer Bails can be reached at jbails@... or (412) 320-
7991.
Family searches for miracle cure for spinal cord injury
By Patricia Anstett
Detroit Free Press
Sunday, January 08, 2006
DETROIT Laura Jackson doesn't want to ait for a cure.
Paralyzed in May 2003 while performing a backward flip in a
cheerleading stunt, Laura, 16, underwent experimental surgery in
China 18 months later and pursues therapies she and her parents,
Daryl and Melody, find promising.
Eric Seals
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Laura Jackson, 16, of Livonia, Mich., lies in her bed as her father,
Daryl Jackson, and nurse Carol Lindman work on getting her IV ready
before her laser treatment. She was paralyzed in a cheerleading
accident.
Her story illustrates how some people with spinal cord injuries and
their families are devising their own solutions and remedies, even
building expensive home gyms. Much like cancer patients and
thousands of others who search abroad for cures and treatments, they
face questions and skepticism from the medical establishment.
But to them, the science needed to establish safe results takes too
long.
"Doctors called me a quack before I went to China and now they call
me half a quack," Daryl Jackson said. "They thought I'd kill her.
Well, I didn't."
The search for a miracle treatment is costly and time-consuming.
Jackson spends at least an hour a day on the Internet reading
research on spinal cord injuries. When he has a question, he calls
or e-mails the experts. He and his wife own a communications firm in
Detroit and live in a large, split-level home, but Laura's injury
clearly taxes even their income.
As small-business owners, the Jacksons are self-insured with a plan
that does not pay for any therapy, adaptive equipment or
experimental surgery. Expenses for the trip to China, adaptations to
their home and equipment costs now total more than $150,000, all
from their savings and fundraisers.
Some of the biggest expenses: $40,000 for the trip to China, a
$60,000 elevator and $4,000 lift to help Laura in and out of bed,
$9,000 for a low-powered laser and $3,500 for an electrical
stimulation unit.
"Whatever it costs to get her walking will be worth it," Jackson
said.
Specialists in the field remain largely skeptical of the
experimental surgeries for spinal cord repair (now performed only
outside the United States) and some of the technology. Dr. David
Gater Jr., professor of spinal cord medicine at the University of
Michigan, said patients are prone to damaging their muscles,
developing arthritis or experiencing overuse problems from too much
therapy. Laser applications could break down the skin and "put
people at risk of pressure ulcers" or worse injury problems, he
said.
The other issue is giving up too much for only marginal gains, he
said. "What about the quality of life, education, being productive
in society?" he asks. "All these things can be tossed out in pursuit
of something that will provide a sub-optimal output."
Laura and her family see it differently. His daughter continues to
hang out with friends, and she enjoys activities such as shopping
and watching TV.
Laura's injury is severe. She is paralyzed from her neck down and
requires a ventilator to breathe. At the time of her injury, she
couldn't sit without a headrest supporting her neck in her
wheelchair. She wasted away to 90 pounds from 120.
Doctors "gave us zero hope," said her father. They told the family
she would never walk and might not even be able to talk.
The Jacksons' first big decision was to travel to Beijing for
surgery with Dr. Hongyun Huang. Since 2001, he has treated more than
600 patients, mostly people with spinal cord injuries from the
United States. Huang uses embryonic cells from aborted fetuses,
which he transplants directly above and below a spinal cord injury
site.
After her surgery, Laura began going off her ventilator for a few
minutes a day, her father said. She's now up to 30 minutes off the
ventilator when she exercises, he said. He has bought her the latest
technology, including an innovative upside-down exercise bike, a
portable electrical stimulation unit and a handheld laser for
regenerating nerves.
Laura works out two days a week at the Recovery Project, an
intensive rehabilitation facility at the Livonia YMCA. The other
five days, therapists or trainers visit her.
A year after her surgery, Laura has grown stronger, gained 25 pounds
and has more stamina. She is dependent on a ventilator and a
wheelchair, but she can move her shoulders, raise her legs with the
help of an electrical stimulation unit triggering muscle movement in
her calves and sit on a mat with a large exercise ball behind her.
"Laura couldn't take her head off the headrest of her chair" after
her accident, her father said.
Her goal continues to be focused on walking at her high school
graduation.
"I'm going to walk," Laura said.
Technology charges forward
Technology to help paralyzed people move and walk is changing
rapidly.
'It's almost like computers,' said Brad Shebib, physical therapist
for Wright & Fillippis, a Rochester Hills, Mich., medical device
company. 'By next week, the technology seems obsolete.'
Here's a brief summary of some of the new devices:
Gait-training devices Mobile frames with harness devices help
people regain gait and balance in a progression of physical
activities. One of the most advanced systems is made by Second Step
for $5,150. Some private insurance plans cover it. (941) 545-7580;
www.secondstepinc.com.
