Since you are fully aware of your pregnancy, be ready to take important tips to select the correct pregnancy shoes so that you will not invest in the wrong one:

1. Search for a pair that can inhale your feet-make sure you can take your toes in your chosen shoes. You can go for a fun mix of sandals or shoes with level soles in this situation. The lucky thing about this option is that you can combine it with shorts or other lovely outfits to make it look chic and cool. Keep in mind that you can still go for breathable heels, but make sure they are wide and low.

Shoes also have an essential ability to breathe to prevent the shoes from having moisture, which may make the feet sweat more. The canvas or cowhide can be used as the most breathable shoes.

2. Another important tip is to search for a few shoes, which you can wear or slip on easily. You should not take too much time to dress or feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, evading laces with shoes as such obliges you to twist them in order to tie them. Besides this, you can also slip on the spires at the risk that when you run they will be broken. Go for footwear without laces so that you won’t experience serious difficulties to put it on and take it off.

3. Find a good shoe-the best shoe for pregnancy offers a good coating and support. Please note that your feet may also change unbelievably, because they are pregnant. Additional weight is also given. In this respect, you need to support your legs and feet in additional curves.

The right support for the curve can limit your feet’s agony and also prevent damage from excess stress. A useful tip is to wear a few pairs and evaluate them on the basis of their support. Choose one of your favorites.

4. Take your comfort capabilities into account-look for a shoe that can give you the maximum comfort. Note that you are going to carry your child for nine months, so you need the most pleasant combination, particularly at the last stage of pregnancy.

And you won’t have to take your regular walks a troubled time. Everything should be pleasant from the cushioning, chic and shoe material. When you intend to invest in a closed sports or running shoe then decide if your language and neckline are adequately pleasing.

5. Look for a big shoe-As already stated, your feet can swell and widen when you are pregnant. You must all have half or one full size larger than the average shoe size. This will give you enough room to stay pleasant no matter how much you may swell your feet.

Conclusion

You can find the best match for your neighborhood trip with the right pregnancy shoes mentioned in this article. Settle on sure that your decision is breathable, agreeable and large to make everything easier for you as well as for your unborn child.

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The blood that remains in the umbilical cord after the delivery of baby is known as the cord blood. The cord blood is a rich source of stem cells that can be collected by a painless method.

Cord blood banking is the method by which the cord blood is collected and its stem cells and other cells of the immune system extracted and cryogenically frozen for medical use in future.

Cord blood is currently recommended for the treatment of nearly 80 blood and immune diseases.

Cord blood has an ample number of stem cells and cells of the immune system which are nowadays expanded rapidly for medical use. Cord blood is often known as a regenerative medicine because these cells help the body regenerate tissues and systems.

If somebody does not have stored the cord blood, they will have to depend from another source on stem cells. Bone marrow contains similar versions of the same stem cells that are abundant in cord blood, though less useful and probably contaminated.

As the process of obtaining stem cells from bone marrow is painful so the scientists started looking for another source of obtaining stem cells. This process eventually show the way towards the discovery of stem cells in cord blood in the year of 1978.

Cord blood is recently approved by the FDA to treat nearly 80 diseases, and cord blood therapies have now been conducted even more than 35,000 times across the world to treat cancers (including lymphoma and leukemia), anemia, metabolic disorders inherited, and some malignancies and orthopedic treatment.

Cord blood from the umbilical cord of a baby is always a perfect match of the baby. Moreover, immediate family members are might also get a match from the baby’s stem cells. Siblings have a 25% chance to be a perfect match and a 50% chance to be a partial match.

Each of the parents provides half the markers have a 100% chance to be a partial match. Even grandparents and other relatives might have a chance to get a match and can get benefit from the cord blood that is banked.

Whenever the treatment gets failed doctors often recommend the patient family to do stem cell transplant. The process of stem cell transfusion from the cord blood will help to regenerate new blood, organs and immune system. It then provides the patient a good chance of getting recovery from the untreatable disease.

In contrast to bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells, embryonic stem cells in cord blood are young and immature and still did not know the way to attack foreign bodies. As the cord blood stem cells are less likely to reject the transfusion, it is easier to match transplant patients with cord blood than with other stem cell sources.

This makes the umbilical cord blood a valuable resource for the ethnic minorities those who faces difficulty in finding matched stem cell in the registry of bone marrow donor. On a concluding note it can be said that the stem cell banking in India will be beneficial for patients those who are suffering from untreatable diseases.

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Aplastic anaemia is a rare form of anaemia in which the amount of red blood cells reduces in the bone marrow. It stops the blood cell production and initiates fatigue that can further lead to various kinds of infections and excess amount of bleeding. This can happen at any age and at any time. So, the cord blood preservation will help to initiate the therapy for the diseased people as soon as possible.

Nowadays the stem cells collected from the umbilical cord blood can be used for treating even a critical aplastic anaemia that is followed by acute failure of the liver and the transplantation of the liver.

Acute aplastic anaemia is a deadly disease which requires an immediate treatment prior to the admission of the patient. The reason behind is that this disease is not detected in the early stage and when detected it already becomes severe which needed an immediate treatment. It has been reported from various settings that there are up to 28% of the recipients those who had undergone through orthotopic liver transplants. The cord blood also provides the ability of doing liver transplantation of the children those are suffering from aplastic secondary anaemia.

