Archive for the ‘adult stem cells’ Category

Adult Stem Cells Truly Are Life Savers

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

Rob Waddell has had a kidney transplant, but he takes no anti-rejection drugs to prevent his body from rejecting the transplanted kidney. The trick? Adult stem cells! These versatile, life-saving cells have many uses beyond tissue repair and maintenance.

Rob has a genetic problem called polycystic kidney disease. As his kidney function deteriorated, he was told by his doctor that he would need a kidney transplant.

With organ transplants, the recipient must usually take large doses of anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life, to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. But the drugs are also a double-edged sword, because their toxicity eventually can lead to deterioration of the transplanted organ, especially in the case of kidneys.

“I’ve had two uncles that’ve died from this disease. At early ages. I mean they went on dialysis, they had a transplant, something happened, they’re no longer here. Their kids are, without a dad!”, Rob said.

Rob says, “I decided to do the stem cell transplant because I didn’t want to live the rest of my life on immune rejection drugs.”

Rob signed up for a clinical trial where he received bone marrow adult stem cells from the kidney donor. Those adult stem cells became part of Rob’s immune system, and “re-trained” his body to recognize the donated kidney as his own.

Rob now lives a fully active life, and WITHOUT taking anti-rejection drugs. All because of the adult stem cell transplant. Adult stem cells really are life savers.

Click the video below to hear from Rob and his wife, Karen and see how active Rob is now since he received full adult stem cell therapy within a medical setting.

Provided by: www.nationalrighttolifenews.org

Toddler Given Life-Saving Windpipe Transplant Using Her Stem Cells

Friday, May 3rd, 2013
As reported in The Telegraph

 

Hannah receives a visit from her parents at the Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria after receiving a new windpipe using her own adult stem cells.

Hannah receives a visit from her parents at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria after receiving a new windpipe using her own adult stem cells.

A South Korean-Canadian toddler has been given a life-saving windpipe transplant made from plastic fibres and some of her own stem cells.

Hannah Warren, aged two, was born without a trachea and is now the youngest person to ever receive a bio-engineered organ, after an operation in the United States.

She had spent her life in an intensive care unit in Seoul, with a feeding tube keeping her alive. Doctors had initially given Hannah little chance of surviving.

The nine-hour transplant was a life-saving surgery for the child, who was unable to breathe, speak, swallow, eat or drink on her own since birth.

Because the procedure used stem cells from her own bone marrow rather than a donor organ, her immune system is unlikely to reject the transplant. Doctors said she could return home and lead a normal life within months.

“The most amazing thing, which for this little girl is a miracle, is that this transplant has not only saved her life, but it will eventually enable her to eat, drink and swallow, even talk, just like any other normal child,” said lead surgeon Paolo Macchiarini of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

“She will go from being a virtual prisoner in a hospital bed to running around and playing with her sister and enjoying a normal life, which is a beautiful thing.”

Scientists hope the stem cell-based therapy will diminish reliance on human organ donors and the associated risks of immune system suppression.

“We are crossing frontiers with these transplants,” Macchiarini said in a statement.