Type 1 diabetes (formerly known as insulin-dependent diabetes), is characterized by loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas leading to a deficiency of insulin. Diet and exercise cannot reverse or prevent type 1 diabetes.
Testimonials for Genetic Disease Stem Cell Research, MS Treatments, Diabetes Treatment, Stroke, Parkinson's Treatment
Stem Cell Patient Testimonials:
Paul Nicholas
MS Patient Home Movies of before and after (SCT) stem cell treatment. Paul was unable to get up on his own and could not walk without a walker for a very short distance. He was pretty much confined to a wheel Chair………and Now?
Paul Nicholas (:23) Two Weeks After Treatment
You can see additional videos and comments from Paul Nicholas about how MS affected his life and how stem cell transplantation treatment at our medical facility in Mexico changed his life.
Paul Nichols is a Stem Cell Advocate and he has a non-profit Foundation (the Paul Nicholas MS Foundation), that is working with the Montel Williams MS Foundation.
Click on the link below to visit Paul Nicholas’s www.MySpace.com website and scroll down to see his story on his family’s trip to Mexico for Stem Cell Treatment and home videos from the clinic facility while he was there.
http://www.myspace.com/paulnicholasonline
Investigational Stem Cell Treatment Facility Has Success With Macular Degeneration
Stem Cells For Hope is a leading stem cell treatment facility offering regenerative stem cell transplantation to patients looking for alternative treatments to their illnesses, and has had a recent breakthrough with the treatment of Macular Degeneration.
Mt. Sinai, NY (PRWEB) July 24, 2009 -- Started in 2005 by Peter K. Sidorenko, Stem Cells For Hope (SCFH) has been working to break new ground in the field of Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy. SCFH is a leader in providing stem cell treatments and regenerative stem cell transplantation to patients looking for alternative treatments to their degenerative conditions via their international network of doctors, clinics and hospital facilities. Medical conditions that have been treated with Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy include MS, Parkinson's, stroke, macular degeneration, optic nerve damage, and diabetes. Other conditions are evaluated by their Medical Advisory Board on a per case basis.
Treating patients with a wide range of serious injuries, biological, neurological and other debilitating disorders, SCFH engages in stem cell research, stem cell product development and the global treatment of their patients via Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy. Recently, they have experienced great success with a 74-year-old female from Kentucky who had been diagnosed with the wet version of Macular Degeneration in 2002.
Currently in the U.S., Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy is not FDA approved for the treatment of human patients except in the cases of leukemia and bone marrow cancer in children. While the U.S. uses embryonic stem cells for research and testing purposes on animals, "it will still be 12 to 15 years until any kind of stem cells will be authorized here for actual treatments. That's a long time to wait with nothing in sight for help [for patients]," says Peter K. Sidorenko.
Though the company headquarters is located in the US and they pay their taxes here, due to the current legal restrictions in the United States, Mr. Sidorenko, and his partner Walter Kravchenko, offer SCFH's services to their patients outside of the U.S. in Mexico and Eastern Europe. According to Mr. Sidorenko "the clinics and hospitals that we have on our network have 15-18 years of experience in treating human patients with stem cells. Each location has a slightly different treatment protocol depending on the patient's condition. We are constantly learning from the different clinics and the treating physicians."
Stem Cells for Hope has a distinguished and diverse Medical and Scientific Advisory Board which is comprised of Surgeons, MD's, Ph.D.'s, scientists and research fellows who are responsible for patient evaluations, producing abstracts on the medical conditions and treatment of patients. They also are developing research papers to be published in various medical publications and journals, and prepare patent applications that will go before the USPTO shortly.
SCFH is currently looking for additional prime, successful, international clinic locations to add to their Global Network of Stem Cell Treatment facilities.