Leg braces Unlike the stiff models from decades ago, the newest
brands are lightweight and flexible. One type, KAFO braces (knee,
ankle, foot orthosis) are carbon-fiber with a locking knee mechanism
that helps move the leg when a patients is walking. Orthotist Bill
Messer designs each pair individually. They are used in conjunction
with walkers. $8,000 to $14,000 for a pair. Insurance coverage
varies. www.messerorthopedics.com or call (616) 863-3330
Exercise bicycles and treadmills There are many types, including
models attached to electrical stimulation units. Another approach to
locomotion devices is GigerMD, a machine used for people with spinal
cord and brain injuries, Parkinson's disease and other conditions.
It helps move all four limbs while a patient is lying down. $11,000.
www.gigermd.com.
Crutches Loftstrand crutches have forearm attachments that help
with walking and balance activities. $97. Widely available,
including through Wright & Filippis and other medical equipment
companies.
Ibot wheelchairs A chair that climbs stairs, moves on a variety
of terrains, and elevates or lowers for eye-level contact or to roll
under desks. Cost varies with individual requirements, but the chair
is about $26,100 and is covered fully or partly by some insurance
plans. www.ibotnow.com, (866) 813-0761.
Laser A low-powered diode laser used by Juanita Anders, a
Bethesda, Md., laser pioneer. Her lab experiments regenerating nerve
connections in injured animals are described on her Web site:
http://usuhs.mil/nes/Anders.htm. Cost: $9,000. Details at
www.thorlaser.com, (877) 427-3229.
http://www.multicelltech.com/news/news_010306.htm
http://www.dentinstitute.com/document_174.html
Survey: Most Texans back stem cell research
By Kelly Hawes
The Daily News
GALVESTON COUNTY
Published January 6, 2006
GALVESTON -- Randy Urban said he wasn't surprised by a survey that
found most Texans support embryonic stem cell research.
"I had that impression," he said.
Urban, chair of the department of internal medicine at the
University of Texas Medical Branch, said he had spoken to many
Texans on the topic during presentations around the state.
"Everyone is always very positive, very supportive of this work," he
said.
Results of a statewide survey released Wednesday indicate that 55
percent of Texans support embryonic stem cell research and 53
percent favor using federal funds to conduct it.
"We hope that what this will allow is to garner more attention for
this kind of research so that we can gain more support for it,"
Urban said.
The survey taken in October found that 59 percent of respondents
approved of scientists receiving federal money for extracting
embryonic stem cells from fertilized eggs donated by fertility
clinics.
The survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage
points. That means that based on this survey, support for stem cell
research among the general population could be nearly 59 percent,
but it could also be closer to 51 percent.
"I personally feel that with proper education and awareness, those
numbers will become more and more positive," Urban said.
Urban said he personally favored stem cell research in all of its
forms, but he acknowledged that for many Texans, research using stem
cells from adults was more palatable.
"We need to educate the public about the importance of this kind of
work," he said. "Some of it's really pretty mundane, but it's all
very important as we try to increase our understanding."
Slightly more than a third of those surveyed said they knew someone
suffering from a condition they hoped would become treatable or
curable as a result of embryonic stem cell research.
"If the government will support this research, I'm confident it will
pay dividends down the road," Urban said. "It may not be the Holy
Grail, but there's the potential for that."
The survey was commissioned by an organization called Research
America, which describes itself as the nation's largest not-for-
profit public education and advocacy alliance working to make
medical and health research a higher national priority.
UTMB is a member of the organization, which says it has been gauging
Americans' attitudes toward medical and health research for more
than a decade.
"Texans, like the majority of Americans, embrace medical advances
such as embryonic stem cell research," Mary Woolley, president of
Research America, said in a news release. "They see the potential --
for the health of people they know personally and for all Americans --
and support the research needed to pursue it."
Large majorities of Texans view medical research as critical to the
state's economy. Fully 92 percent say medical research is important
to the economy of Texas, and 78 percent support financial incentives
offered by the state to attract new scientific research laboratories
and companies. Nearly six in 10 say Texas is a leader in medical and
health research, but many could not name an institution in Texas
that carries out medical or health research.
"Research America's poll shows how strongly Texans see Texas as a
science state," said William R. Brinkley, dean of the graduate
school of biomedical sciences at Baylor College of Medicine and a
Research America board member. "For every dollar invested in
research, our state sees a five-fold return, and Texans recognize
that investing in medical and health research allows Texas to keep
the best scientists and give our students a world-class education."
Charlton Research Co. performed the telephone survey of 800 adults
in Texas between Oct. 10 and 16. The company says its sample was
proportionate to the state's demographics including geography,
gender, voter registration and ethnicity.
I'll give you an example of one that was cracked right here. The
disease is called Vanishing White Matter Disease. In this disease,
the children are born normally and undergo a period of normal
development. But if they have a particular mutation, the part of
their brain through which impulses are conducted starts to
degenerate. When this white matter --- which is the insulation
around nerve cells --- breaks down, you lose impulse conduction.
