[blindza] More stuff about stem cell stuff for the regeneration of the optic nerve
- From: "Jacob Kruger" <jacobk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "C Kruger" <ckruger@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "Julia Kruger" <juliakruger2003@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "simon kruger" <nimosza@xxxxxxxxx>, "BlindZA" <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 00:58:37 +0200
This stuff is interesting...
Jacob
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Subject: Desperate blind man in stem cell sight hope
Edinburgh News, Scotland (UK)
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Desperate blind man in stem cell sight hope
By MICHAEL BLACKLEY (
mblackley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
A BLIND man has undergone controversial stem cell treatment that he hopes
could lead to him regaining his sight.
James Logan has been blind for 23 years. He is so desperate to get his sight
back that he attended a new clinic in Germany - despite the warnings of a
UK medical expert, who described his treatment as "implausible".
The 44-year-old, who lives in Meadowbank, first planned to have the £14,000
procedure at a clinic in Holland, but was forced to change his plans after
it was shut down by the authorities.
He then turned to the newly set-up Xcell Center at the Institute for
Regenerative Medicine in Cologne and had bone marrow stem cells taken from
his hip
on April 25.
He then travelled back to Edinburgh while the cells were stored and
prepared, then returned to the lab last Thursday to have them inserted into
his spine.
He arrived back in Edinburgh again this week and now faces an eight-week
wait before the stem cells work their way around his body and have an effect
on
his sight.
Mr Logan, who has worked at Registers of Scotland for 15 years, has so far
felt no ill effects from the treatment and has now been told that June 28 is
the earliest date he could see positive effects.
It is the first time that the clinic has attempted to use the treatment for
someone with his condition, called Leber's atrophy.
Mr Logan said: "They said that I'd be the first person to have tried this
and they were confident enough to say they would go ahead with it.
"I was put under a local anaesthetic and it made me numb from the waist
down. When that wore off the bottom of my spine was agony for a day or two -
like
no pain I've ever felt before - and I was violently sick.
"I'm back to normal again now, though. My spine feels a bit different, but
it's not agony.
"I really hope it works but all I can say now is that I've done as much as I
can.
"I'm proud that I have gone through with it and even if it doesn't work out
at least I'll know I've done my best."
Mr Logan, who carried out fundraising to pay for the treatment, had
initially been dealing with a Rotterdam clinic run by Doctor Robert Trossel.
It was closed down weeks before his appointment following a BBC documentary
which claimed it had been using research-grade stem cells that had not been
approved for use in humans and had not been screened for infections such as
Aids and CJD.
Mr Logan was initially warned about the clinic by Patrick Yu Wai Man, one of
the UK's leading experts in Leber's atrophy, who is based at the Department
of Ophthalmology at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Mr Yu Wai Man today said he was concerned that Mr Logan had gone ahead with
the treatment.
He said: "There is no proven treatment of Leber's optic atrophy.
"The problem with James is compounded by the fact he has had this for 23
years. It is a problem with the optic nerve and the treatment proposed to
him
is implausible.
"There have been no proper animal studies to say whether stem cells can
regenerate the optic nerve.
It has to be considered with grave scepticism."
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association in Scotland said:
"We would urge any patient to speak to a specialist or their GP before
considering such options."
No-one from the Cologne clinic was available for comment.
The theory behind stem cell treatment:
Cord blood stem cells are given by injection to the back of the neck, the
back or the arms. The patient's nervous system is then flooded with about
one
million of these restorative cells.
Stem cells then travel and attach to the optic nerve, where they begin to
repair the damaged tissue.
Stem cells develop into the appropriate nerve tissue, and function as the
original optic nerve should have. With this renewal complete, the patient's
sight
is restored.
But there are claims that the immune system will recognise the new cells as
foreign bodies before they reach the nervous system and destroy them.
Some experts also say that if the optic nerve is damaged for more than three
months it could be beyond repair.
It is also said by scientists that, because the optic nerve is one of the
longest in the body, it is doubtful these cells could repair its entire
length.
Last updated: 09-May-07 12:03 BS
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=719152007
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