I have been waiting for this news for a long time. By the end of this year, scientists in the UK will for the first time be conducting a study on human cases of osteoarthritis to see how they might apply the miracle of stem-cell therapy to rebuilding damaged cartilage in patients’ arthritic knees.

No details are yet available on the way in which the study will be conducted. But who cares? It’s wonderful to hear at last that this most common affliction–joint replacements account for almost all of the 5.7 billion Pounds spent in the UK on all musculoskeletal conditions ($850 billion in the US according to one source).

Sadly, it’s too late for my left hip, which I had replaced by the brutal butchering-of-the-bones and torturing-of-the-muscles procedure now in use. And of course, there’s no going back once they’ve cut large chunks of your bones out, so it’ll be generations before we can even imagine a way to restore those replaced joints with stem cell or any other kind of therapy.

But for the millions of people suffering with some form of arthritis—including the five siblings in my family who’ve had or will soon have hip replacements—this is profoundly promising news.

They’ve done it. Took a rat’s lung down to its scaffolding (collagen and connective tissue), put it in a bioreactor to simulate uterine conditions, and then inserted stem cells from a newborn rat. The cells somehow migrated to the proper places and grew into the appropriate types of tissue. The lung was then transplanted into a rat where it respired as hoped quite nicely for an hour or two. The artificial rat lung was said to perform 95% as effectively as a real lung at exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide.

They noticed a few issues—in particular that blood clots formed in certain spots. The conclusion was that this was not an insurmountable obstacle; it would just take more research.

And another lung front (same link, further down), a Harvard researcher put some lung cells on a flexible chip and got it to mimic some of the functions of a human lung. The hope is that we might someday be able to use this kind of chip to replace some of the animals currently used to test the effects of environmental toxins or inhaled drugs.

Stem cell research is beginning to reveal the miracles of natural healing we have always been intended to discover. It’s a wondrous time to be alive.

Blogger.com just canceled out the ability to upload posts via FTP. So we’re testing out a new blog software template. Hope you find this new one attractive and easy to navigate.

Any feedback will be happily taken into account. And I promise I’m going to be more consistent about posting. It’s been a crazy time for me the past few months with moving my home and office–and now moving blogs around, too.

Happy mother’s day to all you moms, stepmoms, grandmoms, etc. out there.

Another substance that helps control arterial pressure is the hormone angiotensin (ANG II). Then, there’s an enzyme that converts angiotensin (ACE and ACE2). A recent study found that exercise normalized levels of these enzymes in rabbits with chronic heart failure. The conclusion, though many unknowns are still involved, is that exercise can re-balance such enzymes in the part of the brain that controls autonomic functioning.

Nobody’s making any promises that this will convert to a change for humans with chronic heart failure. But there do seem to be some chemical similarities between the human and the rabbit brain. I had a pet rabbit for 8 years. I’m glad she wasn’t one that got used for the research, but I trust that today’s experiments are by law conducted humanely on all living creatures.

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In a recent study in rats, L-arginine, a nonessential amino acid, was found to lessen the severity of monocrotaline-induced hypertension by, among other things, restoring the nitric oxide in the linings of blood and lymph systems. Other actions included decreasing right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) right heart hypertrophy, and mortality.

The abstract was complex and I found myself having to look up a bunch of terms, but it sounds like this discovery for generating nitric oxide is highly promising for treating the silent killer.

Stem cells have been somewhat out of the daily news for a while. But researchers are quietly moving forward finding new miracles these incredible cells can perform. Out of my own curiosity–in 2008 I had bioprosthetic valve replacement surgery–I decided to see where they were on fixing hearts with stem cells.

Found this CBS news story from last June about a guy who’s taking part in a clinical trial to see how well stem cells can repair heart damage, and thus alleviate or prevent congestive heart failure (which tends to be a death sentence within 5 years of diagnosis). Research is promising. They were at first trying to use bone marrow stem cells but had mixed results. Now the clinical trial is focusing on using a snippet of the patient’s own heart-originated stem cells to grow new heart cells to be inserted back into the damaged area of the heart.

Talk about miraculous. The extracted heart stem cells are “coaxed to grow spontaneously from the specimens, eventually forming into clusters called ‘cardio-spheres’ that can even start beating in the dish. [emphasis added]” In just a few weeks, they have millions of stem cells.

That trial is about repairing heart damage that results from cardiovascular disease. Searching further to see what’s happening with stem cells and heart parts such as valves, I found a report of successfully using bone marrow stem cells to grow enough new valve cells to make it functional again. According to the report, the woman had the operation done in Germany in 2005, recovered completely, and in 2009 is still doing well.