This is what happens when you have multiple sclerosis and severe
spinal-cord injury.
http://www.happynews.com/news/162006/cup-o-calcium-.htm
Reminder Reminder from the Calendar of MS_Community
Cari's (Tee's) birthday!
Saturday January 7, 2006
All Day
This event repeats every year.
Notes:
Her email is Teedclo@...
ADVERTISEMENT
click here
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=31245
Protocol Number: 05-CC-0003
Title: A Pilot Study to Detect the Effect of Sildenafil Citrate on
Cerebral Blood Perfusion in Multiple Sclerosis Patients by Perfusion
MRI
Number: 05-CC-0003
Summary: This study will determine whether sildenafil citrate,
commonly known as Viagra, can cause increased blood flow to the
brain in a wide range of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, including
women. Although people with MS can have reduced blood flow in the
brain as part of the disease process, it has been observed that men
with MS may have increased blood flow to the brain while taking
sildenafil citrate. This study will measure brain blood flow or
blood volume in men and women with MS before and after taking Viagra
and compare the results to those in healthy volunteers in an effort
to better understand the disease.
Healthy volunteers 18 years of age and older and patients with MS
between 18 and 55 years of age may be eligible for this study.
Volunteers are screened with a medical history and physical
examination, and patients with MS are evaluated with a complete
neurological examination and screening for heart disease, including
history of chest pain, heart attack, and use of nitrates.
Participants undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and
after taking Viagra. During the scanning, subjects lie still on a
table that can slide in and out of the cylindrical metal scanner.
Scanning time varies from 20 minutes to 3 hours, with most scans
lasting between 45 and 90 minutes. First, a scan is obtained of the
carotid arteries (major arteries in the neck supplying blood to the
brain) to determine if the arteries are narrowed, and then baseline
MRI scans and measures of brain blood flow are obtained. The subject
then comes out of the scanner and takes a Viagra pill. After 1 hour,
the subject returns to the scanner and more scans are obtained to
determine changes in brain blood flow and blood volume following
Viagra.
A catheter (thin plastic tube) is placed in the subject's arm before
he or she enters the magnet for the second time for injection of a
contrast agent called gadolinium DTPA, which allows brain structures
to be distinguished more clearly.
Sponsoring Institute:
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
Recruitment Detail
Type: Active Accrual Of New Subjects
Gender: Male & Female
Referral Letter Required: No
Population Exclusion(s): Children
Eligibility Criteria:
INCLUSION CRITERIA:
Any healthy normal volunteer above the age of 18 who is capable of
giving informed consent recruited or self referred through the NIH
Volunteer office will be eligible for this study.
All healthy normal volunteers will be included as long as there is
no recorded or documented signs or symptoms of CNS disease,
contraindications to a MRI and have a "normal age appropriate" MRI
of the brain.
Patients seen in the Neuroimmunology MS clinic with a confirmed
diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis based upon previous history of two
clinical neurological attacks separated in time and in spatial
location or combination of Clinical and MRI findings of a single
enhancing lesion in the brain or spine along with multiple T2
hyperintensities in the juxtacortical, periventricular or
infratentorial white matter according to the McDonald criteria will
be included in this study.
Relapsing-remitting or secondary progressive MS who have had more
than one relapse within 18 months preceding study enrollment will be
recruited from the MS 7th floor clinic in the NINDS at the NIH. MS
patients will have EDSS score between 1.0 - 6.5, inclusive. MS
patients seen and treated in the NINDS MS clinic are representative
of the general MS population that is Female: male ratio of
approximately 3:2, Caucasian and African American, between ages of
18-55 years old.
Give written informed consent prior to any testing under this
protocol, including screening/pre-treatment tests and evaluations
that are not considered part of the patient's routine care.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
Healthy Controls and MS patients will be excluded if they have
contraindications to MR scanning, such as the following:
1. aneurysm clip
2. implanted neural stimulator
3. implanted cardiac pacemaker or autodefibrillator
4. cochlear implant
5. ocular foreign body (e.g., metal shavings)
6. insulin pump
Healthy controls and MS patients will be excluded from this study if
they have the following:
1. History of heart attack
2. History of treatment with nitrates for heart condition
3. History of carotid artery stenosis or evidence of greater than
50% carotid stenosis on screening MR angiogram
4. History of known vascular disease
5. History of stroke
6. History of migraine
7. Subjects who have a history of a reaction to MR contrast agents
specifically gadopentetate dimeglumine will be excluded from
participating in the contrast agent administration part of this
protocol.
8. Healthy controls will be excluded if have history of alcohol or
drug abuse.
9. Healthy controls will be excluded if Concurrent, clinically
significant (as determined by the investigator) gastrointestinal,
immunologic, pulmonary, neurologic, renal, and/or other major
disease.
10. Healthy controls will be excluded if they have a previous known
abnormality on Brain MRI examination.
11. Pregnant and lactating women will be excluded from the study.
12. Since certain drugs may interfere with the ability of the
vessels in your brain to respond to Viagra, subjects taking steroids
or sildenafil (within 24 hours) will be excluded from this study.
