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Why are Stem Cells Important?

May 3, 2015

What are stem cells, and why are they important?

Stem cellStem cells are very special, powerful cells found in both humans and also in other animals. Stem cells are the precursors of all cells in the human body. What makes stem cells special is that they are regenerative and malleable. They have the ability to replicate themselves and to repair and replace other tissues in the human body. Some tissues, like skin, need constant renewal, which could not take place without skin stem cells. Other stem cells repair damage to the body’s tissues, for example, rebuilding damaged or degenerating muscle tissue. New research also indicates that stem cell malfunction or damage may be responsible for certain cancers and even muscular-degeneration diseases like Muscular Dystrophy.

Stem cells differ from other kinds of cells in the body. All stem cells have three general features that make them different from other body cells. These features are: they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. They are unspecialized and they can give rise to specialized cell types. Stem cells are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. Unlike muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells which do not normally replicate themselves, stem cells may replicate many times, or proliferate.

The stem cells have a unique ability to divide and become more specialized cells forming cells like bone, blood, or muscle. It is this ability that makes them attractive agents in many areas of medicine. They can therefore be used to fight very many diseases in the regenerative medicine. Another advantage of stem cell therapy treatments is that autologous stem cell transport is made possible. This means that a person may be treated by doctors harvesting the stem cells from the patient and having the stem cells reimplanted into the same patient after finding out what was lacking in the patient. This reduces risks of infection as well as rejection which are helpful to the patient.

Importance of stem cells

the stem cells are very important cells in the body and have been since targeted for treatment of degenerative diseases. They have been called the center pieces of regenerative medicine. Medicine that involves growing new cells, tissues and organs to replace or repair those damaged by injury, disease or aging. there ability to proliferate into other cells of the body like the bone and muscle tissues have made them a priority in treatment of various degenative diseases like aging and even osteoporosis among others. here is how stem cells work in treatment of various diseases.

Rejuvenation– the stem cells can be used in rejuvenation process. through rejuvenation the bodies healing ability is boosted. Typically, the body is programmed to naturally repair itself that is why after you get a cut you can stay without going to hospital but still get healed within a very short time. However there other crucial organs that when damaged do not easily get repaired. When the body’s cells cannot get differentiated to give rise to new healthy cells and heal the damaged cell then there is a problem. According to Mayo clinic the cells that were once thought of as terminally differentiated including the heart, lungs and nerves which are more specialized are able to remodel as they possess ability to self-renew. However researchers are still working to come up with strategies through which the ability of these cells to self-heal can be enhanced.

Stem cellReplacement– here the stem cells can be used to replace the damaged cells.in degenerative diseases like osteoporosis the damaged tissues can be replaced with fresh stem cells that will proliferate into more functional bone issues and relieve the system of the damaged tissues. the stem cells can be transplanted in autologous manner where the stem cells will be harvested in the adipose or the bone marrow and be used to replace the affected cells in organ. with autologues stem cell transplant the issue of donor is not a problem neither are there issues of rejection nor the need for immunosuppression .

Regeneration- Through regeneration the stem cells are delivered to diseased tissues or organs, where they will ultimately restore tissue and organ function. This can be done through cell-based therapy or by using cell products, such as growth factors. Bone marrow transplants are an example of regeneration. Regeneration aims to awaken cells that are not functional or have malfunctions. With stem cell therapy there is hope for affordable healthcare solutions that heal the body whole without life threatening side effects.

Stem cells are a cutting edge

Stem cells are capable of self-renewing giving rise to several copies of themselves. They also have the capability of shifting shape and changing type, therefore they can be used to form the cells that are damaged and restore the functions of the damaged tissues. The stem cells can be used to replace the cells that have malfunctioned due to structural damage. The amazing part of the stem cell differentiation is that when a stem cell divides both the daughter cell and the parent stem cells have the potential to differentiate into different cells or to still remain as stem cells. Owing to this ability of stem cells to differentiate into more specialized cells, they can rebuild lost blood vessels, reverse scarring, regenerate damaged nerves, and bring back the healthy you.

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Stem cell therapy has a lot to offer to patients, Visit us at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) an expert in integrative and regenerative medicine will be able to help.

What are stem cells, and why are they important?

