Tag: Mesenchymal stem cells

Benefit for U.S. Transhumanist Party Members: Discounts Offered for Treatments from AmpliCell Medical

Benefit for U.S. Transhumanist Party Members: Discounts Offered for Treatments from AmpliCell Medical

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AmpliCell Medical

The U.S. Transhumanist Party is pleased to announce that any member who joins us for free via our online application form will also be eligible to receive discounts on procedures from AmpliCell Medical, one of our Allied Organizations, located in the Los Angeles area and specializing in regenerative medicine and stem-cell therapies.

Members who join will receive a confirmation e-mail, which will be sufficient to provide to AmpliCell Medical at the time of a consultation. 

‱ 40% Discount off of Stem-Cell Treatments: The standard cost is $8,900 for the first treatment and $4,500 for follow-up treatments (if needed). The therapy is investigational and done as part of a clinical trial according to Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved protocols. With the 40% discount, the first treatment would cost $5,340, and a follow-up treatment would cost $2,700.

‱ 10% Discount off of Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement – First Consultation: The standard cost is $495 for the first consultation. With the 10% discount, that cost would be reduced to $445.50.

Of course, the U.S. Transhumanist Party is not itself a medical organization and does not provide medical advice. Each reader should take account of his or her own individual circumstances, health, medical history, skills, and knowledge when evaluating which courses of action to pursue, and also consult a medical professional with regard to decisions that may have a major impact on health. However, for those individuals whom stem-cell therapies could help, membership in the U.S. Transhumanist Party now offers the opportunity to achieve significant cost reductions in particular treatments.

Description from AmpliCell Medical. Learn more at http://amplicellmedical.com/:

The Fountain of Youth is no longer a myth. It is found within you, in the form of your very own stem cells. Stem cells are our bodies’ own, built-in healing cells, which naturally reside within certain tissues of the body. They start out in a dormant state and are “switched on” by the chemical signals produced by damaged tissues, acting to repair and regenerate damaged cells. Stem cells derived from your own tissues may well be the next major advance in medicine.

While early stem-cell research has been associated with the controversial use of embryonic stem cells, at AmpliCell Medical we use adult mesenchymal cells extracted directly from your own fat. We use a sterile closed surgical system to process 50 cc of fat from a mini-liposuction procedure in order to isolate and implant your own source of regenerative cells on the same day. “Closed surgical system” means that it never comes in contact with the outside world and is kept in a completely sterile environment. The regenerative cells are found in the SVF (stromal vascular fraction) that contains autologous mesenchymal stem cells, macrophage cells, endothelial cells, immune regulatory cells, red blood cells, and important growth factors that promote stem-cell activity. Our technology allows us to isolate high numbers of viable cells.

At AmpliCell Medical we are committed to helping people with wide variety of degenerative and inflammatory conditions. We offer a state-of-the-art minimally invasive procedure that utilizes autologous adipose (fat) derived stem cells.

Diseases and conditions currently being studied:

  • Orthopedics: Neck Arthritis, Back Arthritis, Knee Arthritis, Hip Arthritis, Elbow and Hand Arthritis, Shoulder Arthritis
  • Neurology: Lyme Disease, Peripheral Neuropathy, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Strokes, ALS Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy
  • Cardiac/Pulmonary: COPD, Post-MI Myocardial Infarction, Congestive Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy, Chronic Lung Diseases, Asthma
  • Urological and Digestive: Interstitial Cystitis, Peyronies Disease, Erectile Dysfunction, Male Incontinence, Crohn’s Disease
  • Cosmetic Applications: Hair Loss, Skin Health
  • Others: Wellness and Anti-Aging, Hormone Balance, Sport Injuries

THE STUDIED BENEFIT OF STEM-CELL THERAPY

  • Regenerate cells, tissues and organs
  • Repair and reconstruction of joints and strengthening
  • Increase flexibility of joints and articular disc
  • Optimize the immune system
  • Alleviation of menopausal symptoms
  • Improve hormone secretion
  • Increase alertness and mental awareness
  • Refine skin for a healthy glow
  • Improve skin texture, elasticity and thickness
  • Improve sleep pattern
  • Improve blood circulation
  • Enhance stamina and energy
  • Renew sexual abilities and performance
  • Accelerate thinking ability; improve memory

How are stem cells deployed?

