Stem Cells

Just wondering if you will be looking at Stem Cell Treatment in your research and / or making it available here in Australia

Good question. We are meeting with a group of Stem Cell Experts in Guizhou province in China. Its mainly for cancer however I will find out what other applications are relevant. Actually, I doubt it is going to be for IC-BPS.

i did read that a doctor in the US is trialing it for IC but limited info on how the trials are going
Thank you for all you are doing

Now this is exciting. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-05/stem-cell-research-regrowing-damaged-human-bone-and-tissue/7299116

http://landerurology.com/services/interstitial-cystitis/

http://kansasrmc.com/currently-studying/urology/

Omg this could be reveloutionary. Wait the cost would be immense theres no way we could all get that, plus thats just a cause hitting backhead on.. surely if a cause is found a cure will be found. I cant help thinking the answer is still going to be bacterial or virus in nature...

Is stem cell therapy working along the same lines as ozone and hyperbaric therapy for bladder repair?

I know of a few people who have had stem cell treatment in the US and it's been very costly. 6-10,000 USD, but they did achieve remission for some time.

I think this would be a great source of stem cells. I can only hope that it would be a cheaper and less painful way of harvesting them too. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12924-menstrual-blood-could-be-rich-source-of-stem-cells/

I have emailed the people in California about stem cells and IC. Ill put my hand up for it if it comes to Australia. Apparently they had had some good results with many people. Please god make the pain go away. I would sell my house and everything I own for relief - I don't care about the cost.

Why don't we do hyper baric therapy here? Is it available? I heard it has put people in remission for up to a year.

barjammar wrote:

Good question.  We are meeting with a group of Stem Cell Experts in Guizhou province in China.  Its mainly for cancer however I will find out what other applications are relevant.  Actually, I doubt it is going to be for IC-BPS.

I am happy to be a guinea pig for the Chinese.

Dantheman - we do have hyperbaric therapy in Australia. Djokovic sat in the chamber between tennis matches during the Australian open. But as far as I know, hyperbaric and ozone therapy works by sending high dose oxygen to cells in damaged tissue to help repair and regenerate. We would have to assume symptoms are caused only by damage to the bladder lining for it to work.

My hubby went to a conference recently where this guy was the main speaker -

http://www.aibn.uq.edu.au/ernst-wolvetang

Apparently stem cells for anything other than fat or cartilage are quite some time off, but perhaps he would be a useful contact in future?

Here is information about 'pluripotent stem cells' which is a newly discovered type of stem cell that has "the potential to develop into every cell in the body, effectively allowing researchers to heal any type of tissue."

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-think-they-ve-just-found-a-new-kind-of-stem-cell

Japanese scientists recently released results of a pilot study where they used pluripotent stem cells (from the skin) to partially restore sight in a patient with macular degeneration.
http://www.sciencealert.com/japanese-scientists-have-used-skin-cells-to-restore-a-patient-s-vision-for-the-first-time

The study: http://www.riken-ibri.jp/AMD/english/summary.html

The stem cell treatment is a very exciting field. As the cells are your own one would not expect rejection.

I had an optic nerve stroke in 2014 and have lost much of the sight in one eye to this is of great interest to me, as possible treatment for both IC and Eye issues.

if they would like a volunteer I am available

Have just found a very interesting article in regards to stem cell as treatment for Bladder problems.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4294800
Hope the Prof will have time to take a look at this, a bit complicated for me to understand it all but sure the Prof will have no issue.
Still think stem cell is a long term hope as it does not involved the taking of chemicals.
A very brief summary of the article is below - I hope it brings hope to some of you.

In summary, voiding dysfunction and urinary incontinence constitute a variety of common disorders affecting millions of men and women worldwide. Current treatments are limited and do not address the underlying pathophysiology of disorder or disease, nor do they repair damaged or diseased tissue to restore normal function. In contrast to current therapies, stem cells have emerged as an exciting treatment avenue targeting disease progression and potentially correcting pathophysiology. Although many challenges remain to be addressed before clinical implementation of this technology, preclinical animal and early clinical studies show promise in the use of stem cell therapy for voiding dysfunction and urinary incontinence.