Harry Rosen
How research will vanquish diabetes in the years to come
It used to be that few diabetics lived past the age of 10 – then two Canadian researchers discovered insulin
Today, 1.7 million Canadians have diabetes. But 10 years from now, there will be 3.7 million.
To give you an idea of how fast diabetes is accelerating, in 1980, 30 million people worldwide lived with diabetes. Last year, there were 285 million, and by 2030, about 400 million people will have it. That’s almost as many people as there are living in North America today.
Given this, diabetes forces us to answer some awkward questions: How are we going to manage the billions of new dollars our health-care systems will have to spend to control it? How are the families of diabetics going to manage their anguish at lives cut short because of the effects, such as heart disease? How is India, which now has more diabetics than Canada has people, going to cope with a disease that’s spreading faster than malaria?
We can ask people to change their diet and lifestyle. Some will. Many won’t. But even if everyone did, Type 1 diabetes has little to do with what we eat or how we live, and Type 2 can never be completely controlled by diet and lifestyle.
I believe the answer to this crisis is research, which is why I’m so proud to have helped in establishing the Harry Rosen Diabetes Chair in Stem Cell Research in the McEwen Centre, as part of Toronto’s University Health Network.
From the beginning of human history until 1921, if you were afflicted with diabetes, your life was nasty, brutish and short. Diabetes was a death sentence. Few diabetics lived past the age of 10. Then, two Canadian researchers discovered insulin.
As the noted geneticist Craig Venter once said: “A physician or surgeon in their careers has the opportunity to save at most hundreds or perhaps a few thousand lives. A research doctor has the chance to save millions.” And that’s what Frederick Banting and Charles Best did. That’s what research did to fight diabetes 89 years ago and that’s what research will do to vanquish diabetes in the years to come.
Not only are there more stem cell researchers in Toronto than anywhere else, their work is already changing the direction in broad areas of research into cancer, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, toxicology and spinal cord injuries.
We seem to do things in pairs here: Banting and Best discovered insulin; and James Till and Ernest McCulloch discovered blood-forming stem cells more than 40 years ago at the Ontario Cancer Institute.
Their legacy, as with every medical researcher, lives on in the literally millions of people whose lives I believe will grow longer, happier and richer because of discoveries made today and tomorrow by the Toronto stem cell community.
But there is more to be done. We can also urge our governments to commit much more funding to medical research than they do now. While Canada has a strong innovation agenda, by any measure, the funding to fuel innovation in medical research is drastically small. I am an entrepreneur, recently retired. The world of bioscience, including stem cell research, is filled with entrepreneurs, turning scientific discovery not only into cures, but into jobs and companies and new business sectors and entire economies. Our governments simply must invest more in this sector than they’re now doing or, like a diabetic without insulin, it will wither and die.
I am a utopian and I believe that, some day, all of man’s ailments will be resolved. I hope to see it in my lifetime. But if not, that’s fine too. I’ve seen some suffering in my time, and there’s a lot less today than 50 years ago. We look on those years slightly askance. If you had a heart attack back then, you were to stay in bed and never exercise. If you had mental illness, you were put away. If you wanted to swim at Kew Beach, for example, you didn’t for fear of catching polio. The letters DNA were not yet seen in combination, let alone the letters MRI.
Fifty years from now, I want us to look back on the work being done by the groundbreaking scientists of today and think how quaint and uninformed it all was.
Because for me, that’s the real marker for success in the business of discovery, the fact that the future can be so different and so much better than the present.
Harry Rosen is the founder of the retail chain Harry Rosen Inc.
A CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR LOVERS OF LIFE
5TH ANNUAL RALLY WILL BE HELD SEPT 22TH, 2012
5th ANNUAL RALLY FOR ALI
IN SEARCH OF A CURE FOR DIABETES
ALL DONATIONS WILL GO TO HARVARD STEM CELL INSTITUTE
PICNIC FOR A CAUSE
KRAUSE’S GROVE, 2 Beach Road, Halfmoon, NY
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013
1:00 PM TO 6:00 PM ~ RAIN OR SHINE
$30.00 per adult ticket at gate - $20.00 for children under 12
includes donation to Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
5 hour picnic with soda, beer, games, raffles, 50/50, live music
JAMBONE - THE BEAR BONES PROJECT - BLUE HAND LUKE
SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE BY AWARD-WINNING IRISH STEP DANCER
GRACE CATHERINE MOMROW (Ali’s cousin)
Abundant food and dessert being served 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Those who wish to join a pre-picnic motorcycle cavalcade around the beautiful Tomhannock Reservoir in Ali’s honor will meet at the Troy Plaza on Hoosick Street at 10:00 A.M. for sign up and the cavalcade will kick off at 11:00 A.M. sharp.
For more info: https://www.facebook.com/Rally4Ali
For Further Information
Contact
For the Run, Wally Urzan
518-368-4826
For the Picnic & Cause
Alison Fisk
AFisk10302@aol.com
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
1 YEAR AFTER STEM CELL LIMITATIONS LIFTED
A year after President Barack Obama lifted limitations on research into embryonic stem cells and promised billions in new stimulus money for it, researchers are nearly giddy with enthusiasm about the advancement in the field. They're confident that stem cells will be capable of treating or may someday providing a complete cure for people with heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury and other disorders.
This excitement, however, is not generated by stem cells that have been harvested from human embryos. Instead, researchers are coming to believe they can get results that would be approximately as good from adult stem cells that is taken from the patient's individual bone marrow or belly fat, and even full-fledged adult cells from muscle tissue or skin.
Dr. Joshua Hare, Director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University Of Miami Medical School stated that adult stem cells are more flexible than they had thought. The embryonic stem cell may not be the one that proves to be really successful in the actual therapy.
In order to treat a patient with heart problems or who suffers heart attack may be benefited more with an adult stem cell.
By now, at the UM Medical School, adult stem cells have already been injected around a patient's heart so as to help heal a heart attack, and adult cells are being applied around injured spinal cords with the hope of restoring its movement.
This is news will definitely fill in heart patients, a ray of hope, because it will cure their heart attacks and save a number of lives, further giving joy o those families and people who could lose their loved one to this disease.
Another new development exhilarating researchers is the stimulated pluripotent adult stem cell. Scientists at Harvard and in Japan took cells from the skin on a patient's arm and genetically reprogrammed them to be almost as supple as embryonic stem cells, without destroying an embryo. They expect to use them one day to build up total human organs, cell by cell.
This excitement, however, is not generated by stem cells that have been harvested from human embryos. Instead, researchers are coming to believe they can get results that would be approximately as good from adult stem cells that is taken from the patient's individual bone marrow or belly fat, and even full-fledged adult cells from muscle tissue or skin.
Dr. Joshua Hare, Director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University Of Miami Medical School stated that adult stem cells are more flexible than they had thought. The embryonic stem cell may not be the one that proves to be really successful in the actual therapy.
In order to treat a patient with heart problems or who suffers heart attack may be benefited more with an adult stem cell.
By now, at the UM Medical School, adult stem cells have already been injected around a patient's heart so as to help heal a heart attack, and adult cells are being applied around injured spinal cords with the hope of restoring its movement.
This is news will definitely fill in heart patients, a ray of hope, because it will cure their heart attacks and save a number of lives, further giving joy o those families and people who could lose their loved one to this disease.
Another new development exhilarating researchers is the stimulated pluripotent adult stem cell. Scientists at Harvard and in Japan took cells from the skin on a patient's arm and genetically reprogrammed them to be almost as supple as embryonic stem cells, without destroying an embryo. They expect to use them one day to build up total human organs, cell by cell.
Monday, April 19, 2010
TEAM TYPE 1 RACE WITH THE PROS THIS WEEKEND
Local race draws world's top cyclists
By: Matt Hunter
This summer, all eyes will be on Paris as the world's top cyclists gather for the Tour de France. This weekend, many of those same riders hit the road in the North Country. Our North Country Reporter Matt Hunter has more.
CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. -- It's 124 miles that blends sprints with gut wrenching climbs.
In all, 162 of the world's top cyclists, including disqualified Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis and 2008 U.S. Olympian Bobby Lea, grind it out with some of the best amateurs at the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill.
"Look at the start list, there's guy from all over the globe," said Cory Burns, an amateur cyclist from Watertown, NY. "There are guys from Australia are here, guys from Great Britain are here."
"That's why the crowds come," race director Dieter Drake said. "That's why they come and spend some money and that's an exciting thing to be able to do that in a town like Cambridge, New York."
In its seventh year, this is the first time the event has appeared on the pro international calendar.
Among the riders, four members of Team Type 1; all of whom battle diabetes in addition to the tough terrain.
"It means a lot [to compete]," team member Martijn Verschoor. "A lot of people are proud and we are also, because it's very difficult to manage it."
Sunday's event caps off back to back weekends of racing. Throughout the week, riders of every level share the course together, touring a diverse Washington County countryside.
"To a lot of the guys, like myself, this is our Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders all in one day," Burns said. "Because most of us are never going to see those roads in Europe and race with those guys, this is our weekend to see what we have."
For at least one team, it's not so much about proving something to themselves, but to the rest of the world.
"We have to control it [diabetes] and we want to show the world the world you can cycle with diabetes at a high level," Verschoor said. "We want to inspire people and help people. That's a good job."
By: Matt Hunter
This summer, all eyes will be on Paris as the world's top cyclists gather for the Tour de France. This weekend, many of those same riders hit the road in the North Country. Our North Country Reporter Matt Hunter has more.
CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. -- It's 124 miles that blends sprints with gut wrenching climbs.
In all, 162 of the world's top cyclists, including disqualified Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis and 2008 U.S. Olympian Bobby Lea, grind it out with some of the best amateurs at the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill.
"Look at the start list, there's guy from all over the globe," said Cory Burns, an amateur cyclist from Watertown, NY. "There are guys from Australia are here, guys from Great Britain are here."
"That's why the crowds come," race director Dieter Drake said. "That's why they come and spend some money and that's an exciting thing to be able to do that in a town like Cambridge, New York."
In its seventh year, this is the first time the event has appeared on the pro international calendar.
Among the riders, four members of Team Type 1; all of whom battle diabetes in addition to the tough terrain.
"It means a lot [to compete]," team member Martijn Verschoor. "A lot of people are proud and we are also, because it's very difficult to manage it."
Sunday's event caps off back to back weekends of racing. Throughout the week, riders of every level share the course together, touring a diverse Washington County countryside.
"To a lot of the guys, like myself, this is our Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders all in one day," Burns said. "Because most of us are never going to see those roads in Europe and race with those guys, this is our weekend to see what we have."
For at least one team, it's not so much about proving something to themselves, but to the rest of the world.
"We have to control it [diabetes] and we want to show the world the world you can cycle with diabetes at a high level," Verschoor said. "We want to inspire people and help people. That's a good job."
Friday, April 9, 2010
NEW LAB FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH AT UCONN
April 9, 2010
An architect's rendering of 400 Farmington Avenue. Photo by: the UConn Health Center.
The Univ. of Connecticut is just months away from opening a new research building in Farmington to enhance Connecticut’s role as a leader in innovative high tech research and technology transfer in the areas of stem cell biology, advanced microscopy and imaging, computational biology and genetics.
Especially designed with open labs that flow into each other and office areas located on hallways running between labs, the new Cell and Genomic Sciences Building intends to promote interdisciplinary research among the academic and industry chemists, geneticists, physicists, mathematicians, cell biologists, and computer scientists housed there. This collaborative effort aims to capitalize on the power of different areas of scientific expertise to revolutionize the practice of medicine.
“Our goal is to maximize the state’s investment in stem cell research by establishing an infrastructure to support scientists in their quest of turning discoveries at the bench into therapies for diseases such as autism and cancer and to advance the field of regenerative medicine,” says Marc Lalande, Director of UConn’s Stem Cell Institute, as well as professor and chairman of the medical school’s genetics and developmental biology department. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for us.”
Purchased by UConn with Board of Trustees’ approval in 2007, a former research and testing facility at 400 Farmington Avenue-–across the street from UConn’s Health Center campus-–has been undergoing a $52 million transformation and is to be equipped with the latest technologies for studying cells and their genomes. The new 117,000 square foot building is expected to open in July 2010.
The renovated building will house research laboratories, offices, a 100-seat auditorium, cafeteria, and incubator space for businesses eager to commercialize stem cell science. Designed by the Boston laboratory architecture firm Goody Clancy, the renovations will meet the requirements of a LEED Silver rating, according to project manager Kevin Norton.
An architect's rendering of 400 Farmington Avenue. Photo by: the UConn Health Center.
The Univ. of Connecticut is just months away from opening a new research building in Farmington to enhance Connecticut’s role as a leader in innovative high tech research and technology transfer in the areas of stem cell biology, advanced microscopy and imaging, computational biology and genetics.
Especially designed with open labs that flow into each other and office areas located on hallways running between labs, the new Cell and Genomic Sciences Building intends to promote interdisciplinary research among the academic and industry chemists, geneticists, physicists, mathematicians, cell biologists, and computer scientists housed there. This collaborative effort aims to capitalize on the power of different areas of scientific expertise to revolutionize the practice of medicine.
“Our goal is to maximize the state’s investment in stem cell research by establishing an infrastructure to support scientists in their quest of turning discoveries at the bench into therapies for diseases such as autism and cancer and to advance the field of regenerative medicine,” says Marc Lalande, Director of UConn’s Stem Cell Institute, as well as professor and chairman of the medical school’s genetics and developmental biology department. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for us.”
Purchased by UConn with Board of Trustees’ approval in 2007, a former research and testing facility at 400 Farmington Avenue-–across the street from UConn’s Health Center campus-–has been undergoing a $52 million transformation and is to be equipped with the latest technologies for studying cells and their genomes. The new 117,000 square foot building is expected to open in July 2010.
The renovated building will house research laboratories, offices, a 100-seat auditorium, cafeteria, and incubator space for businesses eager to commercialize stem cell science. Designed by the Boston laboratory architecture firm Goody Clancy, the renovations will meet the requirements of a LEED Silver rating, according to project manager Kevin Norton.
Monday, March 29, 2010
STEM CELL RESEARCH ALIVE AND WELL AT RUTGERS
A group of neural stem cells are stained with various materials in order to reveal specific attributes.
At Rutgers’ Stem Cell Research Center scientists are exploring the mysteries of human embryonic stem cells and their potential use in treating diseases, repairing damaged organs and drug development. Center staff also offer a course in proper lab techniques in working with stem cells. The center was established with a grant to Professors Martin Grumet and Wise Young from the State of New Jersey through its Commission on Science and Technology.
The center focuses on human embryonic stem cells, known as hESCs, because they are pluripotent, meaning they have the unique ability to develop into any kind of cell in the body – whether it is a heart cell or a brain cell or a liver cell.
Among the accomplishments of the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center (RSCRC) is a series of recently published papers, one of which is by Professor Rick Cohen and his colleagues, describing the derivation of New Jersey’s first hESC lines.
A stem cell line is a family of constantly dividing cells, the product of a single parent stem cell. The new lines are particularly important. Many of the cell lines previously approved by the federal government were found to have been contaminated with non-human proteins that compromise their potential therapeutic use in human subjects.
In his stem cell course, Professor Rick Cohen teaches students from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. and City College of New York.
The paper also describes how the team developed a series of tests to determine the quality of these new cell lines. This quality control approach is critical to ensure that the cells are suitable for laboratory use and potential clinical applications. For example, among the panel of 11 assays is a test to make certain cells are still completely pluripotent.
Another test included in the paper ensures that the cells are not contaminated with common human viruses. These might include HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores; and the human papilloma virus, now believed to be a leading cause of cervical cancer in adult women.
Research Associate Jennifer Moore, the lead author on the paper, noted that the cells’ chromosome complement is also tested for abnormality. Human cells normally have 23 chromosomes, but mutations in hESCs are known to appear as duplications of chromosomes 12 and 17. “This doesn’t happen often but it is not a rare event,” Moore said. “Duplications could affect stem cell functions potentially precluding their clinical use.”
(left) Maha Mahadevan (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) receives guidance from Jennifer Moore while a Rutgers student works with Stem Cell Technologies guest instructor Debbie King (standing).
The RSCRC is also active in training new stem cell scientists through the Stem Cell Training Course developed by Cohen. It consists of one week of intensive instruction and workshops from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and covers the growth, maintenance, and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Almost everything one needs to grow human embryonic stem cells is included in the course, which has run eight times and has trained more than 100 scientists. Attendees have included researchers from all over the world from universities, including Rutgers, and the pharmaceutical industry. The value and importance of the training program has been recognized by an invitation from a scientific publishing company to Cohen to prepare a book based on the course.
The research described by Cohen and his associates and the training courses were supported by additional grants from the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. The state-supported research also helped build the capacity and credibility of the center, setting the stage for its researchers to win new federal grants. Professors Ron Hart and Grumet have already won major federal grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Sharing staff with its neighbor, the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, about 30 individuals at any given time are working in the RSCRC.
At Rutgers’ Stem Cell Research Center scientists are exploring the mysteries of human embryonic stem cells and their potential use in treating diseases, repairing damaged organs and drug development. Center staff also offer a course in proper lab techniques in working with stem cells. The center was established with a grant to Professors Martin Grumet and Wise Young from the State of New Jersey through its Commission on Science and Technology.
The center focuses on human embryonic stem cells, known as hESCs, because they are pluripotent, meaning they have the unique ability to develop into any kind of cell in the body – whether it is a heart cell or a brain cell or a liver cell.
Among the accomplishments of the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center (RSCRC) is a series of recently published papers, one of which is by Professor Rick Cohen and his colleagues, describing the derivation of New Jersey’s first hESC lines.
A stem cell line is a family of constantly dividing cells, the product of a single parent stem cell. The new lines are particularly important. Many of the cell lines previously approved by the federal government were found to have been contaminated with non-human proteins that compromise their potential therapeutic use in human subjects.
In his stem cell course, Professor Rick Cohen teaches students from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. and City College of New York.
The paper also describes how the team developed a series of tests to determine the quality of these new cell lines. This quality control approach is critical to ensure that the cells are suitable for laboratory use and potential clinical applications. For example, among the panel of 11 assays is a test to make certain cells are still completely pluripotent.
Another test included in the paper ensures that the cells are not contaminated with common human viruses. These might include HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores; and the human papilloma virus, now believed to be a leading cause of cervical cancer in adult women.
