Stem Cell cure for disc degeneration

[moorejames]

I clicked on it earlier - the site seems fine and the company appears legit, Mesoblast - adult stem cell technology, regeneration of adult stem cells, repair and regrowth of bone and cartilage Melbourne, Australia

The same article popped up on my google news search I have setup for artifical discs.

Then again, I'm a lurker, so you really don't know that I'm not a scammer either

[mmglobal]

moorejames... thanks for posting. It's always nice when a lurker turns into a poster.

I think my instincts were good.... IMHO the post was to hype the stock. I hope that Crystal contacts me to convince me otherwise.

In any case, I always try to err on the side of more information instead of less information... that is why I didn't just delete it.

I'll change the original link (not the joke thread anymore), but I'll put it to the mesoblast page with information about disc regrowth.... not the ethiopian review page that seems to be all about the stock instead of information that patients will be interest in.

I don't care that much if the stock gets hyped, as long as the discussion is something interesting for spine patients. If you are part of the charade.... all I can say is... well done! You convinced me.

Thanks again for posting... all the best,

Mark

[Crystal33]

Hello Mark,
I have spent the last three months mostly laying on my back suffering from T11/12 grade 5 annular tear with large sequestered fragment. Am in no end of pain but advised by surgeon to give it six months of rest before risking surgery. have always looked after my health and never had such an injury in my life. they are very cruel injuries. had to give up a great job i took up only weeks before.

i've scoured the internet to learn what i could, hoping to find a cure. But there is little good news that i could find. All i could establish has been..........
Discs are a pathetic weak part of our anatomy since most people have damage even if they are not feeling it.
Unlike getting a scratch on our skin, when annular tears commence there is no pain until they are two thirds through disc due to lack of nerves in annular core.
So usually end stage disc bulge or rupture is the first we know of any problem.
Bad location, causes havoc with critical spinal cord and branch nerves.
The disc has very slow and poor healing capacity.
Operations are still pretty crude and can make things worse.

All in all a total nightmare injury and i feel for all who suffer it.

The company mesoblast i hope has a genuine product that does what they are saying. Would be a miracle, in my opinion. It was the most promising looking info i could find and i thought would be of interest to others suffering DDD.
I do not own any shares in the company. i have been too unwell and incapcitated to worry about that side of life. People 'ramp' shares on share trading forums mostly i think. i am not such a person to do such a thing in any place.

For those technically minded this link is of a recent presentation made at world conference in Canada. What impressed me was the actual scans showing 'black' degenerated discs turned into white fully restored discs after one injection of the special stem cells. i hope the treatment is real and that such treatments are available to us asap because these injuries are a nightmare and the surgery can make it worse.
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/2009091...jktg1nvdyt.pdf

[mmglobal]

Crystal, thank you so much for posting!!!

Please accept my apology for such a bumbling first encounter. I hope you can see why your original post raised questions for me. I'm very glad that I didn't just nuke in and that we had a chance to get here instead.

I'm so sorry about your situation. Sounds rough. I had a large thoracic herniation early this year and had surgery on in in April. I had been avoiding cervical surgery for years and with the neuro deficits associated with the new T1-2 herniation, I could not wait any longer. While I had great early success in the weeks following my surgery, I have more thoracic pain now. I think I have more bad stuff happening lower in my spine.

Do you have neuro deficits associated with your sequester? My understanding of the advice I've gotten in similar situations is that if the neurologic deficits are substantial, that rises to the level of needing surgery 'sooner rather than later'. With my wife's lumbar herniation, early advice was to wait and see about simply resorbing the herniation. Later we were told that if she wasn't going in the right direction at 3 months, that it was unilikely that she'd be one of the lucky ones.

Call me if you want to talk... office number on the GPN site. PM me if you want to talk this weekend. (no charge)

Again... please accept my apology for everything I said above. I'll leave it there for entertainment value.

All the best,

Mark

PS... the link to the Canadian presentation was great. I'll have more to say when I have a chance to look it over more carefully.

[ans]

I am sorry that your suffering led to this astonishing product that I hope lives up to its promise. Sorry you too Mark feel the pain.

