A Man Suffering From Leukaemia Has Been on a Quest to Make Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplants Safer

By Richa Verma

Simply put, Leukaemia is a kind of cancer that results in the abnormal production of white blood cells in the body. The only successful treatment that had been known for it is chemotherapy, which keeps it under check. But the recent medical developments have witnessed the use of cord blood stem cell treatment for Leukaemia patients that aren't cured by chemotherapy alone.

Understanding Leukaemia

This disease is a cancer caused in the bone marrow that gradually leads to a very weak immune system. Individuals affected with this disease often experience infections. Furthermore, the white blood cells that are produced rather abnormally starts cluttering the bone marrow prohibiting the generation of other kinds of blood cells that further causes bleeding, bruises and also anaemia.

How cord blood stem cell can treat leukaemia?

A cord blood stem cell transplant engages managing high amounts of chemotherapy and in some situations radiotherapy to kill the cancerous cells that's in the patient's bone marrow and blood stream. The new cord blood stem cells that have been transplanted to the body gradually learn to settle in the bone marrow, gradually giving birth to the healthy blood cells. This treatment is only applicable for patient's that have a critical case of leukaemia.

A story of hope

The medical globe has been buzzing with success stories of cord blood stem cell transplant that has cured many chronic ailments. Leukaemia being one! Here's the account of Lukas Waterman, who happens to be a doctor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that induces hope and courage. Lukas was first detected with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) back in 2003. And since then the man has resorted to almost 70 drugs to heal the disease and opted in for two bone marrow stem cell transplant to combat his cancer.

His very first stem cell transplant donor was his brother. Along with the immunosuppressive drugs this transplant seemed to have been successful without any complicacies. However, after a couple of years the cancer came back which made Lukas go in for a second stem cell transplant from a donor not in the family tree. And though this transplant too had worked for him, it made him attract another chronic ailment known as the graft vs host disease (GVHD). This means the stem cell transplant that had actually healed him was now violently attacking his body. Sometimes GVHD is a natural off-shoot of bone marrow transplants.

In GVHD the transplanted immune cells of the donor, medically termed as the T cells start to grow and then attack the tissues and cells in the body, as it appears to them that it's an alien invader. In almost 50% of bone marrow stem cell transplant GVHD is a possible occurrence that has an adverse effect on the liver, skin, intestines, mouth and eyes.

However, there's hope for this! A promising stem cell therapy named Prochymal that has been developed by Dr. Randy Mills, former CIRM President and CEO, Osiris Therapeutics is known to heal extreme cases of this disease. Presently, this treatment is in use and being experimented on the phase 3 trials for young children's and adults in US.

However, individuals like Lukas Wartman are a real inspiration to people that have attracted GVHD and have suffered from Leukaemia. He is also a reason why most medical researchers are practising to arrive at advanced treatment for this ailment. No doctor wants patients to suffer either from Leukaemia or GVHD quietly for a prolonged time. The account of Lukas Wartman is a reminder to the medical sphere that there's immense work to be in the domain of stem cell bone marrow transplant to ensure that the adverse side effects are kept in control and patients don't have to fret about contracting another disease in an effort to treat one.

Read more at   https://www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/treating-leukaemia-with-cord-blood/

Article Source: A Man Suffering From Leukaemia Has Been on a Quest to Make Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplants Safer

Miracle With Paralyzed Patient With Stem Cells

By Richa Verma

Expert doctors in Sheffield, UK have confirmed that MS (multiple sclerosis) patients have witnessed phenomenal health improvements opting in for a treatment, that's generally used for cancer. Approximately, 20 MS patients recently have said yes to bone marrow transplants resorting to their own stem cells. And few patients were completely paralyzed and showing zero chances of being able to walk.

According to Prof Basil Sharrack, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield the fact that there's a treatment available for MS which can heal the disability completely, is a stellar achievement in medical science. Today close to 100,000 UK inhabitants has MS, a chronic neurological condition, that's incurable. Most of these patients generally get detected with this ailment in their 20's or 30's. A person having MS will have his/her immune system to attack the nerve lining of the spinal cord and the brain.

