Doctor Damon Noto appears on ESPN Radio talking about the shoulder injury affecting Indianapolis Colts superstar quarterback Peyton Manning and how stem cell therapy could possibly accelerate his recovery.
DOCTOR NOTO ON ESPN RADIO 2-12 (click here to listen)
After over ten years, Suzanne Somers finally found what she was looking for. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and losing the majority of her right breast, Somers declined conventional reconstruction methods with the notion that something better would eventually come along. This past August, her hopes of using a more natural reconstruction method finally came true. Along the way, Somers has helped pave the way for this new procedure to finally be used on women in the United States.
The breakthrough that Somers was looking for began its development in 2003 when a professor and surgeon at the University of Tokoyo in Japan began testing a new procedure called cell-assisted lipotransfer. Katoro Yoshimura, MD, developed a method in which stem cells derived from one’s own fat cells are injected with other fat cells to plump up or replace tissue. Yoshimura’s innovative use of a higher concentration of stem cells helped to prevent the normal problems associated with transporting fat alone. Stem cells allow for the preservation of fat cells that would normally have a risk of hardening after a transplant procedure. They also allow fat cells to regenerate as they stimulate the growth of blood vessels.
Although body fat already contains stem cells, Yoshimura needed a way to increase the concentration of these cells in the body fat to reduce post-operative atrophy. To do this, he used liposuction to remove fat from another part of the body. After isolating the stem cells from this fat, he combined them with the reserved fats to create a natural cosmetic filler that has been used in this procedure on over 400 women. Advantages of this method of breast reconstruction include no scarring and no implant being used.
After deciding to move forward with this surgery in 2008, Suzanne Somers had a big challenge ahead of her. Since no trials were underway in the United States, she would have to either leave the country for surgery or receive approval from an Institutional Review Board to have the procedure done stateside. Since she wanted to pave the way for other American women to have this procedure done, Somers decided to go through the necessary steps to have trial procedures approved in Los Angeles. After three years of struggling to get the procedure approved, the first official cell-assisted lipotransfer trial was launched and in August 2011, Suzanne Somers became the first of 100 participants to take part in the trial.
According to Somers the surgery was a success. Somers says she couldn’t be happier with the outcome of her procedure. The procedure took less than two hours to complete with the actual breast reconstruction taking around only ten minutes.
Cell-assisted lipotransfer is a valuable alternative to conventional breast reconstruction and shows one of the many benefits of stem cell usage.
To read more about the innovative procedure and Suzanne Somers’ story, click here.
Dr. Pericles Lantz, anti-aging specialist at Spine & Joint Center & AALMA was interviewed on WRNJ Radio about stem cell therapy for aesthetics. Tune in and learn about how you can use your own body’s cells to make you feel better and look younger!
Click the following link to listen to this exciting treatment!
Dr_Pericles_Lantz_INTERVIEW on stem cells therapy
The more we learn about stem cells, the more we are amazed by their ability to heal the human body. We once believed that dead heart muscle can never grow back, but by using cardiac stem cells, we can now regenerate healthy heart tissue. It is the biggest advancement in cardiology.
- Dr. Damon Noto
It was once known that if you had a major heart attack, the damaged heart cells were gone forever. Whatever you do: living a healthy life style, taking standard maintenance medications, or placing a stent to physically widen the artery, nothing can regrow new heart tissues. As a result, patients who suffer severe hart attacks are prone to future damage, because the weakened heart tries to overcompensate until the end result is heart failure.
Not any more. Researchers have found a way to regenerate heart tissues by using stem cells.
The heart contains cardiac stem cell (CSCs) that can develop into either heart muscle or blood vessel components, whatever the heart requires at the time. The problem for heart disease patients is that there aren’t enough of the repair cells waiting around to heal the damaged tissue.
In two separate studies published in 2011, doctors have found encouraging ways to treat heart failure caused by ischaemic heart disease (a blocking of the heart blood vessels causing death of heart muscle tissue) by using CSCs.
The first study lead by Dr. Roberto Bolli used purified CSCs, harvested during patients’ bypass surgery. It means more than 90% of the infusion was actual cardiac stem cells. At a mean time of 4 months after their coronary artery bypass grafting, 16 patients with severe heart failure received purified CSCs infusion and within a year, their heart function markedly improved.