As stated by Fruchtman et al. (2004), transplantation of cord blood was used in a vast manner for the genetic as well as the acquired disorders related to haematopoiesis. The transplantation of the umbilical cord blood is done very less and also there are few rumors about the collection as well as storage of the cord blood. Fruchtman said that the transplantation of the umbilical cord blood can be used for treating aplastic anemia. Bone marrow taken from a sibling donor whose HLA is matched, had a higher cure rate in the children having aplastic anaemia.

Umbilical cord tissue and blood is used as a main source of receiving different types of stem cells needed for allogeneic transplantation. However using of cord blood stem cells in children those who are suffering from aplastic anaemia is very rare. In a non- transplant setting only two cases has been reported in terms of hematopoietic transplantation. One is of a boy who is of 7 years and suffering from aplastic anaemia and a girl of 9 year suffering from hepatitis associated with aplastic anaemia. Another 3 cases of severe aplastic anaemia were reported from another clinical setting. All of these cases had successfully received a haematopoietic recovery by using bone marrow from siblings. This type of bone marrow engrafting can be achieved by using the stem cell transplantation that must be related to allogeneic cord blood as well as the bone marrow from the sibling whose HLA was matched.

From the above discussion it can be said that by using the stem cells that were taken from the cord blood can be used for treating severe aplastic anaemia. It will help in reducing the acute failure of liver by doing the stem cell transplantation.

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Researchers who work on neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease need to access diseased human brain cells very frequently. In that process, they create diseased human brain cells from human pluripotent stem cells in the lab. However, the main problem in the procedure is, they cannot regenerate enough diseased neurons to study the diseases more closely. This is the reason that the diseases still cannot be detected at an early stage or we don’t have any proper drug to delay the occurrence of the diseases.

To overcome the issue, scientists would need a resource to regenerate human brain cells in bulk. To address it, a team of researchers from Lund University built a new technique to effectively regenerate brain cells in bulk from patients, suffering from neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases. Dr. Malin Parmar is the senior author of the study, which is published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Earlier studies showed that reprogramming the cells back to the pluripotent stem cell state wipes out the aging effects in the cells. So, the team employed an alternative method to create the neurons. The approach involved turning the human skin cells into brain cells. They did not reprogram the skin cells to the pluripotent stem cells in the first place. The method is called “direct conversion”, which is considered to be an efficient shortcut to regenerate mature brain cells in a dish. Once the direct conversion was applied, the aging signs remained intact, which resulted in an aging brain.

Parmar explained, “Primarily, we inhibited a protein, REST, involved in establishing identity in cells that are not nerve cells. After limiting this protein’s impact in the cells during the conversion process, we’ve seen completely different results.” This technique also helped them to study aging brain cells at different levels of the diseases, as aging is one of the main risk factors in these diseases.

The method was developed entirely to regenerate human brain cells in large quantities, so the scientists have access to a sufficient number of diseases brain cells to conduct their researches. However, early detection also plays a significant role in treating diseases. For this reason, as well, the scientists wanted a technique that offers a way to test new drugs to treat or delay the symptoms of these neurodegenerative diseases.

The team also created two proteins, Ascl1 and Brn2. These proteins are important to regenerate brain cells. Parmar said, “We’ve been playing around with changing the dosage of the other components in the previous method, which also proved effective. Overall, the efficiency is remarkable. We can now generate almost unlimited amounts of neurons from one skin biopsy.”

Dr. Johan Jakobsson, the co-author of the study said, “This takes us one step closer to reality, as we can now look inside the human neurons and see what goes on inside the cell in these diseases. If all goes well, this could fundamentally change the field of research, as it helps us better understand the real mechanisms of the disease. We believe that many laboratories around the world would like to start testing on stem cells to get closer to the diseases.”

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Stanford University School of Medicine researchers invented a new algorithm, Baxter Algorithm, to track adult stem cell development more accurately. The main idea was to overcome the difficulties in treating muscle related problems that eventually lead to aging.

According to the research, growing stem cells in the muscle, especially on the developed synthetic matrix, try to copy the elasticity of real muscle, thereby allowing them to retain their auto-renewing agents. Adult stem cells are already present in our body. They play a significant role in forming body tissues in muscles, blood and neurons. So far scientists struggled to create the stem cells in adequate quantity, needed for cell differentiation. Moreover, the stem cells lose some of their qualities immediately after they are kept in a culture dish. One of the qualities is self-renewal. It’s the ability to turn into another stem cell and at the same time the differentiating daughter cell.

This new technique would not only overcome the issue, but it would also help in revolutionizing the application of stem cells in different procedures.  Helen Blau, a researcher at the Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine explained, “Cells don’t normally exist in contact with a rigid cell culture dish. They sit on soft tissue. By mimicking this environment we can really influence their function and allow them to self-renew in ways we’ve never been able to achieve before.”

The researchers have developed a new culture system in order to create a more comfortable and softer environment for the stem cells to grow. They used a material, called hydrogel, made of a platform of polyethylene glycol polymers with water. Once they decreased the quantity of polymer molecules, it was turned into a more flexible and more elastic surface.

The researchers let the stem cells grow in the hydrogel for a week. After a week, they found that the softer cells had more cells compared to the less-elastic gels. The scientists had then used the new algorithm to track the cell development automatically. They have found that the cells are not dividing faster. Rather more cells remain alive in the culture dish.

