Recent Medical Advances
On June 18, 2010, Businessweek reported that stem cells taken from patients' damaged eyes were used to treat their blindness caused by chemical burns. Of 112 patients treated, 77 percent had their vision restored.
On May 17, 2010, Medical News Today reported that Australian researchers have successfully treated a woman suffering from a previously unidentified disease. The disease damaged the woman's immune system, so doctors destroyed her immune system and replaced it using adult stem cells from bone marrow.
On April 8, 2010, Reuters reported that Biotech company Celgene has used adult stem cells from placentas in a clinical trial to treat Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease. The preliminary trial tested safety of the procedure and resulted in remission in four of 12 patients. Umbilical cord blood and placentas are usually thrown away if not donated after birth.
On February 13, 2010, the Plainfield Sun reported that Jennifer Osman, who suffers from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), received a treatment with her own stem cells in 2005 and hasn't needed treatment since 2008. Osman, the first CIDP patient to ever receive a stem cell treatment, said she was nearly symptom-free.
On February 12, 2010, The Medical News reported on Grant Medical Center's announcement of the results from their study using adult stem cells to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Thirteen of the 16 patients in the study avoided undergoing major amputations.
On January 18, 2010, the Telegraph published a story which relates how scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have discovered a more efficient way to use umbilical cord blood stem cells to treat people suffering from leukemia. Researchers added an engineered protein that increases the number of stem cells in a unit of cord blood. Seven of 10 patients were successfully treated in the study.
On December 22, 2009, the Guardian reported that British researchers have restored sight to eight patients suffering from Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency (LSCD) using their own bone marrow stem cells. A larger study of the treatment is underway according to the story.
On December 16, 2009, Sky News reported that British doctors successfully treated a man named Andrew Kent with stem cells from his own bone marrow after a boulder fell on him and broke his leg in five places. Without the treatment, Kent would have likely had to have his leg amputated.
On December 14, 2009, ABC News in Australia reported a man named Ben Leahy is now able to walk again after his multiple sclerosis was treated with his own bone marrow stem cells. The treatment involves destroying a patient's immune system and then replenishing it with their bone marrow stem cells.
On December 9, 2009, Reuters reported that National Institutes of Health researchers cured sickle cell disease in 9 out of 10 patients using adult stem cells in the bone marrow of the patients' siblings.
On November 9, 2009, FOX News reported that a Colorado girl who suffered from cerebral palsy was successfully treated with adult stem cells from her own umbilical cord blood. The girl was two years old at the time of her treatment in 2008. The lead doctor of the study will conduct a clinical trial of the procedure in the near future, according to the story.
On October 18, 2009, WWJ Newsradio reported that a study directed by a Wayne State University researcher has shown that adult stem cells taken from patients' noses can treat spinal cord injuries. Thirteen of the twenty paralyzed patients in the study showed some improvement.
On September 24, 2009, Sky News reported that British and Greek doctors used a first-ever treatment combining adult stem cells with an artificial heart to save a man suffering from heart failure. The patient had suffered two heart attacks and been in the hospital for four months.
On September 1, 2009, the Telegraph reported that a British hospital used an adult stem cell treatment as an alternative to artificial hip replacements. The technique uses adult stem cells from a patient's own bone marrow mixed with ground-up bone fragments. The mixture is placed where damaged tissue was removed. Five of the six patients have had successful treatments.
On May 28, 2009, the BBC reported that researchers from Australia used adult stem cells grown on contact lenses to heal the damaged corneas of three patients. According to researchers, each patient saw dramatic improvement in their vision in weeks.
On May 19, 2009, Reuters reported a study showing that injecting bone marrow adult stem cells into patients with ischemic heart disease can help improve their condition. The treatments resulted in improved blood flow and ability to exercise.
On April 15, 2009, the BBC reported that adult stem cells have been used to successfully treat patients with type 1 diabetes. Twenty of twenty-three patients were insulin-free for a period of months or years after receiving a treatment of their own adult stem cells.
On April 5, 2009, The Charleston Post & Courier reported a study showing that bone marrow stem cells can treat limb ischemia. Doctors successfully healed a man with poor circulation in his foot caused by diabetes, saving the foot from amputation.
On March 31, 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported that researchers from the University of Texas have begun a program to use adult stem cells from bone marrow to treat patients who have recently suffered a stroke.
On March 28, 2009, Science Daily reported that California researchers have published a report showing that bone marrow adult stem cells could be used to treat spinal cord injuries. Eight patients in the study showed some improvement after the bone marrow cells were injected into them by multiple routes.
On February 16, 2009, Breitbart.com published a press release from NeuroGeneration, a Californian research company, about the research journal publication of their peer-reviewed successful clinical trial that safely treated a Parkinson's patient with his own adult neural stem cells. The company plans a larger clinical trial to continue testing the effectiveness of the treatment.
On February 11, 2009, CNN reported that a team of German scientists used adult stem cells to treat a leukemia patient who was HIV-positive and this treatment appears to have eliminated HIV from his body. The doctors used stem cells from a donor with a gene mutation that is resistant to HIV. Two years after the treatment the patient has no signs of HIV.
On January 30, 2009, the Chicago Sun Times reported how Northwestern University researcher Richard Burt used adult stem cells to treat multiple sclerosis and "dramatically reverse disabling symptoms" it causes in 80% of the patients in his study.