Nothing here gives me any sense of hope
that stem cells work. They have NO fucking clue if the stem cells even
survived and migrated to the correct locations.
1. Nothing on the objective damage in the brain.
2. No mention of even measuring if the stem cells survived
.3. Nothing listed here proves cause and effect.
4. No mention of measuring the blood vessels that were supposedly created
5. Nothing on what exercises were done to get these new cells to take on the needed functions.
6. No mention if the new stem cells migrated to the correct place.
7. Did they objectively measure anything at all in this procedure?
20 million cells is nothing, he likely lost hundreds of millions.
I really do wonder if our researchers even know how to run research.
I could make just as strong a case that the the real cause of the improvement was the trepanation.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4049358/ME-OPERATION-pioneering-stem-cell-procedure-restore-movement-stroke.html?
THE PATIENT
One
day in August last year I was reaching for food in the fridge, when I
suddenly fell unconscious. I don’t know how long I was out for and I
thought I had just tripped over.
Afterwards I felt a bit dizzy so I went for a lie down until my wife Catherine came home about an hour or two later.
I
told her I fell and didn’t feel very well, but neither of us were
particularly worried as all I had to show for my dizzy spell was a small
scratch on my elbow. I had no idea that the fall was a stroke.
The
next morning I made myself a cup of coffee, but when I tried to take a
sip, it spilt as I couldn’t co-ordinate my hand to my mouth properly.
Catherine
realised something wasn’t right so rang our daughter, Sonja, who took
me to A&E. I swiftly deteriorated and by the time I got there an
hour later, the left side of my mouth drooped and I couldn’t use my left
arm. I wasn’t too concerned, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.
The doctors recognised instantly that I was having a stroke, and I was rushed in for a brain scan.
This
showed that a blood clot was blocking blood flow to my brain and as a
result various areas were permanently damaged, including the areas that
govern movement and speech.
I was virtually paralysed down my left side, had no power in my left arm, and my speech was slurred.
The
doctors said the fall was actually a stroke and as so much time had
elapsed — about 24 hours between me having it and getting to hospital —
there was little they could do.
I spent three days in hospital resting and slowly I started to realise just how much my life would have to change.
I
spent 13 weeks in a rehabilitation centre having intense speech therapy
and physiotherapy, but I just couldn’t regain any movement in my left
arm or leg and my speech was still slurred. Things I’d taken for granted
such as walking were now beyond me.
Back
home I could no longer work and I had to rely on Catherine for most
things — and had pretty much given up on ever regaining movement in my
left side.
Then
out of the blue in June, my neurologist rang to ask if I’d like to take
part in a new trial for stem-cell therapy that would be the first ever
treatment for damage caused by a stroke, I was immediately keen.
He
explained that the treatment involved an injection of stem cells from a
tissue bank and these would help regenerate the damaged brain areas and
could restore movement. I was slightly worried about the idea of a
needle going straight into my brain, but the doctors reassured me it was
safe.
I
went in for the two-hour surgery under general anaesthetic in
September. Unsurprisingly, I don’t remember much about it, but I was
well enough to go home the next day. Over the next few weeks I started
physiotherapy and finally began to feel a change.
Before,
I’d had no control over my left arm — it just dangled by my side with
my fist clenched and it would sometimes shake uncontrollably — but now I
can lift it above my chest. My friends have told me my speech is
clearer, too. But my walking is still unsteady.
Before
the treatment I had felt self-conscious, but the stem-cell therapy has
given me a lifeline and I’m hopeful that I’ll get even better with more
physio.
THE SPECIALIST
Professor Keith Muir is a consultant neurologist at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
Every
year more than 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke and half of these
are left with some kind of disability because blood supply to key areas
is blocked.
Around
85 per cent of cases are ischaemic strokes, where the blood supply is
stopped due to a clot. The others are known as haemorrhagic, where a
weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts.
If
the supply of blood is restricted or stopped, brain cells begin to die,
resulting in permanent brain damage and disability as nerve cells don’t
regrow.
Often
if caught early, ischaemic strokes can be treated with medication to
dissolve the blood clot and restore blood supply to the affected areas.
But
these drugs have to be given within four hours of a stroke occurring in
order to be effective as brain tissue doesn’t survive very long without
a blood supply.
If
this happens and the brain cells are killed off, there is little that
doctors can do. Patients are left with irreversible disability as there
are no treatments to help brain cells grow again. These patients are
offered physiotherapy and rehabilitation, which can be of limited
effectiveness.
But
now scientists from Glasgow University and Reneuron, a biotechnology
company based in Wales, are testing whether stem cells injected into the
brain of patients after a stroke can stimulate regeneration of brain
cells and blood vessels in order to restore some function.
These
stem cells, called CTX, are derived from a brain tissue sample donated
to a tissue bank in the U.S. and transported to the hospital.
Animal studies suggest that they can stimulate some of the brain’s natural repair systems and so recover some lost function.
Before the operation a ‘dose’ of around 20 million stem cells is unfrozen in the hospital pharmacy and drawn up into a syringe.
Under general anaesthetic a neurosurgeon drills a small hole about 1cm wide in the skull.
We
slowly inject a dose of 20 million CTX stem cells into the brain, which
can take up to two hours, as the syringe is only gradually pushed down
so that the cells drip into the brain precisely. Patients are usually
ready to leave the hospital the next day.
Prof Keith Muir
We
use brain scans taken before the procedure to see where the damage is
and guide the injection, aiming to place the stem cells in an intact
area of brain close to where the stroke damage has occurred.
The
cells can’t be injected into the damaged area since there’s no tissue
there for them to hold on, and they would be washed away by the fluid
circulating in the brain. However, animal studies show that when they
are injected into nearby healthy brain tissue, the stem cells move to
the site of damage.
We
think that a chemical signal comes from damaged tissue that tells the
cells to move there. As the cells move into the injured areas they are
thought to release chemicals which stimulate the growth of nerve cells
and new blood vessels.
We
slowly inject a dose of 20 million CTX stem cells into the brain, which
can take up to two hours, as the syringe is only gradually pushed down
so that the cells drip into the brain precisely.
After
the procedure, the hole in the skull is filled with a bone substitute
material, similar to Polyfilla, and the scalp stitched.
Patients are usually ready to leave the hospital the next day.
A
safety study published in the Lancet in June involving 11 stroke
patients suggested there were no side-effects related to the cells over a
two-year follow up.
Our
current study at eight NHS centres has finished recruiting 21 patients,
and so far results suggest significant improvement in patients’
disability scores.
We are awaiting full results from this study before we plan larger trials in more patients.
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