StemCell Therapy

Sports Medicine

"Sports medicine" has become the general description for any medical and orthopaedic care of the physically active. However, we, the staff and physicians at The Sports Medicine Clinic, firmly believe that no one else in the Pacific Northwest understands and practices sports medicine as we have since 1963.

Besides specialty training, virtually all of our physicians have additional advanced sports medicine fellowship training. Our team includes primary care and sports medicine physicians, orthopedic and podiatric surgeons, physical therapists and a physiatrist.

As demonstration of our deep commitment to practice sports medicine in its truest spirit, our physicians at The Sports Medicine Clinic bring our expertise to the community and actively serve as team physicians and consultants for Seattle area's most accomplished sports teams, from high school to collegiate and professional levels. You will also see our physicians providing official medical coverage at many of the popular sports arenas and events across the Puget Sound region.

Regardless of the cause or the nature of your condition, The Sports Medicine Clinic brings that same level of commitment to help you overcome your injury and achieve your goals. We work with both youth and adult patients to:

Please give us a call if you have any questions about our sports medicine services or to schedule an appointment: (206) 368-6100.

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Live Cell Therapy:

Live cell therapy was developed in Switzerland by Dr. Niehans. Over 2400 years ago, Hippocrates had theorized that, for example, if you had liver problems, the answer would be found in the healthy liver of a young animal because the livers of both man and animals operate almost exactly the same way. His theory applied to all organs and glands of the body: heart, lung, thymus, adrenals, spleen, etc.

Over the centuries, doctors and scientists scoffed at Hippocrates' theory. In the 1930s, Dr. Niehans reported success in curing a variety of illnesses with injections of live cell extracts from healthy animal organs mirroring the diseased organ in the human.

In the 1960's, however, separate radioactive labelling studies at the University of Vienna and the University of Heidelberg, showed unquestionably, that the vital constituents of a calf's gland or organ, when injected into a human, went directly to that same gland or organ. It appeared that the live cells offered unique biochemicals specifically needed by the diseased gland or organ which were unattainable elsewhere!

Dr. Niehans felt that the constituents of the gland or organ had to be extracted before the gland or organ began to deteriorate. He had his own cattle ranch next to his Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland, and butchered the calf the same day he planned to use its gland or organ. So, the gland or organ was still warm or "live" when he processed it. Unfortunately, extracting the important substances was excruciatingly slow. That's why the costs to go to the Clinique were so high.

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More about Dr. Paul Niehans:

The following is an excerpt from the book, Feeling Younger Longer, by Cornel Lumiere, 1973:

....In his Introduction to Cellular Therapy, Neihans devotes a brief section to "The Fate of the Cells After Injection." His opening sentence declares bluntly: "Nothing certain can be said on this subject, as the practitioners of this system of treatment are still of different opinions" (19, p.35).

He presented the varying theories in a series of questions:

1. When it is a question of cells needed by our organism, do the cells injected into the muscles remain alive and do they make their way towards the organ of which they bear the name if that organ is impaired? In other words, do the cells in question really make their way to the impaired organ? 2. Or do the injected cells continue to live in the muscles at the site of injection, the blood vessels assuring the supply of oxygen at the same time as the elimination of excretions? In other words, is it possible that the cells remain alive at the site of the injection and act on the impaired organ from a distance? 3. Or are the injected cells, attacked by antibodies, broken down into their elements, and are these elements utilized by the organism to rehabilitate the impaired organ? That is to say, disintegration of the injected cell, then utilization of the material by the organism for the purpose of reconstruction (19, pp. 35-36).

Niehans insist[ed] ... strongly [on] the use of ... whole cells rather than isolated components. He says: "Cells contain nuclei, chromosomes, granular tissue, mitochondria, protoplasm and many other materials. Many efforts have been made of late years to isolate these active substances and to inject them--a useless task--for the results obtained by using the cell itself as a unity (that is, according to the classical method of cellular therapy) are infinitely superior" (19, pp. 37-38).

While I was at the Clinique La Prairie, I asked Dr. Michel why cells were used in preference to hormones, since cells were frequently taken from glands such as the thyroid, hypothalamus, parathyroid, adrenals, and the sex glands. He replied to the effect that, although some excellent results have been achieved with hormones in a variety of complaints or deficiencies, in his experience and that of Professor Niehans, hormones are only a substitute, where cells actually cause a continuous regeneration by nature.

Niehans puts the case against hormones more strongly: "As the organism does not store hormones but produces only the quantities corresponding to the needs of the moment, treatment by hormones is only a temporary form of treatment and does not lead to a cure. This is precisely what happens with insulin. To that then is added in course of time an atrophy caused by inactivity of the gland, its cellular functions being totally exhausted.

"Hormonal therapy also has its limits. How, for example, can we treat a lesion of the [pituitary] with hormones when the cells of the [pituitary] act in part cyclically, in part according to the needs of the moment, and when the gland, according to our present knowledge, possesses 24 different hormone13s? (19, p.15).

Whole cells work better than isolated components and hormones. (19, p.112)

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Lyophilisate Whole Cells:

Treatment can be done with lyophilisate whole cells from Cytobiopharmica of Germany. Dr. Gerhard Heinstein, from Lohr, Germany, has twenty years experience in the use of whole, live cells with children and adults.

Some physicians have expressed concern about potential antibody/antigen reactions to whole cell therapy. To date, no adverse antigen and antibody reactions to the use of lyophilisates has been reported.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology was awarded to Dr.'s Peter Medawar and Macfarlane Burnett in 1960, for their work in transplantation immunity. They showed that lyophilized tissue will not provoke an immune reaction. They also showed that fetal cells are less antigenic than any other types of cells. These studies were performed transfering allogenic spleen cell suspensions and leukocytes, which in the fresh state are highly immunogenic, from A-mice to CBA-mice.

When lyophilisized cells are implanted (injected), they are broken down by macrophages (tissue histiocytes). According to Dr.Trotsky of Israel, in 1985, the implantation of lyophilisized cells into 300 adults and children had only the production of local histamine at the site of injection in 10% of the population. This was an IgE mediated response. In his study, 5% had lethary and flu-like sypmtoms lasting 2-3 days, 5% with a slight rise in temperature for a couple hours to days, 30% with malaise lasting 10-15 days, 50% without any side effects, and 10% with Cell Therapy Local Reaction (CTLR) wherein, the histamine response took place. In an unpublished study, and personal communication with Dr. Harvey Good, a pediatrition in Scotland, he notes that in children the side effects are less, and approximately 75% of the children have no adverse response what so ever. If adults or children go through a general detoxification prior to cellular therapy, the incidence drops even further.

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Oral Organ Extracts:

In support of Hippocrates theory and Niehans therapy, Dr. W. Boecker directed a double-blind clinical trial on 146 patients with cirrhosis of the liver. Half were given a placebo, and half took a liver extract. Sixty-seven percent of those taking the liver extract had significant improvement in liver function (more than placebo).

In another double-blind study of 600 patients suffering from hepatitis, Dr. Kiyoshi Fujisawa at the Jikei Universtiy School of Medicine in Tokyo, showed that, in only 12 weeks, 35% of the patients taking a liver extract showed substantial improvement (better than placebo). He stated, "the results of this study clearly demonstrate that oral administration of liver hydrolysate preparations can be useful in the treatment of chronic hepatitis, and this efficacy is thought to derive from improved function of damaged hepatocytes and from subsidence of active changes of the liver.

Dr. Pietro Cazzola conducted a study of 130 patients with malfunctions of the immune system and reported that treating those patients with thymic gland extracts improved their conditions.

Dr. D.M. Kouttab of the Roger Williams Hospital and Brown University, reported health efficacy for extracts of the adrenal cortex.

Dr. Franco Pandolfi of the medical school at the University of Rome directed a double-blind clinical trial on elderly hospitalized patients. Half of the patients were given a thymic extract and half took a placebo. Those taking the extract had fewer infections over a six-month period than those receiving the placebo.

Dr. V. Cangemi followed 25 patients taking thymic extracts after cancer surgery and found that none of them got infections. Tests showed that their immune systems were substantially bolstered by the thymic extracts compared to controls.

Dr. Massimo Fedrico guided a double-blind clinical trial of 134 people undergoing chemotherapy. Half of the patients were given thymic extracts, and they lived 49% longer than those taking a placebo.

Dr. Alec Fiocchi led a double-blind clinical trial on patients with chronic respiratory infections. Half of the patients were given thymic extracts, and the other half received placebos. In only three months, but not during the winter cold season, those taking the thymic extracts had 30% fewer infections than the placebo group.

Tuftsin is a peptide found in spleen extracts. Dr. I. Florentin reported in the journal, Cancer Immunology, that laboratory animals given tuftsin showed a significant 3.1 fold increase of disease-fighting cells. Dr. M.S. Wleklik found that even the tiniest amount of tuftsin in vitro stimulated the production of TNF lymphokines. These lymphokines are killers of tumor cells. Dr. M. Bruley-Rosset gave elderly mice tuftsin for a few months, reporting in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, that the capacity of disease-fighting macrophages in these old mice was restored to the level of much younger mice. Dr. M. Fridkin found that a deficiency of tuftsin is commonly found in people who get frequent infections as well as in cancer patients. AIDS patients also have very little tuftsin in their systems.

Calf heart extracts have 17 amino acids, five B vitamins, folic acid, calcium, iron, heparin, coenzyme Q10, cytochrome C and mesoglycan. A clinical study of the use of calf aorta in patients affected by chronic atherosclerotic arteriopathies showed a significant increase in femoral venous blood flow and an anticoagulant activity.

Folic acid is reported to reduce the oxidation of cholesterol Coenzyme Q10 assists the heart muscle in energy production. Cytochrome C helps all cells in the body convert oxygen and nutrients to energy.

The aorta is composed of a substance called mesoglycan, which provides structural support.

Dr. G. Laurora and researchers from the Cardiovascular Institute conducted double-blind trials on patients with early stages of arteriosclerosis (clogged arteries). Half of the patients received mesoglycan, and half took a placebo. A small section of one artery was scanned with high-resolution ultrasound before and after treatment. At the end of 18 months, the occlusion of the arteries of the patients taking the placebo had increased seven times more than those taking mesoglycan. Several clinical trials have shown that mesoglycan also deters blood clots and reduces the risk of strokes--even for people who have severely clogged arteries. Dr. F. Vecchio found that patients given mesoglycan for only 15 days experienced a 20% drop in "bad" cholesterol and 44% increase in "good" cholesterol.

A commercial product, Bioactive Cell Complex, is made from specific organ cells from young animals. The cells are "predigested" to liberate their ingredients. This matieral is freeze dried for maximum preservation. The orally ingested cells are organ-specific but not species-specific.

Theoretically, with autistic children, one would administer brain cells or gut cells for maximum efficacy.

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Stem Cell Therapy:

In principle, stem cells (immature cells that have not yet differentiated into specific types of cells) can be used to repair bone, cartilage, tendon and other injured or aged tissues. These cells can be derived from the patient's own bone marrow and thus present no problem of immune rejection.