Multiple sclerosis explained

When a person is affected by MS his/her protective cover encompassing the nerve fibres of the spinal cord and the brain, called the myelin gets damaged. The myelin gets attacked by the immune system, resulting in sclerosis or scarring. The disrupted myelin further damages the nerve signals. When this scarring and inflammation is not halted, then the person suffers from permanent neurodegeneration.

MS Stem Cell Trial in Hospitals of UK

Recently there has been advanced clinical trials happening in UK hospitals like Royal Hallamshire Hospital, King's College Hospital and many others, that has resulted in phenomenal outcome. The example of Holly Drewry, 25 living in Sheffield who has taken part in these trials is noteworthy. After she gave birth to her daughter Isla, her condition worsened making her stagnant in a wheelchair. She shared with BBC's Panorama that she wasn't able to walk straight and was scared to even hold her daughter, lest the baby falls. And with every passing day her MS condition was deteriorating.

It was in Sheffield that Holly got her MS cord blood stem cell treatment and results were miraculous. She witnessed positive improvements in her condition within a couple of days of the transplant. She was able to walk. And when she was treated completely she went back home, hugged her daughter being completely overwhelmed. This is nothing short of a miracle for Holly.

An in-depth analysis of the treatment that was given to Holly revealed that her paralysis has been cured to a great extent. Though she has to be under medication and medical guidance in the years to come, but the cord blood stem cell treatment has taken her out of the zone of paralysis, which is a complete blessing. Surprisingly, Holly isn't the one today who's been cured of MS paralysis. Apparently, Steven Storey, eminent marathon runner and tri-athlete too suffered from MS paralysis and he couldn't even flicker a muscle. Post his stem cell treatment Storey was able to move his toe in about 9 days and gradually recovered back to normalcy.

The Treatment - A complete Reboot of the Immune System

The medical treatment that has been healing MS paralysis is known as HSCT, which is an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant that completely destroys the non-functional immune system through chemotherapy.

Post this, the immune system gets re-created using the stem cells sourced from the patient's own cord blood. These cells are nascent and don't have the trace of any flaws or irregularities. Prof John Snowden, Consultant Haematologist, Royal Hallamshire Hospital reveals that the immune system gets completely rebooted back to a state, when there was no MS.

So, advanced MS stem cell therapy is being considered as a medical marvel in today's sphere of regenerative medicine. This phenomenal success further asserts the significance of opting in for cord blood banking.

Rad more at http://bit.ly/2pexZat

Article Source:  Miracle With Paralyzed Patient With Stem Cells

Cord Blood Banking: Which Option Is the Best for You?

By Richa Verma

As a pregnant lady, you and your partner have to make couple of important decisions, other than thinking about how to raise your little one. Having thoughts on giving your child a healthy food regime and following the best parenting practice must be hovering on your mind. But here's where you need to make some space to address the question - Should you opt in for cord blood banking? And what's the best option for you?

The ultimate objective of any parent is to do everything at the best of their capacity to ensure that their child never witnesses a health crisis. And as most doctors and medical researchers have already claimed, that one of the ways of securing a child's future is by opting in for umbilical cord blood banking. The stem cells from umbilical cord are potent in curing diseases that have been said to be irreversible. So today, there are primarily two groups of parents - one who privately bank their child's stem cells privately and the others who donate the same to a public bank. And if you are in India and want to select between private or public cord blood banking, here's what you need to know.

Public cord blood banking challenges

Given the Indian scenario, the acute challenge in the field of public banking of blood from umbilical cord is locating and then storing sample blood units that would match the population and ethnic diversity of the country. Hence, when there's a need it might appear to be very tough to come across a donor that would be the best match for a child or an adult who needs to do a stem cell transplant to overcome a fatal disease. This was the situation of Dr. Nalini Ambady, who was an Indian American professor who couldn't survive as she didn't have access to a correct stem cell match.