MS patients will also be excluded from study entry if any of the
following exclusion criteria exist at the time of enrollment:
1. Pregnant and lactating women who are MS patients will be excluded
from the study.
2. Diagnosis of primary progressive MS, defined as gradual
progression of disability from the onset without relapses.
3. Concurrent, clinically significant (as determined by the
investigator) immunologic, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, neurologic,
renal, and/or other major disease in MS patients.
Treatment History in MS patients
If prior treatment with steroids was received, the subject must have
been off treatment for the required period prior to enrollment (see
below).
Agent: Corticosteroids
Time Required off Agent Prior to Enrollment: 8 weeks
Unwillingness or inability to comply with the requirements of this
protocol including the presence of any condition (physical, mental,
or social) that is likely to affect the subject's returning for
follow-up visits to the NINDS, Neuroimmunology Clinic will be
sufficient reason to exclude a subject.
Special Instructions: Currently Not Provided
Keywords:
Gray Matter
White Matter
Cerebral Blood Flow
Cerebral Blood Volume
Lesion
MRI
Multiple Sclerosis
Perfusion
Imaging
Sildenafil
Recruitment Keyword(s):
Multiple Sclerosis
MS
Healthy Volunteer
HV
Condition(s):
Multiple Sclerosis
Investigational Drug(s):
None
Investigational Device(s):
None
Intervention(s):
None
Supporting Site:
N/A
Contact(s):
Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office
Building 61
10 Cloister Court
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-4754
Toll Free: 1-800-411-1222
TTY: 301-594-9774 (local),1-866-411-1010 (toll free)
Fax: 301-480-9793
Electronic Mail:prpl@...
Citation(s):
Lublin FD, Reingold SC. Defining the clinical course of multiple
sclerosis: results of an international survey. National Multiple
Sclerosis Society (USA) Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials of New
Agents in Multiple Sclerosis. Neurology. 1996 Apr;46(4):907-11.
Prineas J. Pathology of the early lesion in multiple sclerosis. Hum
Pathol. 1975 Sep;6(5):531-54. Review.
van der Valk P, De Groot CJ. Staging of multiple sclerosis (MS)
lesions: pathology of the time frame of MS. Neuropathol Appl
Neurobiol. 2000 Feb;26(1):2-10. Review.
If you have:
Questions about participating in a study, please contact the Patient
Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, CC.
Technical questions regarding the Clinical Center web site, please
contact the Department of Networks and Applications, CC.
Search The Studies | Help | Questions |
Clinical Center Home | NIH Home
Thursday, 5 January, 2006
Stem-cell work 'very exciting'
Thu, January 5, 2006
Canadians and Australians isolate mouse breast cells that can
regenerate a milk-making mammary gland.
By SHERYL UBELACKER, CP
THE LONDON FREE PRESS
TORONTO -- Canadian and Australian researchers have isolated stem
cells from the breast tissue of mice that can regenerate an entire
milk-producing mammary gland -- the first time such cells have been
purified from an adult tissue other than blood or bone marrow.
Their findings not only demonstrate that stem cells can regenerate
tissue, but also add weight to the notion many cancers likely arise
when rapidly dividing stem cells go awry, said Connie Eaves, deputy
director of the Terry Fox Laboratory at the B.C. Cancer Agency.
"Our results are very exciting," said Eaves, explaining that
although such stem cells in breast tissue had been thought to
exist, "these cells had never been isolated as a separate
population."
The researchers removed mammary gland tissue from virgin adult
female lab mice, then isolated stem cells from the tissue through a
complex system of purification.
Then taking young female mice that had just been weaned, the
scientists surgically removed any mammary cells present in some of
the fatty padded areas that would eventually develop into the
animals' teats. They then injected the stem cells into the empty fat
pads.
Three weeks later, the mice were bred and, a few weeks after that,
the scientists found the entire mammary structure -- "from the
central duct right up to the milk-producing globules" -- had
regenerated at the injection site.
The B.C. and Australian researchers, working independently using
similar cell-purification methods, were able to isolate "a very,
very tiny population (of stem cells) with a high degree of purity,"
Eaves said from Vancouver.
Even more exciting may be the implications for figuring out how some
cancers arise and how best to treat the disease.
While Eaves's team concentrated on detailing the properties of the
isolated stem cells in great detail, the group from the University
of Melbourne in Australia extended their studies to mice genetically
engineered to develop breast cancer.
Isolated stem cells were found to be more numerous in pre-cancerous
breast tissue in the specially bred mice, suggesting that they may
be involved in causing cancer, the researchers said.
"This is a very important contribution for a number of reasons," Dr.
Michael Rudnicki, head of the Stem Cell Network of Canada, said from
Ottawa.
"Firstly, this really strongly supports the hypothesis that cancer
is a disease of stem cells and this is of course in the context of
breast cancer, which is a very important human disease.