Biologist at Osiris Therapeutics, in Baltimore, MD, have shown that human mesenchymal stem cells can be converted into bone cells, cartilage cells, fat cells and the stroma cells in the bone marrow that provide support for blood-forming cells.

Dr. Daniel R. Marshak, Osiris' chief scientific officer, said the mesenchymal stem cells could be formulated so that, when inserted in the right place in the body, they would change into the appropriate tissue.

Tests in animals show that when the cells are grown on ceramic and put into bone, they turn into bone-forming cells. If grown in a gel and inserted into cartilage, they metamorphose into cartilage cells. If injected into the bloodstream, the cells take up residence in the bone and turn into stroma cells.

A clinical trial is under way with breast cancer patients to explore the cells' stroma-forming abilities. Lack of stroma to support blood-forming cells may be why the bone marrow transplants given to cancer patients after chemotherapy are not always successful.

With Novartis AG, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Osiris also plans to test in humans the cells' abilities to form new bone, tendon and cartilage.

The cells can also be converted to fat cells, which could prove useful in cosmetic surgery and possibly as material for breast implants.

Dr. Mark F. Pittenger,who identified the various factors needed to convert the cells into bone, cartilage, and fat, said he is now working to change them into heart-muscle cells. People are born with a fixed number of heart-muscle cells and the heart grows by enlargement of these cells, not by growing more. "We hope at the least we could prevent some of the scarring after a heart attack by implanting new cells," Pittenger said.

The human mesenchymal stem cells found in adult bone marrow are derived from the mesoderm, one of the three tissue types of the early embryo and the source of all the body's bone and connective tissue. The adult stem cells evidently retain much, and possibly all, of the mesoderm's magical plasticity.

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Research: "The Myelin Project":

The exciting work of researchers funded by The Myelin Project, whose goal is to remyelinate the human central nervous system, may someday have benefits for autistic children. Only time will tell if a specific area of damaged neurons can be found and potentially repaired with stem cells.

The first human trial, conducted by Dr. Timothy Vollmer at Yale University School of Medicine, will attempt to transplant myelin-forming Schwann cells into the brains of five patients with multiple sclerosis. The cells will be obtained from the sural nerves of the patients themselves. Although Schwann cells normally produce myelin in the peripheral nervous system, several recent experiments conducted on rodents and cats have shown these cells have the ability to remyelinate in the CNS as well.

While multiple sclerosis is a long way from autism, there is discussion of anti-myelin antibodies in autism, and there is talk of inflammatory processes involving myelin. Whether this technology can help autism if it works for multiple sclerosis is anybody's guess, but it's exciting to wonder about.

The Myelin Project funds a Cell Culture Unit at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Dr. Su-chun Zhang continues to generate cultures with ever-higher percentages of human oligodendrocyte precursors (OPs). Oligodendrocytes are the cells that normally myelinate the CNS. If obtainable in sufficient quantity, they would provide an alternative to Schwann cells for transplantation. The Unit has developed a method to track transplanted OPs by MRI, labeling the cells with iron particles. In another recent experiment, Dr. Baron-Van Evercooren and colleagues were able to remyelinate as many as 55% of the nerves in monkey spinal cord lesions by transplanting the monkeys' own Schwann cells. These initial positive results, however, have not been confirmed in subsequent attempts. She suspects that the viral labels she used to distinguish the transplanted cells caused them to die. She is trying again without viral labeling. If successful, this experiment would prove that CNS remyelination is feasible in higher animals.

Several researchers funded by The Myelin Project have injected myelin-forming cells into the ventricles of the brain of experimental animals and have shown that these cells were transported by the cerebrospinal fluid to all regions of the brain. This makes it more likely that injected cells will travel to where the myelin needs to be repopulated.

The Myelin Project has funded Dr. Oliver Brstle of the University of Bonn, Germany, and Dr. Evan Snyder of Harvard University to work with neural stem cells (NSC). These are self-renewing, multipotent cells, capable of differentiating into the major types of neural cells, including oligodendrocytes. One of their most potentially beneficial properties is their tendency to respond to signals in the CNS environment. In CNS diseases, these signals guide the cells to damaged areas. Second, they prompt them to differentiate into the specific cell type needed for the repair -- neurons in nerve diseases like Parkinson's and oligodendrocytes in myelin disorders like the leukodystrophies and multiple sclerosis.

NSCs are typically of fetal origin, but have also been found in the adult brain. NSCs can be multiplied in culture indefinitely as an "immortal" cell line. They could eventually provide an inexhaustible source of myelin-forming cells, eliminating the need for obtaining them from fresh tissue. Several research centers are now testing human NSCs to verify their safety and in particular to rule out any risk of their becoming cancerous. If this testing concludes favorably, then prospective myelin repair strategies could take a two-fold approach. NSCs would be injected into the ventricular system where the cerebrospinal fluid would circulate them to all parts of the CNS. Local signals would then come into play, guiding the cells to the specific demyelinated areas.

The Myelin Project has also funded Dr. Robin Franklin of the University of Cambridge to study olfactory ensheathing cells, a third type of myelin-producing cell. He has perfected a technique for demyelinating the area of rat brain connecting the cerebellum with the brain stem. He subsequently remyelinated the area by transplanting rat Schwann cells, which adds to the body of evidence in favor of Schwann cell transplantation as a way of repairing CNS myelin lesions.

The Myelin Project has also funded Dr. Inderjit Singh of the Medical University of South Carolina to study the use of Lovastatin in the treatment of myelin disorders. The drug corrects the biochemical defect of adrenoleukodystrophy, lowering the levels of very long chain fatty acids in plasma. Preliminary studies with an animal model of MS have confirmed Lovastatin's ability to block the induction of cytokines, substances responsible for the inflammation of the CNS. We know that the levels of very long chain fatty acids and of some cytokines are elevated in autism. I am wonderijng already if Lovastatin might be worth trying for children with documented elevated very long chain fatty acids and elevated cytokines.

These studies present exciting possibilities for the future for treating neurodegenerative diseases. They may eventually have relevence for such diverse conditions as autism, cerebral palsy, and CNS vaccine damage syndromes. Time will tell.

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Live Cell & Stem Cell Therapy - healing-arts.org

About cell therapy

Cell therapy is a new official direction in medicine, based on the use of regenerative potential of the adult stem cells, aimed at the treatment of a variety of serious diseases, rehabilitation of patients after injuries and fighting with the premature signs of aging. Stem cells are also considered to be the promising biological material for the creation of the prosthetic heart valves, blood vessels, trachea, they are also used as the unique biofiller for the reconstitution of bone defects and other purposes of the plastic and reconstructive surgery.

The scientists explain the regenerative mechanism of action of stem cells both by their ability to transform into the cells of blood, liver, myocardium, bone, cartilage or nervous tissue and thus restore damaged organs and also by the reovery of the functional activity of the other cells (through the so-called paracrine type) by means of the production of a variety of growth factors.

For clinical purposes, in most cases stem cells are obtained from the bone marrow and cord blood, it is also known that the amount of stem cells, sufficient for treatment, can be isolated from the peripheral blood of an adult person, but after pre-stimulation of hematopoiesis. In recent years there is an increasing number of reports worldwide on the clinical application of stem cells, derived from the placenta, adipose tissue, umbilical cord tissue, amniotic fluid, and even pulp of the milk teeth. Depending on the disease, age and condition of the patient, one or another source of stem cells may be preferred. Hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells are used for more than 50 years in the treatment of leukemia and lymphomas, and this treatment is commonly known as the bone marrow transplantation, but today hematopoietic stem cells, derived from umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood are more often used in the hematologic clinics of the world. At the same time, for the treatment of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, the stimulation of fractures and chronic wounds healing the mesenchymal stem cells are more preferred, being the precursors of the connective tissue. Mesenchymal stem cells are found in big quantity in fatty tissue, placenta, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid. Due to the immunosuppressive effects of mesenchymal stem cells, they are also used in the treatment of a variety of autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease, etc.), as well as post-transplantation complications (to prevent the rejection of the transplanted donor organ). For the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including lower limbs ischemia, the umbilical cord blood is considered to be the most promising, as it contains a special kind of the endothelial progenitor stem cells, which can not be found in any other human tissue.

Cell therapy may be autologous (own cells are used) and allogeneic (donor cells are used). However, it is known that every nucleated cell in the human body has certain immunological characteristics (HLA-phenotype or immune passport), that is why the use of donor stem cells requires immunological compatibility. This fact determines the appropriateness of the banking of the own stem cells, frozen until the person is still young and healthy. In this aspect the human umbilical cord blood has undisputed medical and biological value as the source of several unique lines of stem cells. Collected in the first minutes of life, umbilical cord blood stem cells have the highest potential for proliferation (growth) and directed differentiation.

Stem cell therapy can be applied both intravenously like a drug, and directly into the damaged tissue. In recent years the method of intraosseous transplantation of cord blood stem cells is more widely used, contributing to the more rapid engraftment. Also a method of introducing stem cells directly into the coronary arteries (coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction) was introduced and it is called cellular cardiomyoplasty.

Cell therapy can be carried out both in monotherapy and complementary to the surgical or drug treatment.

Currently stem cells are successfully used in the treatment of about 100 serious diseases, and in some cases this is the only effective treatment.

As a rule, all patients after the treatment with stem cells suspension mark the activation of the functional systems of the body, the normalization of the immune status and metabolism. Patients after a course of cell therapy note the burst of energy, increase of the general vitality, decrease of fatigue and drowsiness, the improvement of appetite, nights sleep, memory on current events, concentration and thinking. After regenerative stem cell therapy the increase of libido in both sexes and sexual potency in men are noted. The normalization of emotional background is also marked, the decrease of depression and increase of the intellectual and creative activity also occur. Cellular therapy also allows to enhance immunity to colds and stress. For example, the administration of a cell suspension leads to increase of the number of white blood cells in cancer patients with chemotherapeutic depression of hematopoiesis from 2 to 5 thousand within two weeks.

Also cell therapy is an effective tool to overcome chronic fatigue syndrome.

Every year about 40 50,000 transplantations of hematopoietic stem cells are perfomed worldwide. In the USA alone over the past 30 years, one million patients have been treated with the autologous stem cells from different sources. And in 2012 the European Association for Bone Marrow Transplantation announced about the millionth patient, who was carried out the transplantation of the peripheral blood stem cells.

In 2010 a sensational message traveled around the world, that the German scientists, using stem cells, cured a patient from AIDS. And in 2012 the scientists Shinya Yamanaka (Japan) and John Gurdon (UK) were awarded the Nobel Prize for their research in the field of stem cells.

