Stem Cell Transplant Treatment as a Reboot

Just watched an interesting segment on BBC's Panorama which documents haematopoietic stem cell transplant treatment for MS. Amazing results are happening in terms of how it reboots the nervous system to pre MS.
In terms of the CNS and nerve firings that correlate to tinnitus, this could be potentially exciting news.
Here is an article on the treatment:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/...-patients-hope-after-remarkable-trial-results

 

I think It reboots the immune system not nerve cells in brain or spinal cord.

 

Now this is what I like to see. Great article @Lisa88. Although we haven't had much extraordinary results from stem cell treatments on hearing loss, I think it's one of the biggest paths to take for reconnecting the damaged spiral ganglions of the auditory nerve back to the neurons in the brain and to the inner/outer hair cells.

I'd say a good 80% of tinnitus is caused by damage between the hair cells in our ears and the brain. That connection in between is the much needed auditory nerve. If there was a way that we could reconnect these features of the inner ear then I strongly believe that tinnitus can be cured in the way that it should be. Scientists in Japan have been able to differentiate stem cells (I believe embryonic) to become neurons that were then transplanted into the ears of gerbils and were able to restore levels of hearing with them. The restoring of the connections in the ears will add many of tinnitus suffers that received it from noise. Loud noises damage the inner ear's nerves just like multiple sclerosis does. I'll attach an article below that talks about it below.

Stem cells have a great chance of restoring problems with hyperacusis too. By reestablishing connections in the inner ear, the brains gain will return to normal since with hyperacusis, the loss of nerve connections between hair cells and the brain cause the brain to basically turn up its own volume so that it can hear better with the nerve to hair cell connection working correctly.

Although I'm not sure how everyone got their tinnitus or how severe it is for them, I have to say that anyone that has gotten noise induced tinnitus/hyperacusis will benefit greatly from some kind of stem cell treatment that transplants neurons into their ears.

Some articles to check out pertaining to all of this:

http://www.neuroreille.com/promenade/english/pathology/tinnit/ftinnit.htm

http://www.hear-it.org/loud-music-damages-nerves-brain

http://atlasofscience.org/transplanted-cells-reveal-potential-for-functional-neural-regeneration-2/

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/

 

See if you can watch that documentary. Very interesting. Somehow, rebooting the system helped restore the way nerves function. Some patients are even experiencing reversal of paralysis. I would still like to read a scientific brief on how these systems are interconnected.
With tinnitus, I have read about so much effecting nerve function - brain chemistry, blood flow etc.
A reboot does in theory sound so good.

 

It is as @wizman said I'm affraid.

Haematopoietic stem cells differentiate into blood and immune cells. It works for Multiple Sclerosis because it is an auto-immune disorder.

I think the only type of stem cells that might help tinnitus are the pluripotent stem cells that can turn into new nerve cells. So far, those type of stem cells are of embryonic origin or induced in the lab from other types of stem cells.

 

And now for something completely different.
This is a quote from
http://www.theguardian.com/society/...-patients-hope-after-remarkable-trial-results

quote:
This is not a technology you can patent and we have achieved this without industry backing.”
End quote.

I wonder if this means that companies are less inclined to invest in stem cell therapies?

 

It would be very interesting to know how T has evolued with people with T who have been through bone marrow or cord blood transplant for any (other) medical purpose.
There must be a few ones in TT forum in this case.

 

As far as I could make out from the documentary, they first undergo chemotherapy, then the transplant takes place. And this reboot somehow changes the way the nerves talk to each other.
Here is the link to the documentary on bbciplayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06ss17g/panorama-can-you-stop-my-multiple-sclerosis

 

It's only available in the UK?

 

I'm sure the stem cells are able to repair the myelin sheath since people with multiple sclerosis have damaged ones. The auditory nerve in our ear does much more than just help one process sounds better. It's almost like a volume knob. The higher you turn it up (the more nerves you have on a hair cell frequency) the more clear and louder a sound will be picked up by that specific hair cell location for the brain to interpret. These nerves when functioning correctly not only do that but they act as neurotransmitters too when hair cells are in movement.