 

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Treating ALS With Stem Cell Therapy

May 2, 2015

Stem Cell Therapy As a possible Treatment of ALS

ALSALS is an acronym that stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, it is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is rapidly progressive, fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells which are responsible for controlling voluntary muscles actions that we can control the leg, face and arm muscles. ALS is the most common disease of all the diseases in group known as motor neuron diseases, which are characterized by the gradual degeneration and death of motor neurons. These are fatal diseases that have not been very easy to treat.

The motor neurons are very vital communication links between the nervous system and the voluntary muscles of the body that are located in the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord. Messages from motor neurons in the brain are transmitted to motor neurons in the spinal cord and from them to particular muscles. This communication is interrupted by ALS which leads to degeneration of both the upper and the lower motor neurons and thus messages are not sent to muscles. After sometime the malfunctioned muscles will begin to waste away which eventually leading to the brain losing its ability to control voluntary movements.

Symptoms of ALS

ALS in most cases begins subtly and might be assumed but over a time it escalates into more devastating symptoms. some of the earliest symptoms that ALS victims have to endure include fasciculations, cramps, tight and stiff muscles, muscle weakness affecting an arm or a leg, slurred and nasal speech and difficulty chewing or swallowing. The physicians often use these symptoms as suspicion of ALS.

The symptoms will show on the part of the body where the muscle is affected most. however most of the times the symptoms often first show in the arms and hands and they will feel their arms and hands fail them in performing simple tasks such as lifting a spoon, dressing up, unbuckling the belt, writing or even opening a door. Otherwise the symptoms may show with the legs becoming affected leading to tripping and tumbling over. When the symptoms begin with either the arms or the feet, it is known as limb onset ALS but when the symptoms first show as slurred speech it is termed as bulbar onset ALS.

Once the disease has begun either through limb onset or bulbar onset, the muscle atrophy will spread to the rest of the body parts as the disease progresses. Such problems as swallowing, forming words, speaking and even moving will be experienced.

ALS is a serious disease but since now there is no conventional treatment that addresses the damage that is caused, therefore till now there is no cure for ALS and other motor neuron diseases. The only treatment available today for ALS focuses only on relieving the symptoms and improving the quality of life. Drugs that are currently used like Riluzole are not very effective and can never cure the disease.

Can stem cells help in treatment of ALS?

ALSThe application of stem cells in treatment of various degenerative diseases has become so popular over a time. With ALS however the cause of muscle atrophy is not even known but still ALS is a degenerative disease and therefore if there is to be a treatment that is effective then it has to focus on correcting the damage on the motor neurons. There are researchers still working to find out what causes ALS and whether the stem cells can be used to treat ALS and other motor neuron diseases. There are different types of stem cells but mesenchymal stem cells have generated a lot of interest in researchers for their ability to heal.

Research on stem cells for treating ALS

The fact that the motor neurons are located in the brain and in the spinal cord make it very complicated to do research on the damaged cells. However there are some researchers who have braved this barrier to find some meaningful findings. A team of scientists at Harvard University in the USA used skin cells from an ALS patient to tackle this menace. The researchers began by first transforming the skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells lab-grown stem cells that imitate the actions of embryonic stem cells that have the ability to make all the different cells of the body. After growing these stem cells, the researchers then used them to grow motor neurons that had been damaged by ASL. This research was done in 2008.

Using stem cells as a therapy for ALS

The stem cells have the ability to form other cells and tissues of the body hence can be used to replace the damaged cells. They have also been found to be effective in regeneration of cells and hence are very useful in treatment of degenerative medicine. However there has been a thought that just transplanting lab grown stem cells may not help a great deal in healing those suffering from ALS. It is thought that there are a lot of factors that cause ALS, the transplanted stem cells may also be damaged. However there is still need for research in this area to unearth the possibility of the stem cells to treat the ALS.

Finally, Degenerative diseases have debilitated many people but it is treatable. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert in integrative medicine and a founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center located at Myrtle Beach South Caroline. Visit her for more information on most lifestyle diseases.