Due to the novelty of the methods of cell therapy, as well as the complexity of this approach, which requires the appropriate technologies, laboratory support and adequate training, stem cell therapy in the whole world can be performed only in hospitals, licensed for this type of activity, and according to the protocols, approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities in the health service. One of the most important international organisations, that regulate the investigations and clinical application of stem cells, are the European Association for the Bone Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), EUROCORD, American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the World Association of Bone Marrow Donors (WMDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

In recent years, the functioning of stem cell clinic in combination with the cryobank of stem cells is becoming a common practice. The teamwork of physicians, no need for the transportation of the biological material or engaging of the third parties to provide services, all of this help to ensure the highest quality of medical services.

In Ukraine, the Institute of Cell Therapy with its unique laboratory facilities, Cryobank and clinical base, is a leader in the development of the new methods of treatment with the use of stem cells and provides advanced medical services of the highest quality. According to the level of laboratory and technical equipment, the Institute of Cell Therapy is unique both in Ukraine and in neighboring countries.

Institute of Cell Therapy has become the first organisation in Ukraine, which received the right to conduct clinical trials on the use of stem cells (Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine 630 On the clinical trials of stem cells, 2008).

And in 2012, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for the first time in the Union of Independent States approved the methods of treatment, using cell preparations, produced by the biotechnological laboratory of the Institute of Cell Therapy (Pancrostem and Angiostem).

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Cell therapy - Institute of Cell Therapy

You are Here: Home Stem Cell Therapy Stem Cell Therapy Builds New Tissue for More Complete Recovery What is Stem Cell Therapy?

Stem Cell Therapy is also called regenerative therapy, because it uses the bodys most basic raw material, stem cells, to grow or regenerate new cells that the body needs. Stem cells are undifferentiated or unspecialized cells, meaning that they are blanks that can be developed into another type of cell that is required to repair or replace damaged tissue. In the musculoskeletal field, stem cell therapy can stimulate the formation of new bone, cartilage, tendon, ligaments, fat, and fibrous connective tissue.

Stem Cell Therapy creates specialized cells that have a particular life cycle and purpose, like bone or connective tissue. Stem cells can replicate themselves, too, so it is theoretically possible to have an unending supply of these regenerative machines that can then divide and be guided to produce the cells your doctor needs to fulfill specific purposes in your treatment.

It is important to know the credentials and experience of the doctor you select to administer stem cell therapy. Make sure you are consulting a physician certified in regenerative medicine.

Stem cells are now being studied for use in a wide range of conditions, from diabetes, to heart disease, to musculoskeletal disorders, to neurological disorders.

While stem cells can be derived from several sources, the most adaptable are embryonic and amniotic stem cells, the former derived from days-old human embryos, and the latter derived from the amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus.

Adult stem cells are most often used to produce new cells of the same lineage. The body uses these cells naturally to maintain and repair the tissue in which the stem cells develop.

Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult stem cells that have been genetically programmed to act like embryonic stem cells. These are important tools in evaluating new drugs and in modeling diseases to help researchers understand how disease develops in the body.

Advanced PRP & Stem Cell Therapy Center of Boca Raton is proud to be one of the few practices in the country to have a robust practice surrounding the use of amniotic stem cells. Dr. Berkowitz has developed his reputation as a cellular therapy expert, and the practice has invested in the equipment that can safely store these fragile cells for up to six months.

At Advanced PRP & Stem Cell Therapy Center of Boca Raton, we carefully evaluate patients to determine whether advanced stem cell therapy is a good option for relieving their pain and restoring damaged tissue.

A good candidate for stem cell therapy is a patient whose has mild to moderate osteoarthritis, tendon inflammation, a partial tear of the Achilles tendon, or muscle strain or sprain.

Stem cell therapy is not a first line treatment for wound healing; growth factors like PRP are often an excellent choice for this purpose.

Prolotherapy Steroid injections

Do not take over-the-counter medications that can thin your blood (aspirin, Motrin, Aleve Advil, Naproxen, etc.). Drink as much water as possible on the day of your injection. Arrange for someone to drive you home after treatment.

You will be numb for an hour or two at the injection site, and may experience much more soreness than usual for the first few days after treatment. After the numbness wears off, refrain from any activities that increase your discomfort, and refrain from taking anti-inflammatory medications for at least four weeks after treatment. Control your pain with acetaminophen (Tylenol) or medications that your doctor prescribes. Use ice sparingly, for up to 20 minutes at a time every two to three hours. Resume any physical therapy regimen about a week after treatment.

Your recovery time will depend on the specific condition that is being treated. In all cases, the stem cell injections at the site of your injury will need time to grow your new cells. As the regeneration of new cells proceeds, you should notice a gradual improvement in your level of discomfort, and in your range of motion.

Frequently Asked Questions

It is an advanced technique for helping your body produce the cells it needs to regenerate, repair, and restore damaged or missing tissue. It can involve the use of donor amniotic or embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to develop into any type of cell needed (blood, bone, muscle, organ, tendon, ligaments, connective tissue, []

There may be some pressure at the injection site, but the process is fairly quick. You will be giving a numbing agent to help maintain comfort during your treatment.

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Stem Cell Therapy Boca Raton - Stem Cell Treatment by Dr ...

What are stem cells?

Our bodies are made up of millions of cells. Most of these cells are specialized to particular locations and functions. The cells in your brain are different from those in your stomach. Heart muscle cells are different from bone cells. And so on.

If a part of the body needs repair, tissue of the same types of cells may be used. Two well-known examples are grafts and transplants. A piece of blood vessel or bone may be grafted from one part of the body to repair another. Or an entire organ may be transplanted to replace a defective organ.

Stem cells are a promising new approach to repairing diseased or defective tissue. Unlike other cells, stem cells are generally not yet specialized. They are like generic blank cells that can be adapted and reproduced according to what they are needed for. Imagine being able to grow replacement tissues that match a patients damaged bone, muscle, or brain cells! This gives you an idea how stem cells might work, and why people are so excited about their potential.

Currently there are a few medical applications of stem cells that have been proven effective and are in use at Bumrungrad and other advanced hospitals. Other stem cell applications are the subject of research and clinical trials around the world. Despite the vast potential for stem cells, there are several issues that need further study. For example, factors and mechanisms of how stem cells differentiate into specific tissue and organs are not yet clearly understood.

What are the potential uses for stem cells?

There are a variety of diseases and injuries in which a patients cells or tissues are destroyed and must be replaced by tissue or organ transplants. Stem cells may be able to generate brand new tissue in these cases, and even cure diseases for which there is currently no adequate therapy. Conditions that could see revolutionary advances from stem cell treatment at some point in the future include Alzheimers, Parkinsons, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, some heart diseases, stroke, arthritis, cancer, and burns.

Stem cells may also prove valuable in genetic and pharmaceutical research.

What benefits of stem cells have been proven?

Stem cell therapy has proven useful in the treatment of certain cancers and diseases of the blood such as leukemia, Thalassemia, and certain immune deficiency diseases.

Stem cells in these cases can help restore the production of blood cells by the body. Blood cells are produced and developed by bone marrow, the soft tissue inside bones. The bodys ability to supply itself with enough normal blood cells can be affected by blood diseases and blood cancers. Blood cell production can also be damaged as a side effect of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in cancer treatment. Stem cells harvested from bone marrow or processed from circulating blood can help offset this damage.

While it is a widely accepted treatment, bone marrow transplantation remains a risky procedure with many potential complications. It has always been reserved for patients with life-threatening diseases.

How is stem cell treatment regulated in Thailand?

Before 2009, there was no specific regulation governing scientists researching human stem cell applications in Thailand. Existing Thai FDA regulations do not cover stem cells because they are not a food or drug.

To correct this lack of oversight, on 27 March 2009, the Thai Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA) announced that stem cells and their products will be regulated as drugs. The regulations will not cover the use of stem cells in recognized, proven treatments for hematological (blood) diseases. However, for other kinds of treatments, healthcare providers and researchers should follow accepted research practices, including approval from scientific and ethics committees at institutional and national levels.

Additionally, the Thai Medical Council will soon issue parallel regulations to cover the use of stem cells by physicians. For experimental stem cell treatments, practitioners must register and comply with Council criteria.

Institutions must clearly inform patients of the unproven nature of the treatment. Patients must be able to weigh the risks and benefits of such treatment , in the absence of inducement, coercion, or profit motive. Several good studies of stem cell treatments are being conducted under these conditions in Europe and the US.

What is Bumrungrad Internationals position?

Bumrungrad International is optimistic about the future potential of stem cells to treat various diseases. Where stem cell treatments have been proven effective in clinical studies for example in the hematological diseases mentioned previously Bumrungrad offers expert treatment by experienced physicians. In other stem cell applications, our doctors are following international clinical trials closely to determine if and when treatments prove safe and effective.

We will develop capabilities and offer such treatments to our patients when they are accepted by the international medical community. If our clinical research program does participate in any trials, we assure our patients of the following:

Experimental treatments must be approached very cautiously, especially when they are sought by families as a last chance treatment for loved ones in critical condition. Patients and their families must be able to trust that their doctors and hospital have evidence supporting such treatment. The evidence cannot be merely that some patients seem to have benefited from the treatment. It must be subject to the stricter rules of scientific inquiry.

Original post:
Stem cell treatment - Medical Services - Bumrungrad ...

Welcome to the Most Advanced Regenerative Medical Practice Welcome to the Regenerative Cell Institute!

Regenerative medicine is revolutionizing the way we practice medicine and the Regenerative Cell Institute of Las Vegas, Nevada, is leading the way! Dr. Crispino Santos is a pioneer of regenerative medicine and his expertise in stem cell therapy and stem cell extraction techniques enables him to offer the most innovative stem cell therapy procedures and platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatments to heal the body, naturally rejuvenate tissue, and prevent disease.

Regenerative Cell Institute specializes in minimally invasive stem cell therapy and PRP treatments for pain management, joint pain, spinal pain, and aesthetic procedures.

As a relatively new and rapidly evolving field of interventional pain management, regenerative medicine uses adult stem cells to help the body regenerate, rebuild, and heal itself.

Regenerative Cell Institute (RCI) specializes in all areas of regenerative medicine, using the most advanced stem cell extraction methods and proprietary concentration techniques to deliver the best stem cell therapy and platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatments and ensure patients receive the highest level of care.

When Was The Last Time You Felt Fantastic? Experience Regenerative & Restorative Solutions Today!

Read more here:
Regenerative Cell Institute Las Vegas | Stem Cell Therapy

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Texans are increasingly feeling the effects of diabetes as thousands of people suffer from the disease, and many others may have diabetes and not know it! It is estimated that one out of every three children born after 2000 in the United States will be directly affected by diabetes.

That is why the American Diabetes Association's Houston office is so committed to educating the public about how to stop diabetes and support those living with the disease.

We are here to help.

School Walk for Diabetes is an educational school fundraising program that promotes healthy living, school spirit and community involvement. While raising money for the American Diabetes Association, students learn about diabetes and the importance of making healthy choices including eating nutritional foods and exercising every day. The money raised through School Walk for Diabetes helps fund diabetes research, education and advocacy in support of the mission of the American Diabetes Association.