To see the on-line version of this article, click on the link below:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2669684.htm
For additional information regarding Stem Cells for Hope please Contact Walter Kravchenko or Peter K. Sidorenko at (631) 929-3900 or visit the company website at www.stemcellsforhope.com
Contact Information
Walter Kravchenko, CEO
Stem Cells For Hope
http://www.stemcellsforhope.com
631 929 3900Peter K. Sidorenko, COO
Stem Cells For Hope
http://www.stemcellsforhope.com
631 929 3900
Sparta woman heads to Mexico for stem cell treatment for MS
Editor’s note: Sparta artist Nina was interviewed just prior to her trip to Mexico to receive adult stem cell treatment to battle her multiple sclerosis. The Herald will re-visit Nina when she returns in mid- to late- July, and continue to do so periodically.By SETH AUGENSTEIN (Before Treatment)
saugenstein@njherald.com
SPARTA, June 14, 2009 — For Nina, there’s hope south of the border. Nina, an artist afflicted with multiple sclerosis, left Sunday for a pilgrimage to Mexico, where she will have bone marrow taken out of her shin and then have her own adult stem cells injected back into her spine. In doing so, the hope is she just might be able to ditch her two canes at the clinic.
For the artist’s deteriorating body, the treatment could slow or even reverse some symptoms of the incurable disease by the time she returns 10 days later. Nina said she’s taking the gamble of traveling south, because the MS treatments available in the United States continue to fail.
“It’s not going to be a cure — but everything we’ve been waiting for here is still the same,” she said last week.
Nina and her husband flew to San Diego, and will cross two miles over the border into Mexico for the treatment. In doing so, she’s part of a growing trend of “medical tourism,” in which patients with MS or Parkinson’s are taking their treatment into their own hands by going abroad for stem cells. Research indicates that diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS, spinal cord injuries, optic nerve damage and other medical problems might be improved, but not cured, by the treatment. Thousands of undocumented patients have been lured to places like Mexico, China and Costa Rica by the promise of the results.
Nina said she’s had a hard time sleeping as she’s thought about the new lease on life that could be waiting for her. She hasn’t even had time to practice her first love, painting. She has carved out a reputation as an artist inspired by Pablo Picasso and the scenes of Lake Mohawk right out her window. She’s had featured shows at galleries in Essex County, the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council in Newton, and places as far afield as Omaha, Neb.
She’s also become a focal point in MS activism and stem cell advocacy. Dozens of people in Sparta and beyond are watching Nina’s story unfold with hopes and prayers. Some are considering their own “medical tourism” trips abroad to get treatments still not available in the United States, depending on how people like Nina will respond.
One of the people who inspired Nina’s decision was Paul Nicholas, a musician from New York. He was “drooling in a wheelchair” before he received the treatment two years ago.
When he returned, his family didn’t recognize him at the airport — and since then; he’s had a new lease on life.
“Going for adult stem cells was the best thing I have ever done for myself, in my whole life,” Nicholas said. “We are always told, ‘There are no second chances’ — and I can now say, ‘Yes there are.’”
Walter Kravchenko is the chairman and CEO of Stem Cells for Hope, where both Nicholas, and now Nina, received their treatment. The company is a new one that is meeting the increasing demand for stem cells, and Kravchenko said two months ago the $25,000 to $35,000 price tag is not cheap — but is something many patients still can’t afford not to have done.
“It’s not snake oil. I go to sleep really well at night knowing we got somebody up and out of a wheelchair,” Kravchenko said.
There is no guarantee of success for stem cells, and doctors caution patients who want to make such a trip. Dr. Saud Sadiq, the clinical and research director of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Center of New York, said in an interview two months ago that while there are documented stories of stem cell success, he has personally seen several of his patients bilked for thousands of dollars for trips to Israel and China.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about stem cells’ biology,” Sadiq said. “I’m not being cynical for the sake of being cynical... The more hokey it sounds, the more hokey it probably is.”