Blau said, “This in itself is a huge advance. Until now it’s been pretty impossible to do these studies without spending half a year or more manually scoring pictures or movies of cells in culture. Now we can figure out exactly how the cells divide and move, who begets who. As a result, we can begin to study all types of variables,” she added, “Clearly the cells grown on the more-elastic surfaces have better survival and self-renewing properties than those grown on standard tissue culture dishes. We conducted our experiments with muscle stem cells, but I expect this will be true for other types of adult stem cells as well.”

Apart from the new algorithm, the researchers continue their work to find out how this advancement would help in stem cells therapies to treat muscle-related problems like muscular dystrophy. Blau said, “Researchers really had no way to grow these cells in the laboratory before. These findings may allow us one day to replenish the muscles of patients with muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting diseases with healthy stem cells.”

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Many athletes take painkillers regularly after intense workout sessions. The reason being, any muscle injury, inflammation, soreness, stiffness and aches can be handled with these medicines. But a new study suggests that these anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs often harm the muscles rather than doing any good. A Stanford Medicine study supports this view and proposes a new study, based on the inflammatory component to treat muscle degeneration with muscle stem cells.

The stem cells in muscles are scattered across the skeletal muscle tissue. They remain inactive until they are divided by stimulation. When our muscles go through an injury or damage, an inflammatory component activates these muscle stem cells, so they start regenerating the tissue.

The team at Stanford suggests that a molecule, Prostaglandin E2 or PGE2, gets released when the muscle sends the inflammatory signal. This component stimulates the repairing process by aiming at the EP4 receptor, located on the surface of muscle stem cells. The muscle stem cells division is caused by the interaction between PGE2 and EP4, which leads to muscle tissue regeneration.

Dr. Helen Blau, the senior author of the study, said, “Traditionally, inflammation has been considered a natural, but sometimes harmful, response to injury. But we wondered whether there might be a component in the pro-inflammatory signaling cascade that also stimulated muscle repair. We found that a single exposure to prostaglandin E2 has a profound effect on the proliferation of muscle stem cells in living animals. We postulated that we could enhance muscle regeneration by simply augmenting this natural physiological process in existing stem cells already located along the muscle fiber.”

They have conducted a study on a mice model and it reveals that the PGE2 is increased by injuries and that in turn increases the expression of the EP4 receptor. This incident leads the team to the idea of treating the mice with PGE2 pulse, so they can stimulate the muscle stem cells to repair the damage.

Dr. Adelaida Palla, the co-first author explained, “When we gave mice a single shot of PGE2 directly to the muscle, it robustly affected muscle regeneration and even increased strength. Conversely, if we inhibited the ability of the muscle stem cells to respond to naturally produced PGE2 by blocking the expression of EP4 or by giving them a single dose of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to suppress PGE2 production, the acquisition of strength was impeded.”

The research clearly shows that painkillers can make the situation worse. Additionally, it also suggests that the molecule; PGE2 can be the natural element to enhance muscle regeneration. Dr. Blau is hopeful that future studies will show more encouraging results with PGE2.  “Our goal has always been to find regulators of human muscle stem cells that can be useful in regenerative medicine. It might be possible to repurpose this already FDA-approved drug for use in muscle. This could be a novel way to target existing stem cells in their native environment to help people with muscle injury or trauma, or even to combat natural aging,” added Dr. Blau.

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We all know that autism cannot be cured. But Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development researchers have found a way to alleviate the symptoms of autism, thereby offering a better life for children with the condition. And the key to this therapy lies within their own umbilical cord blood stem cells.

The researchers at the Duke conducted a study to find out if the symptoms of autism can be lowered down in degree by infusing blood, derived from their own umbilical cord. They have published their findings in April 2017 and since then it has all the media attention.

The trial involved 25 children between 2 and 6. Geraldine Dawson, director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development confirmed that all the children have displayed improvement in terms of the autistic symptoms. Dawson mentioned, “We measured the children’s social and communication abilities using various tests and parent questionnaires. We found that the infusion was safe and many children showed improvements in their social and language skills.”¹

In this study, the children received stem cells from their own umbilical cord blood. After the infusion, their improvements were being monitored thoroughly. The doctors found that the infusion was completely safe for the children. After one year, these children were called for another round of tests in order to measure their further improvements.

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, the professor in the department of pediatrics, said that the process is entirely new to them. Dawson said that the study is still at its nascent stage, as they don’t have any standard comparison factor to compare the effectiveness of the therapy for autism, as there was no control group of autistic children involved in the study to compare the results. Dawson added, “Because there was no comparison group in this study, we don’t yet know whether the improvements we observed were because of the cord blood. As much as we’re hopeful that this is helping, we don’t want to prematurely make claims that haven’t been confirmed.”²

After the successful Phase I, the team is ready to start with Phase II trial, which is expected to be completed in two years. Unlike the Phase I, the second Phase will include a blind control group, where children will get a placebo infusion. Moreover, the Phase II will involve 165 children with autism.