There are varying methods for deployment of stem cells based on the condition being treated. The stem cells can be injected directly into joints or even organs as needed, intravenously into the veins, or even into spinal fluid. All redeployment methods are minimally invasive and can be done in outpatient procedures. Since we are using a patient’s own cells, there is no risk of rejection or allergenic reactions that are common in many other procedures.

Will my treatment work, and how long will it take?

Adult stem-cell treatments are currently considered experimental and are not completely understood, how well a patient responds to our treatments will be different in each case and depends greatly on the disease or condition and how severe the case may be. There are regulations by the FDA which will not allow AmpliCell Medical to make any direct claims about the curing or treating any diseases specifically, but, if you want to consult about the procedure, we can lay out expectations based on research data and actual cases prior to treatment.

Stem cells are part of your body’s natural healing process and can take time for effects to take place; however, some conditions can see immediate results.

Who is eligible as a candidate for treatment?

Only specific medical conditions and problems are being treated by AmpliCell Medical at this time. Patients who want to have the treatment done must be medically stable and may be not be able to participate due to the nature and severity of their condition. Any patients that have uncontrolled cancers or active infections are not able to undergo the SVF (Stromal Vascular Fraction) procedure and must have their conditions treated before undergoing the procedure. Another consideration is that patients with bleeding disorders or taking blood-thinner medication must be evaluated before having treatment. When a patient is selected for the procedure, they must keep in mind that they are taking part in patient-sponsored research, and there are no other incentives other than possible results of the treatment.

Read more at AmpliCell Medical’s FAQ here. 

Stem-Cell Clinical Trials Show Remarkable Results Against Age-Related Frailty – Article by Steve Hill

Stem-Cell Clinical Trials Show Remarkable Results Against Age-Related Frailty – Article by Steve Hill

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Steve Hill

Editor’s Note: In this article, Mr. Steve Hill discusses two very promising human clinical trials using stem cell therapy for age-related frailty. This article was originally published by the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation (LEAF) .

~ Kenneth Alum, Director of Publication, U.S. Transhumanist Party, October 29, 2017

The first results of two human clinical trials using stem cell therapy for age-related frailty have been published, and the results are very impressive indeed. The studies show that the approach used is effective in tackling multiple key age-related factors.

Aging research has made significant progress in the last few years, with senescent-cell-clearing therapies entering human trials this year, DNA repair in human trials, and a number of other exciting therapies nearing human testing. We are reaching the point where therapies that target aging processes are no longer a matter of speculation; they are now an undeniable matter of fact.

What are mesenchymal stem cells?

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are one of the most commonly used types of stem cells in therapy. MSCs are adult stem cells that can become other types of cells, depending on stimulus; this ability to become a variety of other cell types is known as multipotency. [1]

The cells into which MSCs can transform (differentiate) include osteoblasts (bone cells), chondrocytes (cartilage cells), myocytes (muscle cells), and adipocytes (fat cells). MSCs are of great interest to aging researchers and are arguably one of the most well studied and understood types of stem cells. [2]

MSCs are currently in various trials to treat conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and arthritis. [3] The potential of MSCs for treating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, are also being explored in preclinical testing. [4-5]

A therapy for age-related frailty

The focus of the MSC therapy in the case of these two clinical trials is to reduce the effects of age-related frailty on senior citizens. This also marks an important step for rejuvenation biotechnology, as this is the first stem-cell treatment that is close to final FDA approval for specifically targeting age-related frailty. Should this be approved, then it opens the door for other similar approaches and the potential treatment of many age-related diseases.

The therapy itself uses MSCs taken from adult donor bone marrow and is infused into patients with an average age of 76 years old. The good news is that patients in both the phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials have shown no adverse effects to treatment.

This is excellent news and now paves the way to move to phase 3 clinical trials, which are larger-scale tests to further determine the efficacy and compare it to the best currently available treatments, for which there are basically none beyond simple coping approaches, such as walking sticks and frames to compensate for frailty.

It is also important to note that at this at this point, the drug or therapy is accepted as having some effect. You can read more about the clinical trial process and what each phase means here.

In the first trial, 15 patients with age-related frailty were given a single transplant of MSCs from donors aged between 20 and 45. [6] Six months later, all patients in the trial showed an improved level of fitness, lower levels of inflammatory tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and improved quality of life in general. TNF is one of the regulators of inflammation and contributes to the chronic age-related inflammation known as “inflammaging”, which drives a number of age-related diseases. [7]

The second trial was a randomized, double-blind study including a placebo group. An improved physical performance level was observed in patients, and, again, the level of systemic TNF, and thus inflammation, was reduced. [8] Once again, there were no adverse effects observed in the patients, and the researchers wrote:

Treated groups had remarkable improvements in physical performance measures and inflammatory biomarkers, both of which characterize the frailty syndrome.