But there are differences within the stem cell treatment umbrella, many say. Peter Sidorenko, Stem Cells for Hope’s founder, said the difference in his company’s treatment is a massive infusion of the stem cells. Between 60 and 70 million stem cells will be injected into Nina’s system this week, whereas other clinics abroad might do a quick shot of less than 2 million. There are also exacting procedures — including abstaining from caffeine, nicotine and alcohol — and ongoing vigilance, including physical therapy and diet control, that help the stem cells like Nina’s have a better chance to make a huge difference.
“It’s not a cure. But we do turn back the clock on the person’s condition,” Sidorenko said.
For patients like Nina, the upside is too enticing to pass up. She said she is hopeful not only for herself, but for others who are watching and waiting to see her results.
“So many people are waiting to see the outcome,” she said.
The critically-respected artist has not been painting recently, with the preparations for the trip and the energy of expectation. However, a young neighbor friend bought her a sketchbook so she might be able to begin creating again — perhaps with a newfound energy.
She’s sure of one thing about the Mexico trip, though. “I consider it a vacation,” she said, beaming.To read the Article from the NJ Herald, please follow the link: http://www.njherald.com/story/news/29NINA-web
For more information on Stem Cells for Hope visit their website at:
www.stemcellsforhope.com
Sparta resident on the mend from MS
Editor's note: Sparta artist Nina returned earlier this month from a medical trip to Mexico to receive adult stem-cell treatment for her Multiple Sclerosis. The Herald spoke with Nina before and after the 10-day trip -- and will do so periodically during her projected 10-month recovery.
By SETH AUGENSTEIN (30 days after treatment)
saugenstein@njherald.com
Photos by Amy Paterson/New Jersey Herald
SPARTA, July 29, 2009 -- Nina can stand and walk, and there are fewer "two-cane" days after her trip to Mexico.
However, there still is much left in her medical journey toward long-term health."I have to learn to walk again," she said Tuesday, exactly a month after she left for the clinic.
When she says she has to learn to walk, she's smiling. Nina still has the ups and downs associated with her disease, but she's gotten a kind of toehold in her fight against it.
The momentum against the degenerative disease is now in her favor, she says. The next 10 months likely will be a slow process of recovery requiring diligence, and vigilance, in almost every aspect of her life.
She spends almost every day in the pool, going underwater and swimming strokes that will encourage her own adult stem cells -- removed from her shinbone and injected back into her spine -- to travel to the places in her body where it can patch up, fix, and generally heal the damage left by the disease.
There's also a whole litany of dietary requirements to help purify her body -- from a prohibition on caffeine and artificial sweeteners, to milk and meats with hormones in it, and other artificial ingredients.
The benefits of giving up even the most mundane indulgences already have brought small but important steps. From a late-night painting session in her living room, Nina recently walked across the house without a cane. The going was slow and careful, but it was the first time in six years she had gone that far without any help.
Nina said she met a lot of like minds during her time at the Mexican clinic, from her MS-afflicted limousine driver, to the other patients with the same hopes she had. Some like minds are even closer to home.
Donna, a Jefferson woman, heard about the clinic from Nina, at first a complete stranger. The two became fast friends, and Donna just returned Saturday from her own excursion to the same clinic. Her results have been even quicker than Nina's; for the first time in two years, Donna has taken steps away from her wheelchair. Eyesight in her blurry left eye has returned, and feeling has come back to her feet and hands. Just days after returning, she said she's still tired, but hopeful for both her and Nina's parallel recoveries.
"I'm experiencing different things, things are happening," Donna said. "But it's going to take us some time."
Peter Sidorenko, the chief operating officer of Stem Cells for Hope, said both women can expect results to continue to come back with work and time, as the some 70 million stem cells make their way up their spines. He said positive effects -- whether minor or sweepingly dramatic -- always are there and need to be cultivated through exercise and diet.
"Everyone who's gone (for the treatment) has had a positive effect," he said.