Dawson said that the children will be divided into two groups. One group will receive umbilical cord blood stem cells and another group will receive a placebo. The groups will be switched after six months and the children will receive the opposite therapy. This will enable to researchers to find out the effectiveness of stem cell therapy for autism. Kurtzberg added, “There is a remodeling of certain abnormal brain connections [by the microglia], which then results in decreasing symptoms of autism.”³

Though the first trial showed immense improvements in the children, the team is still hesitant to call it a full-proof therapy for treating autism symptoms.  They will be able to answer all the unanswered questions after the comparative Phase II. Kurtzberg added, “At the conclusion of [the Phase II] study, we’ll be able to answer the question about whether cells are effective.”⁴ 

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Doctors of the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System have successfully conducted a stem cell transplant to cure a rare blood disorder, named congenital dyserythropoietic anemia (CDA). It’ a rare condition, in which the body does not create enough red blood cells, which leads to organ damage and even early death.

This is the story of David Levy, who started experiencing the unbearable pain of CDA when he was 24. The pain was so severe that he had to leave his studies. He stated, “I spent the following years doing nothing – no work, no school, no social contact -because all I could focus on was managing my pain and getting my health back on track.”[1]

David Levy used to receive regular blood transfusions for more than 30 years, so that his tissues and organs keep receiving enough oxygen. When he was 32, he lost his spleen and developed an enlarged lever. As the results of regular blood transfusions, he was suffering from other illnesses such as fatigue, palpitations, and iron poisoning. At last, a desperate David wrote to Dr. Damiano Rondelli, the Michael Reese Professor of Hematology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He recollected, “It was bad. I had been through enough pain. I was angry and depressed, and I wanted a cure. That’s why I started emailing Dr. Rondelli.”[2]

Dr. Rondelli stated that many institutions had rejected the possibilities of stem cell transplant on Levy just because of his physical condition was not stable enough to agree to chemotherapy and radiation. But Rondelli performed transplant on Levy in 2014. He said, “This procedure gives some adults the option of a stem cell transplant which was not previously available.”[3]

He also stated that Levy’s condition created the optimum situation for the transplant. He added, “For many adult patients with a blood disorder, treatment options have been limited because they are often not sick enough to qualify for a risky procedure, or they are too sick to tolerate the toxic drugs used alongside a standard transplant.”[4]

After the surgery, Levy, now 35, is back to his normal life, even though he still feels the pain. He is pursuing his doctorate in psychology and runs group therapies at a behavioral health hospital. He said, “The transplant was hard, and I had some complications, but I am back to normal now. I still have some pain and some lingering issues from the years my condition was not properly managed, but I can be independent now. That is the most important thing to me.”[5]

The specialty of the transplant is, no chemotherapy and radiation were administrated in order to prepare the body for the surgery. The process involves the donor’s cells taking over the patient’s bone marrow slowly to avoid usage of any toxic agents to discard the patient’s cells. Rondelli said, “The protocol can be used even in patients with a long history of disease and some organ damage because of the minimal use of chemotherapy.”[6]

Rondelli believes that the procedure has a great potential to treat severe congenital anemias. He concluded “The use of this transplant protocol may represent a safe therapeutic strategy to treat adult patients with many types of congenital anemias – perhaps the only possible cure.”[7]

The story of David Levy truly evokes a raw of hope for many such patients!

Sources:

[1] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

[2] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

[3] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

[4] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

[5] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

[6] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

[7] First patient cured of rare blood disorder  – https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uoia-fpc032017.php

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Stem cells have opened so many gateways to personalized medicine that no one could ever imagine a few years back. Not only the traditional transplants, with stem cells, medical practitioners are now able to treat many rare conditions. Thanks to the researchers and their novel techniques, involving stem cells.

This is a story of Javier Tan, a 9 year old boy, who was suffering from a rare genetic illness, Fanconi anaemia, which led his blood count drop to a significantly low levels. He required a stem-cell transplant; so that his body would be able create new blood cells

He received his first stem cell transplant when he was 7. The surgery was meant to save his life but call it irony of fate that it turned his life into a nightmare. Instead of healing, he contracted a bone infection. His condition was so severe that his doctors anticipated he would lose the limb.

In that scenario, the optimum option was to wait for another donor, which might have taken several months. Instead his doctors administrated another transplant and that too within weeks. When his doctors realized that they would require the donor to be only a 50% and not 100%, his father became the donor, who was earlier rejected.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching is important in both cord blood and bone marrow transplant. It’s a protein, which is found in cells, used to match a donor’s stem cells with that of the patient’s. However, this time Javier’s doctors went for a different method, called haploidentical transplant. In this process, the T-cells, the immune cells that are responsible for attacking foreign elements in the body were removed. So in Javier’s case, the T-cells could not attack the newly transplanted cells.

After seeing the immense improvement, Javier’s mother is very happy. Mrs Vivian Tan recalled the day when doctors told her that they might need to amputate his son’s leg. And now look at him. He is a healthy student of Primary 3, excelling in English and Chinese. His surgery was done in January and Javier was back in school in May. She said, “I am definitely relieved and thankful that he has his health back.”

Dr Rajat Bhattacharyya, the consultant at the department of paediatric sub-specialities at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) confirmed that the new transplant method is versatile enough to find anyone the suitable donor. However, the technique has been in existence since 2010. The National University Hospital (NUH) successfully conducted the procedure successfully on 38 children. The National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) has administrated 8 transplants on adults. KKH doctors have treated 4 kids with this technique since October 2014. 10 adult leukaemia patients have been treated with this method by Singapore General Hospital (SGH) since 2004.

The number of patients undergoing haploidentical transplant is gradually increasing. And why not! Without the procedure, the chances of finding the most suitable donor might take several months or year. The haploidentical transplant offers hope for patients, who suffer from rare conditions and are left with minimum hope to live a healthy life ahead.