Not every sample in feasible

Matters related to public cord blood banking get further complicated by the collected sample quality. There are situations when most samples have to be cancelled owing to the insufficiency of stem cells. Sometimes parents are not made aware of the fact that every sample might not be used. Also, parents should be made aware, that just by storing blood of umbilical cord doesn't mean parents have locked the "treatment" for their child, siblings, family members or even themselves. So, when parents show interest in public banking these aspects should be addressed to provide a practical perspective.

Private cord blood banking

With private cord blood banking parents have the scope to store their child's blood from umbilical cord for their own use or be used by a family member. In simple words, the family has complete "ownership" of the cord blood unit and has the power to arrive at making important decisions on how to use it. However, what seems to be a challenge here is the cost of private cord blood banking. The initial collection and the annual storage charges is an expensive amount. But the aspect of ownership is what makes most parents say yes to private banking of stem cells.

Considering the expense that one has to incur, often parents-to be are caught into endless thought loops on what could be the best choice of stem cell banking. According to the, American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP), a family must consider private banking of cord blood as the baby's cord blood stem cell might turn out to be a better match for any sick member of the family, as compared to a non-family donor.

Read more at   https://www.cordlifeindia.com

Article Source: Cord Blood Banking: Which Option Is the Best for You?

Balancing Conflicting Claims About Cord Blood Banking

By Richa Verma

Families that are about to welcome a new born baby often gets flooded with endless suggestions and questions. It circles everything from fixing the best baby name to the best baby diet, to keep the new born healthy and fit. And today, parents-to be are faced with yet another crucial question, i.e. whether or not to stone the baby's cord blood cell.

Today, in a world where everyone's on the move to grab the best medical alternative they can to secure their child's and family, cord blood banking is one field that gets huge support. But, whereas one school of views support this process, there's another that has opposing views. Shrouded in polar thoughts, the topic of cord blood banking has attracted a couple of conflicts to it, which blurs the main focus - that is whether it's beneficial and who and how it's beneficial.

A basic overview

Let's start with the fundamental know-how. Cord blood is technically a minute quantity of blood that remains in the umbilical cord after a child is born. This remaining blood can be collected once the baby delivery is done. Being a rich storehouse of stem cells, cord blood is instrumental in developing chunks of blood cells and also boosts the immune system. Back in 2016, it has been calculated that 29% of patients received cord blood transplant in US and have immensely benefited from it.

For a while, scientists and medical researchers have been invested in clinical trials declaring that cord blood stem cells have effectively helped to cure more than 80 life threatening ailments. These diseases are blood related, immunological, various cancers, severe brain and spinal cord injuries as well as the Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This has made families having a history of severe ailments opt in for cord blood banking. The successful treatment of malignant disorders have made parents to be think of blood from the umbilical cord as an insurance code to their child's and family health.

So why is it that a set of parents and families aren't convinced about cord blood banking, despite saying yes to the process. The truth, there are certain considerations that need to be made. For instance, it is important for a stem cell to possess three fundamental properties.

1. The strong capacity to regenerate, thus when they are divided they are able to produce similar daughter cells that preserves the cell line production.

2. Stems cells also need to have the capacity to distinguish, that they are able to set up specific form and functions. For instance, developing into a liver tissue in place of a cardiac tissue. However, stem cells that branch out into any cell type in the human body is termed as pluripotent and the ones which branch into a pre-destiny is called multipotent.

3. And finally stem cells also need to be able to refill the tissue cells that has been damaged severely in the blood, skin or gut and needs to be renewed at an ongoing basis from the stem cell source

Hence, the umbilical cord which according to few was considered to be of no medical use post child birth, has been proved wrong through the successful cord blood transplants. However, the fact that there exist still few disappointments on the subject could be traced to its disadvantages. And one being a minimum quantity of 50 to 200 ml needs to be made ready for collection. If the amount is less, then the sample is invalid. However, in majority there seems to be not ample blood. Furthermore, a meagre 8 to 12 % of cord blood units have apt stem cells for an individual transplant who weighs 80 kgs.

So, once you address the conflicting views and also know the practical side of cord blood, then whether to opt in for banking becomes easy for you.