Walter Kravchenko, the chairman and CEO of the company, agreed. The company turns away people when the treatment has no chance of improving their condition. He said honesty and highly attentive care, which both women rave about, are important to what the company is doing and saying about their treatments.
"It's not snake oil," Kravchenko said.
Both women went to Mexico because the experimental stem-cell treatments are not available in the United States, and will not be available for some years. That is something that should change, they contend -- vehemently.
"They should be doing this here," Nina said.
Nina still has her work cut out for her, not only in building up the strength in her atrophied legs, but also with her art. Her Picasso-influenced and widely-admired, colorful paintings are about to average two shows per month through the month of February, in galleries from Essex to Sussex counties.
There's still a blank canvas in her living room, too. She hasn't painted since before her trip because she's focused on the stem-cell treatment. She has at least a half-dozen images in her mind to work from, she said.
"I just have to get moving on these paintings, on swimming -- on everything."
To read the Article from the NJ Herald, please follow the link:
http://www.njherald.com/story/news/29NINA-webFor more information on Stem Cells for Hope visit their website at:
www.stemcellsforhope.com
Editor’s note: Sparta artist Nina Palumbo returned in July from a medical trip to Mexico to receive adult stem-cell treatment for her Multiple Sclerosis. The New Jersey Herald spoke with Palumbo before and after the 10-day trip — and will continue to do so during her projected 10-month recovery.
By SETH AUGENSTEIN (5 months after treatment)
Photos by Amy Paterson/New Jersey HeraldFive months after stem cells were extracted from her shin bone and injected into her spine, Nina Palumbo looks healthier and has stretched her limbs and her boundaries a little at a time. There were the steps to the woodpile at the corner of the yard and she’s even driven the occasional short trip to the bank, for the first time in years.
Her canes always are at hand and ready, even if she has made improvements. The stem cell treatment has not had a Biblical transformation on her physical capacities. The work remains, and Nina knows it.
“I’ll still have MS, no matter what,” she said.
“But even the worst day is better than the best day before I went to Mexico,” she emphasizes.
The tendons and muscle in her legs, so long underused, are stretched out regularly with the help of husband, Sal. Already she begins to lift her legs a little on her own, without the assistance of the straps she once used. The pedals of the exercise bike in her
bedroom slowly grind forward, and she takes the occasional jab at Bob the Boxer, a mannequin with a strong chin.Such success is not a daily reality, by definition of the disease. Multiple Sclerosis is known to be an erratic one whose effects change from day to day, and even on the same day. Fatigue still sets in, and there are days of utter exhaustion, particularly last month when she picked up one of the viruses making their seasonal rounds. None of it has been a deterrent.
She has known all along that the stem cells were not a magical cure, particularly with the “double whammy” of the Lyme Disease she contracted several years ago. She hopes for the best, but has no illusions that 30 years of the degenerative neurological disease could be totally reversed in a matter of a few months. The clinic told her the same thing — the longer the disease has had to progress, the less effective the treatment once the damage is done.
The trip has been worth every penny of the $25,000-plus, she said. There was a distinct decline in her condition before she left in June. The former two-workout-per-day, full-time worker and mother started using a cane six years ago, and restrictions gradually closed in. A second cane complemented the first, the exercises slowed, driving a car became an impossibility. Right before the 10-day trip to the Stem Cells for Hope clinic in Tijuana, the sharpest decline was a steep one.
“I would never let myself get to that point again,” she said.
Even after crossing south of the border, the rigors of travel were taxing enough to put the stubbornly independent Nina into a wheelchair for days after the treatment itself. The wheelchair was something she swore she’d never resort to.
However, since she returned, she’s driven a car and has more than slowed the progress of the Multiple Sclerosis. A renewed vigilance in the form of the basket of vitamins and strict diet, exercises, and even sessions in a hyperbaric chamber have produced some results, and she just started a rigorous “bioenergy” alternative treatment.