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Aging is a natural process that no one can deny. But how about a treatment that will not only keep your muscles flexible during the normal aging process, but also treat various muscle wasting diseases? Well, this is no more a mere concept. The Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that stem cells, present in the muscle tissues, can prevent tissue scarring, clinically termed as fibrosis.

Thomas Rando, who lead the study, said, “Fibrosis occurs in many degenerative diseases and also in normal aging,” he added, “It negatively impacts muscle regeneration by altering the stem cell niche and inhibiting the stem cell function. In addition, as more scarring occurs, muscles become stiff and can’t contract and relax smoothly.”

The team tried to understand how normal muscle tissues regenerate under usual circumstances and at the same time how they respond to injuries. During the research, they concentrated on fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs), the stem cells that reside in the muscle and build the desired connective tissue structure to support muscle regeneration.

The findings of the research are quite amazing. Not only had they discovered that the stem cells in the muscle have the ability to respond to aging, injuries or diseases, but also they can prevent fibrosis.

The scientists studied PDGFR alpha (PDGFRa), a protein found on the surface of FAPs.  The structure and function of the PDGFRa protein is quite intriguing. It straddles the cell membrane. The outer part of the protein functions as a landing area for any external factors that encourage the FAP cells to divide. The inner portion helps to pass on the external signal inside. If the response is somehow over-enthusiastic, it may lead to fibrosis. So, a balanced response on the stem cell’s part is required for an optimum result.

The study showed that the muscle-embedded stem cells can police themselves to get the optimum response. Rando pointed out, “We’ve found that the cells actively regulate the production of the inhibitory form of the protein, which is very surprising. If they make less, the degree of fibrosis increases; if they make more, it decreases.”

The normal version of PDGFRa protein instructs the FAPs to divide and grow, which is ideal if FAPs try to repair any tissue damage. However, excessive growth may lead to fibrosis. In order to avoid it, FAPs build a truncated version of PDGFRa protein that orders the cells to prevent tissue scarring by restricting any further division.

The research team figured out that the stem cells create a shortened version of the protein, which is not there in the interior portion. The shortened version of the protein hides the external growth signals away from the larger version of the protein. The cells grow the ability to create the shortened form of the protein by identifying and implementing a series of nucleotides. The nucleotide code then instructs the cell’s messenger RNA to set up a shorter signal. Consequently, the protein gets truncated.

The researchers forced the FAPs to build the shortened version of the protein in a mouse model. Followed by the process, both young and old mice showed less scarring. The team is soon to test this approach for muscle wasting diseases like muscular dystrophy in a similar mouse model. We will certainly keep you updated on the findings. Stay tuned!

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A new method to examine potential antimalarial drugs and vaccines possessing the potential to treat the liver stage of malaria infection has been engineered by a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) using human liver cells, derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Malarial infection caused approximately 500,000 deaths globally every year. This innovative methodology could possibly present fresh prospects for customized antimalarial drug testing and the progress of tailor made medication to fight the condition.

Published in Stem Cell Reports, senior study author Sangeeta Bhatia, MD, PhD, the director of MIT’s Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies and a biomedical engineer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital says, “Our platform can be used for testing candidate drugs that act against the parasite in the early liver stages, before it causes disease in the blood and spreads back to the mosquito vector. This is especially important given the increasing occurrence of drug-resistant strains of malaria in the field.”

Bites by infected mosquitoes are the reason behind the spread of malarial infection amongst humans where it finds a hospitable host for the growth of the parasites initially in the liver cells followed by the red blood cells. This is the stage where physical symptoms of the disease come forward. It has been a challenge to completely wipe out malarial infection as the parasites can stay alive in the liver and could potentially trigger a relapse by attacking the bloodstream possibly in the future. One way towards eradication of the disease would be if there are medicines or vaccines that could target the liver stage in turn blocking the parasites penetration into the bloodstream thus preventing a relapse.

Due to the limited access to the pool of liver cells and the lack of genetic variety of these human donor cells, the existing processes for demonstrating liver-stage malaria in a dish are constrained. Hence, it has been quiet difficult to investigate and develop custom designed drugs for individual patients as it is hard to ascertain the levels of genetic influences respond to antimalarial medicines.

Working towards triumphing over these obstacles, Bhatia and her team reconstructed human skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)–embryonic-like stem cells skilled at transforming into additional distinctive cell types significant for investigating a specific infection. iPSCs are, theoretically, a renewable supplier of liver cells that preserves the donor’s genetic makeup and can be produced from any human donor. These characteristics apportion a wide-ranging gamut of the human population to be a symbol of in drug screens and offer the prospect to examine individualized reactions to antimalarial drugs as well as genetic influences that control vulnerability to contamination.

The researchers contaminated iPSC-derived liver cells with numerous malaria parasites to create prototypical liver-stage malaria in the laboratory. These cells were susceptible to an antimalarial drug known as atovaquone; chemical maturation through contact with tiny molecules also made the cells susceptible to one more antimalarial drug called primaquine, exhibiting the importance of this methodology for assessing modern antimalarial drugs.

“Moving forward, we hope to adapt the iPSC-derived liver cells to scalable, high-throughput culture formats to support fast, efficient antimalarial drug screens,” says lead study author Shengyong Ng, a postdoctoral researcher in Bhatia’s lab. “The use of iPSC-derived liver cells to model liver-stage malaria in a dish opens the door to study the influence of host genetics on antimalarial drug efficacy and lays the foundation for their use in antimalarial drug discovery.”