Research Associate Jennifer Moore, the lead author on the paper, noted that the cells’ chromosome complement is also tested for abnormality. Human cells normally have 23 chromosomes, but mutations in hESCs are known to appear as duplications of chromosomes 12 and 17. “This doesn’t happen often but it is not a rare event,” Moore said. “Duplications could affect stem cell functions potentially precluding their clinical use.”
(left) Maha Mahadevan (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) receives guidance from Jennifer Moore while a Rutgers student works with Stem Cell Technologies guest instructor Debbie King (standing).
The RSCRC is also active in training new stem cell scientists through the Stem Cell Training Course developed by Cohen. It consists of one week of intensive instruction and workshops from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and covers the growth, maintenance, and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Almost everything one needs to grow human embryonic stem cells is included in the course, which has run eight times and has trained more than 100 scientists. Attendees have included researchers from all over the world from universities, including Rutgers, and the pharmaceutical industry. The value and importance of the training program has been recognized by an invitation from a scientific publishing company to Cohen to prepare a book based on the course.
The research described by Cohen and his associates and the training courses were supported by additional grants from the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. The state-supported research also helped build the capacity and credibility of the center, setting the stage for its researchers to win new federal grants. Professors Ron Hart and Grumet have already won major federal grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Sharing staff with its neighbor, the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, about 30 individuals at any given time are working in the RSCRC.
Friday, March 26, 2010
ENTEST BIOMEDICAL INC. NEW PATENT FOR STEM CELL TREATMENT
Entest BioMedical Inc. (OTCBB: ENTB) announced today that Chairman & CEO David Koos, along with Lead Inventor Dr. Steven Josephs, provided clarification on the Company's new patent application for use of chemokines in its stem cell / photoceutical therapy for treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) during the Company's weekly blogcast held March 23, 2010.
Dr. Josephs noted, "Chemokines are naturally produced in the body during times of injury and are believed to be an essential part of the healing process. These chemokines cause stem cells to 'home' to injured areas. It is our belief the addition of chemokines to our COPD treatment model will aid in focusing stem cells towards damaged lung tissue painted by our photoceutical device."
Entest's Chairman & CEO David Koos said, "In its simplest form, our COPD treatment model consists of three components: an alarm clock, a bus for transportation and a GPS navigational system. An FDA approved stem cell mobilizer acts as an alarm clock activating the stem cells. Chemokines serve as the 'bus' transporting the stem cells to a location in the body. The laser serves as a GPS system navigating the bus to the destination -- damaged lung tissue."
The entire blogcast has been archived on the Company's blog site: www.entestbioblog.com.
About Entest BioMedical Inc.:
Entest BioMedical Inc. (OTCBB: ENTB) is involved with the development of stem cell therapy treatments for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), immuno-cancer therapies, testing procedures for diabetes, stem cell research applications for diabetes and other illnesses. The Company also is involved with medical device development (including stem cell extraction instrumentation). ENT-576™ is a proprietary laser device currently under development by Entest. The Company has filed 4 patent applications relating to the treatment of COPD. Entest BioMedical Inc. is a majority owned subsidiary of Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. (OTCBB: BMSN). Recently Entest published in the peer reviewed literature its platform technology, which is available at http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/pdf/1479-5876-7-106.pdf.
Disclaimer
This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition and other material risks.
Contact: David R. Koos, Chairman & CEO Entest BioMedical Inc. 619.702.1404 Direct 619.330.2328 Fax www.entestbio.com info@entestbio.com
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Zebrafish study may shed light on cell regeneration in human heart
A new Spanish study has found that cardiac muscle cells known as cardiomyocytes carry out repair in an injured zebrafish heart - a finding that could provide insight into how human hearts could be made to repair themselves after a heart attack.
The research, conducted by Juan Carlos Izpisza Belmonte and his colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMRB), found that these cellular grown-ups outperform stem cells in cardiac repair.
Izpisza Belmonte, professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory, said: "What the results of our study show is that mother nature utilizes other ways besides going all the way back to pluripotent stem cells to regenerate tissues and organs."
Izpisza Belmonte also noted, that at least in fish, the body may have evolved surprising repair strategies driven by cell types more seasoned than stem cells.
To identify which cells actually filled in excised zebrafish heart muscle, the researchers first used some genetic engineering to only make cardiomyocytes "transgenic" by inserting into them a tracer gene that made them glow green under a microscope.
Thereafter, they chopped off about 20 per cent of each fish ventricle and waited a couple of weeks for the hearts to regenerate: if regenerated heart muscle didn't glow, it would mean that cells other than cardiomyocytes, such as a cardiac stem cell population, had replaced the damaged muscle.
However, all regenerated heart muscle cells glowed green, indicating that well established cardiomyocytes remaining after injury had likely regressed to a more "youthful" state, started dividing again to replenish lost cells, and then matured a second time into new heart muscle.
The team also demonstrated that cardiomyocytes recaptured lost youth in part by re-activating the production of proteins associated with cell proliferation, factors typically expressed in immature progenitors.
Human hearts cannot undergo these types of regenerative changes on their own. When damaged by heart attack, our heart muscle is replaced by scar tissue incapable of contracting. However, prior to heart failure, damaged mammalian heart muscle cells enter a save-yourself state known as "hibernation," in which they cease contracting in an effort to survive.
Chris Jopling, a postdoctoral fellow of Izpisza Belmonte's at CMRB and first author of the study, believes human heart "hibernation" is significant.
He said: "During heart regeneration in the zebrafish we found that cardiomyocytes displayed structural changes similar to those observed in hibernating cardiomyocytes.
"Because of these similarities, we hypothesize that hibernating mammalian cardiomyocytes may represent cells that are attempting to proliferate."
Thus, it can be said that mammalian hearts can undergo a kind of metabolic "downsizing" that is a prelude to cell division.
Jopling said: "This idea fits nicely with the findings from a number of groups -- that forced expression of cell cycle regulators can induce cardiomyocyte proliferation in mammals.
"Maybe all they need is a bit of a push in the right direction."
Izpisza Belmonte added: "We can no longer view differentiated cells as being a static endpoint of the differentiation process.
"If we could mimic in mammalian cells what happens in zebrafish, perhaps we could be in a position to understand why regeneration does not occur in humans."
The study has appeared in the March 25, 2010 issue of Nature. (ANI)
New technique detects proteins that cause aging
Chemists and biologists from the University of Bath have developed a new technique that could be used to diagnose and develop treatments for age-related conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and cancer.
In these diseases, proteins in the body react with sugars in a process called glycation. This modifies the protein’s function and can trigger complications such as inflammation and premature aging.
The team at Bath, led by Dr Jean van den Elsen and Dr Tony James, has developed a technique that can detect glycated proteins and could in the future be used for diagnosing a whole range of diseases in patients.
They used a technique called gel electrophoresis, where samples are put into a thin gel layer and an electric current is applied. The gel acts like a molecular sieve, sorting proteins from the samples according to their size and shape, allowing scientists to identify whether specific proteins are present in the blood.
For this study, the researchers have patented a new type of gel electrophoresis, which uses boronic acid to distinguish between the glycated and unmodified proteins.
Dr Tony James from the University’s Department of Chemistry explained: “Not all sugars are ‘bad’ - in fact many proteins contain beneficial ‘good’ sugar units.
“However, some sugars can be ‘bad’ and cause complications in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
Dr Jean van den Elsen, from the University’s Department of Biology & Biochemistry, said: “Our method specifically recognises these ‘bad’ sugars in the presence of the ‘good’ sugars and as such is an excellent diagnostic tool.”
PhD student Marta Pereira Morais added: “We believe our method will also aid the development of new drug based therapies for these diseases.”
Whilst the technique has only been assessed in the lab at present, the researchers say it has the potential to be developed into a test for these conditions in patients.
Dr James added: “Currently there is no blood test for Alzheimer’s disease.
“If we can develop this technique into a test, doctors could potentially diagnose patients at an early stage before their symptoms show up in a brain scan.”
The method could also be used to diagnose diabetes, which also leads to elevated levels of glycated proteins in the blood.
Dr van den Elsen said: “Whilst there are other methods of detecting diabetes, this will be an excellent way to measure the level of this glycation damage.”
CONTACTS THAT WARN DIABETICS OF GLUCOSE LEVELS
Diabetics may soon be able to wear contact lenses that continuously alert them to variations in their glucose levels by changing colours - replacing the need to routinely draw blood throughout the day. The non-invasive technology uses extremely small nanoparticles embedded into the hydrogel lenses.
These engineered nanoparticles react with glucose molecules found in tears, causing a chemical reaction that changes their colour.
Zhang received $216,342 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) today (Dec. 16) to further develop technologies using multifunctional nanocomposites.
These technologies have vast potential applications beyond biomedical devices, including for food packaging. For example, nanocomposite films can prevent food spoilage by preventing oxygen, carbon dioxide and moisture from reaching fresh meats and other foods, or by measuring pathogenic contamination; others can make packaging increasingly biodegradable.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
British Boy Becomes First in the World to Have Stem Cell Transplant
A ten-year-old British boy has become the first child in the world to undergo a revolutionary windpipe transplant, it has been announced.
The landmark operation involved injecting the scaffold of a windpipe, taken from a dead donor, with stem cells from the boy before implanting it in his throat.
The stem cells were removed from the boy’s bone marrow and were ready for use just four hours later.
The cells trigger regrowth to create a normal windpipe without any of the risks of normal transplantation such as the organ being rejected by the body.
