Omega-3 fat in fish oil could provide a cure for leukemia

(NaturalNews)Scientists from the medical sciences division at Penn State University have discovered that a compound in fish oil appears to target leukemia stem cells and could lead to a cure for the disease. The compound is a natural extract from EPA, the Omega-3 fat component found…

Adult stem cells treat a host of diseases, say doctors

(NaturalNews) Doctors and researchers are hailing the successes of adult stem cell treatments, which are treating everything from heart disease and diabetes, to leukemia and blindness. Adult stem cells — the kind harvested from adult bone marrow and other tissues — can be injected into the body to help regrow and repair organs, tissues and skin. Unlike controversial embryonic stem cells which are harvested from aborted, human embryos, adult stem cells are extracted from living, adult humans. And based on years of experience using innovative therapy treatments, adult stem cells are proving to be highly successful in treating otherwise “incurable” diseases. Dr. Thomas Einhorn, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Boston University Medical Center, for example, successfully used a man’s pelvic bone stem cells to heal the same man’s broken ankle. By drawing bone marrow from the pelvis and condensing it into an injectable liquid, Einhorn was able to spur a complete ankle healing in four months. Then, there is the case of a patient whose damaged vision was restored after receiving adult stem cell treatment. A recent Denver Post article explains that adult stem cells are being used to treat people with leukemia, lymphoma, heart disease, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. The possibilities are endless with adult stem cells, say numerous doctors and medical experts. Adult stem cells can literally turn into bones, blood vessels and tissues that are diseased or damaged, and they seem to adapt to whatever is needed by the body to heal a specific area. “That gives adult stem cells really a very interesting and potent quality that embryonic stem cells don’t have,” explains Rocky Tuan from the University of Pittsburgh. Sources for this story include: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_15655878

Stem cell therapy becoming more widely accepted

(NaturalNews) Scientists, media pundits, academics and researchers often speak of stem cell therapy as a potentially revolutionary technology in the field of medicine, but according to Professor David Warburton from the Saban Research Institute at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, stem cells are already viable in many different treatment applications. For years, there has been much controversy over stem cell research. This is due to the fact that the type of stem cell research people often talk about is embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cell research is not only controversial, but it is also a failure, especially when you consider that other non-controversial stem cells, like the kind obtained from adult organs, are already providing breakthroughs in treatment technology that embryonic stem cells have been unable to accomplish. Professor Warburton has a particular interest in amniotic fluid-derived stem cells, which come from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women. According to him, “there are no ethical objections to using amniotic fluid derived stem cells,” which makes their study an important subject of stem cell research. Stem cells can be used not only to treat disease, but also to regenerate and grow new organs. A person can literally have his or her own stem cells harvested and used to regenerate needed organ tissue, eliminating the need for taking anti-rejection drugs like one would have to following conventional transplant surgery. According to a recent BBC report on the subject, there are already many cases of successful stem cell therapies, including the following cases: -Spanish surgeons recently engineered the world’s first tissue-engineered organ transplant, in which a patient’s own stem cells were applied to the donor organ in order to facilitate a successful transplant. -A young British boy underwent a stem cell organ transplant, making him the first child in the world to have this type of treatment. -U.S. scientists successfully created fully-grown and fully-operational liver grafts. And according to Dr. Sharon Maolem in her book Suvival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease , stem cells are practically immortal and “have the potential to become anything and they never run out of steam.” So it is no wonder that they have seemingly limitless potential in medicine. Sources for this story include: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/ferguswalsh/2010/07/stem_cells_keep_the_faith.html http://www.naturalpedia.com/googlesearchresults.html?cx=010579349100583850635%3Asch5riypipq&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&q=stem+cells&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&siteurl=www.naturalpedia.com%2Findex.html#1135

Curcumin and black pepper combine to stop breast cancer tumor cells

(NaturalNews) Natural chemicals found in the spices turmeric and black pepper appear to stop the growth of breast tumors, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment . Researchers applied a solution containing both curcumin, found in turmeric, and piperine, which makes black pepper spicy, to breast cancer cells in a laboratory, using concentrations 20 times higher than those found in the human diet. They found that the solution hampered the ability of stem cells to propagate but did not affect the differentiation of normal breast cells. “This shows that these compounds are not toxic to normal breast tissue,” lead author Madhuri Kakarala said. Cancer stem cells are the cells in tumors that allow it to keep growing without limit. Current chemotherapy treatments are unable to affect stem cells, which is part of the reason that cancers can spread and recur even in those undergoing treatment. “If we can limit the number of stem cells, we can limit the number of cells with potential to form tumors,” Kakarala said. The researchers found that the piperine appeared to make the curcumin more effective. They also found that the solution affected cancer stem cells regardless of whether the tumors were estrogen-sensitive or not. This is an especially significant finding because the cancer-preventive drugs tamoxifen or raloxifene, which can have highly toxic side effects, do not affect estrogen-independent tumors. “The concept that dietary compounds can help is attractive, and curcumin and piperine appear to have very low toxicity,” Karkala said. Previous studies have linked a diet high in turmeric to a lower risk of breast, colon, prostate and lung cancers. Black pepper and piperine have both also been shown to suppress the development of colon and lung tumors in animal tests. Sources for this story include: health.usnews.com; timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

Supplement your stem cells

A nutritional supplement could stimulate the production of stem cells integral for repairing the body. New research suggests that a commercially-available supplement can increase the blood circulation of hematopoietic stem cells, which can give rise to all blood cells, and endothelial progenitor cells, which repair damage to blood vessels.

Citrus surprise: Vitamin C boosts the reprogramming of adult cells into stem cells

Famous for its antioxidant properties and role in tissue repair, vitamin C is touted as beneficial for illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer and perhaps even for slowing the aging process. Now, a new study uncovers an unexpected new role for this natural compound: facilitating the generation of embryonic-like stem cells from adult cells.