To get your school involved, please contact Mary Baumann at 713-977-7706 ext. 6093 or mbaumann@diabetes.org.

American Diabetes Association Sweethearts are young women from Houston area high schools who are invited by the Association to help in the fight against diabetes. Through this unique and rewarding program, Sweethearts gain valuable experience in fundraising, volunteerism, event planning and team work. The Association Sweetheart Program begins in August and concludes in May with the Sweetheart presentation at the Wine and Roses Gala.

For more information, please contact Ferrin Eddins at 713-977-7706 ext. 6065 or Feddins@diabetes.org.

We welcome your help.

Your involvement as an American Diabetes Association volunteer whether on a local or national level will help us expand our community outreach and impact, inspire healthy living, intensify our advocacy efforts, raise critical dollars to fund our mission, and uphold our reputation as the moving force and trusted leader in the diabetes community.

Find volunteer opportunities in our area through the Volunteer Center.

More here:
Houston Texas Office of the American Diabetes Association

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Jolanta Zelaznicka Jolanta Zelaznicka MD 41 Corporate Dr Ste 102 Easton, PA 18045 (610) 252-0515

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Mark A. Durback Mark A Durback MD 21 Corporate Dr Ste 6B Easton, PA 18045 (610) 250-9605

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Ellen M. Field Ellen M Field MD 1665 Valley Center Pkwy Ste 150 Bethlehem, PA 18017 (610) 868-8460

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Kelly L. Sweeney Ellen M Field MD 1665 Valley Center Pkwy Ste 150 Bethlehem, PA 18017 (610) 868-8460

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Nicole C. Chiappetta Coordinated Health Breast Care Specialists 2775 Schoenersville Rd Bethlehem, PA 18017 (610) 865-4880

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Nancy N. Mcfadden East Penn Rheumatology Associates 701 Ostrum St Ste 402 Bethlehem, PA 18015 (610) 868-1336

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Charles L. Ludivico East Penn Rheumatology Associates 701 Ostrum St Ste 402 Bethlehem, PA 18015 (610) 868-1336

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Kerry B. Stone Rheumatology Associates 262 Bethlehem Pike Ste 100A Colmar, PA 18915 (215) 997-8530

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Susan Lee Coordinated Health Breast Care Specialists 1503 N Cedar Crest Blvd Allentown, PA 18104 (610) 821-4848

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Caroline Hahn Coordinated Health Breast Care Specialists 1503 N Cedar Crest Blvd Allentown, PA 18104 (610) 821-4848

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Meghan Hoffner Coordinated Health Breast Care Specialists 1503 N Cedar Crest Blvd Allentown, PA 18104 (610) 821-4848

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Susan Kim Lehigh Valley Infectious Disease Specialists 3080 Hamilton Blvd Ste 300 Allentown, PA 18103 (610) 776-5038

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James M. Ross Lehigh Valley Infectious Disease Specialists 3080 Hamilton Blvd Ste 300 Allentown, PA 18103 (610) 776-5038

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Mythil Seetharaman OAA Orthopaedics Specialists 250 Cetronia Rd Ste 303 Allentown, PA 18104 (610) 973-6200

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Timothy R. Howard Bucks-Mont Rheumatology 1534 Park Ave Ste 340 Quakertown, PA 18951 (215) 538-8132

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Sylvan Brown Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates 300 E Brown St Ste B East Stroudsburg, PA 18301 (570) 476-7656

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Marc I. Storch Central Jersey Rheumatology 1100 Wescott Dr Ste 106 Flemington, NJ 08822 (908) 284-9221

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Ahmed Abdel-Megid Rheumatology Center Of New Jersey 281 Witherspoon St Ste 200 Princeton, NJ 08540 (908) 722-5380

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Terrence J. Forster Allergy Asthma & Arthritis Associates 4 Terry Dr Ste 10 Newtown, PA 18940 (215) 968-6000

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Dennis A. Jerdan Rheumatology Disease Associates 599 W State St Ste 310 Doylestown, PA 18901 (267) 893-6780

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Robert A. Kimelheim Arthritis & Rheumatology Disease Consultants 1070 S Broad St Lansdale, PA 19446 (215) 361-9796

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Dana Jacobs-kosmin Rheumatic Disease Associates 599 W State St Ste 310 Doylestown, PA 18901 (267) 893-6780

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Jason J. Wu JW Medical Center 781 47th St Brooklyn, NY 11220 (718) 435-5980

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Jason J. Wu The Orthopedic Institute Of New Jersey 222 High St Ste 202 Newton, NJ 07860 (908) 684-3005

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David M. Pugliese Geisinger Medical Group Knapper Clinic 125 Scranton Pocono Hwy Scranton, PA 18505 (570) 342-8500

Link:
Bethlehem PA Rheumatologist Doctors - Arthritis: Facts on ...

2 check-ins

I've been under Dr. Lorenzo's care since 2006 and she is the best. Even when I was living outside the U.S. I would make it a point of scheduling my check ups when I was back in town. She is thorough in a way that gives you relief in that you know if there's an issue with your health, she will catch it early and faster than anyone else around. And everything she sees during the exam, she let's you know and takes the time to expound as much as you want. I never feel like she is rushing. And she makes for the best conversation - so smart. On one visit she put me onto Hawaii and the Hawaii Revealed guidebooks which made for the best honeymoon. And on this last visit we talked food. Seems weird to mention, but I find that the best doctors have a great manner that puts you at ease and help you trust them so they can do the best job they can.

And Corinne is just as wonderful when she gets the exam going and the conversation started. They make a great team.

Go here to read the rest:
Midtown Opthalmology - Midtown East - New York, NY - Yelp

(reprinted with permission)

"The reason why I give Dr. Yim 5 rating. In 2005 I visit Dr. Yim for an eye appointment. I didn't realize that my life would change forever, during my eye examination Dr. Yim spotted hemorraging in the back my eyes, Dr. Yim checked my pressure and realized that it was tremedously high. He insisted that I immediately goto the hospital. I said to myself an eye doctor doesn't know anything. I took his advice and went to the hospital. Thank god I made that decision to go because when I reached the hospital my pressure elevator so high that I had 3 strokes and kidney failure I was in a coma for 6 months and I couldn't walk, talk for 3 years. Inever imagned an eye doctor saving ones life, but Dr. Yim did. I'm so grateful and thank Dr. Yim for saving my life. Dr Yim your the best opthalmogist. I reccomend anyone seeking an eye doctor will choose you. I'll never forget, Dr. Yim saved my life. Dr. Yim keep up the good work and god bless you. Stacey Atins - 4/7/13"

from rateMDs.com

"A Success Story"

I will always be greatful to God for working through the skilled hands and brilliant mind of Dr. Victor Joe Yim to restore my eyesight. My case looked very bleek and severe due to the blindness in my right eye. Dr. Yim could not see the back of my right eye. I know God heard our prayers for a miracle. Dr. Yim did the surgery on Thursday, June 18, 2013 and removed the (tape) bandages on the next day, June 19 and Ive been enjoying 20/20 vision ever since. Thank you, Dr. Yim for your gifts to the world!!

Love + blessings,

The rest is here:
New York City Ophthalmology, P.C.

"Stem Cell Cure Pvt. Ltd." is one of the most trusted and highlighted company in India which has expertise in providing best Stem Cell Services for all major degenerative diseases. We are providing stem cell therapy at affordable price in India and providing best treatment services for needed patients using stem cell solutions in more efficient way at top most hospitals of India.

It is the single channel that has comprehensive stem cell treatment protocols and employs stem cells in different form as per the requirement of best suite on the basis of degenerative disease application. With the help of our expertise we are successfully providing stem cell therapy for muscular dystrophy, spinal cord Injury, diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), cerebral palsy, autism, lung (COPD) disease and liver cirrhosis and our list of services doesn't end here.

"Stem Cell Cure (P) Ltd" company is working with some India's top stem cell therapy centers, cord blood stem cell preservation banks and stem cell research labs to explore and share their unique stem cell solutions with our best services via coordinating of our clinician and researcher and solving every type of patient queries regarding stem cell therapy .

Our Company is providing best stem cell therapy for the needed patients in all those application which can treat by stem cell therapy. We have stem cells in different forms to make the better recovery of patient and refer the best stem cell solutions after the evaluation of patient case study by our experts. Our experts in this field work together with patients though the collaborative patient experience to give you greater peace of mind to develop clear evidence based path. We have highly experts in our team and our experts are strong in research and clinical research from both points of view.

Our mission is to provide best stem cell therapy at reasonable price not only in India but also throughout the whole world so that every needed patients can get best stem cell therapy to improve his life.

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Stem Cell Therapy - medical tourism in India

Home > Understanding Kidney Disease > Kidney Diseases > Kidney Failure > Kidney Failure Treatment > 2015-07-21 16:16| Font Size A A A

Along with the development of medical technology, Stem Cell Therapy has been widely used to control or even stop progression of illness condition for patients with Kidney Failure. Here we will introduce one of most popular kidney disease treatment in 2015--Newest Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy.

What is the treatment?

Stem cell therapy is also known as stem cell transplant which has tremendous promise to help us understand and treat a range of diseases. Stem cell is primitive cell that has the potential ability of self replication and multi-directional differentiation, that is to say, stem cell is the origin of the body. The therapy uses healthy stem cells to transplant into the patients, so as to repair damaged cells and rebuild organ structure.

How does it treat patients with renal failure?

Actually, in Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital-one of largest kidney disease hospitals in China, we make full use of abilities of stem cells like self-renewing, high proliferation and multiple-directional differentiation to create the completely new, normal or even much younger cells, tissues and organs. When stem cells are transplanted into the body, these new and younger cells will find and replace the damaged or necrotic cells and tissues. In the condition, the treatment can help improve renal function from the root for patients with different type of kidney diseases like Kidney Failure, IgA Nephropathy, Lupus Nephritis, Diabetic Nephrpathy and so on.

What are the characteristics of the treatment?

According to clinical practice, we find the treatment has the following features:

- Safety: nontoxicity

- This therapy can be used, even though the pathogenesis of the disease hasnt been detected fully

- For some symptoms, stem cell transplant has an obvious effect.

- The source of transplanted stem cells is sufficient.

- Stem cells are the best vectors of immune therapy and gene therapy.

- It brings brand new hope to treat incurable diseases.

If you still have other questions or have interest in the therapy, please contact with our Online Doctor or email to us at renal-disease@hotmail.com and we will do our best to help you.

Read this article:
Stem Cell Therapy in 2015 for Patients with Kidney Failure

Regenerative medicine is a multidisciplinary field involving biology, medicine and engineering. It combines the physical nature of a product with living cells.

"Tissue Regeneration," "Tissue Engineering" and "Regenerative Medicine" are related terms and are sometimes used interchangeably.

Where does regenerative medicine fit into modern medical practice? Current traditional approaches to treat medical diseases include:

These methods are all considered essential, but have their limitations. For example, drugs have unwanted side effects, prosthetics are not biologically active and do not integrate or remodel into the body, surgery is invasive, and organ transplantation is limited by donor availability and toxic immunosuppressive cocktails.