The operation took place at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, on Monday and the boy is breathing by himself and able to speak normally.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
MEETING FOR 2ND ANNUAL RALLY FOR ALI PLANNING COMMITTE
Where: Tugboat Tavern, 159 Bridge Avenue, Cohoes, NY
When: Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Time: 6:30 P.M.
You are cordially invited to attend the first meeting of the 2nd Annual Rally for Ali Planning Committee at the above venue and time. Anyone wishing to serve on the Committee, or volunteer for any other rally subcommittee, may do so at this initial meeting. This year the Rally will be held on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at Krause’s Grove in Halfmoon, NY, and is projected to be an even bigger and more awesome event than in 2009!
All donations raised in Ali’s memory will go to Harvard Stem Cell Institute in rigorous search of a CURE for diabetes.
Everyone’s input is valued and we deeply appreciate the help and support of all.
GOD BLESS AND MUCH LOVE ~
THE FAMILY OF ALISON FISK URZAN Afisk10302@aol.com
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
NEW DATE FOR 2ND ANNUAL RALLY
TO ALL COMMITTEE MEMBERS, FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF RALLY FOR ALI:
The date of the 2nd Annual Rally for Ali which was originally set for Saturday, September 25, 2010 has been changed to the NEW date of Saturday, October 2, 2010 and Gary at Krause's Grove has accepted our deposit for this new date. We will be sending out new SAVE THE DATE, MARK YOUR CALENDAR flyer emails shortly.
Wally called yesterday and said he wants to apologize to everyone via this email for the mix up. He said before our September rally date was set with Gary, he had received a save-the-date card for a wedding on September 25 which he had entirely forgotten about. The daughter of Howie and Terry, Wally and Ali's longtime good friends, will be getting married then. Wally said that date had slipped his mind entirely when September 25 arrangements were being made with Gary for the 2nd Annual Rally for Ali. Some other members of the Committee received save-the-date cards re the wedding as well.
As it is still early in the year, Gary confirmed that the date of Saturday, October 2, 2010 is still open and we secured that new date with our original deposit to him.
Please mark on your calendars the new date for the 2nd Annual Rally for Ali:
Saturday, October 2, 2010.
Wally wants everyone to know that he is sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and looks forward to the initial meeting of the 2nd Annual Rally for Ali Planning Committee which will be held sometime next month. Details on that to follow.
Regards,
Alice Fisk
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Breakthrough: Stem cell therapy found for leukaemia
In a ray of hope for millions of leukaemia patients, American scientists have claimed to have developed a technique which multiplies the small number of stem cells in the donor blood, making it much more potent for the treatment of the fatal disease.
It also eliminates the need for a matching donor, whose bone marrow is usually transplanted to the patient, according to a study which appeared in the journal Nature Medicine. Traditionally, there was always a risk that the patient’s body may reject the new cells from a donor. The alternate path was to introduce cells extracted from umbilical cords as these cells do not have characteristics which would normally trigger immune rejection. So these cells can be used in any patient, without the need for matching. However, the only disadvantage of this process was that a single cord would not have enough cells to meet the needs of an adult patient.
It also eliminates the need for a matching donor, whose bone marrow is usually transplanted to the patient, according to a study which appeared in the journal Nature Medicine. Traditionally, there was always a risk that the patient’s body may reject the new cells from a donor. The alternate path was to introduce cells extracted from umbilical cords as these cells do not have characteristics which would normally trigger immune rejection. So these cells can be used in any patient, without the need for matching. However, the only disadvantage of this process was that a single cord would not have enough cells to meet the needs of an adult patient.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
TIME MAGAZINE COVER ON STEM CELLS..CLICK HERE FOR STORY
Doug Melton, PhD, and the other scientists and their work at HSCI are the main subjects of this week’s TIME Magazine cover story. We’ve come a long way since our launch five years ago, when HSCI was more an idea and a hope than an Institute. But thanks to your support and the dedication of our scientist members, today the Harvard Stem Cell Institute is a productive collaborative enterprise that is continually making substantial scientific progress and has emerged as a world leader in stem cell research. We hope that you enjoy reading about our journey and continue to support our efforts in the future.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
THANK YOU EMAIL FROM THE DIRECTOR OF HSCI
Dear Alice,
The official thank yous should be on their way to you if you haven't received them already, but I wanted to add another note of thanks, especially as the season of giving thanks approaches. Your contributions to our work here are deeply appreciated, both in terms of money and spirit. I loved the photos from the Rally. The sense of community that you have built up is truly wonderful. Thank you so much for what you, your family and friends are doing for Ali's memory and our work together.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. All the best,
Brock
The official thank yous should be on their way to you if you haven't received them already, but I wanted to add another note of thanks, especially as the season of giving thanks approaches. Your contributions to our work here are deeply appreciated, both in terms of money and spirit. I loved the photos from the Rally. The sense of community that you have built up is truly wonderful. Thank you so much for what you, your family and friends are doing for Ali's memory and our work together.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. All the best,
Brock
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
RALLY TODAY
Today from 1 to 6 pm the picnic for a cause is going on at Krauses in halfmoon, hope to see you all there.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
DIABETES VIDEOS
Provided by the Diabetes Health Channel on eMedTV.com
Provided by the Diabetes Health Channel on eMedTV.com
Thursday, September 3, 2009
NEW NEWS ABOUT DIABETES
Researchers are inching ever closer to bringing the latest stem-cell technologies from bench to bedside — and are, in the process, learning more about some diseases that long have remained medical black boxes. (Read "Stem-Cell Research: The Quest Resumes.")
This week, scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) reported the first success in generating new populations of insulin-producing cells using skin cells of Type 1 diabetes patients. The achievement involved the newer embryo-free technique for generating stem cells, and marked the first step toward building a treatment that could one day replace a patient's faulty insulin-making cells with healthy, functioning ones. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2008.)
The experiment, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provided the first good model — in a petri dish — of how Type 1 diabetes develops, giving scientists a peek at what goes wrong in patients affected by the disease. Such knowledge could lead to not only new stem-cell-based treatments, but also novel drug therapies that might improve the symptoms of the disease. (Read "Study: Stem Cells May Reverse Type 1 Diabetes.")
Douglas Melton, co-director of HSCI, and his team took skin cells from two Type 1 diabetes patients, exposed the cells to a cocktail of three genes that converted them back to an embryonic state — which are referred to as pluripotent stem cells — then instructed the newly reborn cells to grow into beta cells, the cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin. In Type 1 diabetes, these beta cells no longer work to break down the glucose that floods the body after each meal, leading to blood-sugar spikes that can damage the kidneys and heart.
To test whether their lab-made cells could function like normal beta cells, Melton's group exposed them to glucose in a dish. When sugar levels were high, the cells produced more of a protein that beta cells release when they break down sugar; when glucose levels were low, the protein levels were low as well. (See pictures from an X-ray studio.)
"These cells represent the newest model of diabetes for humans," says Melton. "We have a lot of good models of Type 1 diabetes in the mouse, but everything that we have learned from them has failed in the clinic. Now we have a chance at figuring out how humans get the disease."
Diabetes researchers believe that the disorder is caused by some type of immune reaction gone awry — immune cells are "trained" in the thymus gland to recognize the body's own cells and protect them from destruction. For some reason, this education doesn't occur properly in Type 1 diabetes patients, and the immune system sees the pancreatic beta cells as foreign. Melton's team is currently working to generate thymus cells from diabetic patients in the same way the team created the beta cells, in order to put all the players together in a lab dish, in a kind of biological diorama of the disease. (See more from TIME on diabetes.)
The researchers are hoping to learn whether diabetes begins in the thymus or in the pancreas, where beta cells somehow change and are no longer recognized or protected by the immune system. "We still really don't know the mechanism of what causes this disease," says Melton. "We don't know which cell is initially responsible, and we don't know if certain people are destined to get it, or if there are things we can do to prevent it, or how to reverse it."
That may soon change, if the beta cells Melton created can give scientists a full picture of the disease. If, for example, it turns out that the new beta cells can be made to survive the attack by the immune system, then the next step would be to return the functional beta cells, generated through strategies like the one used by Melton, back into the patients from whom the original skin cells came. But even that won't happen until more testing is done on the cells to ensure they are both safe and effective.
One problem is that the cocktail of genes that the HSCI team used to turn back the clock on the patients' skin cells work by integrating themselves into the genome of the skin cell with the help of a virus. Such embedding of foreign matter isn't ideal for a treatment designed for the clinic, since changes in the genome could result in a variety of potential problems, including the formation of tumors and uncontrolled cell growth. Melton's group, as well as those in other stem-cell labs around the world, are working to substitute these dangerous genes and viruses with chemicals that might prove safer. (See pictures of the swine flu virus)
As these methods of making beta cells become more established, says Dr. Rohit Kulkarni, a diabetes expert at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, the strategy could be expanded to help patients with either Type 1 or 2 diabetes. "It might even be more relevant for other types of diabetes where there is no immune-system attack," he says. In those cases, simply replacing nonfunctioning beta cells might go a long way toward treating or even curing the disease. (See how to prevent illness at any age.)
But before that can happen, says Melton, the newly formed beta cells can become a valuable resource for understanding Type 1 diabetes better — to answer key questions such as what makes the cells so ineffective in diabetics, and whether new populations of beta cells could survive and function if transplanted into patients. "This is opening a door to a long-term project to get at the cause of this disease," he says. "But it is a new door."