Stem Cell Therapy As a possible Treatment of ALS

 

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Stem Cell Treatment for Back Pain and Joint Disease

May 1, 2015

Relieve Chronic Pain without Surgery Stem Cell Treatment for Back Pain and Joint Disease

Joint diseaseJoint diseases are known for the pain they cause. Then there is the back pain that many people are tied to without relief. There is little that is done to avail the much needed permanent relief to the patients enduring the chronic back and joint pains. To some people pain may be synonymous to addiction as that is where their addiction stemmed from. The common way of dealing with pain is to give the patients pain medication that in most the case is to help them endure the pain rather than correcting the mishap in the joints and promote healing. The opioids that are mostly used by pain patients often cause addiction and dependence when used for a long time. However there is now a ray of hope for these patients suffering from chronic back pain and joint diseases.

It has been reported that Medical researchers are trying a new treatment for low back pain. Their hope is that harvesting and then re-injecting the body’s own bone marrow which is rich in stem cells may repair worn-out discs in the spine and promote recovery. The stem cells have been a center of focus in degenerative medicine and several experiments that have been done on the use of stem cells for treatment of degenerative disease have raised hope of patients. Already there are doctors using the stem cell therapy in treating their patients suffering from various diseases.

The researchers are reported to have done a small study in which none of the patients reported any adverse effects on their pain after they were treated with the bone marrow derived stem cells. Therefore the study is deemed safe and effective. However the team of researchers admitted that there is still more research that is needed to be done on the area but still they maintained that it is a promising cutting-edge treatment.

“I tell everybody that this is experimental, with a capital E,” said Dr. Joseph Meyer Jr., an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist at the Columbia Interventional Pain Center, in St. Louis. “We don’t know if it works. I do believe that it’s safe, but it might not do anything for you.”

For the study, Meyer and his colleagues reviewed the case histories of 24 patients who were injected with their own bone marrow aspirate cellular concentrate (BMAC). Bone marrow concentrate contains adult stem cells, which have been called the body’s own repair kit because they can change into different cells and tissues in the body and potentially heal different kinds of tissues that are often affected by various diseases.

The patients that Dr. Meyer used in the experiment were reported to have suffered from chronic low back pain for anywhere from three months to 12 years and had had shown some evidence of degeneration, or damage, to the discs that cushion the bones of the spine. Disc degeneration is common with age, and it is thought to be a major cause of low back pain. Most of the times patients will be advise to exercise and reduce weight but if these methods fail to give any desirable results then the only option available for the patients has been invasive spinal fusion surgery.

“Fusion is a big, big step with questionable effectiveness,” he said. “Often, you’re back in the same boat a year later.”

As noted by Dr. Meyer, the invasive spinal fusion surgery is not really a lasting solution but rather helps temporarily as the problem will reoccur later most even more unbearable. He therefore opines that the stem cell treatment is potentially the best treatment that patients should consider before delving into spinal fusion surgery.

The healing potential of the stem cells

Joint diseaseFrom the experiment that Dr. Meyer conducted, a procedure that he did by using a long needle with which he harvested stem cells from the bone marrow of the patients and re-injected it into the spinal discs that had problems, half the patients used in the in the experiment went back to their other procedures over the next 30 months, making it impossible to know what might have affected their back pain. Of the other 12 who had no other kinds of treatment, 10 reported that their pain lessened in the two to four months after their injections. After a year, eight patients were still reporting significant pain relief, while three said their back pain had not improved. One patient had not yet reached the 12-month mark. After two years, five said their back pain was better, and three had no improvement. For the other four, it was still too early to tell.

Nevertheless, the healing powers of the mesenchymal stem cells have been hailed by different doctors, institutions and researchers. The stem cells owe their ability to treat to their unique properties; they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can give rise to specialized cell types. It is these distinct characteristics of the stem cells that make them effective in treatment of degenerative diseases.

With research that has been done on the effects of stem cells injection in healing the patients suffering from joint pain and other pains, it can be concluded that there is more hope for those suffering from these diseases. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert in integrative medicine and a founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center located at Myrtle Beach South Caroline. Visit her for more information on most lifestyle diseases.

