Stem Cells Case Studies

Case Study 1. Stem cells and diabetes

According to The Daily Telegraph, "Stem cell transplants 'have freed patients with
This has come after research that involved volunteers who on average, for two and a
half years without using the multiple daily injections normally needed to manage
their condition.
The small study involved 23 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, a
condition in which the immune system can rapidly destroy the insulin-producing
cells in the pancreas.
These stem cell transplants apparently work by resetting the immune system so
that the body stops attacking the pancreas. The researchers themselves say that this
treatment can only be used when the condition is caught early enough (within six
weeks of diagnosis), before the pancreas has been irreversibly damaged and before
any complications from very high blood sugar have developed.
The study provides another avenue for research, but this treatment is still at a early
stage of development and does come with some side effects and risks. Dr Iain Frame,
research director of Diabetes UK, has emphasised that "this is not a cure for type 1
diabetes.
Diabetes occurs because the body can't use glucose properly, due to either poor
functioning or the lack of the hormone insulin. Today it affects 1:20 adults
worldwide. Cord blood stem cells are nave, un-programmed cells that have the
ability to grow into different kinds of tissue including those needed for treating
diabetes.








Case Study 2. Stem cells and mobility
An Australian man who was confined to a wheelchair by multiple sclerosis has made
a remarkable recovery after receiving a ground breaking stem cell treatment.
Ben Leahy, 20, was diagnosed with the disease in 2008 and lost the ability to stand
within a few months. However, a new procedure to combat the disease has helped
him regain his health and he is now walking again. The treatment targets the
immune system of multiple sclerosis patients, which turns in on it self causing
damage to nerves which can lead to blurred vision, loss of balance and
paralysis. Doctors carried out a new technique to remove stem cells from his bone
marrow before using chemicals to destroy all his immune cells. The stem cells were
then transplanted back into Mr Leahy's body to replenish the immune system
effectively resetting it.
Dr Colin Andrews, a neurologist from Canberra, said the positive results had
surprised doctors. Telegraph.co.uk 14th December 2009
Multiple sclerosis affects about 85,000 people in the UK alone. The treatment targets
the immune system of multiple sclerosis patients, turning it on it-self causing
damage to nerves which can lead to blurred vision, loss of balance and paralysis.






















Case Study 3. Stem cells and eyesight

A man who was partially blinded after intervening in a fight has had his vision
restored by a new stem-cell therapy.
Russell Turnbull, 38, lost most of the sight from his right eye in 1994 when he was
sprayed in the face with ammonia while trying to break up an altercation on a bus in
Newcastle upon Tyne. The chemical burnt his cornea, leaving him with cloudy
vision, pain on every blink and extreme sensitivity to light.
He has now become one of the first people to benefit from a treatment developed at
the North East England Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle, in which stem cells from his
good eye were used to repair his damaged one.
All eight of the partially sighted patients taking part in the first trial of the therapy
have reported improved vision, reduced eye pain and a better quality of life. If the
success is repeated in a larger trial of 25 patients, started thanks to support from the
Medical Research Council, the procedure could be used to restore the sight of
thousands of people with diseased or damaged corneas.
This has transformed my life, my eye is almost as good as it was before the
accident, he said. Im working, I can go jet-skiing again, and I also ride horses. I
have my life back thanks to the operation. Timesonline.com 23rd December 2009
Damaged eye sight is common. One example is limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), in
which the retina becomes cloudy and develops a rough surface that causes pain
when blinking and sensitivity to light. Scientists can generate replacement stem
cells that are spread on to a human amniotic membrane. Then the damaged corneal
tissue is then surgically removed and replaced with the stem-cell grafts.















Case Study 4. Stem Cells went wrong

The closure of the XCell-Center in Dusseldorf follows an undercover investigation by
The Sunday Telegraph into its controversial practices, which attracted hundreds of
patients from the UK.

The clinic charged patients up to 20,000 for stem cell injections into the back and
brain despite a lack of scientific proof that the treatments actually worked.

Experts in stem cell research had accused the clinic of preying on vulnerable
patients, desperately seeking a cure for such illnesses and diseases as cerebral palsy,
multiple sclerosis, autism, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes and
spinal cord injuries.

While most other European countries - as well as the US, Canada and Australia -
have banned stem cell treatments unless shown to be safe and effective, XCell had
exploited a loophole in German law allowing it to charge for the experimental
procedures.

But last week, the clinic suddenly announced it had ceased carrying out operations
due to what it described as legal changes in Germany. In a posting on its website,
XCell said last week: "Due to a new development in German law, stem cell therapy is
currently not possible to perform at the XCell-Center. Regretfully for this reason, we
must cancel your appointment until further notice. We will notify you for further
updates about the matter."

The clinic had come under increasing scrutiny following the death of an 18-month-
old boy in August last year, in a case first revealed by The Sunday Telegraph. The
child, who was from Romania, was injected in the brain with stem cells but suffered
internal bleeding. Three months earlier, a boy aged 10 from Azerbaijan had almost
died when the same procedure went wrong. The doctor who carried out the
operation remains under criminal investigation.