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Maria Torres, a healthy, fit woman of 43 was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. It was totally out of the blue. She was a woman who took her health and fitness seriously with regular exercise, healthy eating and weight management. She just couldn’t believe it. Refusing to accept the reports, she requested her doctor to re-test her. Nonetheless, the results were the same. Her life would now undergo dramatic transformation and no one could fully explain why this was happening.

“It really scared me,” says Maria. “I thought I was going to die soon.”

No one was surprised at Maria’s refusal to accept the diagnosis. She just did not fit in with the profile of a typical Type 2 diabetes patient. The probable reason behind this could be some undiscovered genetic element that made Maria vulnerable to the condition.

In order to manage her diabetes, she had to modify her existing lifestyle. Whilst her pancreas was producing insulin, that instruct the cells to take in the blood sugar, her cells had developed insulin resistance and therefore not co-operating in the scheme of things.  Consequently, with glucose accumulation in her blood, Maria was facing a host of health risks like heart disease, nerve damage and eye issues.

It had come down to regular insulin injections five times a day in order to absorb the glucose and frequent monitoring of her blood sugar levels.

She has followed this regimented lifestyle for 20 odd years. But insulin is not the cure. It only helps to control the condition. She faces massive side effects like mood swings and serious complications when her glucose levels are on the rise and fall.

Working Towards a Cure

An encouraging strategy to combat diabetes by transplanting beta cells, allowing the blood to sense the sugar levels and generate insulin thereby reducing them in time, has gained momentum. Those suffering from Type 1 diabetes would gain, as the new beta cells will be able to substitute the cells that had been lost due to the disease. For patients with the Type 2 condition like Maria, transplanting beta cells could possibly increase the body’s potential to generate insulin and in turn decreasing blood sugar levels and lessening the requirement for injections.

A San Diego based organization received significant funding from CIRM to work on this prognosis. They have been working towards developing innovative methodologies to transform human embryonic stem cells into insulin-producing beta cells. With stem cells unique potential to transform into any form or tissue, the research team was looking to reproduce the precise indicators that could change a stem cell into a beta cell, rather than a neuron or muscle cell.

Success came and the research team was able to develop progenitor cells, just a single step short of creating mature beta cells. These progenitor cells were given adequate gestation period so that they could develop in the body. Under clinical conditions using animals, the tougher progenitor cells endured the transplant procedure and, on attaining maturity started producing insulin. In addition to this, the research team started with inserting the progenitor cells in a porous capsule prior to initiating the transplantation under the skin. By doing this, they were able to keep the cells out hence circumventing potential attack and denunciation by the patient’s own immune system.

An FDA approved clinical trial for Type 1 diabetes is currently underway. With continuous progression, their aim to ultimately also help those who are suffering from Type 2 diabetes as well. For Maria, this is an important breakthrough, not only for herself but also for her family.

“I have three kids, and I know they could have the same thing I have,” says Maria. “If they find a cure, for me, that’s peace of mind.”

The post Stories of Hope: A Stem Cell Therapy For Diabetes appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

Ever wondered if there is a relationship between your umbilical cord and the belly button? Of course, there is! When you have your little one inside your womb, it needs a life-support system to survive the pregnancy gestation period. This support is comprised of the placenta, the umbilical cord and the amniotic sac filled with amniotic fluid.

“The baby’s life hangs by a cord”, as said by Ian Donald, aptly tells the importance of the umbilical cord.

The umbilical cord plays the essential role of attaching your baby to the placenta and keeps feeding your baby. During delivery, the placenta is expelled from your uterus through a process known as the after-birth. The umbilical cord, once your baby is delivered is clamped and cut. The remaining section of the cord heals and later becomes the baby’s belly button.

Nevertheless, most are aware of these common facts. But there are some really fun insights that you probably never thought about:

Umbilical Cords Vary in Length

The lengths of the umbilical cords of babies are variable. However, there is no concrete evidence to ascertain why the length varies at all. Within the full gestation period of 28 weeks, the cord may reach its full length which usually is between 45-60 centimeters in length. In a small percentage of pregnancies, the cord is less than 45 centimeters in length and investigative studies have shown that placenta retention and C-section is usually higher in such instances.

Tangles, Knots, and Loops

Babies in the womb are constantly moving around. A common game that they indulge in is playing ‘loop the loop’ with the cord. If the baby is healthy and the cord remains intact, it does not really pose any risk to the baby. Approximately 35% of the babies born have the umbilical cord wrapped around their necks and 1% of them have the cord in a true knot.

It Stops Working When Needed

In the womb, the umbilical cord remains in a temperature controlled environment. Post the baby’s birth, the cord is exposed to cooler air and the ‘Wharton’s Jelly’ within it starts to harden and shrink. Natural clamping occurs that squeezes and closes the blood vessels inside the cord. Depending on the temperature outside of the mother’s body, natural clamping takes approximately between 3 and 20 minutes.

The Umbilical Cord Tissue is Full of Potential

Most of us have heard about cord blood stem cells but the new research that has everyone’s attention is on umbilical cord tissue. Many ongoing clinical trials have brought significant evidence forward that the cord blood tissue also contains stem cells that possess the potential to multiply and transform into various cell types, like cartilage, bone, fat, etc. This essentially means that the cord tissue with more stem cells can potentially be used in treating more conditions and disorders.

