Lou Gehrig’s Disease Progress?
A press release from Johns Hopkins reports that rats bred to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, had delayed onset and prolonged life when human stem cells were transplanted into their spinal cords. Onset was delayed by an average of 7 days and lifespan extended by 9 days. One of the things the research demonstrates is that the new cells were not themselves subject to the degeneration the surrounding cells suffered. Many of the cells developed into nerve cells and grew nerve endings to connect with other cells.
The next step in the research is to try grafting the cells along the length of the spinal cord; in this first study, the grafts only affected muscles and nerves below the waist and not those responsible for breathing. If the transplanted cells can be shown to have a significant effect in maintaining normal breathing, that would be a very important step forward. The study is also useful as a model of how stem cells change when transplanted. Human clinical studies are still far away.
There are more detailed articles on the study on Reuters, the Independent, and the BBC, among others.
5 Comments:
Just a question. Do you know anything about www.stemcellregenco.com
Quackery or unknown?
After seeing your post about Lou Gehrig's, I thought you'd be interested in our findings.
It's clear that the public's attention to stem cell research has increased substantially (http://publicagenda.org/issues/red_flags_detail.cfm?issue_type=medical_research&list=3&area=2) since 2001, when the debated first broke into the news. While majorities say they support stem cell research, question wording can influence results, which suggests there is still some uncertainty on this question. For more public opinion on stem cell research, visit Public Agenda’s Issue Guide on Medical Research (http://publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=medical_research).
Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group devoted to public opinion and public policy. Please visit www.publicagenda.org for more information.
After seeing your post about Lou Gehrig's, I thought you'd be interested in our findings.
It's clear that the public's attention to stem cell research has increased substantially (http://publicagenda.org/issues/red_flags_detail.cfm?issue_type=medical_research&list=3&area=2) since 2001, when the debated first broke into the news. While majorities say they support stem cell research, question wording can influence results, which suggests there is still some uncertainty on this question. For more public opinion on stem cell research, visit Public Agenda’s Issue Guide on Medical Research (http://publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=medical_research).
Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group devoted to public opinion and public policy. Please visit www.publicagenda.org for more information.
I don't know why people are objecting or making such a deal about stemcell research.
If a cure for muscular dystropy,MS,alzhiemers,parkinson or any other dibilitory disease can be found through stemcell research, why not . It is called mordern medicine.Have these people ever suffered from or watched a loved one suffer from any of the above mentioned diseases? They would want a cure or any hope of a cure by any means possible.
What a great story. I've read a lot about stem cell treatments, but I guess I was unaware that some of them were using human stem cells in mice. I guess I just assumed that all of them would try to use stem cells from that species. Anyway, I think it's pretty neat that they are using our cells to do research for us.
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