Relieve Chronic Pain without Surgery Stem Cell Treatment for Back Pain and Joint Disease

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Sugar and Pain

March 26, 2015

Beat Pain by Avoiding Sugar

Sugar and painNutritionists know it better, whatever you eat affects your body in a way, and this can either bring you joy or pain. Good health begins with what you put down your stomach so it is very important to carefully choose on what you eat even as you look out for what you should not even think about eating. Sugars are part of most snacks that we interact with, needless to mention most drinks are rich in sugar content. Researchers have shown us some of the bad sides of eating foods that are rich in sugar. First on the list is that they can lead to hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia may be described as an excess of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Your endocrine system regulates the amount of sugar that is stored and used for energy. It is important in brain cell function, and energy levels. This will come about as a result of your body having higher sugar levels than what the insulin can handle. When there is too much sugar in your system that can’t be handled by insulin then certain conditions and disorders may cause you to have difficulty processing and storing blood glucose, resulting in hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Consuming foods that are high in sugar content will cause such problems as inflammation, aches and pain throughout your body.

The pain that you suffer as a result of consuming foods that are high in sugar content will manifest as joint pains, aching muscles, migraines, and added asthma or Post Menstrual Syndrome symptoms. when his pain becomes chronic you will suffer big time to an extent that you may stop gaging in activities that you once enjoyed for example when eating high sugar content foods you may suffer joint pains which will make you stop doing your normal exercises and activities like playing golf, running with your dogs or even playing your soccer.

Your pain might have originated from excessive sugar consumption and therefore Instead of relying on pain relievers to manage aches and pains the better solution you should think of adopting should be eating real foods. Real foods are rich in nutritional content and are not high in calories like the cakes and muffins that you can lay your hands on in a coffee shop. Research and clinical experience have shown that food choices directly affect levels of pain and inflammation in the body. One of these research findings was reported in the American Journal of Cancer Nutrition in March of 2002 that found that foods high in sugar resulted in inflammation. When researchers measured inflammation with a blood test called C-reactive protein (CRP), they discovered that a high concentration of sugar in foods increased the CRP numbers. This is now a proof that eating foods that are high in sugar content can be a cause for your pain.

The past researchers have been able to link consumption of foods that are high in sugar content to pain and inflammation and therefore you should consider stopping having most of your meals in these coffee shops where you spend more than half of your meal time stuffing your body with unnecessary sugars from cakes, mocha and muffins that will end up doing you more harm than good. As you enjoy your sweetened muffins you should think of what will happen when these sugars will maim you so much that you won’t be able to walk all by yourself to the cafeterias you have been frequenting.

Sugar and PainThe biggest problem is that most people believe that after leaving eating refined sugars then you are good to go, this is a lie as there are very many foods that are very high in sugar levels but we never really think they are. just to mention a few, the yoghurt and ketchup that has since become your favorites are rich in sugars that gradually will have worse effects on you as sugars have been directly linked to pain and inflammation. As known to you inflammation is the immune system‘s healthy response to restore the affected area to normal following an injury, irritation or infection. However, in response to high sugar intake, which includes simple carbohydrates, the body is flooded with insulin and stress hormones. These flood your blood supply triggering the inflammation process which creates stress and pain on your organs and joints. Therefore the lesser the sugar you take lesser the inflammation and the pain you will suffer and the stronger your immune system will be.

Eating real foods to avoid sugar

Now that we have known that sugary foods are not very healthy, it is good to begin avoiding them. Nutritionists advise that the best way to avoid sugars and still leave the body with good nutrients is by eating real foods instead of processed foods. Real foods include; meat, eggs, vegetables, and healthy fats. These foods will help package the body with required nutrients and reduce pain and inflammation. Fats that are healthy include butter, olive oil, avocados, olives and nuts. Eating real foods will help you evade very many diseases like cancer and heart diseases just mention a few.

Finally, Here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we are committed to availing help to our patients by availing some of the most integrative approaches to healing. We advocate for natural healing to all kinds of diseases. If you are suffering from pain related illnesses, just call on Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for help.

Beat Pain by Avoiding Sugar

 

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Molecular Mechanisms of Methamphetamine Induced-Neurotoxicity

March 21, 2015

Methamphetamine is a stimulant that is also highly soluble in water and affects the CNS most. Categorically it fits in the group of synthetic drugs chemically related to amphetamine but it has more adverse effects on the Central nervous system than the parent compound. Abuse of these illegal psychostimulants has become an international public health problem, with an estimated 14 to 52 million amphetamine-type stimulant users worldwide, exceeding the total number of cocaine abusers and second only to the number of cannabis abusers. This number has continued to rise in spite of the fact that much has been done to publicize the adverse effects these amphetamine related stimulants are linked to. Meth or speed as known in stimulant use circles exists in different forms like powder, tablets and capsules. It can also be found in a purer crystalline form.