As Nancy Reagan rightfully said, “Now science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with many answers that have for so long been beyond our grasp.” 

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Jandy Nelson of ‘I’ll Give You the Sun’ said, “You have to see the miracles for there to be miracles.” And that is exactly what I witnessed.

My next door neighbor in Jowitt Road, Hartlepool (UK) Eric Thomson had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) almost four years ago. A father of five, his condition deteriorated extremely quickly to the stage where he lost the use of his right hand and leg. He feared that he would never ever walk or play with his children again. Confined to a wheelchair, he was unable to carry out even basic day to day tasks like washing himself, making a cup of tea and cutting up his own food.

NHS in the UK informed Eric and his family that there was no further treatment available that could help Eric get better. After tons of research online, they heard of the Riaz Clinic in Mexico where he could receive a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. The NHS in the UK does not offer HSCT as a therapeutic option for MS patients. However, it is currently under trials, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

At this point, all Eric hoped was to stop this rapid progression of the condition further and restore some form of mobility in the affected area of the body. He was even willing to try stem cell therapy to be able to do that.

Different from most cells in the body, stem cells are often claimed to be ‘building blocks in the body that carries with it the potential to develop and multiply into various cell types. The tissue additionally acts as an intramural reparation system that proliferates and replaces cells as they die out.

Eric’s family and friends raised GBP 40,000 which was the full cost of the operation. A very close family friend, Angela Crowe led this campaign and organized various events including a Calendar Girls style calendar, a Ben Nevis Trek and numerous fundraising nights.

Eric with his wife Joanna traveled to the clinic on June 19^th. Arriving at the clinic, he went through a series of fitness assessments and rounds of chemotherapy before progressing towards stem cell transplantation.

The transplant took place on July 3^rd. During the procedure, the medical team extracted the stem cells from the blood. Chemotherapy was then used to wipe out the diseased cells in the system. The stem cells were then injected into Eric’s body to restart the system.

Just days after the surgery, Eric felt a difference and was able to regain some mobility in his right hand.  He was so happy and this is what he said, “I am not joking when I say I have seen some superb improvements already. I am 6ft tall again and getting feeling in my right hand, so the guitar might be making a comeback. It’s amazing what 377 million stem cells do. I knew it could take up to two years before there may be any results, so to get that result so quickly has been amazing”.

Eric felt that the team at the Riaz clinic was fantastic, who motivated him towards a speedy recovery. “My treatment has finished and I am now just undergoing regular blood and neutropenia,” said Eric.

He landed in the UK on July 17^th, just a month after the surgery. Ever since the day Eric was diagnosed with MS four years ago, his family had been compelled to witness this devastating deterioration and how his entire life had undergone this change. This dramatic progress in his state not just uplifted his health and morale but was liberating for his family too.

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Have you ever thought about bringing back the memories of those who are currently fighting to remember? Imagine if you could cure about 4 million Indians living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that is expected to triple by 2050. It’s not a small task by any means.

Recently, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper published a scientific study claiming to have reached significant progress in reversing memory loss using cell-based treatment in mice with Alzheimer’s. A group of Chinese scientists chose to produce in the brains of the mouse model AD patients, a typically “lost” of dysfunctional nerve cell. Living in the area near the bottom of the brain, it is known as the basal forebrain cholinergic neuron that helps process functions like leaning and attention. Memory function could be restored by replacing those dysfunctional nerve cells in the AD mice with healthy nerve cells extracted from stem cells.

So how did they do it?

Initially, the research team used a methodology to generate these specific types of nerve cells extracted from both the human embryonic stem cells and the mouse in a petri dish. Their first step was successful, meaning that the newly produced nerve cells imbibed within them the required markers for cholinergic neurons in order to function properly. This essentially suggests that the nerve cells would be able to send the right signals to the other nerve cells.

In order to test the functionality of the nerve cells, the subsequent step comprised of transplanting the progenitor cells, which are specialised in developing into adult nerve cells, into the brains of the mouse models of AD. Most of the transplanted mouse progenitor cells endured and developed into cholinergic nerve cells. They, in turn, were able to perform in sync with the original mouse nerve cells. On the other hand, the human progenitor cells, when transplanted into the same area of the brain, the majority were not able to survive as expected. However, the breakthrough was that the ones that did make it through started to function as cholinergic neurons.

Hence, could memory be improved in these forgetful mice was the final question that the research team needed to address.

In order to measure up the memories of AD mice that had been given the mouse or human cholinergic progenitor cells to AD mice that received no treatment and to healthy normal mice, the group put together a memory test. The model mice were taught to locate a hidden platform in a circular pool of water. Substantiating the prognosis of the study, the test showed that the untreated AD mice had difficulty locating the hidden platform. In subsequent tests, they could not even recall its location at all. In comparison to them, the group of treated AD mice performed significantly better and were able to retain directions and find the location in multiple trials. This test implied that the transplanted nerve cells enhanced their capability to absorb tasks and recollect memories.

The study still at very early stages was able to establish the foundation of a possible method to retrogressive memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease via substituting cholinergic nerve cells in the basal forebrain area of the brain. However, the study’s senior author, Naihe Jing, cautioned everyone to not get ahead of themselves and said, “Mice are still very different from humans, so the results on mice do not guarantee the same success on human patients. Our next step is to test the method on primates. It will probably be a long time before clinical trials can be carried out on human volunteers.”