This week, scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) reported the first success in generating new populations of insulin-producing cells using skin cells of Type 1 diabetes patients. The achievement involved the newer embryo-free technique for generating stem cells, and marked the first step toward building a treatment that could one day replace a patient's faulty insulin-making cells with healthy, functioning ones. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2008.)
The experiment, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provided the first good model — in a petri dish — of how Type 1 diabetes develops, giving scientists a peek at what goes wrong in patients affected by the disease. Such knowledge could lead to not only new stem-cell-based treatments, but also novel drug therapies that might improve the symptoms of the disease. (Read "Study: Stem Cells May Reverse Type 1 Diabetes.")
Douglas Melton, co-director of HSCI, and his team took skin cells from two Type 1 diabetes patients, exposed the cells to a cocktail of three genes that converted them back to an embryonic state — which are referred to as pluripotent stem cells — then instructed the newly reborn cells to grow into beta cells, the cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin. In Type 1 diabetes, these beta cells no longer work to break down the glucose that floods the body after each meal, leading to blood-sugar spikes that can damage the kidneys and heart.
To test whether their lab-made cells could function like normal beta cells, Melton's group exposed them to glucose in a dish. When sugar levels were high, the cells produced more of a protein that beta cells release when they break down sugar; when glucose levels were low, the protein levels were low as well. (See pictures from an X-ray studio.)
"These cells represent the newest model of diabetes for humans," says Melton. "We have a lot of good models of Type 1 diabetes in the mouse, but everything that we have learned from them has failed in the clinic. Now we have a chance at figuring out how humans get the disease."
Diabetes researchers believe that the disorder is caused by some type of immune reaction gone awry — immune cells are "trained" in the thymus gland to recognize the body's own cells and protect them from destruction. For some reason, this education doesn't occur properly in Type 1 diabetes patients, and the immune system sees the pancreatic beta cells as foreign. Melton's team is currently working to generate thymus cells from diabetic patients in the same way the team created the beta cells, in order to put all the players together in a lab dish, in a kind of biological diorama of the disease. (See more from TIME on diabetes.)
The researchers are hoping to learn whether diabetes begins in the thymus or in the pancreas, where beta cells somehow change and are no longer recognized or protected by the immune system. "We still really don't know the mechanism of what causes this disease," says Melton. "We don't know which cell is initially responsible, and we don't know if certain people are destined to get it, or if there are things we can do to prevent it, or how to reverse it."
That may soon change, if the beta cells Melton created can give scientists a full picture of the disease. If, for example, it turns out that the new beta cells can be made to survive the attack by the immune system, then the next step would be to return the functional beta cells, generated through strategies like the one used by Melton, back into the patients from whom the original skin cells came. But even that won't happen until more testing is done on the cells to ensure they are both safe and effective.
One problem is that the cocktail of genes that the HSCI team used to turn back the clock on the patients' skin cells work by integrating themselves into the genome of the skin cell with the help of a virus. Such embedding of foreign matter isn't ideal for a treatment designed for the clinic, since changes in the genome could result in a variety of potential problems, including the formation of tumors and uncontrolled cell growth. Melton's group, as well as those in other stem-cell labs around the world, are working to substitute these dangerous genes and viruses with chemicals that might prove safer. (See pictures of the swine flu virus)
As these methods of making beta cells become more established, says Dr. Rohit Kulkarni, a diabetes expert at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, the strategy could be expanded to help patients with either Type 1 or 2 diabetes. "It might even be more relevant for other types of diabetes where there is no immune-system attack," he says. In those cases, simply replacing nonfunctioning beta cells might go a long way toward treating or even curing the disease. (See how to prevent illness at any age.)
But before that can happen, says Melton, the newly formed beta cells can become a valuable resource for understanding Type 1 diabetes better — to answer key questions such as what makes the cells so ineffective in diabetics, and whether new populations of beta cells could survive and function if transplanted into patients. "This is opening a door to a long-term project to get at the cause of this disease," he says. "But it is a new door."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
PICNIC DATE AND PLACE INFO
FIRST ANNUAL RALLY FOR ALI
Alison Fisk Urzan
IN SEARCH OF A CURE FOR DIABETES
ALL DONATIONS WILL GO TO HARVARD STEM CELL INSTITUTE
PICNIC FOR A CAUSE
KRAUSE’S GROVE, 2 Beach Road, Halfmoon, NY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2009 ~ 1:00 TO 6:00 P.M.
RAIN OR SHINE
$30.00 per adult ticket at gate - $20.00 for children under 12
includes donation to Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
5 hour picnic with soda, beer, live music, games, door prizes, raffles.
Abundant food and dessert being served 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Those who wish to join a pre-picnic motorcycle and car cavalcade around the beautiful Tomhannock Reservoir in Ali’s honor will meet at the Troy Plaza on Hoosick Street at 10:00 A.M. for sign up and the cavalcade will kick off at 11:00 A.M. sharp.
For further info: rally4ali.blogspot.com/Email:AFisk10302@aol.com
NEW NEWS ABOUT DIABETES
Breaking news!
Some newly discovered compounds have just been found to turn off all of the genes that cause diabetes.
Are these compounds found in a pill bottle? No!
Instead, you'll find them on your dinner plate -- in rye bread and pasta.
(As I recently wrote in one of my blogs, rye contains special phytonutrients that turn off all the genes responsible for diabetes -- in just a few weeks.)
Last week, I explained how to find out if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic. Half of the 24 million people with diabetes don't know they have it and nearly all the 60 million people with pre-diabetes don't know they have it.
Today, I want to share with you more information about what you can do NOW to prevent and reverse diabetes and pre-diabetes.
And rye bread isn't the only answer -- I've got a lot more good advice, too.
But first I want to emphasize new research that should be headlines news but never saw the light of day. Do our current drugs treatments for diabetes actually work to prevent heart attacks and death?
Surely lowering blood sugar in diabetics is an effective strategy for reducing the risk of death and heart disease. It would seem obvious that if diabetes is a disease of high blood sugar, then reducing blood sugar would be beneficial.
However elevated sugar is only a symptom, not the cause of the problem. The real problem is elevated insulin unchecked over decades from a highly refined carbohydrate diet, a sedentary lifestyle and environmental toxins.
Most medications and insulin therapy are aimed at lowering blood sugar through increasing insulin. In the randomized ACCORD trial of over 10,000 patients, this turns out to be a bad idea.
In the intensive glucose-lowering group, there were no fewer heart attacks, and more patients died. Yet we continue to pay $174 billion annually for this type of care for diabetes, despite evidence that lifestyle works better than medications. We also pay for cardiac bypass and angioplasty in diabetics when evidence shows no reduction in death or heart attacks compared to medication.
So now that we know what doesn't work, let me review what does work.
Dietary Recommendations to Reverse Diabetes
Eating in a way that balances your blood sugar, reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, and improves your liver detoxification is the key to preventing and reversing insulin resistance and diabetes.
This is a way of eating that based on a whole foods diet that's high in fiber, rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, and low in sugars and flours, with a low glycemic load.
It is a way of eating that includes anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and detoxifying foods. It includes plenty of omega-3 fats and olive oil, soy products, beans, nuts, and seeds.
All these foods help prevent and reverse diabetes and insulin resistance. This is the way of eating than turns on all the right gene messages, promotes a healthy metabolism, and prevents aging and age-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Here are more specifics.
Meal Timing
• Eat protein for breakfast every day, such as whole omega-3 eggs, a soy protein shake, or nut butters.
• Eat something every 4 hours to keep your insulin and glucose levels normal.
• Eat small protein snacks in the morning and afternoon, such as a handful of almonds.
• Finish eating at least 2 to 3 hours before bed. If you have a snack earlier in the day, you won't be as hungry, even if you eat a little later.
Meal Composition
• Controlling the glycemic load of your meals is very important.
• You can do this by combining adequate protein, fats, and whole-food carbohydrates from vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fruit at every meal or snack.
• It is most important to avoid eating quickly absorbed carbohydrates alone, as they raise your sugar and insulin levels.
Travel Suggestions
• Two handfuls of almonds in a zip-lock bag make a useful emergency snack. You can eat them with a piece of fruit. Remember, real food is the best.
What to Eat
Choose from a variety of the following real, whole foods:
• Choose organic produce and animal products whenever possible.
• Eat high-quality protein, such as fish -- especially fatty, cold-water fish like salmon, sable, small halibut, herring, and sardines -- and shellfish.
• Cold-water fish such as salmon, halibut, and sable contain an abundance of beneficial essential fatty acids, omega-3 oils that reduce inflammation. Choose smaller wild Alaskan salmon, sable, and halibut that are low in toxins. Canned wild salmon is a great "emergency" food.
• Eat up to eight omega-3 eggs a week.
• Create meals that are high in low-glycemic legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans (try edamame, the Japanese soybeans in a pod, quickly steamed with a little salt, as a snack). These foods slow the release of sugars into the bloodstream, which helps prevent the excess insulin release that can lead to health concerns like obesity, high blood pressure, and heart problems.
• Eat a cornucopia of fresh fruits and vegetables teeming with phytonutrients like carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, which are associated with a lower incidence of nearly all health problems, including obesity and age-related disease.
• Eat more low-glycemic vegetables, such as asparagus, broccoli, kale, spinach, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.
• Berries, cherries, peaches, plums, rhubarb, pears, and apples are optimal fruits. Cantaloupes and other melons, grapes, and kiwifruit are suitable; however, they contain more sugar. You can use organic frozen berries (such as those from Cascadian Farms) in your protein shakes.