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2012/06/13479.html

 

Maybe you can do a search on youtube.
Also, you may be able to watch it on bbciplayer through the Hola application on google chrome.

 

There are people on theose forums who have tried experiment stem cell treatments in Bangkok. It's worth a read.

 

Did they say what kind of stem cells were given to them and how were they transplanted?

 

Cord blood IIRC.

 

These new therapies are the future, an amazing story...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/sci...cell-therapy-reverses-multiple-sclerosis.html

 

great, the field is moving... !!!

 

Ateos i presume.
But we need to know more about those who have been transplanted with bone marow with chemio before. ....

 

Michaela-CP baby girl got free of medication...

 

Yes, the fact that stem cell transplantation is now helping to improve nerve function ... well that can only be a positive area of research for t.
In the case of MS, looks like it is through the immune system. However, looks like it is also actually reversing the damage already caused to the nerves, which is very interesting in of itself.

 

If they can cure the entire nervous system by fixing a genetic defect like MS, it is only logical to assume it is easier to fix a single area that was (possibly) functioning properly before getting damaged by, lets say, sound exposure. It doesn't have to be the exact same therapy, what good would that do, there can be variations or even an entirely different method. The point is: Nerve regeneration by stem cells should be obtainable in any part of the body. People that lost their sight can see again! We are not only talking about mobility here!

Of course, let's hope they don't have to totally destroy the auditory nerve first in order to reboot it... In MS cases it makes sense, since they do not know the cause, they simply erase everything! It is like when you cannot get rid of a virus that struck your PC, you have to format and reinstall the OS...

The only negative part is, that unlike MS, hearing loss and Tinnitus are not considered to be life threatening. But I think they become aware of the importance day by day and, in light of these new stem-cell related miracles, they simply cannot stay dormant: The competition is rising which is a decisive factor in finding a cure and FAST!

 

Agree. I wouldn't want to risk a first clinical trial where they tell you "we need to destroy the audio nerve and see if we can "reboot" it"

 

As a person of the great white north, I've always feared the dreaded MS. Nice to see we have an upcoming treatment for it. Though we've known for years a bone marrow transplant would cure it, the FDA considers that too drastic and would rather see people lose their legs, bladder and vision.

Maybe it depends on the state of the condition. I have a hard time believing white matter can regenerate on it's own.

 

Watch the documentary, and you will see lesions in white matter that have disappeared.

 

Has anyone tried stem cell therapy in Phoenix, Arizona with the Stem Cell Rejuvenation Center? They charge $7,100 and suggest they are a good alternative to traveling overseas for people in the United States:

"We also aim to provide an affordable and quality US alternative to those who have been told that they have to travel overseas for treatment. Most of these trips can cost $20,000 to $50,000 and we want to offer a quality alternative for a fraction of the cost so that we can provide this potentially life-changing treatment for as many people as possible."

http://www.the-stem-cell-center.com/component/content/article/39-deafness.html

 

I filled out an application form and they told me they had minimal success with NIHL. They said they where unable to offer a treatment at this time.
I am not sure why they put the Pubmed documents on there website (most likely because I do not have any medical knowledge), but am glad that they are being honest.

 

@Reinier
Did they say anything about ototoxicty about success?

 

I filled out the application form you can find on the website. They only commented about my NIHL.
Why not give it a go? There is no obligation to undergo any treatment.
When they receive many requests for hearing issues they could be persuaded to give this more attention.
But I am afraid that the "male shot" (see: the-stem-cell-center.com/o-shot.html) is getting "manly" more requests.

 

I wonder why they say that it doesn't work while there have been other cases where it worked. And the protocol is not that different. The only difference is that at stemcells21 they take stem cells from you twice, so theoretically they would use twice the amount of stem cells. Maybe that is why this one in the US doesn't work. And now their cheap price isn't that cheap anymore because you only get half of what you get elsewhere for 15000 USD.

 

I didn't want to follow this up with questions because than it will get to complicated for me. Biology was not part of my education. Realize that only a handful of anecdotal cases in the world report improvement. Out of thousands of people treated?

 

WTF is the "male shot" is it just an overpriced trimix injection? Really seems to lose credibility if that's the kind of thing they are peddling.