Read more at   https://www.cordlifeindia.com

Article Source:  Balancing Conflicting Claims About Cord Blood Banking

Self-Development: Do Some People Only Judge Others If They Haven't Faced Their Own Issues?

By Oliver JR Cooper

When it comes to the people who are into self-development, it could be said that they all have one thing in common. What they all want is to do is to grow and to make their life better in some way.

With this in mind, it is going to be a good idea for these kinds of people to spend time with each other. Through doing this, they will be able to give each other the support that they need, thereby making it easier for them to move forward.

The Ideal

Someone's life is then going to be far better if their friends are also into self-development and, if they have a partner, it will help if this person is into it. One can give these people encouragement and these people can return the favour.

This is then going to be far better than it would be for them to be surrounded by people who are not interested in developing themselves. Being around people who were like this would create outer resistance.

Another Problem

As a result of this, not only would they need to deal with their own limits and the challenges that arise in their day-to-day life; they would also need to deal with the challenges that these people present. The energy that they would have to use to do this would be energy that they can't put into making their life better.

What they might be able to achieve in a few weeks with the right people in their life, could take a number of months if they have the wrong people in their life. Then again, it could stop them from be able to achieve anything.

Part of the Journey

But, even if one was to have people in their life who were not supportive, this can illustrate what they themselves need to work on. So, the fact that this is going on could show that they don't value themselves, for instance.

Along with this, they might not feel like a whole human being, which is why they can't let these people go. Through being so concerned with losing others, it will have caused them to lose themselves.

An Important Step

The key is then going to be for them to get in touch with their own value and to gradually become a whole human being. Once this starts to take place, it will be a lot easier for them to walk away from the wrong people.

Losing themselves to keep other people around will no longer interest them. This is a process that could take a few months, or it could take a little while longer.

Opening Up

When one does have supportive people in their life, it will mean that they can talk about what is going within them. Regardless of what this may be, these people will be there to listen to what they have to say.

Someone is then going to empathise with them and it might be necessary for them to show compassion. If one was abused and/or neglected as a child and they were to open up about this, this type of response of going to be exactly what they need.

Another Outcome

Nevertheless, one could open up about what took place when they were younger and the effect that this has had on how they feel, for instance, and they could end up being judged. For example, another person could tell them to 'get over it' and to 'move on' with their life.

To hear something like this could come as a surprise; especially as this person is also going to be into self-development. The person who they thought would be able to be there for them is not going to be to show them the kind of understanding that they need.

Out of Touch

What this can show is that this person feels worthless; the difference is that they may have disconnected from how they feel at a deeper level. How they have responded to one's vulnerability is likely to be similar to how they respond to the vulnerable part of themselves.

Perhaps their early years were also a time when they were abused in some way. Yet, while one is in touch with how they feel, this person is going to do everything they can to keep their pain at a distance.

Two Types

One can then congratulate themselves for having the courage to face how they feel and accept that this person is not ready to do this at this stage of their life. It is then not personal; it is just a reflection of where the other person is at in their own development.

One is then not just going to be into self-developing, they will also have the desire to work through their emotional baggage. The other person is only going to be interested in doing what they can to avoid their true-self.

Awareness

Consequently, it might be in their best interest to limit the amount of time that they spend with them, or to cut their ties altogether. What this empathises is that just because someone is onto self-development; it doesn't mean that they want to heal themselves.

In this case, self-development can end up being another way for someone to run away from how their own pain. If someone does want to heal themselves and they are unsure about how to do this, they might need to reach out for the assistance of a therapist or a healer.

Prolific writer, author, and coach, Oliver JR Cooper, hails from England. His insightful commentary and analysis covers all aspects of human transformation, including love, partnership, self-love, and inner awareness. With over one thousand seven hundred in-depth articles highlighting human psychology and behaviour, Oliver offers hope along with his sound advice.

To find out more go to - http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/

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Article Source:  Self-Development: Do Some People Only Judge Others If They Haven't Faced Their Own Issues?