• Focus on anti-inflammatory foods, including wild fish and other sources of omega-3 fats, red and purple berries (these are rich in polyphenols), dark green leafy vegetables, orange sweet potatoes, and nuts.
• Eat more antioxidant-rich foods, including orange and yellow vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, spinach, etc.), anthocyanidins (berries, beets, grapes, pomegranate), purple grapes, blueberries, bilberries, cranberries, and cherries. In fact, antioxidants are in all colorful fruits and vegetables.
• Include detoxifying foods in your diet, such as cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, collards, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, and Chinese broccoli), green tea, watercress, dandelion greens, cilantro, artichokes, garlic, citrus peels, pomegranate, and even cocoa.
• Season your food with herbs such as rosemary, ginger, and turmeric, which are powerful antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and detoxifiers.
• Avoid excessive quantities of meat. Eat lean organic or grass-fed animal products, when possible. These include eggs, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, buffalo, and ostrich. There are good brands at Whole Foods and other local health-food stores (also see mail order sources).
• Garlic and onions contain antioxidants, enhance detoxification, act as anti-inflammatories, and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
• A diet high in fiber further helps to stabilize blood sugar by slowing the absorption of carbohydrates and supports a healthy lower bowel and digestive tract. Try to gradually increase fiber to 30 to 50 grams a day and use predominantly soluble or viscous fiber (legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit), which slows sugar absorption from the gut.
• Use extra virgin olive oil, which contains anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants, as your main cooking oil.
• Soy Products such as soymilk, soybeans, and tofu are rich in antioxidants that can reduce cancer risk, lower cholesterol, and improve insulin and blood sugar metabolism.
• Increase your intake of nuts and seeds, including raw walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, and pumpkin and flax seeds.
• And yes ... chocolate can be healthy, too. Choose only the darkest varieties and eat only 2 to 3 ounces a day. It should contain 70 percent cocoa.
Decrease (or ideally eliminate) your intake of:
• All processed or junk foods
• Foods containing refined white flour and sugar, such as breads, cereals (cornflakes, Frosted Flakes, puffed wheat, and sweetened granola), flour-based pastas, bagels, and pastries
• All foods containing high-fructose corn syrup
• All artificial sweeteners (aspartame, Sorbitol, etc.) and caffeine
• Starchy, high-glycemic cooked vegetables, such as potatoes, corn, and root vegetables such as rutabagas, parsnips, and turnips
• Processed fruit juices, which are often loaded with sugars (Try juicing your own carrots, celery, and beets, or other fruit and vegetable combinations, instead)
• Processed canned vegetables (usually very high in sodium)
• Foods containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (which become trans fatty acids in the bloodstream), such as most crackers, chips, cakes, candies, cookies, doughnuts, and processed cheese
• Processed oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, and canola
• Red meats (unless organic or grass-fed) and organ meats
• Large predatory fish and river fish, which contain mercury and other contaminants in unacceptable amounts, including swordfish, tuna, tilefish and shark
• Dairy -- substitute unsweetened, gluten free soymilk, almond milk, or hazelnut milk products
• Alcohol -- limit it to no more than 3 glasses a week of red wine per week
Balance Blood Sugar with Exercise
Exercise is critical for the improvement of insulin sensitivity. It helps reduce central body fat, improving sugar metabolism. Regular exercise will help prevent diabetes, reduce your risk of complications, and even help reverse it.
Ideally you should do 30 minutes of walking every day. Walking after dinner is a powerful way to reduce your blood sugar.
More vigorous exercise and sustained exercise is often needed to reverse severe insulin resistance or diabetes. Doing sustained aerobic exercise for up to 60 minutes 5 to 6 times a week is often necessary to get diabetes under full control. You want to work at 70 to 85 percent of your target heart rate, which you can find by subtracting your age from 220 and multiplying that number by 0.70 to 0.85.
Interval training can be an added benefit to helping improve your metabolism and mitochondrial function. It helps to increase the efficiency calorie burning so that you burn more calories and energy during the time you are NOT exercising. This is described in detail in UltraMetabolism.
Strength training also helps maintain and build muscle, which can help also with your overall blood sugar and energy metabolism.
Supplements that Can Help Reverse Diabetes
Nutritional supplements can be very effective for Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. I recommend a number of different supplements, depending on the severity of the problem:
1. A multivitamin and mineral.
2. Calcium and magnesium and vitamin D.
3. Fish oil (1,000 to 4,000 mg) a day improves insulin sensitivity, lowers cholesterol, and reduces inflammation.
4. Extra magnesium (200 to 600 mg a day) helps with glucose metabolism and is often deficient in diabetics.
5. Chromium (500 to 1,000 mcg day) is very important for proper sugar metabolism.
6. Antioxidants (such as vitamins C and E) are important in helping to reduce and balance blood sugar.
7. B-complex vitamins are important and are part of a good multivitamin. Extra vitamin B6 (50 to 150 mg a day) and B12 (1,000 to 3,000 mcg) are especially helpful in protecting against diabetic neuropathy or nerve damage.
8. Biotin (2,000 to 4,000 mcg a day) enhances insulin sensitivity.
9. I also encourage people to use alpha-lipoic acid (300 mg twice a day), a powerful antioxidant that can reduce blood sugar significantly. It also can be effective for diabetic nerve damage or neuropathy.
10. Evening primrose oil (500 to 1,000 mg twice a day) helps overcome deficiencies common in diabetics.
11. I encourage people to use cinnamon as a supplement. One to two 500 mg tablets twice a day can help blood sugar control.
12. Other herbs and supplements that can be helpful include green tea, ginseng, bitter melon, gymnema, bilberry, ginkgo, onions, and garlic. Fenugreek can also be used to help improve blood sugar ,although large amounts must be taken.
13. Banaba leaf (Lagerstroemia speciosa) can be an effective herb. Take 24 mg twice a day.
14. I recommend konjac fiber, such as PGX (WellBetX), four capsules 10 minutes before meals with a glass of water. This helps reduce blood sugar after meals and improves long-term blood sugar control while reducing appetite and cholesterol.
Manage Diabetes by Managing Stress
Stress plays a dramatic role in blood sugar imbalances. It triggers insulin resistance, promotes weight gain around the middle, increases inflammation, and ultimately can cause diabetes. So it's essential to engage in relaxation practices on a regular basis, such as yoga, breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, hot baths, exercise, meditation, massage, biofeedback, hypnosis, or even making love. Your survival depends on it.
Use Medications if Necessary
A number of medications may be helpful for diabetes. There are several specific classes of medications, each with their own effects. Sometimes combinations are helpful.
These are the main classes.
1. The biguanides, especially metformin (Glucophage), is one of the best medications to improve insulin sensitivity. It can help lower blood sugars by improving your cells' response to insulin.
2. Thiazolidinedione drugs are a new class of diabetes medication and can help improve uptake of glucose by the cells by making you more insulin-sensitive. They also reduce inflammation and help improve metabolism working on the PPAR, a special class of cell receptors that control metabolism. They can cause weight gain and liver damage. Thiazolidinediones include rosiglutazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos).
3. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors include acarbose and miglitol, which can help lower the absorption of sugar and carbohydrates in the intestines, reducing the absorption of sugar after meals. And there are newer medication on the market every day.
Older medications include sulfonylureas include glipizide, glyburide, and glimepiride. I strongly recommend against these medications because they only reduce your sugar in the short term and cause further insulin production, which actually worsens diabetes over the long term. They have also been linked to high risk of heart attacks, which you are trying to prevent. They treat the symptoms rather than the cause.
Insulin is the last resort after all other measures have failed and often leads to a slippery slope of weight gain and increased cholesterol and blood pressure. Many patients have been able to come off insulin entirely if they are treated early and aggressively through the other methods I've listed.
Diabetes and its precursor, insulin resistance, are looming as the major threat to our health in the 21st century. It will affect 1 in 3 children born today, and 1 in 2 minority children. This is a tragic consequence of our toxic food environment, our unmitigated exposure to stress, our sedentary lifestyle, and environmental toxins.
However, these problems are completely preventable and often reversible through aggressive lifestyle changes, supplements, and exercise and stress management.
Diabetes is the biggest health epidemic triggered by the obesity epidemic, but all of our medical efforts to treat it are focused on medications and insulin. It is simply the wrong approach.
If you follow these guidelines instead, you will see a dramatic change very quickly in your health, your weight, and your diabetes.
Just try it!
Now I'd like to hear from you ...
Have you been diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes?
Have you been told that you must take drugs to treat it?
Which of these steps do you plan to take and which are you already trying? What are the results?
Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, M.D.
Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.
Some newly discovered compounds have just been found to turn off all of the genes that cause diabetes.
Are these compounds found in a pill bottle? No!
Instead, you'll find them on your dinner plate -- in rye bread and pasta.
(As I recently wrote in one of my blogs, rye contains special phytonutrients that turn off all the genes responsible for diabetes -- in just a few weeks.)
Last week, I explained how to find out if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic. Half of the 24 million people with diabetes don't know they have it and nearly all the 60 million people with pre-diabetes don't know they have it.
Today, I want to share with you more information about what you can do NOW to prevent and reverse diabetes and pre-diabetes.
And rye bread isn't the only answer -- I've got a lot more good advice, too.
