The stem cell company Stemedica has made a name for itself in the media lately through hockey legend Gordie Howe, who received a non-FDA approved stem cell “treatment” in Mexico via Stemedica and its partner, Novastem. Howe, known as Mr. Hockey, had several strokes in late 2014 and his health was declining. Stemedica and Novastem …
Olbermann Puff Interview on Stemedica & Gordie Howe Read More »
Every year I do a list of top predictions for the coming year for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field. For example, you can see past top 10 predictions lists for 2013 and 2014. What’s in store for 2015 from the stem cell crystal ball? There is so much going on that for this …
What is the role of public education and stem cell tourism? What type of education is available to patients, caregivers and the public? Can public education actually change people’s minds such that they won’t undergo an unproven stem cell-based intervention (SCBI)? These are the questions I will discuss here. But first, let’s just give a …
Baseball’s superstar A-Rod reportedly is deeply ensnared in a scandal involving a small-time anti-aging clinic in Florida, Biogenesis, which helped numerous MLB players dope. Anti-aging is big business. Some anti-aging clinics push performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), while a growing number of others pitch stem cells. Many sell both. Star athletes are flocking to unproven stem …
A-Rod BioGenesis Performance Enhancing Drug Use & Stem Cell Therapies Read More »
With all the excitement over the potential of stem cells to transform medicine, a key bottleneck is physician training. Just how many doctors in the entire US have years of real experience and training in clinical use of stem cells….hmmm, let’s see….I can only think of a few in the whole country. Yes, it’s really …
Crash course stem cell training for docs puts patients at risk Read More »
Here on The Niche I’m giving out a Stem Cell Person of the Year Award for 2012 along with all my other annual awards (e.g. best stem cell journal, paper, blog, comic, activist, etc). 2020 update: you can see future winners of the award here. The Person of the Year winner will get recognition for …
Stem Cell Person of the Year Finalists: time to vote Read More »
Last year then NY Yankees pitcher, Bartolo Colon, received a dubious stem cell treatment in his home Dominican Republic. Colon seemed to bounce back from an injury after the stem cell treatment and some attributed this to his stem cell treatment. Other famous athletes including other pitchers and NFL players have since then also gotten similar …
The metaformin story is very interesting, but why show picture of Bartolo Colon who got dubious stem cell treatment for arm injury? Some stem cell scientists express concerns about Osiris; see article by Alexey. Sweat gland story is interesting. Stem cells for heart disease is a key, exciting area, but still early days….still definitely one to watch! I have trouble …
TGIF: stem cell headlines according to Google & my take on them Read More »
I’ve been lecturing on stem cells as a professor here at UC Davis School of Medicine for many years so I can answer common questions such as “What are stem cells?”. The medical students ask many great questions. They are always interested in clinical applications. The goal of today’s article is to help you have …
What are stem cells? Definition & what they are used for Read More »
The severe spinal cord injury sustained by Jockey Michael Martinez and the possibility (not realized) that he might be enrolled in Geron’s hESC-based spinal cord regenerative medicine trial, have drawn recent attention to spinal cord injury. Christopher and Dana Reeve (see foundation here) as well as Don C. Reed (see site here) were instrumental in bringing …