It’s dangerous why is it used?

Just like most stimulants or drugs that are known to induce euphoric feelings, methamphetamine is also taken for similar reasons for example; to induce euphoric feelings, increased sense of well-being, increase energy and to calm anxiety. Being a powerful drug its effects are felt immediately after the use but these effects can last for long hours. They may be accompanied by acute adverse effects such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, which may cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain, resulting in cerebrovascular accidents, stroke, and death. Methamphetamine also produces hyperthermia, pupil dilation, flushing, tremors, trismus and bruxism, muscle tension, loss of appetite or anorexia, and loss of pleasure in food intake which further leads to deterioration of the user’s health.

methamphetamine

Effects of Methamphetamine

Being an addictive drug, after a prolonged use the users may develop tolerance. It’s most common symptoms after a prolonged use include; temporomandibular joint syndrome, dental erosion, and myofacial pain. Long-term use also produces lack of appetite, weight loss, accelerated aging, nose-bleeding problems, nonhealing wounds, tooth decay and fracture known as “Meth mouth”. Psychiatric symptoms include anxiety, depression, increased aggression, social isolation, psychosis, mood disturbances, and psychomotor dysfunction. Long periods of high consumption can cause paranoid psychosis. Other symptoms of chronic methamphetamine use may also include; deficits in attention, working memory, and decision making. Most addicts are stuck in the use of meth as a result of the withdrawal symptoms which include the following; irritability, fatigue, impaired social functioning, and intense craving for the drug. Researchers have given evidence that the negative neuropsychiatric consequences of methamphetamine abuse are due, at least in part, to drug-induced neuropathological changes in the brain. Although the exact molecular mechanisms of neuronal body loss are not known, there is evidence to suggest the coexistence of different types of cell death, including apoptosis and necrosis ; indicated by the morphology of neurons stained with hematoxylin-eosin.  Growing evidence exhibits that methamphetamine and MDMA induce an increase in lipid peroxidation and DNA oxidation as well as increased levels of oxidative stress markers such as hydroxyl radical producing neurotoxicity. Methamphetamine increases expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)/ neuronal nitric oxide synthase (iNOS ) indicating increased synthesis of neuronal nitric oxide, which combines with superoxide radicals to form peroxynitrite which is a strong oxidant and a major neurotoxin . Induction of nNOS/iNOS by methamphetamine or MDMA  constitutes part of the mechanism of methamphetamine damage, as selective inhibition or genetic inactivation of nNOS and overexpression of cupper zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), an enzyme that catalyzes the dismutation of superoxide into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, prevent methamphetamine neurotoxicity . Even though methamphetamine increases iNOS expression in the striatum , there is no basis for supposing the involvement of glial nitric oxide in methamphetamine-induced toxicity, but it is interesting to note that mice deficient in iNOS have increased resistance to methamphetamine-induced dopamine neuron damage.

methamphetamine

The neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine on the dopaminergic system are accompanied by activation of astroglia and microglia in the same areas  being strongest in the striatum, the area with biggest toxicity. Glial cells are not activated in the nucleus accumbens, which is not much damaged . In mice, glial activation in striatum and in substantia nigra occurs shortly after methamphetamine administration, as indicated by a significant increase in Mac-1 ;a marker of reactive microglia 24 hours after methamphetamine exposure and prominent increases in GFAP ; a marker of reactive gliosis in response to injury occur within a week  after treatment . The extent of these glial reactions correlates with the observed severity of neurotoxicity.

The dopaminergic system is also involved in this toxicity, as demonstrated in various mutant mice in which inactivation of dopamine transport, dopamine D1 receptors or D2 receptors affords a significant protection against methamphetamine toxicity. Administration of THC prevents dopaminergic toxicity after MDMA, a similar amphetamine derivative to methamphetamine, by CB1 receptor stimulation which is present in striatal medium spiny neurons. All these receptors are involved in different aspects of learning processes that became affected by the chronic use of methamphetamine or MDMA.

Finally, Drug abuse, addiction and independence are problems that people grapple with every day. These problems need to be treated effectively through integrative medicine. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert at this.  Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Molecular Mechanisms of Methamphetamine Induced-Neurotoxicity

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