David G. Le Couter and colleagues have written about the clinical trials in a guest editorial in The Journals of Gerontology:

There are always caveats associated with interpreting efficacy in small numbers of subjects, yet it is remarkable that a single treatment seems to have generated improvement in key features of frailty that are sustained for many months.

The next step for the researchers here is to begin a phase 2b clinical trial with 120 patients in ten different locations. Following the conclusion of this, a large randomized phase 3 trial will be launched, and this will be the final barrier to public approval for the therapy.

Conclusion

With an ever-increasing number of aged people in our population, stem cells hold great potential for treating a number of age-related diseases and combating the disability and frailty that accompany the aging process. Developing therapies like these could potentially help older people to enjoy an improved level of physical performance and a better quality of life. Being able to remain mobile and independent as we grow older would be of huge benefit to not only the individual but also to families and society as a whole.

There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for age-related frailty, so this represents a huge unmet need that will only worsen with an increasingly aging population if those needs are not met by new medicines.

Seeing such tangible results in humans is a clear indication of the potential of rejuvenation biotechnology, and how we regard and treat aging will be changing in the near future.

Literature

[1] Nardi, N. B., & da Silva Meirelles, L. (2008). Mesenchymal stem cells: isolation, in vitro expansion and characterization. In Stem cells (pp. 249-282). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[2] Stolzing, A., Jones, E., McGonagle, D., & Scutt, A. (2008). Age-related changes in human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells: consequences for cell therapies. Mechanisms of ageing and development, 129(3), 163-173.

[3] Wang, S., Qu, X., & Zhao, R. C. (2012). Clinical applications of mesenchymal stem cells. Journal of hematology & oncology, 5(1), 19.

[4] Danielyan, L., Beer-Hammer, S., Stolzing, A., SchĂ€fer, R., Siegel, G., Fabian, C., 
 & Novakovic, A. (2014). Intranasal delivery of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, macrophages, and microglia to the brain in mouse models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Cell transplantation, 23(1), S123-S139.

[5] Naaldijk, Y., Jaeger, C., Fabian, C., Leovsky, C., BlĂŒher, A., Rudolph, L., 
 & Stolzing, A. (2017). Effect of systemic transplantation of bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells on neuropathology markers in APP/PS1 Alzheimer mice. Neuropathology and applied neurobiology, 43(4), 299-314.

[6] Golpanian, S., DiFede, D. L., Khan, A., Schulman, I. H., Landin, A. M., Tompkins, B. A., 
 & Levis-Dusseau, S. (2017). Allogeneic Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Infusions for Aging Frailty. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences, glx056.

[7] Franceschi, C., Garagnani, P., Vitale, G., Capri, M., & Salvioli, S. (2017). Inflammaging and ‘Garb-aging’. Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 28(3), 199-212.

[8] Tompkins, B. A., DiFede, D. L., Khan, A., Landin, A. M., Schulman, I. H., Pujol, M. V., 
 & Mushtaq, M. (2017). Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells Ameliorate Aging Frailty: A Phase II Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences, 72(11), 1513-1522.

 

About Steve Hill

As a scientific writer and a devoted advocate of healthy longevity technologies, Steve has provided the community with multiple educational articles, interviews, and podcasts, helping the general public to better understand aging and the means to modify its dynamics. His materials can be found at H+ Magazine, Longevity Reporter, Psychology Today, and Singularity Weblog. He is a co-author of the book Aging Prevention for All – a guide for the general public exploring evidence-based means to extend healthy life (in press).

About LIFE EXTENSION ADVOCACY FOUNDATION (LEAF)

In 2014, the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting increased healthy human lifespan through fiscally sponsoring longevity research projects and raising awareness regarding the societal benefits of life extension. In 2015 they launched Lifespan.io, the first nonprofit crowdfunding platform focused on the biomedical research of aging.

They believe that this will enable the general public to influence the pace of research directly. To date they have successfully supported four research projects aimed at investigating different processes of aging and developing therapies to treat age-related diseases.

The LEAF team organizes educational events, takes part in different public and scientific conferences, and actively engages with the public on social media in order to help disseminate this crucial information. They initiate public dialogue aimed at regulatory improvement in the fields related to rejuvenation biotechnology.