This is fantastic news. Maybe by the time my prosthetic valve wears out they’ll be using stem cells to grow new ones on a regular basis. It’ll be like being able to go to your very own parts department.

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A doctor who specializes in treating aneurysms has been searching for a way to prevent some patients–certain genotypes are more susceptible–from suffering strokes within days after initial treatments. Seems after the aneurysm‘s been addressed, the brain tends to become inflamed, which causes blood vessels to constrict and increases the likelihood of clots forming and traveling to the brain.

He’s discovered that nitric oxide (NO)–which both reduces inflammation (by inhibiting white blood cells) and dilates blood vessels–can be given in small doses to mice who’ve been treated for aneurysm, thus reducing the risk of vasospasm (blood vessel contraction) and stroke. The method he’s been using includes attaching the NO to tiny polymers and inserting them into the spinal fluid through an opening at the base of the brain. They then carry the NO and distribute it throughout the brain.

The approach isn’t yet ready for human testing. For one thing, making holes in the brain as a means of delivery is frowned on by drug companies. So now the doctor’s searching for a systemic way to administer the drug. I’m guessing it won’t be long–remember the “nanoparticle bandage“?

Nanomaterials have been in use for decades. But you never saw the term “nanoparticles” in such up-close-and-personal products as eyeliner. Manufacturers didn’t think at that point it was necessary to point out such an unusual ingredient.

Today nanotechnology is increasingly used for making bio-materials–things that can be applied to or used in the human body. One of the latest successes is artificial nano-blood platelets. They say these synthetic platelets are made of nanomaterials already well-known and proven-safe in the medical device and drug products.

Surprisingly, the study cites traumatic injury as the “top cause of death for people ages 5 to 44.” It also says that “blood loss is the major factor for military and civilian trauma deaths.” Here’s the fascinating short version of how these platelets are manufactured:

The researchers started with a polymer, or tiny pieces of plastic, made out of the same material used in dissolving stitches. It was surrounded by another polymer that can be dissolved in water that is used in the food and drug industries. They then covered the particle in small molecules that act like hooks, allowing it to bond with platelets in the blood. They only bond with platelets that are working to stop the bleeding, not other platelets in the body.

The platelets have several advantages over donated blood. They can be stored at room temperature instead of requiring refrigeration. They can be given by any medical professional–say, at an accident site–rather than requiring the patient to go to a hospital. They can also be stored significantly longer than live blood products.

Rats in the study stopped bleeding in half the time with these new platelets, but rats aren’t people. More research and testing needs to be done before nano-blood platelets will start being used for humans.

Frankly, I wouldn’t want to be the first human to receive plastic blood platelets. Makes me think of the 1966 sci-fi thriller Fantastic Voyage–only this time it’s human inventions invading the bloodstream instead of shrunken humans. Can blood clot too efficiently? It’ll be interesting to see what other cautions arise as research goes forward.

Image credit: Crystal

The belief that controlling cholesterol is a key to atherosclerosis and heart disease has had its share of supporters and detractors over the years. Researchers have focused on several different approaches–nutrition, drugs that lower “bad” (LDL) cholesterol levels by blocking absorption or by affecting production in the liver, and drugs that raise “good” (HDL) levels. HDL itself is considered a potent weapon for lowering LDL.

Apparently niacin, a standard everyday B vitamin, has long been known to help with cholesterol issues, but it hasn’t been widely recommended because it can be hard for some patients to tolerate. Now a new study finds–not conclusively, but enough to raise a stir–that niacin, when used in combination with statins, is more effective at reversing plaque buildup in the arteries than another drug called Zetia. Heart researchers are encouraged about niacin’s ability to improve artery constriction and plan to do more studies. [The really ugly thing pictured on the right is a seriously diseased artery photographed post-mortem.]

Heart disease has been the target of so many hopeful yet ineffective solutions. Perfectly reasonable doctors standing on opposite ends of the spectrum on various issues. What’s a poor heart patient to do?

How long have we heard about the magic of antioxidants? Well, apparently they’re virtually useless when taken as a pill. Not long ago a bunch of experts weighed in after results of a 9-year study showed no appreciable improvement in those who took those types of supplements. But heart patients who switched to a healthier diet containing those same vitamin and anti-oxidant substances did improve.

No telling what miracles we will continue to discover as we forge ahead using nature’s own bounty to combat our ills.