My blog

CCSVI

Fri, 6 Aug 2010 15:27:49 -0700

It has been a year since I underwent stemcell treatment in an attempt to cure my MS. Although the treatment had no effect for me, stemcell therapy may yet prove to be a valuable treatment for certain kinds of MS unlike whatever mine is. So, it is now time to move on to the next hopeful treatment. I am now on a waiting list at Stanford Medical Center for clinical trials researching CCSVI. The trials are scheduled tentatively to begin sometime in the Fall. If accepted, I will post updates and details of my experience during the trials.

Stem Cell Institute

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:54:04 -0700

Stem Cell Institute
June 10, 2010
Dear Friends

Recently, there has been some misinformation in the news and on the Internet regarding Cell Medicine/The Stem Cell Institute. We are writing you today to share the facts.
In early June, The Stem Cell Institute proactively and independently made the business decision to close its clinic and lab in Costa Rica and centralize all operations in Panama City, Panama, where we have operated since 2007.
We came to this decision after careful and thoughtful consideration. Simply put, while Costa Rica is a wonderful country, its unpredictable and changing regulatory landscape imposed too much uncertainty. Because we follow the highest standards of ethics, transparency and consistency, the lack of clarity regarding adult stem cell treatment regulation in Costa Rica was too great a risk to continue our work there.
Some erroneous media reports have suggested that we were shut down by Costa Rica's Health Ministry. This is false. In fact, the Health Minister herself recently issued a clarification stating that in no way did she or anyone within her department order the closure of our facility. While it was difficult, the decision to close our facility and consolidate all operations in Panama was made independently and voluntarily by Cell Medicine/The Stem Cell Institute.
We will dearly miss our colleagues, patients and friends in Costa Rica and are very proud of our work there. In just four years, we helped hundreds of people who are challenged with chronic diseases for which there are inadequate standard therapies, such as Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Muscular Dystrophy, and Spinal Cord Injuries.
Moving forward, the company's commitment to helping patients with chronic diseases benefit from new, cutting edge adult stem cell therapies is unchanged. Our vibrant, growing clinic in Panama City has already served more than 150 patients since opening in 2007. The government of Panama has clearly-defined laws that regulate adult stem cell therapies. Moreover, Panama City is an easily accessible metropolitan city with world-class facilities and accommodations to better serve our patients. The Stem Cell Institute's facilities in Panama are fully licensed and certified, and we stand ready to work with you to address your specific challenges.
Please, if you have any questions or concerns, call us at 1-800-980-STEM. Included with this correspondence is a "Frequently Asked Questions" document that addresses many common questions regarding this change. Lastly, we have created a Facebook page where our community of doctors and patients can connect to share information and learn more about the promising advancement of adult stem cell therapies. Go to www.facebook .com and search for The Stem Cell Institute. When you "like" our Facebook.com page you will become a part of our online community.
Thank you for your support and understanding. Every day, current and former patients refer others with chronic diseases to our clinic. This is a testament to the work of our highly trained doctors and other medical specialists who have dedicated years to uncovering new treatments to aid those challenged by chronic diseases. Together with you we are building a promising future.
Kind regards,
Neil Riordan CEO

FEATURE - Costa Rica puts brakes on popular stem cell tourism

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 12:30:55 -0700

By Leslie Josephs
Mon Jun 7, 2010 8:12am IST
WORLD
Costa Rica (Reuters) - Costa Rica is cracking down on an unauthorized stem cell clinic that has attracted hundreds of foreigners seeking relief from degenerative diseases and serious injuries.
Better known for its idyllic tropical beaches and lush cloud forests, Costa Rica's many hospitals and clinics have made medical tourism one of the fastest growing segments of its tourism sector, the motor of its economy.
They lure tens of thousands of foreigners seeking surgery, dental work, cancer treatment, cosmetic surgery, and dozens of other procedures at a fraction of their cost in the United States.
Until this week, one of those draws was stem cell treatment, using master cells gleaned from umbilical cords, fat and elsewhere.
The health ministry last month ordered the country's largest stem cell clinic to stop offering treatments, arguing there is no evidence that the treatments work or are safe.
"If (stem cell treatment's) efficiency and safety has not been proven, we don't believe it should be used," said Dr. Ileana Herrera, chief of the ministry's research council. "As a health ministry, we must always protect the human being.
The clinic's owner, Arizona entrepreneur Neil Riordan, told Reuters he closed the clinic and admitted the treatments, involving the removal and re-injection of stem cells, had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"I think her point was that it is not FDA approved," he said in a telephone interview from Panama.
The ministry said the clinic had a permit to store the adult stem cells, extracted from patients' own fat tissue, bone marrow and donated umbilical cords, but is not authorized to perform the treatment.

