TUESDAY, Aug. 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Two women with a rare disorder called stiff person syndrome recovered after receiving transplants of their own stem cells, a study shows. Stiff person syndrome is rare neurological disease that causes stiffness of the skeletal muscles and painful muscle spasms. In severe cases, the disorder makes it difficult to move or walk. Both of the women were treated in Canada by a team led by Dr. Sheilagh Sanders of the University of Ottawa. Stem cell transplantation using a patient's own cells has been used successfully in patients with autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and scleroderma, the team noted. The treatment involves eliminating diseased immune cells and then regenerating the immune system with a person's own stem cells. One of the women described in the new report began developing stiff person syndrome in 2005 when she was 48, the researchers said. She began suffering from progressively stiffer legs, overactive reflexes and frequent falling. The woman also, "walked with an abnormal 'tin soldier' gait," the team said. Despite the use of medication, her condition got so bad that by late 2008 she was forced to quit work and had become "socially withdrawn." Hoping to … Continue reading →

New York, California (PRWEB) August 28, 2014 The Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group announces a series of free public seminars on the use of adult stem cells for various degenerative and inflammatory conditions. They will be provided by Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, Surgeon-in-Chief, and, Dr. Nia M. Smyrniotis, Medical Director. The seminars will be held on Wednesday, September 3, 2014, at 2pm and 4pm at the City Limits Diner, at 135 Harvard Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902. Please RSVP at (917) 410-7391. The Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group is an affiliate of the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center, which abide by investigational protocols using adult adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) which can be deployed to improve patients quality of life for a number of degenerative and chronic inflammatory conditions and diseases. ADSCs are taken from the patients own adipose (fat) tissue (found within a cellular mixture called stromal vascular fraction (SVF). ADSCs are exceptionally abundant in adipose tissue. The adipose tissue is obtained from the patient during a 15 minute mini-liposuction performed under local anesthesia in the doctors office. SVF is a protein-rich solution containing mononuclear cell lines (predominantly adult autologous mesenchymal stem cells), macrophage cells, endothelial cells, red blood cells, … Continue reading →

MIAMI - When Bruce Daily woke up after having lumbar surgery a year ago, he realized he couldn't move the right side of his body. "It took me a long while to figure out I wasn't gonna walk again," he said. "I knew I was down." Daily, 69, had gone in for lumbar surgery at the University of Miami hospital and had an ischemic stroke while under anesthesia. An ischemic stroke results from an obstruction in a blood vessel that blocks the blood from getting to the brain. Because he was unconscious, he missed the four-to-five hour-window to apply the tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only medication available to treat ischemic strokes. The medication dissolves the clot, restoring blood flow to the brain. But while he missed that chance, he was right on time to meet Dr. Dileep Yavagal, a neurosurgeon who practices at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial hospitals. Yavagal was enrolling patients in RECOVER-stroke, a clinical trial treating recent stroke patients with stem cells from their bone marrow and applying them directly into the carotid artery, one of two arteries that supply the neck and head with blood. Daily was one of 47 patients nationwide … Continue reading →

FLORENCE, S.C. The Joint Commission, in conjunction with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, recently awarded McLeod Regional Medical Center with its Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers. Dr. Timothy Hagen, McLeod staff neuro-hospitalist, said the certification allows the hospital to work as a substitute hub with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). It allows us to evaluate and treat strokes appropriately, Hagen said. If super-intervention (with a stroke patient) is needed, we can send patients to MUSC for treatment. Last year, Hagen said more than 700 stroke patients were treated at McLeod. He said statistics show the patient population has at least a 30 percent improvement with minimal or no disability in certified hospitals. There are a lot of steps in place to get the right stroke patient the right clot buster (or tissue plasma activator) at the right time, Hagen said. With the right clot buster, one in eight acute stroke patients will go home normal that may not have otherwise. The McLeod Stroke Unit is a 16-bed facility where patients vital signs can be monitored. Dr. William Boulware, McLeod Clinical Stroke Services medical director, said certification represents a team effort. It starts with EMS, Boulware said … Continue reading →