Stem Cell 101

Through one of Bill's clients we heard about a clinic down in Costa Rica that has been treating patients using stem cells. He is now basically a PR representative for the doctors of the clinic since he went from being bed ridden with MS to giving golf lessons for a living. He let us know that a couple of the doctors would be giving a seminar in Dallas. So, today we made the drive up to Dallas to attend the short conference. Gopi, Renuka and Gayla came to the conference with us while Raj & John had the privilege of keeping Maya for the day. The conference was very informative and worth the trip. The first presentation focused on the biology of cells and stem cells in particular. More importantly they went over the misconceptions the world has about stem cells. We learned about the differences between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The second presentation focused on what and how they are treating patients. The doctor focused on MS, heart failure, spinal cord injuries and autism. This company in particular gets stem cells from umbilical cord, bone marrow and through the patient's own fat cells. They were sure to note that stem cell treatment is still in it's infancy. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but they can't explain why that is. Therefore, they can't make any promises, but they did state that out of 500 treatments they only observed side effects in 2 cases, where the patient had developed a rash. Afterward, we talked to the doctor & he told us they have never treated anyone with SMA. He did tell us that they would look into if they thought treatment would help us and they would get back with us. Not saying that we are on the next plane to Costa Rica, but we aren't closing any doors at this point and just want more knowledge (and perhaps more choices).