But first I want to emphasize new research that should be headlines news but never saw the light of day. Do our current drugs treatments for diabetes actually work to prevent heart attacks and death?
Surely lowering blood sugar in diabetics is an effective strategy for reducing the risk of death and heart disease. It would seem obvious that if diabetes is a disease of high blood sugar, then reducing blood sugar would be beneficial.
However elevated sugar is only a symptom, not the cause of the problem. The real problem is elevated insulin unchecked over decades from a highly refined carbohydrate diet, a sedentary lifestyle and environmental toxins.
Most medications and insulin therapy are aimed at lowering blood sugar through increasing insulin. In the randomized ACCORD trial of over 10,000 patients, this turns out to be a bad idea.
In the intensive glucose-lowering group, there were no fewer heart attacks, and more patients died. Yet we continue to pay $174 billion annually for this type of care for diabetes, despite evidence that lifestyle works better than medications. We also pay for cardiac bypass and angioplasty in diabetics when evidence shows no reduction in death or heart attacks compared to medication.
So now that we know what doesn't work, let me review what does work.
Dietary Recommendations to Reverse Diabetes
Eating in a way that balances your blood sugar, reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, and improves your liver detoxification is the key to preventing and reversing insulin resistance and diabetes.
This is a way of eating that based on a whole foods diet that's high in fiber, rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, and low in sugars and flours, with a low glycemic load.
It is a way of eating that includes anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and detoxifying foods. It includes plenty of omega-3 fats and olive oil, soy products, beans, nuts, and seeds.
All these foods help prevent and reverse diabetes and insulin resistance. This is the way of eating than turns on all the right gene messages, promotes a healthy metabolism, and prevents aging and age-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Here are more specifics.
Meal Timing
• Eat protein for breakfast every day, such as whole omega-3 eggs, a soy protein shake, or nut butters.
• Eat something every 4 hours to keep your insulin and glucose levels normal.
• Eat small protein snacks in the morning and afternoon, such as a handful of almonds.
• Finish eating at least 2 to 3 hours before bed. If you have a snack earlier in the day, you won't be as hungry, even if you eat a little later.
Meal Composition
• Controlling the glycemic load of your meals is very important.
• You can do this by combining adequate protein, fats, and whole-food carbohydrates from vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fruit at every meal or snack.
• It is most important to avoid eating quickly absorbed carbohydrates alone, as they raise your sugar and insulin levels.
Travel Suggestions
• Two handfuls of almonds in a zip-lock bag make a useful emergency snack. You can eat them with a piece of fruit. Remember, real food is the best.
What to Eat
Choose from a variety of the following real, whole foods:
• Choose organic produce and animal products whenever possible.
• Eat high-quality protein, such as fish -- especially fatty, cold-water fish like salmon, sable, small halibut, herring, and sardines -- and shellfish.
• Cold-water fish such as salmon, halibut, and sable contain an abundance of beneficial essential fatty acids, omega-3 oils that reduce inflammation. Choose smaller wild Alaskan salmon, sable, and halibut that are low in toxins. Canned wild salmon is a great "emergency" food.
• Eat up to eight omega-3 eggs a week.
• Create meals that are high in low-glycemic legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans (try edamame, the Japanese soybeans in a pod, quickly steamed with a little salt, as a snack). These foods slow the release of sugars into the bloodstream, which helps prevent the excess insulin release that can lead to health concerns like obesity, high blood pressure, and heart problems.
• Eat a cornucopia of fresh fruits and vegetables teeming with phytonutrients like carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, which are associated with a lower incidence of nearly all health problems, including obesity and age-related disease.
• Eat more low-glycemic vegetables, such as asparagus, broccoli, kale, spinach, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.
• Berries, cherries, peaches, plums, rhubarb, pears, and apples are optimal fruits. Cantaloupes and other melons, grapes, and kiwifruit are suitable; however, they contain more sugar. You can use organic frozen berries (such as those from Cascadian Farms) in your protein shakes.
• Focus on anti-inflammatory foods, including wild fish and other sources of omega-3 fats, red and purple berries (these are rich in polyphenols), dark green leafy vegetables, orange sweet potatoes, and nuts.
• Eat more antioxidant-rich foods, including orange and yellow vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, spinach, etc.), anthocyanidins (berries, beets, grapes, pomegranate), purple grapes, blueberries, bilberries, cranberries, and cherries. In fact, antioxidants are in all colorful fruits and vegetables.
• Include detoxifying foods in your diet, such as cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, collards, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, and Chinese broccoli), green tea, watercress, dandelion greens, cilantro, artichokes, garlic, citrus peels, pomegranate, and even cocoa.
• Season your food with herbs such as rosemary, ginger, and turmeric, which are powerful antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and detoxifiers.
• Avoid excessive quantities of meat. Eat lean organic or grass-fed animal products, when possible. These include eggs, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, buffalo, and ostrich. There are good brands at Whole Foods and other local health-food stores (also see mail order sources).
• Garlic and onions contain antioxidants, enhance detoxification, act as anti-inflammatories, and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
• A diet high in fiber further helps to stabilize blood sugar by slowing the absorption of carbohydrates and supports a healthy lower bowel and digestive tract. Try to gradually increase fiber to 30 to 50 grams a day and use predominantly soluble or viscous fiber (legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit), which slows sugar absorption from the gut.
• Use extra virgin olive oil, which contains anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants, as your main cooking oil.
• Soy Products such as soymilk, soybeans, and tofu are rich in antioxidants that can reduce cancer risk, lower cholesterol, and improve insulin and blood sugar metabolism.
• Increase your intake of nuts and seeds, including raw walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, and pumpkin and flax seeds.
• And yes ... chocolate can be healthy, too. Choose only the darkest varieties and eat only 2 to 3 ounces a day. It should contain 70 percent cocoa.
Decrease (or ideally eliminate) your intake of:
• All processed or junk foods
• Foods containing refined white flour and sugar, such as breads, cereals (cornflakes, Frosted Flakes, puffed wheat, and sweetened granola), flour-based pastas, bagels, and pastries
• All foods containing high-fructose corn syrup
• All artificial sweeteners (aspartame, Sorbitol, etc.) and caffeine
• Starchy, high-glycemic cooked vegetables, such as potatoes, corn, and root vegetables such as rutabagas, parsnips, and turnips
• Processed fruit juices, which are often loaded with sugars (Try juicing your own carrots, celery, and beets, or other fruit and vegetable combinations, instead)
• Processed canned vegetables (usually very high in sodium)
• Foods containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (which become trans fatty acids in the bloodstream), such as most crackers, chips, cakes, candies, cookies, doughnuts, and processed cheese
• Processed oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, and canola
• Red meats (unless organic or grass-fed) and organ meats
• Large predatory fish and river fish, which contain mercury and other contaminants in unacceptable amounts, including swordfish, tuna, tilefish and shark
• Dairy -- substitute unsweetened, gluten free soymilk, almond milk, or hazelnut milk products
• Alcohol -- limit it to no more than 3 glasses a week of red wine per week
Balance Blood Sugar with Exercise
Exercise is critical for the improvement of insulin sensitivity. It helps reduce central body fat, improving sugar metabolism. Regular exercise will help prevent diabetes, reduce your risk of complications, and even help reverse it.
Ideally you should do 30 minutes of walking every day. Walking after dinner is a powerful way to reduce your blood sugar.
More vigorous exercise and sustained exercise is often needed to reverse severe insulin resistance or diabetes. Doing sustained aerobic exercise for up to 60 minutes 5 to 6 times a week is often necessary to get diabetes under full control. You want to work at 70 to 85 percent of your target heart rate, which you can find by subtracting your age from 220 and multiplying that number by 0.70 to 0.85.
Interval training can be an added benefit to helping improve your metabolism and mitochondrial function. It helps to increase the efficiency calorie burning so that you burn more calories and energy during the time you are NOT exercising. This is described in detail in UltraMetabolism.
Strength training also helps maintain and build muscle, which can help also with your overall blood sugar and energy metabolism.
Supplements that Can Help Reverse Diabetes
Nutritional supplements can be very effective for Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. I recommend a number of different supplements, depending on the severity of the problem:
1. A multivitamin and mineral.
2. Calcium and magnesium and vitamin D.
3. Fish oil (1,000 to 4,000 mg) a day improves insulin sensitivity, lowers cholesterol, and reduces inflammation.
4. Extra magnesium (200 to 600 mg a day) helps with glucose metabolism and is often deficient in diabetics.
5. Chromium (500 to 1,000 mcg day) is very important for proper sugar metabolism.
6. Antioxidants (such as vitamins C and E) are important in helping to reduce and balance blood sugar.
7. B-complex vitamins are important and are part of a good multivitamin. Extra vitamin B6 (50 to 150 mg a day) and B12 (1,000 to 3,000 mcg) are especially helpful in protecting against diabetic neuropathy or nerve damage.
8. Biotin (2,000 to 4,000 mcg a day) enhances insulin sensitivity.
9. I also encourage people to use alpha-lipoic acid (300 mg twice a day), a powerful antioxidant that can reduce blood sugar significantly. It also can be effective for diabetic nerve damage or neuropathy.
10. Evening primrose oil (500 to 1,000 mg twice a day) helps overcome deficiencies common in diabetics.
11. I encourage people to use cinnamon as a supplement. One to two 500 mg tablets twice a day can help blood sugar control.