"And secondly, these investigators have developed a methodology
whereby a single stem cell can reconstitute the . . . network of an
entire breast gland," he said. "This has existed for no other organ
except bone marrow, so this is the first time that it's been applied
to another organ system and been done so successfully.
"Now we have a method for studying cancer stem cells in a breast
cancer context."
www.theage.com.au
Stem cell research starts to deliver results
January 6, 2006
Pioneering research presents a two-fold challenge: researchers
delving the unknown must hit upon a path that leads somewhere; then
they need to convince others it is worth pursuing when conclusive
evidence for their belief depends on their quest being successful.
The rewards for those who succeed, and for society, can be immense.
The achievement of a team of researchers at Melbourne's Walter and
Eliza Hall Institute in inducing mice to grow mammary glands from
stem cells is seen as a breakthrough that brings medicine closer to
finding the holy grail of a cure for cancer.
It is the first time one of a set of complex organs derived from the
endoderm, or outer layer, of an early-stage embryo has been grown
from a stem cell. Leading cell biologist Doug Hilton said his
colleagues had achieved "possibly the most significant medical
research advance to come out of Melbourne in the past decade". While
this advance is distinct from embryonic stem cell research - these
cells were isolated in breast tissue, so do not require the
destruction of embryos - it does lend credence to scientists'
excitement about stem cells.
The achievement also lends weight to Victoria's ambition to be a
global hub for biotechnology, working in collaboration with other
centres of excellence - in this instance, in Canada. Not only has
the discovery of these particular stem cells led to a different
understanding of how breast cancer might be triggered, thus opening
the way to better treatment, it also raises the hope that one day it
might be possible to regrow other organs derived from the endoderm,
such as the bowel and lungs. Many lives could be saved; many more
vastly improved.
Of course, the power of such knowledge creates an obligation to
employ it wisely and ethically. Nonetheless, Victorians ought to be
proud and excited that their researchers have opened up a
breathtaking scientific vista.
Ten months after experimental surgery, David Landewee making great
promise
Thursday, January 5, 2006
JULIA METELSKI ~ Southeast Missourian
Exactly 10 months after an experimental surgery that aimed to
alleviate a spinal injury, Cape Girardeau native David Landewee said
that he has made progress beyond his doctor's expectations.
"The progress I've had since I got back has been slow and steady,"
said Landewee, 42, who lives in Kansas City, Mo. "It's basically
been working its way down."
In March, Landewee travelled to China, where doctors implanted into
his spinal cord 4,000 olfactory ensheathing glial cells collected
from fetuses aborted during the second trimester of pregnancy. Since
his return in April, he has participated in biweekly physical
therapy along with daily regiments at home.
Landewee's injury was considered complete, with no sensation or
mobility below his fourth vertebra, as opposed to incomplete with
limited sensation or mobility. Knowing that the surgery was not a
cure, he said doctors told him that he could experience progress
over 12 to 18 months, with improvements of two levels of motor
function and four levels of sensation, which should have allowed for
limited torso control in the upper rib area.
Levels of improvement
Instead, he has exhibited eight levels of improvement, regaining
abilities associated with the 12th vertabra, said Landewee, who now
senses when his bladder is full and is able to walk 375 feet with
leg braces and a walker. He gives partial credit to the exercise and
stretching regimen that he maintained over the 10 years since his
injury, which did not allow for his muscles to atrophy. He credits
the rest of his progress to the post-surgical exercise, "because a
lot of it is 70 to 80 percent of what you put into it when you get
back."
In November, he revisited China to accompany 18-year-old Christopher
Schmieder, of Louisburg, Kan., who underwent the same surgery to
alleviate an incomplete injury at the fourth vertebra. Landewee
personally endorsed Schmieder's surgery, he said, because he
exhibited the same determination to stick with the therapy.
Starting in late summer, Landewee expects to participate in a pilot
program in China. Doctors will conduct six surgical procedures with
6,000 patients, Landewee said. In addition to stem-cell injections,
doctors will administer hormone and antibody treatments to
accelerate the regeneration of axon cells, which are insulators to
nerve cells.
jmetelski@...
Stem cell therapy sparks hope in ailing hearts
Staff and agencies
04 January, 2006
By Chawadee Nualkhair
LEADING THE CHARGE..BRISBANE
BANGKOK - Esteban Bonilla feels no trepidation as he is wheeled into
the operating room of a Bangkok hospital, despite the fact he is
only minutes away from starting an experimental stem cell procedure
he hopes will keep him alive.
"I really don?t feel nervous at all," said the 37-year-old scuba
instructor from Florida, who discovered his heart was failing at
32. "For the last five years, I?ve been waiting to die. This is the
first time I?ve been hopeful to live."
The source of Bonilla?s new-found hope is a novel therapy that
involves injecting stem cells culled from the patient?s own blood
into the heart to try to regenerate ailing heart muscle.
The two-hour procedure, which involves a patient?s own adult stem
cells, skirts the risk of rejection by the body and thorny ethical
issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells posed by some who
equate using embryos with destroying human life.