OUTRAGED PATIENTS
Some of his patients were outraged that the clinic was forced to close.
"I think it's ridiculous, in all honesty," said Cranston Rodgers, a 67-year-old former billing materials salesman from Las Vegas, who received treatment from the clinic three years ago for an aggressive case of multiple sclerosis.
"I know what it did for me. I haven't used a cane or a scooter since I used the first treatment."
Since Riordan's Institute of Cellular Medicine opened in 2006, about 400 foreigners, mostly from the United States, have undergone the experimental treatment unavailable in North America and Europe to treat multiple sclerosis, spinal injuries, diabetes and other ailments.
Raul Montejo, a 48-year-old South Florida neurologist who was paralyzed from the waist down in October when he crashed into a telephone pole while driving home, said he he got some feeling back in his leg after treatments.
"I'm not getting up and running, but I'm making very good progress," Montejo said in an interview at the clinic in April.
But other experts note that without controlled clinical trials, there is no way to know if the treatment is making such differences or some other factor, and worry that the clinic exploits ill patients' desperation with an unproven remedy.
The International Society of Stem Cell research has cautioned against so-called stem cell tourism.
"The (U.S.) clinical trials are ambiguous at the moment," said Dr. David Scadden, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston.
"When these kinds of treatments are proposed, they're being essentially marketed by virtue of the anecdotal report. I feel the danger of exploitation is extremely high."

MASTER CELLS
Riordan's team uses adult stem cells, which can be found throughout the body. These master cells give rise to many different tissues and blood cells and are standard treatments for leukemias and a few other genetic diseases.
They are different from embryonic stem cells, taken from human embryos. Costa Rica is heavily Roman Catholic and the use of embryonic stem cells, taken from human embryos, is prohibited.
While still in the clinical trial phase in the United States, researchers are working to use stem cells to treat heart disease, Parkinson's disease and other disorders.
But Riordan has not followed the careful procedures more common in a clinical trial, which involve checking patients given the treatment against patients who have a sham therapy to rule out the placebo effect.
Riordan, who spent years developing cancer vaccines in Arizona, but has never treated a patient with stem cells, calls the treatment groundbreaking.
"I've seen more medical firsts in the past four years than probably most people ever see in their lives," Riordan, who operates a larger clinic he plans to expand in neighboring Panama, said in an interview. "For me it's very exciting."
Riordan has a U.S. company called Aidan Products that sells, among other things, a nutritional supplement that his team says can stimulate the body's production of blood stem cells.
He is also chairman of Arizona-based Medistem Inc. a company that seeks to commercialize stem cell therapies, particularly with cells extracted from menstrual blood.
Even patients who have seen positive results refuse to classify Riordan's therapy as a miracle treatment.
Holly Huber, a 37-year-old business old business developer from San Diego, who was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, said she began feeling her feet for the first time in a year three weeks after she was injected with stem cells harvested from abdominal fat.
"I'm not going to say it's 100 percent. That's not reasonable. But can I function? Yes," she said.
Huber said she had spent $300,000 on drug and holistic treatments in the United States with little result, and turned to the $30,000 stem cell treatment in Costa Rica.
"I didn't have anything to lose." she said. (Editing by Maggie Fox and Kieran Murray)

balance work

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:05:14 -0800

At the kitchen counter, shifting weight from side to side while turning my head either in the direction, or opposite the direction of the shift to improve balance.

The Fix Is In

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:16:13 -0700

New VidLog details the Cardio Cruiser repair...