Regenerative medicine is an emerging approach in modern medicine as it delivers living tissue, stimulating the body's own natural healing process by activating the body's inherent ability to repair and regenerate. Innovative therapies are now available that aim to heal or reconstruct diseased tissue and support the regeneration of diseased or injured cells and organs.

Doctors use regenerative medicine to speed up healing and to help injuries that will not heal or repair on their own. Regenerative medicine may help heal broken bones, severe burns, chronic wounds, heart damage, nerve damage, and many other diseases.

Link:
Organogenesis.com - Science - Regenerative Medicine

The mission of the Center for Gene Therapy is to investigate and employ the use of gene and cell based therapeutics for prevention and treatment of human diseases including: neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases, lysosomal storage disorders, ischemia and re-perfusion injury, neonatal hypertension, cancer and infectious diseases.

Learn about our areas of focus and featured research projects.

The National Institutes of Health has designated the Center for Gene Therapy as a Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center (MDCRC). MDCRCs promote basic, translational and clinical research and provide important resources that can be shared within the national muscle biology and neuromuscular research communities.

The MDCRC will allow Nationwide Children's researchers to further develop methods to overcome immune barriers to gene correction for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

View the Nationwide Children's Wellstone Center page.

The Center for Gene Therapy and the Viral Vector Core are home to a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) production facility for manufacture of clinical-grade rAAV vectors.

View the Viral Vector Core & Clinical Manufacturing Facility site.

TheOSU and Nationwide Children's Muscle Groupbrings together investigators with diverse research interests in skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and neuromuscular biology.

Hosted by Kevin Flanigan, MD,"This Month in Muscular Dystrophy" podcastshighlight the latest in muscular dystrophy and other inherited neuromuscular disease research.During each podcast, authors of recent publications discuss how their work improves our understanding of inherited neuromuscular diseases, and what their work might mean for treatment of these diseases.

Originally posted here:
Center for Gene Therapy :: The Research Institute at ...

November 10, 2004

Tags: Jaenisch LabStem Cells + Therapeutic Cloning

Your doctor has some bad news. Turns out your heart isnt working right. In fact, due to deterioration in the muscle tissue, its only operating at 10 percent capacity. That explains your chest pains, difficulty breathing, and inability to exert yourself without getting winded. Unfortunately, you know what the diagnosis means: getting on a donor list, staying at home, and waiting for the hospital beeper to go off if a donor organ becomes available. And even if that does happenand the chances are slimyoull always be wondering how long the transplant will last, worrying that your immune system will wise up to this foreign mass of muscle and attack it with everything its got.

But your doctor has another idea. He will collect cells from the surface of your skin and put them in a dish. Youll go home, with orders to stay in bed and rest. About six weeks later, you will arrive at the hospital and be wheeled into the operating room. The last thing youll remember is the anesthesiologist placing a mask on your face and asking you to count backward from 10. When you wake up in recovery, groggy and achy, your doctor will say that youre going to be fine. Even as the two of you speak, your heart muscle will be renewing itself. Tissue will have been engrafted into your hearttissue created from your very own DNA. No red flags to alert your immune system. In a few weeks, youll be completely restored.

For now, the above scenario is speculative fictionhighly controversial speculative fiction. Politicians, lawyers, ethicists, religious leaders, United Nations delegates, and scientists are embroiled in a debate over whether the process used to heal your heart is morally flawed.

For that new heart tissue to be created, researchers would need to remove the nucleus from one of your skin cells and implant it into a donor egg cell from which the nucleus had been removed. They would coax the egg cell to divide into a blastocyst, a mass of about 100 cells. In the center of that mass theyd find the payloadembryonic stem cells, microscopic dots with nothing but pure potential. The cells are able to form any type of cell in the human body, including those from which scientists could conceivably grow your heart tissue. Or liver tissue. Or pancreatic tissue. Or brain tissue. Or spinal cord tissue. And so on. To do that, they would need to destroy the cloned blastocyst, and thats where it gets messy.

If, rather than harvesting it for stem cells, scientists instead placed that blastocyst, grown from your skin cells, inside a human uterus, it would have the potential to develop into a fetus. Nine months later, if all went well, a baby would be delivered. But not just any baby. It would be a carbon copy of you, cell for cell. It would be your clone, the twin you never had.

Just the prospect of creating a human being in this way is an ethical minefield in and of itself. But so is destroying the blastocyst. And so is creating it in the first place. To make matters worse, for researchers today to learn how to create your heart muscle tomorrow, they need to experiment on human embryonic stem cells. Until now, scientists in the field have used leftover blastocysts that stock the freezers of fertility clinics for their studies. These blastocysts are fertilized embryos that have the potential to develop into healthy babies.

Welcome to the ethical bouillabaisse known as embryonic stem cell research, where issues related to religion, abortion, cloning, and human disease are dumped together into a single scientific stew. Rarely has an issue of basic science been so hotly debated on every imaginable front, from family dinner tables to political platforms.

The Bush administration remains firmly behind the stem cell research policy announced in 2001, which restricted federally funded embryonic stem cell research to existing stem cell lines. But last May, Nancy Reagan, Republican icon and wife of the late President Ronald Reagan, asked the sitting president to change his policy on embryonic stem cell research, calling it the best hope for people with Alzheimers disease, the illness that plagued her husband in his final years. And in July, the Reagans son, Ron, carried the same message to the Democratic National Convention.

But behind all the political sparring, where is the science? Critics claim that embryonic stem cell advocates are inflating their case; advocates say it is the most exciting development in biology in decades. Still, fundamental questions remain: How advanced is the research? Can therapeutic cloning actually work, delivering on its promise to cure the incurable? And what of the arguments both camps cite to prove their points? Do the current findings somehow manage to achieve a weird combination of ambiguity and promise in such a way that both sides can claim science is on their side?

In 1953, cancer researcher Leroy Stevens discovered teeth and hair in mouse testicles, and the field of stem cell biology was born. A major tobacco company had awarded a grant to Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, where Stevens was a scientist, for a study the company hoped would prove that the paper in cigarettesnot tobaccocaused cancer. After exposing mice to large amounts of cigarette ingredients, Stevens noticed that a few were developing gigantic scrotums. When he dissected the scrotums, he was taken aback by what he found inside: a hodgepodge of random tissue, including cartilage, teeth, and hair.

This particular type of tumor is called a teratoma, taken from the Greek word teraton, which means monster. Its a tumor that originates from a germ cell (precursors for both egg and sperm cells), hence its ability to form such a bizarre array of tissue. Stevens quickly abandoned his tobacco research and spent the next few decades studying these teratomas, trying to get at their cellular roots. Eventually he came across what he called a pluripotent embryonic stem cell, that is, a cell that can give rise to a variety of tissues. Stevens work was limited in that the cell lines he discovered always maintained the potential to form these monster-like cancers.

Nearly 30 years after Stevens initial discovery, scientists in the United States and the United Kingdom iso-lated embryonic stem cells from a mouse blastocyst, a find that energized the field. Still, research in the area remained safely cloistered in the walls of academic study. Then, in 1998, two groups independently announced that they had isolated human embryonic stem cells. One group from the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center had used leftover blastocysts from a fertility clinic. The second team, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, harvested their stem cells from aborted fetuses.

For researchers, this was a watershed discovery. For opponents of embryonic stem cell research, it was a call to arms. The ethical and political question of should we find therapies this way? came head to head with the scientific question can we find therapies this way? The stew began to bubble.

Whitehead Institutes Rudolf Jaenisch knows a thing or two about mice. Years ago he was among the first scientists to incorporate foreign DNA into a mouses genome in such a way that the new genetic information could be passed down to subsequent generations. Called transgenics, this procedure is now commonplace in labs around the world. For well over a decade, Jaenisch, who also is a professor of biology at MIT, has cloned thousands of mice, trying to decipher all the factors involved in what he calls reprogrammingthe process by which the host egg cell reactivates the entire genome of the donor nucleus. While much of the basic biology of how cloning works remains a mystery, one thing is clear to Jaenisch: There is no such thing as a normal clone.

The vast majority of cloned embryos die in utero, he says. Others are stillbirths. The slim percentage that grow to adulthood are ridden with all sorts of genetic-related health conditions. Theyre obese; they die young. I suspect many have neurological damage which is hard for us to detect. Out of all the animals ever cloned, Im not sure whether any normal clone has yet been produced.

The problem, Jaenisch says, is that its impossible for an egg cell to reactivate every single gene in the donor nucleus. Something inevitably goes wrong. This isnt a technical issue, he maintains. Its not like the early days of in vitro fertilization, where we simply needed to improve the techniques. This is a principal biological issue. For this reason, he and most other scientists in the field believe that human reproductive cloning should be universallyand permanentlybanned. Human reproductive cloning would be the conscious and willful creation of a grossly malformed person. The very thought of doing it is reprehensible.

While the fetus created from a cloned blastocyst is not normal, the embryonic stem cells derived from it are. In 2002, Jaenisch collaborated with George Daley, then a Whitehead Fellow, on a study of a mouse that had no functional immune system due to a genetic defectfor all intents and purposes, a bubble boy. The team removed a cell from the tip of the mouses tail, extracted the nucleus, and placed it into a de-nucleated egg cell. It became a blastocyst from which they culled embryonic stem cells. The stem cells, because they were taken from the diseased mouse, contained that same genetic flaw. The scientists corrected the defect in the stem cells and grew them into mature blood stem cells, which they then injected into the mouse. It was, essentially, the same kind of procedure used in the hypothetical repair of your damaged heart. And it had the same outcome: The mouse was cured.

This study, published in the journal Cell, was the first proof-of-principle experiment proving that therapeutic cloning can work, says Jaenisch.

Last summer, Mayo Clinic scientists reported in the American Journal of Physiology that they used embryonic stem cells to repair damaged heart tissue in rats.

Obviously, neither mice nor rats are men. Still, Human cells are no more complex than mouse cells, says Lawrence Goldstein, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Its like a Cadillac versus a Volkswagen. The parts dont necessarily go in the same places, but the principles are the same.

But figuring out which parts go where requires a steep learning curve.

We know a tremendous amount about mouse embryonic stem cells and how to culture and differentiate them, says Daley, now a professor at Harvard Medical School. But for now, our understanding of how to do the same in human embryonic stem cells is much more primitive. There are issues of cell viability and engraftability that have yet to be explored in greater detail. Im sure there are challenges that we dont even know yet.

Still, researchers have begun to see some success in creating mature tissue from human embryonic stem cells. So far, theyve derived heart cells called cardiomyocytes, blood precursors (which can become either red or white blood cells), and certain classes of neurons. Goldstein is using human embryonic stem cells to create Alzheimers cells. Our goal is to make human embryonic stem cells that carry the mutations that cause hereditary Alzheimers disease and use those cells to test hypotheses that weve gotten from animal models of the disease, says Goldstein. Using funding from Howard Hughes Medical Institute allows him to take advantage of human embryonic stem cells outside the limited number approved for federal funding in 2001 by President Bush.

