Quite bluntly, the take home is that the immediate infusion of the
bodies stem cells hugely augments what the body is doing anyway and
allows a rapid response to counter the damage long before scar tissue
interferes and the like. This is a major discovery that will also
obviously apply to all heart attack victims as well.
We know immediately were the damage is taking place and supercharging
it witl stem cells is surely the best possible emeergency protocol.
This can also be applied to trauma victims as indicated, particularly
to those suffering concussions although isolating the injuries may
well be beyond us.
What it does mean is that we are close to having an admittance
protocol that automatically includes immediately harvesting those
stam cells. They are simply too important and too handy not to fully
use.
It is wonderful news. We can do it.
By Helen Clark
August 8, 2014
A pilot study
undertaken by researchers from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
and Imperial College London has shown promise in rapid treatment of
serious strokes. The study, the first of its kind published in the
UK, treated patients using stem cells from bone marrow.
Imagine a perfectly
ordinary beginning to your day, say burned toast, no matching pair of
socks and the usual damp commute to work. Except at some point
through the usual minutiae you suffer a massive stroke. If you don’t
die outright, you may soon afterwards. Even supposing you survive
those first days or weeks, the chance of your life resuming its
comforting tedium is impossibly remote. You may need assistance for
the rest of your shortened life.
According to the
Stroke Association, about 152,000 people suffer a stroke in the UK
alone each year. However, the five patients treated in the recent
Imperial College pilot study all showed improvements. According
to doctors, four of those had suffered the most severe kind of
stroke, which leaves only four percent of people alive or able to
live independently six months after the event. All four of the
patients were alive after six months.
A particular set of
CD34+ stem cells was used, as they help with the production of blood
cells and blood vessels’ lining cells. These same cells have been
found to improve the effects of stroke in animals, and they assist in
brain tissue and blood growth in the affected areas of the brain. The
CD34+ cells were isolated from samples taken from patients’ bone
marrow and then infused into the affected area via an artery that
leads to the brain, using keyhole surgery.
The innovative stem
cell treatment differs from others in one important way: patients are
treated within seven days of their stroke, rather than six months
hence. The stroke sufferers all recorded improvements in
terms of clinical measures of disability, despite four of the five
having suffered the most severe kind of stroke.
It's still early days
for the research, and much more will need to be done to expand
clinical trials, but eventually it is hoped that a drug may be
developed that can be administered to stroke sufferers as soon as
they are admitted to hospital. This could ameliorate longer term
effects and allow for speedier recovery and a faster entry into
therapy.
A paper detailing the
research was published in journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.
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