"We have not lost a single patient," said Suphachai Chaithiraphan,
chairman of Chao Phya Hospital and president of the Heart
Association of Thailand. "If you can offer help to desperate people,
then I think you should."
The destination for many of the heart patients seeking stem cell
therapy is Thailand, where doctors have staked their reputations on
a procedure they say could save thousands of people but has yet to
be approved in the United States.
"With stem cell therapy, people who have not had access to heart
transplants or resources to go to the hospital on a regular basis
can be helped," said Kitipan V. Arom, chief cardio-thoracic surgeon
at Bangkok Heart Hospital.
Kitipan, who has performed the procedure on 27 patients since May,
including Bonilla, estimates up to 500,000 Americans a year suffer
from heart failure, which leaves them winded after performing
routine activities such as climbing stairs.
But the use of stem cells -- master cells in the body which can
develop into any cell type -- remains a touchy subject for many
since very early human embryos are considered the most promising for
treating human diseases.
South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-Suk, who published a
landmark study on tailored human stem cells in May, resigned from
his post at Seoul National University on December 23 after a probe
panel said results in his paper had been fabricated.
Some scientists fret the controversy over Hwang?s case could provide
fodder for opponents of embryonic stem cell research, which is seen
as a vital step toward treatment of a host of ailments such as
spinal injuries.
Their concerns cast some skepticism over the advocates of adult stem
cell use due to fears the research may be politicized.
"Several opponents previously have claimed that any adult stem cell
could turn into any other tissue," rendering embryonic stem cell
research unnecessary, said Irving Weissman, director of the Stanford
Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in recent
comments on the Web site, mednews.stanford.edu.
"Although this notion has been thoroughly disproved by several
independent groups, those advocates persist in their claims."
Kitipan said the long-term effects of the stem cell procedure were
uncertain, and the possibility remained that patients who have had
the surgery must go under the knife again.
"The problem is only a small number of patients are being done so
far," he said. "No place else around the world, to the best of my
knowledge, does this."
The stem cell controversy is a world away for Wisconsin crop duster
pilot George Efaw, 65, who thinks this particular treatment works.
"I thought I would die when I went to sleep. I feel better now than
I did," said Efaw, whose heart was only working at 20 percent of its
capacity before the surgery.
"I?d probably be dead in six months, maybe a year. I would have sat
in my house, listened to my doctor like everyone else and died,"
said Efaw, who took out a mortgage on his home to help pay for the
$31,500 operation.
Theravitae, the company whose technology separates adult stem cells
from the blood, said the focus should be on therapy proven to work
in humans.
"Embryonic cells, by their very definition, are not from your body,"
said Robert Clark, Theravitae?s chairman. "Right now, inside your
body, you have everything necessary to build what you need now."
Theravitae is set to begin clinical trials with Thai doctors in
January to treat peripheral vascular disease, a circulatory ailment
which can lead to amputations.
Next up: Parkinson?s disease by mid-2006 and some forms of blindness
in the first quarter of 2007. Eventually, Theravitae thinks, the
technology could be used to treat emphysema, broken bones, renal
failure and diabetes.
"When I say some day, it?s not some day a million years from now,"
said Clark, a Texan who has lived in Thailand for three years. "It?s
some day five years from now or 10 years from now at the very
latest."
TARZAN CALLING
While skeptics remain, 70 heart patients worldwide have undergone
the therapy, which does not pose the risk of sparking irregular
heartbeats, unlike similar adult stem cell treatments involving
muscle or bone marrow, doctors say.
More are set to follow.
Theravitae, which says it will become profitable in January 2006,
expects 100 people a month will be coming to Thailand to seek the
stem cell treatment by June next year, and say its own patient base
has exploded by 600 percent.
One patient, Calvin Miller, a 56-year-old ex-firefighter, was
dreaming of Tarzan pounding on his chest when he awoke to discover
he was having his fifth heart attack in six weeks.
"I woke up to find a 250-pound nurse pounding on my chest," he said.
When doctors asked what he wanted after being revived, "I said I
wanted the nurse arrested for assault."
Miller, who now keeps a diagram of his heart in his front shirt
pocket at all times, says the experience has helped him bond with
other patients, who now keep in touch regularly.
"The commonality of our illness, it brings people together."
A day after his own heart surgery, Bonilla is looking forward to
returning home to his family.
"I would love to just get back into the water and dive again," he
said.
(Additional reporting by Karishma Vyas and Noppawan Bunluesilp)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10725807/
Biogen Idec downgraded at CSFB: CSFB said it is downgrading BIIB to
Underperform from Neutral on belief that "Tysabri return" trade had run
its course and Rituxan faces tricky approval.
http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/markets/analystsactions/10260257.html?cm_ven=G\
OOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
<http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/markets/analystsactions/10260257.html?cm_ven=\
GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
Reminder Reminder from the Calendar of MS_Community
Carmel's birthday!
Friday January 6, 2006
All Day
This event repeats every year.
Notes:
Carmel has an email addy of
Carmdurb@... & of
Carmel@...