But what about human therapeutic cloning, performing in a person the same kind of procedure Jaenisch and Daley performed in a mouse?

The firstand so far onlybreakthrough here occurred earlier this year when Woo Suk Hwang and Shin Yong Moon of Seoul National University reported in the journal Science that they had successfully cloned a human blastocyst and removed viable embryonic stem cells from it. Notes Jaenisch, This paper proves that human therapeutic cloning is possible.

The American Medical Association, the National Academy of Sciences, and such publications as the New England Journal of Medicine have issued statements supporting this work, creating the impression that all scientists stand united against those trying to prevent embryonic stem cell research on moral and religious grounds.

But first impressions can be deceiving.

James Sherley is blunt. I do not subscribe to the majority view at all, the MIT associate professor says. Im just one of many scientists who feels this way. Ask yourself, What are we destroying? It really is nonsensical to debate the whole question of when life begins. We know that embryos are alive. With therapeutic cloning, were talking about destroying one human being for another human beings gain. Thats something that we as a society must not do.

This argument essentially is the same as the one posed by the anti-therapeutic-cloning, anti-embryonic-stem-cell research faction: Whether the blastocyst is cloned or taken from a fertility clinic, they claim, acquiring embryonic stem cells destroys a human life. (Jaenisch counters by pointing out that a cloned blastocyst has little, if any, chance of ever developing into a normal baby.)

But Sherley has another problem with this area of research, one that his fellow critics seldom, if ever, mention.

A researcher at MITs Biological Engineering Division, Sherley works with adult stem cells. Unlike embry-onic stem cells, adult stem cells are generally thought to become only the type of tissue from which theyve been taken. A familiar example: bone marrow transplants in which the adult stem cells from the donor marrow help the cancer patient. Ideally, a persons own adult stem cells could be used in treatment. A cancer patient could have adult stem cells taken from his blood samples, multiplied in a dish, and administered without any danger of rejection.

Adult stem cell researchers have hit two significant roadblocks: These cells are hard to identify and difficult to grow. But according to Sherley, embryonic stem cell researchers soon will face the same obstacles.

You have to ask, What do you need in order to produce tissue for long-term replacement therapy? The answer is, You need adult stem cells, Sherley says. If these embryonic stem cell therapies will be successful, they must produce adult stem cells. So these researchers will soon have the same problems that we have. Theyll have to figure out ways to locate and then multiply the adult stem cells from the tissue cultures that they created using embryonic stem cells.

Sherley says that mature tissue alone wont suffice for long-term replacement therapy. Even with bone marrow transplants, if the marrow doesnt contain adult stem cells, the procedure fails.

The solution, as he sees it, is to bypass altogether the moral quagmire of experimenting with human blastocysts and focus exclusively on adult stem cells. Besides, I just cant accept that reproductive clones are unhealthy but stem cells from reproductive clones are fine, he says. The data arent convincing.

But many of his fellow scientists arent persuaded. The real issue, says Jaenisch, is that so far, its impossible to propagate and grow adult stem cells. And adult stem cells havent been shown to have therapeutic value, except for blood cells.

Whats more, Daley notes, not every tissue has adult stem cells. For the pancreas, the heart, and much of the brain, there does not appear to be active regeneration from adult stem cells. For these tissues, embryonic stem cells are likely to be the best source of replacement cells.

As for the moral question regarding when life begins, I just spent the other day working with a number of ethicists and philosophers discussing this very issue, says Goldstein, and very smart, experienced people with different viewpoints confront the issue differently and arrive at different answers. This sort of debate is a standard thing to happen when we have new technologies that test our conceptions of who we are and what were about.

In 2002, Bernard Siegel was channel surfing when he stumbled on a press conference in which spokespersons for the UFO cult the Raelians announced that they had cloned the first human baby. Siegel, an attorney, decided that the manner in which the cult members were manipulating this alleged baby was evidence for a child abuse investigation. So, he filed for guardianship.

Then came the media firestorm, he says. (Because of this case, the Raelians refused to do a DNA test on the childwho Siegel is certain does not exist.)

Even after the case was dropped, Siegel noticed how the Raelians had affected the world of stem cell research. Rael, their leader, had testified in a congressional hearing and appeared before the National Academy of Sciences to make his case in favor of human reproductive cloning. Conservatives seized on his testimony and used it as evidence that all forms of cloningincluding therapeutic cloningshould be banned.

There was no single, unified group of scientists that could answer to this, says Siegel. And so he founded the Genetics Policy Institute (GPI), a Coral Gables, Florida-based science advocacy group whose membership includes many top stem cell researchers.

This fall will mark the first real test of the groups effectiveness.

Toward the end of this year, delegates with the United Nations will renew a debate on two competing treaties that were tabled last year. The first, the Costa Rican treatywhich is supported by the U.S.bans all forms of cloning, including therapeutic. The second, the Belgium treaty, would allow therapeutic cloning while banning the procedure for reproduction.

It is too early to tell how the vote will go. If delegates adopted the Costa Rican treaty, it would cast a pall on the research, declaring it an affront to human dignity and morally reproachable, Siegel says. But what he fears most is that it would breathe life in the Brownback Bill, a bill authored by United States senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), that proposes to make the very process of nuclear transfer with human cells a criminal offense, punishable with mandatory jail time for any scientist who attempts it.

This fall, were heading straight toward a public-policy train wreck, says Siegel. Coming to a head are the U.N. vote, a U.S. presidential election in which embryonic stem cell research has been a key issue, and a California initiative that would provide up to $295 million annually for embryonic stem cell research. These will all, in one fell swoop, influence the landscape of stem cell research, he says.

Meanwhile, both scientists and the public must be patient. It will be many years before we see whether therapeutic cloning will ever treat, for example, your heart muscle. And there still is the possibility that researchers will find ways to cure myriad diseases in mice and rats, yet never apply those techniques successfully in people. Until someone does, in fact, make the transition to humans, the debate will rage on, forcing scientists to work under a cloud of public controversy.

But researchers push forward, confident that this field eventually will deliver on some of its promises.

Goldstein, for one, is optimistic that his efforts one day will yield treatments to rid the body of cancer, diabetes, and other ailments. Sure, its possible for this to be a huge failure, but I dont see that, he predicts. The science and the data are sound enough so that a guy like me, whos done this for 25 years and has a reasonably good scientific track record, is willing to put substantial resources and energy into this. Im willing to take risks, but I wouldnt do this if I thought there was a high likelihood it would fail.

Written by David Cameron.

View post:
Whitehead Institute - News - 2004 - Life, death and stem cells

USC Institute for Genetic Medicine

The USC Institute for Genetic Medicine (IGM) is a place where researchers work closely together in a shared space to approach problems of the highest impact to human health. The IGM houses the offices and laboratories of a group of leading faculty members from the University of Southern California (USC). IGM scientists, engineers and clinicians take a multidisciplinary approach using molecular, genetic, omics, and computational technologies in human and genetic models.

The IGM is administered as a department reporting to the Dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. It is part of the USC Health Sciences Campus, located on the east side of Los Angeles.

The IGM comprises 21 faculty members. The department is an important research training ground for USC, and typically supports about 50 trainees at any one time. Including scientific and administrative staff, the total number of people working within the IGM hovers around 110 individuals.

IGM research is funded by federal, state, and industry-sponsored grants, as well as gifts from donors and benefactors. The major sponsor is the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Center for Applied Molecular Medicine (CAMM) within the IGM holds a Physical Sciences in Oncology Center (PS-OC) grant from the NIHs National Cancer Institute.

Continued here:
USC Institute for Genetic Medicine

OMICS International welcomes all the attendees, speakers, sponsors and other research expertise from all over the world to theInternational conferenceon Clinical and Molecular Genetics (Clinical Genetics 2016)which is going to be held duringNovember 28-30,2016inChicago, USA.We are very much honored to invite you all to exchange and share your views and experience on theCurrent Advancements and Novel Research on Genetics at Clinical and Molecular level.

Clinical and molecular geneticsare involved in the diagnosis and management ofhereditary disorderswhich determines the safety and effectiveness ofmedications,devices,diagnostic productsandtreatment regimenswhich are intended for human use and also be used for prevention, treatment, diagnosis or for relieving symptoms of a disease. There is a rapid growth in the field of Clinical and Molecular Genetics because of the increased prevalence of infectious diseases, causative mutating organisms which led to the discovery of novel clinical and genetic testing methods. TheGenetic testingmarket sale is estimated to reach $25 billion annually by 2021 with a growth rate of 10% in the United States. The genetic testing market is believed to reach approximately $60 billion by 2020 globally. US represent the largest market for genetic testing worldwide.

Track -1:Mendelian Genetics: Past and the future

For thousands of years there were lot of questions about genetics and people followed different processes to produce hybrids of different plants and animals. But most of their trails failed as the actual mechanism behind it was unknown. ThereafterMendelwas the first to explain the concept of heredity after experimenting on pea plant (Pisum sativum)through his laws. He proposed Law of Segregation where only one allele pass from parent to offspring as the allele of parents gets separated ,Law of independent Assortment where different pairs of allele passes from parents independently, Law of Dominance where some alleles are dominant the remaining are recessive. Based on this, several hypotheses were proposed later.

Currently there are vast advancements in the field of genetics where researches are focusing on the different diseases caused by variations in genes and many institutions are investing in the research. For example, US government, along with NIH funded Human Genome project based onDNA sequencingtechnologies. Due to the development of new techniques in Bioinformatics there is a huge decrease in the price of genome sequencing, from $100 million to $1000.

The involvement of genetics in heart diseases, cancer and other implications remained far from clear. There are possibilities of practicing human cloning, eugenics apart from these genetic advancements.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-2:Clinical Genomics

Clinical genomics is the use ofgenomic sequencingin clinical basis like for diagnosis, treatment of disease caused in patients. It is a new and rapidly changing field. The diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia, which are caused by a single base pair change to DNA sequencing, these mutations can be corrected by CRISPR/ Cas technology.

Cas technologyis based on genome editing which is proposed by Editas Medicine with an investment of about $43million. Researchers adopted this technique as most of the microbes use protein and RNAs against invading viruses. The technique involves the editing of stretches in DNA and also to edit single base pairs of the human genome. It was also believed to cure untreatable diseases possibly.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-3:Oncogenomics and Therapeutics

Oncogenomics is the study of the relationship between cancer and the genome of an individual. Its goal is to identifyoncogenesfor the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Cancer is a genetic disease as it is caused by genetic variation in DNA.NIH offers about $7.4 billion on research related to genetics and about $5.8 on cancer related research. The various techniques used are DNA sequencing, microarray, digital karyotyping, bacterial artificial chromosome.