Her paintbrush also returned to life. She has been actively turning out the paintings that have gotten her growing renown — and led to a series of 10 new paintings and at least half a dozen art shows across New Jersey. She completed her first-ever landscape — a stark painting with a smattering of cheerful yellow in the middle. Another shows a guitar with broken strings, but the reds of the instrument are vibrant, and the paint is thick and confident.
When asked what portrait or scene she might work on next, she simply sticks a thumb toward herself.
“I have to work on this canvas now,” she said, pointing at her chest. Created: 12/9/2009 | Updated: 12/9/2009
An Easter Message from the Catholic Church
March / 2008
A letter from Father Russell Smith a member of the Catholic Health Association for the Third Sunday of Easter:
This is a letter which was circulated by the Catholic Church to their parishioners across the United States from , a member of the Catholic Church Health Association. In his sermon Father Smith describes the historical events that had occurred on the third Sunday of Easter. After an interview with Paul Nicholas about his MS and the Adult Stem Cell treatment he received, Father Smith thought it prudent to mention that the Adult Stem Cell treatment provided for Paul by Stem Cells for Hope and the spiritual journey that Paul Nicholas had gone through is an acceptable medical procedure from the Churches point of view. Using ones own Stem Cells and a strong spiritual belief in a Higher Power can work miracles for people suffering from degenerative diseases. There are no ethical or moral issues to contend with, just a persons own belief that with the proper medical treatment and spiritual beliefs they can become well.
You can read the entire message from Father Russell for your spiritual well being and can see his comments on Page 6 about his interview and comments about Paul Nicholas and his ongoing journey towards his physical and spiritual health.
Thank you and God Bless,
Peter K. Sidorenko
Stem Cells for Hope
To read the entire Letter from the Catholic Church Click Here
Steve Foster
Bend man travels to Mexico for stem cell cure
Posted: June 17, 2008 09:16 PM EDT
Improvement seen since stem cell transplant
By Victoria Adelus, KTVZ.COM
For more than thirty years, Steve Foster has been living his life partially paralyzed, but he hopes a recent trip to Mexico is going to change that.
"I want this...bad," said Foster, an adult stem cell patient.
Foster traveled south to undergo the adult stem cell transplant procedure, in an effort to gain back what he once had.
"I'm tired of this life, and the way it is now," he said.
Julie Hood, a human biology assistant professor at Central Oregon Community College, says although the treatment isn't performed in the U.S., it has been performed successfully in other countries.
"In Steve's case, it sounds like they took stem cells from his bone and put them in his spinal cord, and they develop neurons, or nerve cells," Hood said.
Through reviewing research, Hood says she learned adult stem cell treatments can have both negative and positive results.
"The positive of using adult stem cells is, it is your own body - you're not destroying an embryo. You can use any cell to get this, so you're not going to reject it," she said. "The negative is it's going to be older or it could be sick."
Now back from Mexico, Steve is in great spirits, and his long-time friend Terri Johnston says she's already seen changes.
"I saw his arm relax the very next day down his side, which it has always been across his stomach and his voice was better three days after his procedure,” said Johnston.
Foster said, "Before I had to push the air out and now it feels a little easier and a little less raspy."
Johnston says he can even walk up stairs with less of a struggle.
"He took his first step with his right leg instead of his left, which he hasn't done in 30-plus years," Johnston said.
And Foster said, "I feel more energetic, after I stretch. I have more movement and flexibility."
Foster's journey isn't over yet, but with help from his friends and through living by his own motto of "Attitude is Everything," he says he hopes the procedure will change his life forever.
I'm much happier," Foster said. "I have hope, I have a vision...angels are with me."
Foster says he still has a few more procedures to undergo for him to fully recover and you can help him in his journey.
The Black Horse Saloon is raffling off a 2007 BMC Hooligan Motorcycle for 25 dollars a ticket.
The lucky ticket will be drawn on July 26th, and all of the money raised will go toward helping Foster.
Click on the image above to see the original article