Posted on 06/27/2008 8:50:37 PM PDT by Coleus
Great - and, for anyone following the stunning medical advances being made thanks to ADULT Stem Cell Research - unsurprising news on the Parkinson’s front. Just as numerous spinal cord injuries are being successfully treated with ASC taken from nasal cavities, it looks there sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease may be helped, too.
Scientists Say Cure for Parkinson's Disease Right under Their Noses
SYDNEY, Australia, June 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - New research on stem-cell therapy shows scientists have found that the cure for Parkinson’s disease may lie right under one’s nose - or rather, in it. Researchers from Griffith University have published a study in the journal Stem Cells that has found adult stem-cells harvested from the noses of Parkinson’s patients developed into dopamine-producing brain cells upon being transplanted into the brain of a lab rat. Professor Alan Mackay-Sim said researchers simulated Parkinson’s symptoms in rats by creating lesions on one side of the rat’s brain to imitate the damage Parkinson’s disease wreaks on the human brain. The lesions caused the rats to run in circles; however when stem-cells from the noses of Parkinson’s patients were injected into the affected area of the brain, the rats re-acquired the ability to run in a straight line.
According to Mackay-Sim, the evidence showed the injected stem-cells had differentiated into “dopamine-producing neurons influenced by being in the environment of the brain.” Mackay-Sim explained that, like all stem-cells, these adult stem-cells from the olfactory nerve in the nose are “naïve,” since they have not yet differentiated into any particular type of cells. “They can still be influenced by the environment they are put into. In this case we transplanted them into the brain, where they were directed to give rise to dopamine producing brain cells,” he added.
“Significantly, none of the transplants led to formation of tumours or teratomas in the host rats as has occurred after embryonic stem-cell transplantation in a similar model.”
The research team made their latest discovery by building upon the groundbreaking work of Mackay-Sim, whose team in 2005 revealed they had found stem-cells from the nose have properties superior to embryonic stem-cells, and had developed them successfully into heart, nerve, liver, and brain cells.
Mackay-Sim's team had developed a technique that extracts stem-cells from the olfactory nerves of patients in a harmless 10 minutes procedure. Unlike unethical embryonic stem-cells - which have yielded no cures despite the investment of hundreds of millions of research dollars - these stem-cells from a patient's nose do not develop into tumours, are compatible with a patient's immune system and therefore do not require dangerous immuno-suppressant drugs.
Mackay-Sim's latest discovery in the little-recognized field of adult stem-cell research is the work of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research, part of Griffith University's Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies.
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Australian Research Team Finds Stem Cell Gold in the Nose
Spinal Cord Injuries Improved Years Later with Patients' Own Olfactory Cells
Adult Stem Cell Research: True Potential Sacrificed for Other Possibilities Says Biotech Writer
Adult Stem cell patch restores vision
Embryonic Stem Cell Therapies to Cure Disease is "Pure Folly", Says MIT ProfEmbryonic Stem Cell Research has yielded a lot of nightmares but no workable therapies.
After all the high drama and righteous noise about bad-old Bush refusing to let the government fund embryonic stem cell research, it seems a big Emily Letilla “nevermind” is in our futures, perhaps. Along with some very hopeful advances, (some great signs with ASC and cardiac muscles, now) successful treatments (possibly eradicating Sickle Cell Anemia and stroke?) and - we pray - more happy endings.
bump!
My uncle has early Alzheimers and responded favorably to adult stem cells. We do NOT need to harvest stem cells from aborted fetuses. Bush is right to stick to his principles on this one.
Adult stem cells cure and treat more than 70 diseases and are involved in almost 1,300 human clinical trials. Scientists also keep discovering that adult stem cells are capable of creating a wider variety of mature cells. Perhaps the most promising of these was announced in the January issue of Nature Biotechnology.”
Most so-called news articles mention only “stem cells” when something doesn't work and “embyotic cells” if there appears any success on the horizon..
Thanks for posting these articles. By coincidence I was just reading up on the value of adult cells vs. the embryonic stem cell fantasy, which is just the left’s way of further denigrating the value of the unborn—that’s all there is to it, and anyone who says otherwise is a lyin’ loon aka a liberal who sees abortion as a sacrament.
HA!
We are getting so close to cures to many horrible ailments. Glad to see ADULT stems cells are leading the way!
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