The Stem Cell Trekker

Dec 3 10

Wisconsin Boy Leaves For Stem Cell Transplant

by Executive Editor

Right on the heels of lighting Appleton’s (Wisconsin) Christmas Tree, 4-year-old Charlie Knuth, who suffers from a rare skin condition, is getting the ultimate Christmas present: a stem cell transplant that could save his life.

Knuth, who lives in Darboy, travels to Minneapolis Saturday for the long-awaited operation his family fought hard to get.

“Charlie is excited to go,” said Trisha Knuth, his mother.

Charlie has the life-threatening disease epidermolysis bullosa, better known as EB. He was born without the gene that binds skin together. As a result, his skin blisters frequently, inside and out.

There is no cure for EB, but doctors hope the bone marrow stem cell transplant will make Charlie’s skin stronger.

The state Medicaid office initially refused to pay for the treatment, which could top $1 million. But after Trisha Knuth contacted lawmakers for help and the community rallied around Charlie, the state relented.

Now the Knuths are gearing up for the long medical battle ahead.

Read the full article at the Post Crescent.

Dec 1 10

Journey Of CP Infant Leads to “Better Life”

by Executive Editor

Avaia looks at people’s faces.

That’s the biggest difference her mother has noticed since the St. Catherine’s (Ontario, Canada) community rallied to send the two-year-old to Germany for special bone marrow stem cell treatment.

She had trouble paying attention before. Her eyes would wander constantly. Lights attracted her attention but not her focus.

“Since we’ve been back, she’s taking time to look at things, she’s focusing a lot better, even on people’s faces,” Ashley DiMarco said.

“If she’s interested in it, it could be a toy, a person, anything, she just really takes her time to focus on what it is. She does take her breaks, but she’s doing so much better. She is much more alert.”

Avaia has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. She is unable to walk, talk or communicate, and eats through a feeding tube.

Her parents heard about the treatment at a private clinic, XCell Center in Dusseldorf, Germany and decided it was worth a shot, applying with physicians’ letters and other documentation.

When Avaia was accepted earlier this year, Ashley, a stay-at-home mom and John, who works at the hydro tunnel in Niagara Falls, began a whirlwind two months of fundraising in an effort to raise the $30,000 required for treatment and travel.

Through those fundraisers, including barbecues, yard sales, a McDonald’s event, concert and golf tournament in St. Catharines, Thorold and Welland, they met their goal.

“I want to say thank you to everybody who did help,” DiMarco said again this week. “Thanks to them, this is what happened and it’s already given her a better life.”

The Thorold family traveled to Germany Sept. 10, returning nine days later, and were told it would take several weeks to see any results.

Now two months later, Ashley DiMarco said she’s seeing improvements.

Read the full article at The Welland Tribune.

Nov 30 10

Kansas Boy Prepares For Stem Cell Transplant

by Executive Editor

Over the past year, Byrum Bittel has dropped 50 to 75 pounds. He’s lost strength in his arms, and routine tasks have become more difficult.

But he’s hoping an upcoming operation will help turn things around.

The 15-year-old Spearville (Kansas) boy suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 3,500 boys around the world. People with DMD experience progressive loss of muscle function and weakness, starting in their lower limbs and spreading to the arms, neck and other areas.

Few people with DMD live past their 30s, and breathing complications and cardiomyopathy — an enlarged heart — are common causes of death, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Byrum’s family knows there is no cure for the disease, but they are praying his upcoming surgery will buy him a few more years.

The family learned recently that Byrum is eligible for a stem cell transplant, an experimental treatment aimed at stopping the progress of his disease. The treatment will begin Jan. 31 at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama.

Read the full article at the Dodge City Daily Globe.

Nov 27 10

Doctors Testing Stem Cell Spray To Heal Burns

by Executive Editor

Surgeons and doctors at the University of Utah are testing out a topical spray that utilizes a person’s own stem cells to treat their wounds.

The treatment consists of removing red cells and combining a concentration of platelets and progenitor cells with calcium and thrombin. The final mixture looks like Jell-O, and the application process takes about 15 minutes.

The process was tested out on patient Kaye Adkins, who had an open wound on her foot that weeks of treatment — including a skin graft — had failed to heal. Adkins said she initially thought they were going to inject something into her foot and was excited to hear it was, instead, a spray that would be applied during a second graft.

This time, the graft was successful, and the wound healed.

“I had never heard of anything like that,” she said. “It was just amazing.”

Dr. Amalia Cochran of the University of Utah Health Care Burn Center said, in Adkins’ case, as in others, bacteria must be removed before the spray can be used.

Read full article at Deseret News.

Nov 26 10

Successful Treatment Of Spinal Cord Injury With Adult Stem Cells

by Executive Editor

Scientists at The Stem Cell Institute and Medistem report recovery of a spinal cord injury patient that was treated with a combination stem cell treatment. The patient suffered a crush fracture of the L1 vertebral body on May 13th, 2008 after a single propeller engine airplane crash. As a result of the spinal cord injury, the patient had severe neuropathic pain, loss of sexual and bladder function, as well as loss of movement and sensation in the legs.

According to the companies, he was treated on Oct 31-Nov 20, 2008, Jan 21-30, 2009, and July 1-10, 2009 with an adult stem cell protocol. The patient underwent a progressive recovery of sensation, mobility, and sexual and bladder function subsequent to each cycle of stem cell administration. Currently the patient is capable of walking and neuropathic pain diminished substantially.

“The doctors at the Stem Cell Institute have changed my life. After the accident there was no hope. Now I have a new lease on life,” said Juan Carlos Murillo Rodriguez, the patient who was treated. “I have recently passed my physical and am flying again as a commercial pilot.”

Details of the scientific rationale for the treatment, as well as protocols and outcomes may be found in the peer-reviewed paper “Feasibility of combination allogeneic stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury: a case report” which was published in the International Archives of Medicine and is available here.

Read the full news release at MarketWatch.com.

About

Welcome to the Stem Cell Trekker newsblog! Published by the editorial staff of Stem Cell Research News, Stem Cell Business News, and Stem Cell Lab World, the Trekker's mission is to keep you up-to-date on patient experiences with stem cell treatments and therapies provided globally. You can find clinics, hospitals, and referral services in the Global Guide to Stem Cell Therapy Providers, available here. Feel free to comment on any post. (All comments are read by the staff prior to posting, so please keep them relevant, clean, and spam-free.)