The method to evaluate the heart’s pumping efficiency is through “Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction,” which measures the amount of blood the heart pumps with each contraction. Anything less than 40% is considered as severe heart failure. In the treatment group, the patients’ LVEF increased from 30.3% to 38.5% at 4 months after infusion. In the control group (7 patients, received standard care but no CSCs infusion), no improvement of the LVEF was noted.
Most importantly, at one-year follow-up in 8 patients in the CSCs group, the LVEF increased by 12.3% (from 30.2% before CSCs to 42.5%). In the seven treated patients in whom cardiac MRI could be done, the size of the dead tissue (infarct) decreased from 32.6 g by 7.8 g (24%) at 4 months and 9·8 g (30%) at 1 year.
In a second study at Cedars-Sinai, 17 patients (six weeks after suffering a moderate to major heart attack) received stem cell infusion that contained a mixture of cardiac stem cells and other types of cells extracted from the patient’s heart. Not only did scar tissue retreat (between 30% and 47% in test subjects), healthy heart muscle also increased. The results suggested that regeneration of cardiac tissue had taken place.
Most importantly, these procedures are safe and feasible. No treated patient in either study suffered a significant health setback.
It turns out the secret to heal the heart is in itself.
If you think endurance exercise only helps you loose a few pounds, think again! When you lace up your running shoes or go to a spin class, you are telling your stem cells what to do to make you healthier.
Researchers have found that endurance exercises, such as jogging, spinning class, or swimming, can trigger influential stem cells to become bone instead of fat.
Exercise significantly increases blood cells in the marrow and in circulation. The number of muscle stem cells are also increased while their ability to rejuvenate old muscles greatly enhanced.
Our body produces something called mesenchymal stem cells that can be differentiated into bone cells, or fat cells. When researchers looked at treadmill-trained mice (at progressive speeds, 3 times a week, over a 10-wk period), they found that endurance exercise makes the stem cells preferentially mature into bone cells in the bone marrow cavity which increases the productivity of blood stem cells.In sedentary mice, the same stem cells were more likely to become fat in the bone marrow cavities which makes blood cells become less productive and can result in conditions such as anemia.
We all know exercise increases muscle mass, but how about muscle stem cells?
In another study, which also looked at treadmill-trained mice (20 minutes a day for 13 weeks), discovered that exercise increased the number of satellite cells (muscle stem cells). Satellite cells normally declines as we age and this contributes to the age-associated deterioration in muscle mass and muscle repair capacity.
Interestingly, the older rats benefit more than the younger rats. The younger rats showed a 20% to 35% increase in the average number of stem cells per muscle fiber retained and older rats exhibiting a 33% to 47% increase in stem cells.
So next time if you need one more reason to put on the tennis shoes, think about your stem cells. Your effort will be greatly appreciated.
To view the first paper, click here.
To view the second paper, click here.
To find out information about other treatments by Dr Noto, such as minimally invasive disc surgery in New Jersey, click here!
Dr. Damon Noto talked about how more and more athletes are turning to regenerative medicine to treat their sports injuries and the power of Stem Cell Therapy.
To download the PDF file, please click AQ Fall 2011
To get more information regarding stem cell therapy in Long Island contact Dr Noto!
Dr. Damon Noto and Dr. Pericles Lantz were featured on Channel 12 News to talk about the power of stem cells, stem cell injection and its procedure. To watch the video, please click on the following picture.
To find out more information regarding stem cell therapy in Long Island click here!
Lateral epicondylitis, also known as tennis elbow, is a painful condition that
caused by the overexertion of the lateral side of the elbow region. Only
less than 5% of all tennis elbow diagnoses are related to actually playing
tennis. People who participate in activities that require repetitive arm,
elbow, and wrist movement can be affected. Regenerative medicine gives the
patients a safe and more effective treatment choice.
PRP for Tennis Elbow
When people with painful lateral epicondylitis seek medical attention, the
traditional treatment options include splinting, nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory medication, corticosteroid injections, ultrasound therapy
and physical therapy. However, when these measures fail, surgery may be needed
to cut and release the tendon, remove the degenerative tissue and stimulate
healing.