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[LINK]
Reminder Reminder from the Calendar of MS_Community
Pharr, TX MS Support Group meeting
Thursday January 5, 2006
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
This event repeats every month.
Notes:
PJ attends this support group meeting. VAIL MS Support Group
meets at 105-C E. Expressway 83
VAIL (Valley Independent Living)
contact: Maria Martinez
1-866/889-7733
ADVERTISEMENT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4581694.stm
Hi Folks,
After having spent a week in hospital on a cortisone drip, I am curing this disease from Hell. I was browsing around the internet, and came across this. Has anyone looked at it? Is there such a thing, or is this more hocus pocuse?
Love
Bernie
The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:
Shortcut to: http://www.your--health.com/ms/
Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of file attachments. Check your e-mail security settings to determine how attachments are handled.
http://www.forbes.com/newsletter/2006/01/04/elan-biogen-tysabri-in_jd_0104guruso\
w_inl.html
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3369306?source=rss
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/cp-boc122705.php
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10683107/
Worst Fast Food Choices
EAT OUT AT YOUR OWN RISK
Worst Fast Food Choices
By Sabrina Rogers
AskMen.com's Nutrition Correspondent
By now, it's probably not news to you that most fast food choices are bad for your health. Packed with artery-clogging, heart-attack-causing amounts of calories, fat and sodium, many fast food items are essentially death traps in little cardboard boxes.
[INLINE]
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The Surprising No. 1 Drive-Thru Restaurant
[Netscape]
[INLINE]
[INLINE]
Dashboard Dining: How to Eat Fast Food and Lose Weight
[Netscape]
[INLINE]
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[INLINE]
What to Eat Instead of Fast Food
[WebMD]
[INLINE]
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Healthier Fast Food Choices
[Health Check Systems]
[INLINE]
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Someone Found WHAT in Wendy's Chili?!
[Truth or Fiction]
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Alarming Warning for Fast Food Lovers
[Netscape Community]
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While most fast food chains have added "healthy" or "light" items to their menus over the past couple of years, an opposite trend can also be observed: many of them are also producing new menu choices with a record high amount of calories, fat and sodium. These companies defend the availability of these unhealthy items by saying they "meet an important demand."
Don't get sucked in. You'll be putting yourself at risk for obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and many more unsightly diseases, many of which can kill you. In an effort to help you make decent fast food choices, I have picked some of the worst fast foods on the market and provided all the essential nutritional information.
If grams of fat and calories mean nothing to you, use these numbers as a guide.
The average 180-pound male should consume (per day):
[INLINE] Approximately 2,160 calories.
[INLINE] 248g to 270g of carbohydrates.
[INLINE] 126g to 162g of protein.
[INLINE] 60g or less of fat.
[INLINE] An absolute maximum of 2,400mg of sodium.
Keep those guidelines in mind when you take a look at the following astounding nutrition facts.
Breakfast
Order Calories Fat (saturated fat) Carbs Protein Sodium
Burger King Enormous Omelet Sandwich 730 47g (17g) 43g 32g 1,860mg
Carl's Jr. Breakfast Burger 830 46g (15g) 65g 38g N/A
Denny's Fabulous French Toast Platter 1,261 79g (30g) 110g 44g 2,495mg
Denny's French Slam 1,196 83g (29g) 74g 48g 2,302mg
Burgers
Order Calories Fat (saturated fat) Carbs Protein Sodium
Hardee's Monster Thickburger 1,417 107g (46g) 49g 64g 2,651mg
Burger King Double Whopper with Cheese 1,060 69g (27g) 53g 56g 1,540mg
Wendy's Big Bacon Classic 580 29g (12g) 45g 33g 1,430mg
McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese 770 47g (20g) 39g 46g 1,440mg
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Find out which sandwiches, pizzas and even salads will do serious damage to your waistline, and worse... Next at AskMen.com!
Reported January 6, 2006
Breakthrough for MS -- Research Summary
BACKGROUND: About 400,000 Americans are living with Multiple sclerosis. MS is a progressive and disabling neurological illness that affects the brain and spinal cord. A disruption of nerve signals causes a variety of symptoms that can affect vision, sensation and body movements. MS can also affect cognitive functions. Between 40 percent to 60 percent of patients experience cognitive impairment, which is defined by neuropsychological testing. MS affects about twice as many women as men. It can strike when people are as young as 15 to 20 years old.
FORMS OF MS: Most MS patients have one of two types of the disease. The majority of patients have relapsing-remitting MS. This is characterized by clinical attacks, followed by complete or incomplete remission. Most patients develop symptoms like double vision or blindness on one eye, sensory loss, or muscle weakness in one or more limbs. The disease course is highly variable. It can take a very benign course, where patients are virtually symptom-free, or it can be very aggressive for patients. Patients with primary-progressive MS (PPMS) don't have clinical attacks, but they instead accumulate neurological disability from the onset of the disease. The disease course is more uniform in that patients will invariably do a little bit worse than patients with relapsing-remitting. However, there are no effective treatments for primary-progressive MS, while there are effective treatments for relapsing-remitting. Women are more commonly affected with relapsing-remitting multiple
sclerosis, whereas men and women are equally affected with primary progressive.