The American Cancer Society reported that among 1.5 million cases half a million die from the disease mostly of breast cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, leukemia. The expenditure on cancer care in 2010 was $125 billion and is estimated to reach $156 billion by 2020 in US.US occupies seventh place inbreast cancerworldwide.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track- 4:Clinical Epigenetics

Clinical epigenetics uses the techniques involved in molecular biology to detect the alterations in DNA methylation or histone modification to diagnose disorders produced by heritable defects in thegene expression. DNA methylation involves in the addition of methyl groups to adenine and guanine bases. DNA is useful for cell development and when methylation occurs on CpG dinucleotide where cytosine precedes guanine suppresses the gene regulation. The nucleosome consists of historians where the tails of histone protrude from nucleosome and therefore they can be modified. The chemical groups attract activating or suppressing complexes to chromatin, which affects its shape, making it more or less available for gene expression. Epigenetic enzyme marketing consists of DNA-modifying, RNA-modifying, Protein is modifying Enzymes which is expected to reach a high rate by 2019. Bisulfite conversion kits; ChIP- seq kits; RNA sequencing kits; whole genome amplification kits are some of the epigenetic kits among which ChIP-seq kits segment had the biggest share in 2014.The market value ofepigeneticswas $413.24 million in 2014, it is expected to reach a CAGR of 13.64% from 2014 to 2019 and it is estimated to grow $783.17 million by 2019 globally.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-5:Regenerative biology and Stem Cell research

Regenerative biology involves the restoration or renewal of damaged genes, cells, tissues, organisms or ecosystem that is produced by some natural fluctuations.Regenerationis mediated by gene regulation and it may be complete (same as old tissue) or incomplete (fibrosis). The market value for tissue engineering and regeneration products was $55.9 billion in 2010 and $59.8 billion in 2011, and is expected to reach $89.7 billion by 2016 at a CAGR of 8.4% globally. According to the reports, the market value of regenerative medicine was about $2.5 billion in the US.

Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that undergo mitosis to produce more cells, which are found in multicellular organisms. They are of two types, embryonic and adult stem cells. The stem cell treatment was found to be a lifesaving treatment for the patients with solid tumors and blood disorders.Stem cellscan be obtained from the umbilical cord after babys birth. Possibly they can also be obtained from peripheral blood and bone marrow. According to the reports, in US the availability of stem cell therapy was $15.2 million in 2007 and $16.5 million in 2008 and it is estimated to reach $11 billion by 2020.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-6:Microbial and Human Genetics

There are millions of microorganisms that have a rapid impact on our health. They play a vital role in maintaining the health as well as in the onset of diseases.

Genomics applies DNA sequencing methods andBioinformaticsto analyze the structure and function of genomes. It started from bacteriophage but was overtaken by bacterial genomics. Its applications were included in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and social sciences.

Proteomics is the study of the structure and functions of proteins as they are the essential components of the various metabolic pathways of cells. It is more complicated when compared to genomic studies as it varies from cell to cell.Mass spectroscopyand microarray techniques are mostly used to study proteins presently.

The global market for DNA sequencing products and services in 2012 was $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion in 2013. It is expected to reach $11.7 billion by 2018 with a CAGR of 21.2%.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-7:Next Generation Sequencing

Next Generation Sequencing is a novel method for sequencing DNA and RNA more rapidly, which has made the study of genomics easy. It is the most versatile tool for medical and biological research. The techniques involved are Illumina sequencing, Roche 454 sequencing, Ion torrent: proton sequencing,Solid sequencing. Illumina sequencing is based on DNA colonies or clusters that involves in the clonal amplification of DNA on a surface.454 pyro sequencing amplifies DNA in side water droplets in an oily solution. Ion torrent sequencing is based on using sequencing chemistry with semiconductor based detection system. It is based on detection of hydrogen ions used during polymerisation of DNA whereas solid sequencing involves sequencing by ligation. The NGS market reached $231.7 million in 2012 and $510.7 million in 2013 and is expected to reach $7.6 billion by 2018 with a CAGR of 71.6% globally.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-8:Clinical metabolics and Lipidomics

Lipids are the major components of biological membranes as well as the metabolites of organisms. Lipids play crucial role in biology. Imbalance in the lipid molecules leads to numerous diseases like atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes, andAlzheimer's disease. Lipidomics is a system-based study of all lipids, which aims at the analysis of lipids in the biological system. Lipidomics is the main tool for potential biomarker discovery, diagnosis the disease and to understand disease pathology mainly in the fields of neurodegeneration, psychiatry, oncology, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases. The global biomarkers market was $29.3 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow $53.6 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 12.8%.

Clinical metabolomics is the major and the most powerful tool to screen metabolites in the biological samples. These provide predictive and prognostic biomarkers which are useful to monitor disease states and to improve therapeutic levels. Discovery of biomarkers to differentiate diseases at molecular levels is a difficult task as the metabolite profile is related to the phenotype of an organism;metabolomicsprovide a better understanding of systemic diseases. Metabolomics is also practiced in crop breeding, toxicology, plant biotechnology. The market value for metabolomics was $712 million in 2012 and is expected to reach nearly $1.4 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 14.2% globally.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-9:Medical and Developmental genetics

Right from the zygote to a developed individual every process is regulated by genes. Developmental genetics is concerned with the process in which genes regulate the development. It is the study of cell fate, cell determination and embryonic development. There are many theories proposed and among them differential gene expression is the most accepted one. The ability to produce an organism from cells is called totipotent, unipotent stem cells produce a family of related cells. Pluripotent and multipoint produce only few organs or tissues, but all these cells forms, acell lineagewhose differentiation can be done by a master control gene. Likewise immune cells are produced from bone marrow; B-cells are responsible for antibody production. By Invivo production of B-cells, antibody diversity can be achieved as process follows differential gene expression. The prenatal and newborngenetic testingmarket were $1.12 billionin 2012 and expected to grow $8.37 billionin 2019 at a CAGR of 26.9% from 2013 to 2019 globally.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-10:Genetic Syndromes and Related Disorders

Genetic disorder is a genetic problem which is associated with the abnormalities in the genome, it may or may not be heritable. For example, cancer can be caused by some inherited genes or by newmutationsor it may be environmental cause in some patients. There are many genetic disorders among them Single-gene disorder is the one which is the resultant of a single mutated gene. It includes diseases like Cystic fibrosis,Sickle-cell-anemia, Polycystic kidney disease, Hemophilia-A, Albinism. Multifactorial diseases include diabetes and heart diseases. Most of the genetic disorders can be identified at birth or in childhood like Huntingtons disease. Treatment for these genetic disorders is still a battle where around 1800 clinical trials have been completed. Presently Gene therapy is followed in which a new gene is introduced to a patient which is very complicated. The market value of products to treatgenetic disorderswas $12.8 billion in 2009 and $17.3 in 2014 globally.

The market value for cancer treatment was about $51.2 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach $66.4 billion by 2019, with a CAGR of 5.4% from 2014 to 2019 globally.The autism spectrum disorders(ASD) market was about $346.2 million in 2013 and $360.9 million in 2014. The market value is expected to grow to $412.7 million by 2019, with a CAGR of 2.7 %.

Related Conferences:

World congress on Human Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling and Genomics Medicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics & Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference on Cancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China; DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Track-11: Genetics Market:

While the evidence base is still growing, genetic services industry leaders strongly believe that emerging testing capabilities will have significant clinical impact in the future. Many expressed opinions that genetic services will make significant contributions to prediction, detection, and care selection, leading to better quality care and increased affordability. Available genetic tests and genomic applications, can be categorized according to their clinical method of use across prediction, detection, and care selection. The prenatal and newborngenetic testingmarket were $1.12 billionin 2012 and expected to grow $8.37 billionin 2019 at a CAGR of 26.9% from 2013 to 2019 globally.

Related Conferences:

World congress onHuman Genetics, October 31 - November 02, 2016 Valencia, Spain; International Conference on Genetics Counseling andGenomicsMedicine, Aug 11-12, 2016 Birmingham, UK; International conference on Histocompatibility andImmunogenetics, November 28-30, 2016 San Antonio, USA; 6thInternational Conference on Genomics &Pharmacogenomics, September 12-14, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 5th International Conference onCancer Genomics, Aug 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA; 5thGeneticsand Genomics Conference, June 1-3, 2016, Nanjing, China;DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer, March 13-18, 2016, Ventura, USA; Chromatin andEpigenetics, 20 March 2016, Dubrovnik, Croatia; Chromatin,Non-coding RNAsand RNAP II Regulation in Development and Disease Conference, 29 March 2016, Austin, USA; Maintenance ofGenome Stability2016, March 7-10, 2016, Panama, Central America

Cell Therapy-2015

OMICS International Conferencessuccessfully hosted its premier4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapyduring August 10-12, 2015 at Crowne Plaza London-Heathrow, London, United Kingdom.

The conference brought together a comprehensive range of the cell and gene therapy researchers, educators from research universities as well as representatives from industry and professional cell and gene therapy societies.

Cell Therapy-2015is known for uplifting the future of cell and gene therapy and its allied areas by encouraging students and fellow researchers to present their work through poster presentations and young research forum. Students participated with great zeal and the best posters were awarded for their efforts and outstanding contribution to the cell and gene therapy research.

OMICS InternationalConferenceswishes to acknowledge with its deep sincere gratitude to all the supporters from the Editorial Board Members of our Open Access Journals, Keynote speakers, Honorable guests, valuable speakers, poster presenters, students, delegates and special thanks to the media partnersfor their promotion to make this event a huge success.

This4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapybased on the themeGenomic therapies from base pairs to bedsidewhich covered the below scientific sessions like Cell and Gene Therapy: Potential Applications, Plant Stem Cell Rejuvenation, Plant Stem Cells: Human Therapeutics, Stem Cell Therapies, Cellular Therapies, Advanced Gene Therapeutics, Molecular basis of epigenetics, Cancer Therapies, Nano-Therapy, Bioengineering Therapeutics, Clinical Trials and Research in Cell and Gene Therapies, Regulatory and Ethical Issues of Therapies.

The conference was greeted by the conference Moderator:Dr. Andrei Laikhter,Chemgenes Corporation, USA. The support was extended by the Keynote Speaker:Dr. James Koropatnic,Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University;Dr. Anelia Atanassova,BioGlobaX Inc., Canada;Dr. Noriyuki Kasahara,University of Miami, USA;Dr. Robert Hawkins,The Christie Hospital and University of Manchester, UK andDr. Paul L. Hermonat, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, USA

OMICSInternationalacknowledges the support of below Chairs and Co-chairs with whom we were able to run the scientific sessions smoothly it included:Dr. Ajan Reginald,Cell Therapy Limited, UK;Dr. Andrei Laikhter,Chemgenes Corporation, USA;Dr. Vasiliki Kalodimou,IASO Maternity Hospital, Greece;Dr. Geeta Shroff,Nutech Medicworld, India;Dr. Nady Golestaneh,Georgetown University School of Medicine, USA;Dr. James Koropatnick,Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University, Canada;Dr. Robert Hawkins,Christie Hospital and University of Manchester, UK.

