Umbilical cord stem cells converted into brain support cells

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
For the first time ever, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases. “This is the first time this has been done with non-embryonic stem cells,” says James Hickman, a University of Central Florida bioengineer and leader of the research group, whose accomplishment is described in the Jan. 18 issue of the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience.
Via www.sciencedaily.com

How Stem Cells Might Help ALS Patients

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Understanding how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis affects patients is key to developing stem cell treatments for the condition. In Lou Gehrig’s disease the motor neurons degenerate and die, affecting nerve signal transmission controlling movements. Motor neurons also relay information back to the central nervous system in order to allow processing before instructions for movement are sent back. Glands and organs are also affected as messages are not properly delivered to and from the CNS to allow their proper function. Motor neurons can measure a meter long and are protected by a myelin sheath that also helps insulate the nerve signals, just like the insulation on an electrical wire. Damage along any area of that neuron can affect the nerve signal transmission and produce the symptoms of ALS and it is likely that the myelin insulation would be the target of any stem cell therapy to treat ALS.
Via stemcelltreatments.org

BrainStorm sees positive data in ALS stem cell trial

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Data from the first ALS patients in a clinical trial treated with BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics adult stem cell therapy did not show significant side effects and the treatment has so far proven to be safe, the company said on Tuesday. Israel-based BrainStorm is developing NurOwn for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. There have been no significant side effects in the initial patients we have treated with BrainStorm’s NurOwn technology,” said Dimitrios Karussis, the head of Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center’s Multiple Sclerosis unit, who is leading the clinical trial. In addition, even though we are conducting a safety trial, the early clinical follow-up of the patients treated with the stem cells shows indications of beneficial clinical effects, such as an improvement in breathing and swallowing ability as well as in muscular power.
Via www.baltimoresun.com

China Stops Unapproved Stem Cell Treatments

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
China has ordered a halt to all unapproved stem cell treatments and clinical trials, state media reported on Tuesday, as Beijing seeks to rein in the largely untested stem cell therapies now on offer across the country. The Ministry of Health will stop accepting new applications for stem cell programs, a ban that will last until July and comes as China begins a one-year program to regulate the sector better, Xinhua cited a ministry spokesman as saying. A growing number of hospitals and clinics in large cities in China have been offering stem cell therapies for treatment of diseases ranging from cancer and Alzheimer’s to spinal cord injuries, treatments that are backed by little or no scientific evidence and which are considered at best experimental.
Via www.foxnews.com

Neuralstem President and CEO to Update Ongoing ALS Trial at 2012 Biotech Showcase

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Neuralstem, Inc. announces that President and CEO Richard Garr will present at the 2012 Biotech Showcase in San Francisco on Tuesday, January 10, 1:45-3:00pm PT. Garr will serve on the Therapeutic Focus Panel entitled, “Neurodegenerative Disease, Ophthalmology and Spinal Injury,” featured in the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) Insight Track. Garr will also present a business overview, including an update on the world’s first FDA-approved stem cell injections in the cervical region, in its ongoing ALS cell therapy Phase I trial.
Via www.marketwatch.com

Three arrested for peddling miracle stem cell cure

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Three men were arrested and a fourth is being sought by the FBI in what investigators said was a scheme to market stem cells as miracle cures to desperate people suffering from terminal diseases. The arrests began in the past 10 days after two indictments were issued in November charging the four with 39 counts of mail fraud and unlawfully manufacturing, distributing and selling stem cells and stem cell procedures not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FBI said the men received more than $1.5 million from patients suffering from incurable diseases.
Via www.reuters.com

American scientist arrested in stem-cell clinic sting

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
An American university scientist was arrested on 27 December, accused of supplying stem cells for use in unapproved therapies. The US Department of Justice says Vincent Dammai, a researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, supplied the stem cells without the approval of his university or of the US Food and Drug Administration. Two other men, Francisco Morales of Brownsville, Texas, and Alberto Ramon, of Del Rio, Texas, were also arrested this week as part of the case. A fourth man, Lawrence Stowe of Dallas, Texas, has been charged and a warrant is out for his arrest, according to an FBI press release.
Via blogs.nature.com

Grafting of human spinal stem cells into ALS rats best with immunosuppressant combination

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
A team of researchers grafting human spinal stem cells into rats modeled with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” a degenerative, lethal, neuromuscular disease, have tested four different immunosuppressive protocols aimed at determining which regimen improved long-term therapeutic effects. Their study demonstrated that a combined, systematically delivered immunosuppression regimen of two drugs significantly improved the survival of the human spinal stem cells
Via www.eurekalert.org