TREATMENT: Patients with relapsing-remitting MS are typically treated with global immunosuppressive drugs. These target patients' T cells. Global immune suppression means doctors really target all components of the immune system -- all cells that are involved in an immune response. And that means, according to Olaf Stuve, M.D., Ph.D., a neurologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, that you're likely shutting off parts of the inflammatory cascade that may actually be beneficial to multiple sclerosis patients. Dr. Stuve says: "We know very little about the immune response of multiple sclerosis. But clearly there are many unknowns or adverse affects associated with global immune suppression."
RITUXIMAB: Dr. Stuve is studying the use of the cancer drug rituximab (Rituxan) in MS patients. Rituximab targets B cells. Dr. Stuve says there may be certain patients whose B cells, as opposed to T cells, play a dominant role in their disease. In those cases, Rituximab may work where other global immunosuppressive drugs haven't. It also targets just one aspect of the immune system, which makes it, according to Dr. Stuve, a more rational sort of treatment than global immune suppression. Dr. Stuve says side effects experienced from typical treatment and rituximab are fairly similar -- most commonly, flu-like symptoms. However, patients are often treated with chemotherapy, where side effects are much more severe than they appear to be with rituximab. Typical treatments also involve between once-daily and once-weekly injections. With the rituximab clinical trials, patients have one infusion and then around two weeks later, which is repeated every six months -- a big difference
from daily or weekly injections. In patients who have been treated with rituximab and haven't responded to other treatments, Dr. Stuve says: "The response to the Rituxan was really dramatic, in terms of not only stopping disease progression but really helping the patients recover some of the neurological function that they had lost in previous month and years. So, the anecdotal evidence in these cases has really impressed me personally of the efficacy of this agent." He believes rituximab is at least as affective as the most effective treatments currently used, and he speculates, emphasizing that this is his personal opinion based on his experience, that "It will be a very affective therapy and probably more effective than what we have available at this time."
UNDER STUDY: Dr. Stuve's study involves patients with primary progressive disease. Enrollment just finished, comprising 435 patients at 60 sites in the United States and Canada. Another study involving patients with relapsing-remitting disease is enrolling patients and is being by led by researchers at the University of California in San Francisco.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Aline McKenzie
Office of News and Communications
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75390-9060
(214) 648-3404
aline.mckenzie@...
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu
Related Articles in Archives:
* Delaying MS Progression -- Full-Length Doctor's Interview
* Hormone to Help MS
* MS Energy Builder
* Combo Fights MS
* Multiple Sclerosis Drug Q&A
* Stem Cell Replacement For MS
* Living With MS
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Reminder Reminder from the Calendar of MS_Community
Lynbrook MS Support Group meeting
Tuesday January 3, 2006
11:00 am - 12:15 pm
This event repeats on the first Tuesday of every month.
Notes:
Meets at the Mercy Hospital Outpatient Physical Therapy
Center at 128 Atlantic Ave., Lynbrook, NY on the 1st & 3rd
Tuesdays of the month
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Storm Over Stem Cells
Koreans lost a national hero in the scandal. But their scientists
still lead the way in biotech research.
By B. J. Lee
Newsweek International
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10682397/site/newsweek/
Jan. 9, 2006 issue - The world's stem-cell hub at Seoul National
University Hospital seemed like the epicenter of global
biotechnology when it was dedicated last October. The new lab was
built chiefly to house Hwang Woo Suk, South Korea's stem-cell-
research pioneer, whose work on human cloning was thought to be the
best bet for curing many intractable diseases, and Korea's ticket to
a world-class biotech industry. It's no wonder that Hwang's
compatriots treated him like royalty. Korean Air gave him lifetime
first-class tickets. President Roh Moo Hyun pledged $2 billion in
government funding for biotech work, gave Hwang a security detail
available to ministers and put his face on a stamp. Then everything
came crashing down. Last month Hwang resigned after revelations that
his lab had faked much of the work. The lab is now nearly deserted.
The only clue to its previous glory last week was a placard that
read: HOPE OF THE WORLD, DREAM OF KOREA.
Koreans are mourning the fall of their hero. Korea's scientists,
however, take a different view. They are confident that long after
the scandal is forgotten, Korea's biotech industry will have made up
the ground it lost in the past few weeks, and more. While Hwang's
sensational claims were drawing the attention of the world's media,
behind the scenes researchers were making significant progress in
other aspects of stem-cell research. "Dr. Hwang was not the only
stem-cell scientist Korea had," says Dr. Oh Il Hoan, director of
Catholic University Hospital's cell-research center in Seoul. "We
still have the technology, manpower and infrastructure to lead
global stem-cell research."
Even before Hwang's work became well known, Korean fertil