12. Other herbs and supplements that can be helpful include green tea, ginseng, bitter melon, gymnema, bilberry, ginkgo, onions, and garlic. Fenugreek can also be used to help improve blood sugar ,although large amounts must be taken.
13. Banaba leaf (Lagerstroemia speciosa) can be an effective herb. Take 24 mg twice a day.
14. I recommend konjac fiber, such as PGX (WellBetX), four capsules 10 minutes before meals with a glass of water. This helps reduce blood sugar after meals and improves long-term blood sugar control while reducing appetite and cholesterol.
Manage Diabetes by Managing Stress
Stress plays a dramatic role in blood sugar imbalances. It triggers insulin resistance, promotes weight gain around the middle, increases inflammation, and ultimately can cause diabetes. So it's essential to engage in relaxation practices on a regular basis, such as yoga, breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, hot baths, exercise, meditation, massage, biofeedback, hypnosis, or even making love. Your survival depends on it.
Use Medications if Necessary
A number of medications may be helpful for diabetes. There are several specific classes of medications, each with their own effects. Sometimes combinations are helpful.
These are the main classes.
1. The biguanides, especially metformin (Glucophage), is one of the best medications to improve insulin sensitivity. It can help lower blood sugars by improving your cells' response to insulin.
2. Thiazolidinedione drugs are a new class of diabetes medication and can help improve uptake of glucose by the cells by making you more insulin-sensitive. They also reduce inflammation and help improve metabolism working on the PPAR, a special class of cell receptors that control metabolism. They can cause weight gain and liver damage. Thiazolidinediones include rosiglutazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos).
3. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors include acarbose and miglitol, which can help lower the absorption of sugar and carbohydrates in the intestines, reducing the absorption of sugar after meals. And there are newer medication on the market every day.
Older medications include sulfonylureas include glipizide, glyburide, and glimepiride. I strongly recommend against these medications because they only reduce your sugar in the short term and cause further insulin production, which actually worsens diabetes over the long term. They have also been linked to high risk of heart attacks, which you are trying to prevent. They treat the symptoms rather than the cause.
Insulin is the last resort after all other measures have failed and often leads to a slippery slope of weight gain and increased cholesterol and blood pressure. Many patients have been able to come off insulin entirely if they are treated early and aggressively through the other methods I've listed.
Diabetes and its precursor, insulin resistance, are looming as the major threat to our health in the 21st century. It will affect 1 in 3 children born today, and 1 in 2 minority children. This is a tragic consequence of our toxic food environment, our unmitigated exposure to stress, our sedentary lifestyle, and environmental toxins.
However, these problems are completely preventable and often reversible through aggressive lifestyle changes, supplements, and exercise and stress management.
Diabetes is the biggest health epidemic triggered by the obesity epidemic, but all of our medical efforts to treat it are focused on medications and insulin. It is simply the wrong approach.
If you follow these guidelines instead, you will see a dramatic change very quickly in your health, your weight, and your diabetes.
Just try it!
Now I'd like to hear from you ...
Have you been diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes?
Have you been told that you must take drugs to treat it?
Which of these steps do you plan to take and which are you already trying? What are the results?
Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, M.D.
Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.
PICNIC DATE AND PLACE INFO
FIRST ANNUAL RALLY FOR ALI
Alison Fisk Urzan
IN SEARCH OF A CURE FOR DIABETES
ALL DONATIONS WILL GO TO HARVARD STEM CELL INSTITUTE
PICNIC FOR A CAUSE
KRAUSE’S GROVE, 2 Beach Road, Halfmoon, NY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2009 ~ 1:00 TO 6:00 P.M.
RAIN OR SHINE
$30.00 per adult ticket at gate - $20.00 for children under 12
includes donation to Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
5 hour picnic with soda, beer, live music, games, door prizes, raffles.
Abundant food and dessert being served 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Those who wish to join a pre-picnic motorcycle and car cavalcade around the beautiful Tomhannock Reservoir in Ali’s honor will meet at the Troy Plaza on Hoosick Street at 10:00 A.M. for sign up and the cavalcade will kick off at 11:00 A.M. sharp.
For further info: rally4ali.blogspot.com/Email:AFisk10302@aol.com
Friday, August 14, 2009
3RD MEETING AUG 19TH
Where: Tugboat Tavern, 159 Bridge Avenue, Cohoes, NY
When: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Time: 6:30 P.M.
The 3rd Planning Committee meeting will be held on the above date and time and anyone wishing to volunteer for “Our Cause” who hasn’t done so already may do so at this meeting.
We are now getting down to the wire, and there will be many updates as to venue, tickets, fliers, publicity, etc.
Everyone’s input is valued and we deeply appreciate the help and support of all.
All donations raised in Ali’s memory will go to Harvard Stem Cell Institute in rigorous search of a CURE for diabetes.
GOD BLESS AND MUCH LOVE ~
THE FAMILY OF ALISON FISK URZAN
When: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Time: 6:30 P.M.
The 3rd Planning Committee meeting will be held on the above date and time and anyone wishing to volunteer for “Our Cause” who hasn’t done so already may do so at this meeting.
We are now getting down to the wire, and there will be many updates as to venue, tickets, fliers, publicity, etc.
Everyone’s input is valued and we deeply appreciate the help and support of all.
All donations raised in Ali’s memory will go to Harvard Stem Cell Institute in rigorous search of a CURE for diabetes.
GOD BLESS AND MUCH LOVE ~
THE FAMILY OF ALISON FISK URZAN
Monday, August 10, 2009
NEW RESEARCH COULD REDUCE ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS
Researchers from the University of Bath are embarking on a project to use stem cell technology that could reduce the number of animal experiments used to study conditions such as motor neurone disease.
Dr Vasanta Subramanian, from the University’s Department of Biology & Biochemistry, will be developing a technique using human stem cells to study this debilitating neurological disease, greatly reducing the number of animals used in research.
Stem cells are the precursor cells that are able to develop into more specialised cells and tissues such as neurones or skin cells.
Whilst previously most stem cells were derived from embryos, this new research project will instead use Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (iPS cells) which are made from skin cells from adults.
Dr Subramanian has been awarded a major three year grant by the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to study ALS, a form of motor neurone disease in which the nerve cells that control the muscles die.
This currently incurable condition causes patients to lose movement in muscles, affecting breathing and eventually causing death.
Dr Subramanian will be making iPS cells from the skin cells of patients suffering from ALS to study the genes that are thought to cause the disease.
She said: “These are exciting times for stem cell research and there is tremendous potential in the iPS cell technology both for medical applications and in basic biology.
“This technology will not only help understand the mechanisms underlying the disease, but will also reduce the numbers of animals used in research.
“There is a real need to develop alternative methods for studying these diseases that are more robust and better simulate how the disease develops in humans.”
The grant will fund a teaching replacement for Dr Subramanian, allowing her to focus on her research, and a research assistant to work on the project. It will also fund a state-of-the-art high power microscope that will allow the researchers to observe the movements and growth of neurones in real time.
The project is one of 13 receiving a share of a £4.5 million fund from the NC3Rs.
Dr Vicky Robinson, chief executive of the NC3Rs, said: “If we are to reduce animal use and at the same time continue to develop new treatments for diseases then we must engage the best minds and harness the best science and technology in this endeavour.
“That is what we are doing with the £4.5 million in 13 new research projects that the NC3Rs is investing in. We are really pleased to be giving grants to scientists who are trying to develop treatments in major areas of concern such as cancer, motor neurone disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
“If they can do this, and reduce their reliance on animal use then this has to be good news.”
Dr Vasanta Subramanian, from the University’s Department of Biology & Biochemistry, will be developing a technique using human stem cells to study this debilitating neurological disease, greatly reducing the number of animals used in research.
Stem cells are the precursor cells that are able to develop into more specialised cells and tissues such as neurones or skin cells.
Whilst previously most stem cells were derived from embryos, this new research project will instead use Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (iPS cells) which are made from skin cells from adults.
Dr Subramanian has been awarded a major three year grant by the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to study ALS, a form of motor neurone disease in which the nerve cells that control the muscles die.
This currently incurable condition causes patients to lose movement in muscles, affecting breathing and eventually causing death.
Dr Subramanian will be making iPS cells from the skin cells of patients suffering from ALS to study the genes that are thought to cause the disease.
She said: “These are exciting times for stem cell research and there is tremendous potential in the iPS cell technology both for medical applications and in basic biology.
“This technology will not only help understand the mechanisms underlying the disease, but will also reduce the numbers of animals used in research.
“There is a real need to develop alternative methods for studying these diseases that are more robust and better simulate how the disease develops in humans.”
The grant will fund a teaching replacement for Dr Subramanian, allowing her to focus on her research, and a research assistant to work on the project. It will also fund a state-of-the-art high power microscope that will allow the researchers to observe the movements and growth of neurones in real time.
The project is one of 13 receiving a share of a £4.5 million fund from the NC3Rs.
Dr Vicky Robinson, chief executive of the NC3Rs, said: “If we are to reduce animal use and at the same time continue to develop new treatments for diseases then we must engage the best minds and harness the best science and technology in this endeavour.
“That is what we are doing with the £4.5 million in 13 new research projects that the NC3Rs is investing in. We are really pleased to be giving grants to scientists who are trying to develop treatments in major areas of concern such as cancer, motor neurone disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
“If they can do this, and reduce their reliance on animal use then this has to be good news.”
Friday, August 7, 2009
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