This4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapywas uplifted with more than 32 oral presentations by researchers, scientists, professors, industry delegates and more than 15 poster participants around the globe. OMICS International has taken the privilege of felicitating Cell Therapy-2015 Organizing Committee Members, Editorial Board Members of the supported Journals and Keynote Speakers who supported for the success of this event.

With the enormous feedback from the participants and supporters 4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy,OMICS International Conferencesis glad to announce its5thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy(Cell Therapy-2016) event from May 19-21, 2016 at San Antonio, USA

- See more at: http://cellgenetherapy.conferenceseries.com/#sthash.npJGo7Qv.dpuf

OMICS International Conferencessuccessfully hosted its premier4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapyduring August 10-12, 2015 at Crowne Plaza London-Heathrow, London, United Kingdom.

The conference brought together a comprehensive range of the cell and gene therapy researchers, educators from research universities as well as representatives from industry and professional cell and gene therapy societies.

Cell Therapy-2015is known for uplifting the future of cell and gene therapy and its allied areas by encouraging students and fellow researchers to present their work through poster presentations and young research forum. Students participated with great zeal and the best posters were awarded for their efforts and outstanding contribution to the cell and gene therapy research.

OMICS InternationalConferenceswishes to acknowledge with its deep sincere gratitude to all the supporters from the Editorial Board Members of our Open Access Journals, Keynote speakers, Honorable guests, valuable speakers, poster presenters, students, delegates and special thanks to the media partnersfor their promotion to make this event a huge success.

This4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapybased on the themeGenomic therapies from base pairs to bedsidewhich covered the below scientific sessions like Cell and Gene Therapy: Potential Applications, Plant Stem Cell Rejuvenation, Plant Stem Cells: Human Therapeutics, Stem Cell Therapies, Cellular Therapies, Advanced Gene Therapeutics, Molecular basis of epigenetics, Cancer Therapies, Nano-Therapy, Bioengineering Therapeutics, Clinical Trials and Research in Cell and Gene Therapies, Regulatory and Ethical Issues of Therapies.

The conference was greeted by the conference Moderator:Dr. Andrei Laikhter,Chemgenes Corporation, USA. The support was extended by the Keynote Speaker:Dr. James Koropatnic,Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University;Dr. Anelia Atanassova,BioGlobaX Inc., Canada;Dr. Noriyuki Kasahara,University of Miami, USA;Dr. Robert Hawkins,The Christie Hospital and University of Manchester, UK andDr. Paul L. Hermonat, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, USA

OMICSInternationalacknowledges the support of below Chairs and Co-chairs with whom we were able to run the scientific sessions smoothly it included:Dr. Ajan Reginald,Cell Therapy Limited, UK;Dr. Andrei Laikhter,Chemgenes Corporation, USA;Dr. Vasiliki Kalodimou,IASO Maternity Hospital, Greece;Dr. Geeta Shroff,Nutech Medicworld, India;Dr. Nady Golestaneh,Georgetown University School of Medicine, USA;Dr. James Koropatnick,Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University, Canada;Dr. Robert Hawkins,Christie Hospital and University of Manchester, UK.

This4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapywas uplifted with more than 32 oral presentations by researchers, scientists, professors, industry delegates and more than 15 poster participants around the globe. OMICS International has taken the privilege of felicitating Cell Therapy-2015 Organizing Committee Members, Editorial Board Members of the supported Journals and Keynote Speakers who supported for the success of this event.

With the enormous feedback from the participants and supporters 4thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy,OMICS International Conferencesis glad to announce its5thInternational Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy(Cell Therapy-2016) event from May 19-21, 2016 at San Antonio, USA

Cell Therapy-2014

3rdInternationalConferenceand Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapywas held duringOctober 27-29, 2014 at Las Vegas, USAwith a theme Uncover the potential that lies within the cell brought together the International blend of people from Evolving Cell & Gene Therapies making it the largest endeavour from OMICS Group. All the papers presented at this conference were published in special issue ofJournal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

Cell Therapy-2014opened up new vistas and fostered collaborations in the industry and academia.

The conference was embarked with an opening ceremony followed by a series of lectures delivered by bothHonorable Guestsand members of theKeynote forum. The adepts who promulgated the theme with their exquisite talk were;

Dr. Paul L Hermonat,Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, USA Dr. Peter J Quesenberry, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, USA Dr. Rafael Gonzalez,DaVinci Biosciences, LLC USA Dr. Paul J Davis, Albany Medical College, USA Dr. Stephen Lin,Thermo Fisher Scientifi c, USA

OMICS Grouphas taken the privilege of felicitatingCell Therapy-2014Organizing Committee, Editorial Board Members, Keynote Speakers and business delegates who supported for the success of this event.

OMICS Group, on behalf of the conference, congratulates the Best Poster awardees for their outstanding performance in the field of Cell & Gene and appreciates all the participants who put their efforts in poster presentations and sincerely wishes them success in future endeavours.Our warm gratitude to our sponsors exhibitors & media partners for associating with the conference.

Cell Therapy-2013

2ndInternationalConferenceand Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapywas held duringOctober 23-25 2013,atOrlando-FL, USAwith a theme Innovative Strategies in Cell & Gene Therapies brought together the International blend of people from Evolving Cell & Gene Therapies making it the largest endeavour from OMICS Group. All the papers presented at this conference were published in special issue ofJournal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

Cell Therapy-2013opened up new vistas and fostered collaborations in the industry and academia.

Excerpt from:
International Conference on Clinical and Molecular Genetics

A few years ago, a clinical trial began in France in the hope of curing children with a type of genetic immune deficiency called SCID-X1. Children with this disease have a defective gene, called gamma-c, which prevents a subset of the cells of the immune system from forming, and predisposes the children to life-threatening infections. In an attempt to cure the childrenwho would otherwise die at a young agephysicians used gene therapy to provide them with normal gamma-c genes.

This particular trial has had striking success as well as tragedy. Eight of the eleven children are currently thriving. However, in two cases the therapy successfully introduced gamma-c genes, but these children have since developed leukemia. In both children, a gamma-c gene inserted next to another gene, called LMO2. The LMO2 gene has previously been linked to leukemia, and scientists speculate that the insertion of the gamma-c gene next to LMO2 may have overstimulated the gene, causing T cells to proliferate in excess. An LMO2 effect, in combination with the proliferation-inducing effects of the gamma-c gene itself, may be the cause of the leukemia in these two patients. Scientists are still investigating other possible causes.

From this single trial, it is clear that gene therapy holds significant promise, yet it is also clear that it poses significant risks. To learn more about the application of gene therapy in SCID, view the accompanying animation.

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Gene Therapy - Sumanas, Inc.

Historical Examples

Eugenics is the science of reproducing better humans by applying the established laws of genetics or heredity.

It sprang from genetics and bears the mark of an implicit Darwinian mechanism.

They also opened new horizons for hypotheses in astronomy, genetics, anthropology.

If, then, progress was to be made in genetics, work of a different kind was required.

But a better definition, based on the results of genetics, looks at it as a mechanism, not as an external appearance.

British Dictionary definitions for genetics Expand

(functioning as sing) the branch of biology concerned with the study of heredity and variation in organisms

the genetic features and constitution of a single organism, species, or group

Word Origin and History for genetics Expand

1872, "laws of origination;" see genetic + -ics. A coinage of English biologist William Bateson (1861-1926). Meaning "study of heredity" is from 1891.

genetics in Medicine Expand

genetics genetics (j-nt'ks) n. The branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited traits among similar or related organisms.

genetics in Science Expand

genetics in Culture Expand

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Genetics | Define Genetics at Dictionary.com

Blindness is the inability to see anything, even light. If youre partially blind, you have limited vision. For example, you may have blurry vision or the inability to distinguish the shapes of objects. Complete blindness means that you cant see at all and are in total darkness. Legal blindness refers to vision thats highly compromised. What a person with healthy eyes can see from 200 feet away a legally blind person can see only from 20 feet away.

Seek medical attention right away if you suddenly lose the ability to see. Have someone bring you to the emergency room for treatment. Dont wait for your vision to return. Depending on the cause of your blindness, immediate treatment may increase your chances of restoring your vision. Treatment may involve surgery or medication.

If youre completely blind, you can see nothing. If youre partially blind, you might experience the following symptoms:

Your childs visual system begins to develop in the womb, but it wont be fully formed until about 2 years of age. By 6 to 8 weeks of age, your baby should be able to fix their gaze on an object and follow its movement. By 4 months of age, their eyes should be properly aligned and not turned inward or outward.

The symptoms of visual impairment in young children can include:

The following eye diseases and conditions can cause blindness:

Blindness is a potential complication if you have diabetes or have a stroke. Birth defects, eye injuries, and complications from eye surgery are other common causes of blindness.

The following conditions can impair vision or cause blindness in infants:

The following categories of people are at risk of blindness:

A thorough eye exam by an optometrist will help to determine the cause of your blindness or partial loss of vision. Your eye doctor will administer a series of tests that measure the clarity of your vision, the function of your eye muscles, and how your pupils react to light. Theyll examine the general health of your eyes using a slit lamp, which is a low-power microscope paired with a high-intensity light.

A pediatrician will screen your baby for eye problems shortly after birth. At 6 months of age, you should have an eye doctor or pediatrician check your child again for visual acuity, focus, and eye alignment. The doctor will look at your babys eye structures and see whether they can follow a light or colorful object with their eyes.

Your child should be able to pay attention to visual stimuli by 6 to 8 weeks of age. If your child doesnt react to light shining in their eyes or focus on colorful objects by 2 to 3 months of age, have their eyes examined right away. You should have their eyes examined if you notice crossed eyes or any other symptoms of impaired vision.

In some cases of vision impairment, one or more of the following may help to restore your vision:

If you experience partial blindness that cant be corrected, your doctor will provide guidance on how to function with limited vision. For example, you can use a magnifying glass to read, increase the text size on your computer, and use audio clocks and audiobooks.

Complete blindness requires approaching life in a new way and learning new skills. For example, you may need to learn how to:

You may also need to have handrails installed in your bathroom.

The long-term outlook for restoring vision and slowing vision loss is better when treatment is preventive and sought immediately. Cataracts can be treated effectively with surgery and dont necessarily result in blindness. Early diagnosis and treatment are also important in cases of glaucoma and macular degeneration to help slow down or stop your vision loss.

To detect eye diseases and help prevent vision loss, get regular eye examinations. If youre diagnosed with certain eye conditions, such as glaucoma, treatment with medication can help prevent blindness.

Have your childs eyes examined at 6 months of age, 3 years of age, and every two years between the ages of 6 and 18 years old to help prevent vision loss. If you notice symptoms of vision loss between routine visits, make an appointment with their eye doctor immediately.

Written by: Chitra Badii and Marijane Leonard Published on: Jul 25, 2012 Medically reviewed on: Mar 09, 2016: [Ljava.lang.Object;@691aed25

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Health Article - What causes blindness? 23 possible ...