The advancement of regenerative medicine has provided patients with newer and
more effective choices. In a two year study conducted in two teaching
hospitals in the Netherlands in March 2011, 100 patients with chronic lateral
epicondylitis were divided into two groups: one received traditional
conticosteroid injections, the other had autologous platelet concentrate
injection (also know as PRP), by using the platlets derived from the patients’
own blood to stimulate tissue repair.
The researchers learned that the PRP group was more successfully treated than
the conticosteroid group. The pain was significantly reduced and functions
greatly improved even after a follow-up of two years. No complication was
noted in the PRP group. The corticosteroid injection group showed reduced
pain after the treatment; however, unlike the PRP group, their DASH score,
which measures disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand, returned to the
level before the treatment after two years.
The corticosteroid group showed improvement initially and then declined,
whereas the PRP group progressively improved. Another treatment option similar to PRP is autologous blood injection. Apatient’s blood is injected into an injured area of the body to heal tendon degeneration and damage. The injection of blood also contains platelet
derived growth factor that promotes tendon healing. PRP and autologous blood injection offer alternative minimally invasive treatment that address the pathophysiology of lateral epicondylitis that has failed traditional nonsurgical treatment.
Find out more about stem cell therapy in long island today!
Sports injuries mostly happen to areas where blood supply may be poor. It becomes difficult for the tissues to receive the building block materials needed for repair. By injecting a high concentration of platelets into the injured area, it encourages tissue regeneration by releasing growth factors which call the body’s reparative mesenchymal stem cells to the site of injury, and the healing process is greatly accelerated.
More and more athlets are turning to regenerative medicine to treat their sports injuries. Laker’s guard Kobe Bryant underwent platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy on his ailing right knee in Germany last month.
PRP is a relatively simple and safe procedure. A physician removes a small amount of blood (about an ounce) from the patient. The blood is spun in a centrifuge for about 20 minutes to isolate platelets into the liquid component (plasma). The concentrated platelet/plasma mixture is then injected directly into the injured area to speed up the growth and repair of connective tissues.
Golfer Tiger Woods, tennis player Rafael Nadal, New York Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward also have undergone PRP treatments for their sports injuries.
Other NBA players received PRP treatment as well, including reserve Golden State guard Acie Law on his wrist and Portland guard Brandon Roy on his hamstring.
Click here to check out more information on Stem Cell Therapy!
Adult stem cells have been used to treat cancer patients for over 40 years. The latest great advancement in stem cell therapy shows us the possibilities are endless!
-Dr. Damon Noto
Stem Cell treatment for burn skin
Adult stem cells (also know as somatic stem cells) are regenerative cells of the human body. Their primary purpose is healing by refilling the dying cells and regenerating the damaged tissues.
Not only can you find adult stem cells in bone marrow and unbilical cord blood, you can also find them in many organs and tissues, including brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heart, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium, and testis.
It was once believed that adult stem cells only create specialized cells related to their specific location. Recent studies have shown if the cells are put in a different environment, they may produce a different type of cells from the originating cell. For example, multipotent stem cells from one type of tissue (blood) may have the ability to generate cells for a different type of tissue (nerve).
Stem cells harvested from bone marrow and skeletal muscle are capable of repairing damaged cardiac tissue after a heart attack. A recent study by Cytori indicates patients who are treated with stem cells shortly after a heart attack have significantly less heart damage in a 18 month follow-up.
Adult stem cells also shine new light on autoimmune disease treatment, such as scleroderma skin disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. By using autologous (from “one’s self”) hematopoietic stem cell (found in the bone marrow) transplantation, it may restore the body’s failing immune system.
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Adult stem cells and tissues derived from the patient’s own tissues means that the cells are extremely unlikely to be rejected by the immune system since they come from the patient’s own body. In June 2011, a cancer patient received a new windpipe created by using his own stem cells. This represents a significant advantage, as no immunosuppressive drugs were needed after the surgery, avoiding the deleterious side effects caused by the drugs.
Adult stem cell therapy is also showing rapid advancement is the field of ophthalmology. Researchers were able to reconstruct damaged corneas by transplantation of autologous limbal epithelial cells (cornea stem cells) and restore useful vision for patients with severe unilateral corneal disease.
For burn patients, doctors are now able to regrow the skin by spraying the burned area with a solution containing a patient’s own stem cells. You can see the amazing National Geographic video here.
If you’d like to know more about adult stem cell therapy or regenerative medicine on the Spine & Joint Center Bergen County website click here.