Dr. Naihe Jing additionally described the precautions that his team were taking in order to test the safety of their embryonic stem cell-based therapy.

“We used human embryonic stem cells because this method will eventually be used on humans. If the human neurons can get a footing and grow in the brain of a mouse, the chance is high the effect will be even better on a human host. The biggest concern of this development is safety. We were afraid that the transplanted cells would mutate to other types of neurons or even cause brain tumours. We have been improving the technology and making close observation of the mice for more than seven years. So far no mutation or cancerous development has been detected.”

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From time immemorial, expectant mothers have been plied with diet advice on all sides. ‘Eat a lot of ghee’, one says, while another tells you to cut down on fats and sugar. Someone else comes up with a diet chart with large portions – ‘After all, you are eating for two people now!’ – while still somebody else advises eating everything and then exercising rigorously.

So whom should you believe? The answer is simple: believe what your doctor tells you. Based on your age, your lifestyle and your overall health, your doctor will draw up the ideal diet chart for you comprising all the essential food groups. Following the doctor’s advice to the letter will ensure that your unborn baby receives the nutrition it needs to grow well as it comes to term. It will also ensure that your baby will be healthy and with minimal physiological problems.

In many ways, you really are what you eat. Bearing in mind that your baby receives all its nutrition from you, you must ensure that your diet is healthy and nutritious at all times. Some women crave high-sugar, high-salt, oily treats during their pregnancy. While giving in to a craving is permissible occasionally, a high-fat diet can actually cause more harm to your baby’s growth. Science reveals that a high-fat diet in an expectant mother can interfere in the formation of the stem cell system in the foetus – in turn, this compromises the baby’s immune and blood systems for life.

This finding was borne out by a study conducted by physicians at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, which found that ‘over nutrition’ and obesity in the mother could impact the foetal liver and its formation – thus impacting the quality of stem cells produced therein.

Researchers have been able to prove a diminishing in size and function of the foetal liver owing to a high-fat diet in the pre-natal stage. Another study on the subjects explains that the liver is the primary hematopoietic organ in the foetus, and it is from the foetal liver than hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) originate. Thus, a high fat diet and obesity in the mother can have a direct effect on the HSC pool.

It is best to stick to a diet rich in vitamins, calcium, protein, fibre and minerals in the pre-natal stage. A nutritionist or your consulting doctor can help you draw up a daily diet plan that benefits both you and the baby. Interspersing a healthy diet with lots of water and fresh fruit juices also helps flush out the system and alleviates the build-up of toxins in the body.

Apart from a healthy diet, expectant mothers must also keep a check on their weight with light exercise allowed by the doctor. It does not do to allow one’s weight to grow unabated during pregnancy through wrong diet and lack of exercise – bear in mind that every action on the mother’s part has a direct effect on the baby’s health.

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Cancer has been one of the most challenging diseases human race has ever dealt with. Every year on the 4^th of Feb we put the spotlight on Cancer and try and educate people about the illness through creating awareness and dispelling myths that surround cancer.

World Health Organisation has confirmed that cancer is one of the leading causes of death across the globe. Another shocking fact being that more than 70% of these deaths happen in countries inhabited by low and middle income class.

However, one can take necessary precautions and make necessary lifestyle changes to have a better chance at fighting cancer. “Adopt a healthy lifestyle – it’s the best thing you can do,” said Leslie Bernstein[1], Ph.D., R.N., Director of the Division of Cancer Etiology in the Department of Population Sciencesat City of Hope[2].

Cancer is responsible for the death of approximately 8.2 million people worldwide each year as of 2012[3] and it is still one of the major causes of death in countries like United States and India. However, all hope is not lost as scientists and researchers have come out with variety of cures that have helped bring down the death rates in recent years.

So, this Cancer Day let us look at some practices we can include in our daily lives that will immensely reduce the cancer risk.

• Exercise Regularly: Bernstein suggests that by simply cultivating a habit of 45 minute walk daily can help in making a statistical difference. Always remember – an active body is a healthy body.

• Educate yourself about Stem Cell research: Stem Cells have significantly helped in treating various types of cancer for a long time. Stem Cell treatments have been used for the treatment of blood cancers like leukaemia for the past 45 years. Stem Cell therapy helps in resurrecting the immune system of a patient who has undergone chemotherapy. The Stem Cells from a baby’s Umbilical Cord can be possibly used for its sibling to treat blood cancer.

• Keep a regular check on your weight: Cancer related to breast, pancreas, bowels, kidney, gall bladder, & female reproductive organs have all been closely related to obesity. To make things easy to understand, you can always use the body mass index calculator to quickly assess your healthy weight.

• Quit smoking right now: Intake of tobacco products is one of the biggest reasons for lung and many other forms of cancer. The risk of cancer also applies to tobacco alternatives like e-cigarettes & hookah, as they cause variety of health issues, due to nicotine & chemicals present in them.

Go for regular body check-ups: Screening might not help cure cancer, but early diagnosis drastically helps in increasing chances of successful treatment. Women should go for regular

[1] http://www.cityofhope.org/people/bernstein-leslie

[2] http://www.cityofhope.org/research/beckman-research-institute/research-departments-and-divisions/population-sciences

[3] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/

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