Stem Cells for Incontinence

Stem Cells for Incontinence

Add incontinence to the list of conditions that might one day be treated with stem cells. An Austrian study, presented at the American Urological Association meeting in Anaheim, looked at 184 people with stress incontinence. The researchers took blood and muscle cells from the patients' arms, and from these isolated fibroblasts and myoblasts -- stem cells that make connective tissue and muscle. The stem cells were grown in the lab for six or seven weeks, and then injected back into the participants' urethras and urethral sphincters. A year after treatment, 80% of the people were cured of incontinence, and the results did not appear to fade over time, USA Today reports. The newspaper quoted other experts who said the findings needed to be duplicated in other studies before stem cell injections could be considered as a treatment option for urinary incontinence.

Tags: Adult Stem Cells, incontinence

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Embryonic Stem Cells Show Progress in Spinal Cord Injury Repain

 Spinal cord injuries
   Geron Corp., based in Menlo Park, Calif., expects to be the first U.S. company to test an embryonic stem cell treatment in a clinical trial.
    The company has successfully injected neural cells - derived from animal embryonic stem cells - into mice with spinal cord lesions. The neural cells repaired the myelin, or coating around the nerve cells, allowing the nerve cells to function.
    "Which means," said spokesman David Schull, "a paralyzed rat can walk."
    He added: "We expect to complete the [investigational new drug] filing with the [Food and Drug Administration] by the end of year. The plan is to enter the clinic in 2008."

Tags: Geron Corp., Spinal Injury, ESC, Embryonic Stem Cells

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Adult Stem Cell Heart Disease Trials to begin in Utah

G. Russell Reiss, a cardiothorasic surgeon at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City, has federal approval to try injecting bone marrow stem cells into the hearts of patients with coronary artery disease.
    Preliminary studies have shown the cells can improve heart function after heart attacks, he said. While doctors once believed stem cells turned into heart cells, replacing damaged ones, it now appears that they play more of a support role, excreting chemicals near the injury and assisting in repair.

More Information

Tags: Adult Stem Cells, heart disease, G. Russell Reiss

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Kevin Eggan gives Adult Stem Cells Traits similiar to ESC

Kevin Eggan, 32
Cellular Biologist
Harvard University

Eggan's Lab

All cells in the body have exactly the same genetic makeup. Scientists still don't understand what makes a skin cell different from a brain cell. Embryonic stem cells could be the key to solving this puzzle and to the treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes.
In 2005, Eggan managed to get around those problems by "smooshing" adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells. The resulting cells acted like embryonic stem cells, not adult cells.

Tags: Kevin Eggan, Eggan, ESC, Adult Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells

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Therapeutic Cloning allowed in Victoria, Australia

After a long and heated debate in the state parliament, Victoria has become the first state in Australia to allow therapeutic cloning. This puts the state ahead of most of the world.  More developments to follow.

Tags: Cloning, Therapeutic Cloning, Victoria, Victoria Australia

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