Illinois Boy With Cerebral Palsy Helped by Stem Cells

New Year Gets A Kick Start From Stem Cell TreatmentThe new year is already past us, but it looks to be a promising year for Dalton Rogers-Ford, age 4 of Pearl City, Illinois. Dalton, suffering from cerebral palsy went to Dusseldorf, Germany for treatment using stem cells from his own bone marrow.Since being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the 18 months old, Dalton has been struggling. However,

Europeans Announce Pioneering Surgery

The New York Times reports today that European physicians have successfully transplanted a human windpipe using the recipient's own bone marrow stem cells to reline a donor trachea, thus preventing its rejection by her immune system. Using a new technique developed in Milan, physicians incubated stem cells removed from the patient's bone marrow, growing them into "a large population" which was then used to "seed" the donated windpipe. This is yet another interesting use of autologous stem cells, demonstrating their quickening pace of use in regenerative medicine.

US FDA allows first test of human stem cell therapy

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the first trial to see if human embryonic stem cells can treat people safely, a company involved in the controversial research on Friday. Geron Corp (GERN.O: Quote, Profile, Research), a California biotechnology company, said it plans a clinical trial to try to use the stem cells to regrow nerve tissue in patients with crushed, but not severed, spinal cords.

Not All Stem Cells Are the Same

This week the Obama administration has given embryonic stem cell researchers what they've been seeking: the potential to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Here's the irony: now that the funding restrictions are lifted, embryonic stem cells may not be the primary focus of stem cell research anyway.

Limb-Saving Trial Shows Promise

Autologous use of stem cells (in this case, from bone marrow) show promising results and is noteworthy because the treatment is cheaper, safer and less invasive than other alternatives (angioplasty or bypass) for peripheral artery disease. Medicare is said to be looking into the treatment.

Strokes Can Affect Children, Too – A unique program at UCSF is treating children who have suffered strokes

The article highlights the frequency of stroke in children and calls attention to the potential consequences of neurological deficit. The story reinforces the significance of the research being conducted at Duke University using a childs own cord stem cells to help heal the damage caused by stroke. Chloe Levine is one example of a child who has experienced positive changes since her infusion.