If only progress in stem cells were accelerated to they'd be past Phase III FDA studies and tried and true for us.

Thanks and be well. - ans

[dshobbies]

Crystal.

Welcome to the forum. Usually a first post tells us a little about the problems you are facing. Touting any remedy instead sends up red flags that this person speaks for the company and not for themselves. Your second post clarified your situation and I am so sorry for your suffering.

We all are/were looking and hoping for our miracles. If you've researched this technique and believe in it, are you going for it?

Funny, when I see my dog bend and twist in all directions to scratch an itch, I have to wonder why her spine isn't negatively affected. Certainly early man was much more physical than those born in an industrialized world. What the h went wrong? A sneeze can send us reeling!

Crystal, how did you hurt your back?

Dale

[Crystal33]

Mark,

Thanks for kind reply. No apology needed as I can see how my post could easily raise suspicion, being a first post. What I did mean to do in the post was to thank you for providing this friendly and informative website and forum.

I never bothered mentioning details of my condition because these injuries just seem so hopeless. After 4 weeks of increasing incapacitating pain, and a doctor wrongly suspecting a kidney stone, an MRI carried out on July 1 at my insistence revealed a 12mm x 9mm x 5mm thick sequestered disc fragment lodged against T11 and pressing on spinal cord and T11 nerve root.

MRI report says........

Findings: Small osteophytes are seen at the vertebral margins in the lower dorsal spine.
Slight reduction in disc height and signal is seen at T12/L1 and L1/2. Minor annulus bulging is seen at these levels.
Behind the lower portion of the body of T11 there is an oval, approximately 12 x 9 x 5mm
soft tissue/disc density structure on the posterolateral aspect of the vertebral body. The
inferior margin of this structure extends close to the T11/12 disc. This lesion shows
cumferential/marginal enhancement on Gadolinium administration, with a central low
density non-enhancing focus. There is resultant compression of the thecal sac and this
structure is almost certainly compressing the forming left T11 nerve root. There are no
other similar lesions seen.
Cord signal is normal. There is no lumbar disc herniation or nerve root compromise.

Conclusion: Degenerative disc disease from T11to L2. Lesion in the left
posterolateral aspect of the inferior portion of the T11 vertebral body close to the
T11/12 disc most likely represents a sequestrated herniated disc fragment. This is
causing compression to the forming left T11 nerve root. A focal epidural abscess
accounting for this appearance is thought unlikely given the low signal of this
structure on T2 weighted imaging. A dural based lesion is also thought unlikely.
Orrthopaedic or neurosurgical review recommended.

I will try to attach image.

After a week in hosp on pain meds and needles for radicular pain the neuro surgeon recommended resting at home for up to 6 months before risking surgery. Except pain on standing has hardly diminished to date so am stuck lying down mostly.

Am wondering if the fragment is nucleus material, or anular material which would be tougher for body to reduce.
Also wondering about what size tear i would have. If the material squeezes out like toothpaste through a small hole then tear may not be huge. Otherwise the size of fragment would indicate very large tear and hard for body to seal it up, meaning high risk of rapid deterioration of disc, if my thinking is correct.

Dale, I first suffered the pain simply shaking a towel before folding it. Maybe i had a disc bulge (time bomb) without knowing it and the up and down arm movements caused it to pinch off or burst.

[moorejames]

Originally Posted by mmglobal

moorejames... thanks for posting. It's always nice when a lurker turns into a poster.

Stem cell research fascinates me, so I had already seen the article.

I've got a two level cervical issue and really don't want the fusion that's being recommended, so I've been researching every possible alternative.

I'm off to see Mcafee in Baltimore tomorrow and we'll see what he has to say.

jim

[Crystal33]

Has anyone done any research or aware of any expert opinions on whether this company's stem cell "cure" for disc degenaration is the real deal.
It works in sheep and about to be tested in humans... see link.
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/2009091...jktg1nvdyt.pdf

I was thinking that stem cell treatment may not work where disc degeneration is caused by decrease in nutrient supply as happens in aging humans, rather than by injection of a chemical to degenerate healthy discs as was done in the sheep test. The sheep discs would have good nutrient supply and therefore be able to remain healthy after being restored by stem cells.