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Hi all....

I am on a mission to get Adult Stem Cell Therapy and am looking at both Panama's Stem Cell Institute and Cellitex Clinic in Cancun, Mexico. I am sill researching both, but have created a fundraising page to help deffer costs.



I also wanted to ask for advice and feedback from anyone that may have had therapy done in either location and what the total costs and results were.

I have no misconceptions that Stem Cells "cure" MS. The research I have done suggests that I will still need to be on some form of Immuno suppressant (I'm looking to start Tecfidera soon) to prevent the immune system from wreaking more havoc on my CNS. But if I can repair some, most, or all of the damage and get even one thing back that I've lost....I feel it would be worth it.

I humbly ask that you read my story, and if you cannot donate, please share the link with your Facebook friends and Twitter contacts....I would be incredibly grateful.

Many thanks.

- KenC.

I cannot recommend either one. I received an Autologous stem cell/ CCSVI Venogram in India.This is very important for patients to understand. That adipose cells they cannot become brain tissue and therefore are not appropriate for the treatment of neurological diseases like MS. Lots of stem cell clinics offer this method of treatment because it's cheap and easy to perform. I would also assume in most cases its all the medical teams are capable of performing.

Hmmm....I really appreciate your perspective. The more different views of this, the more I understand things a little better, so thanks for your input.

I have seen numerous testimonies and read case studies from both clinics and at least they generate some hope of at least feeling better for a little while. I think to me, it might be worth it. It is more hopeful than anything else that the US medical establishment is offering. It seems that Celltex now has a clinic in Mexico for treating qualified applicants, and are continuing to bank both adipose and bone marrow colonies here in Texas for use when the FDA finally approves the therapy here in the US. That'll be my next stop.

Any other feedback would be greatly appreciated.

http://tischms.org/news/tisch-ms-resear ... monitoring

Click on research " Repair strategies in MS ", you can see the FDA shut down the phase 2 trial. This trial was the most promising in the US.

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Stem Cells in Panama

Posted by Alice M. Altmix on June 29, 2013 at 12:33pm
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I am going to Panama for a stem cell treatment. Has anyone been there and are willing to share their story??

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Comment by Alice M. Altmix on July 7, 2013 at 3:11pm

Thank you for of the comments. They are very helpful in my decision process and may they be a benefit to others.

Comment by alicia espino on July 7, 2013 at 8:34am

yes my daughter went we also did not get the out come we were hopping for it was not of any bennifit

Comment by Paul A. Ladikos on July 2, 2013 at 10:24am

Hello Alice, yes I had stem cell therapy in November, 2011 in Panama. I was there two weeks the stem cells were taken thru lipo suction thru stomach fat, sent to a lab to be sterilized and reintroduced by needle back into body. The Stem Cell Institute was a first class operation and I was treated like a king. I had my own personal driver that would pick me up and take me to all my appointments. The staff and doctors were all very courteous and professional. I met people from all over the US and other Countries. Some were their a 2nd time and said the stem cells helped them. I met a couple from Texas and we pretty much had all our appointments together. So we used each other to gage the treatment and process. I was treated with 41 million stem cells during my two week stay my counterpart was treated with 68 million stems cells. We both kept waiting for something to happen both physically and mentally after the infusion. We were told everybody is different and it takes time for the stem cells to target areas. For those asking what was the cost with lodging, food, airfare and treatment I spent $23,000 for the two weeks. The Stem Cell Institute does followup up to see how your doing at one, three and six months intervals. Unfortunately, my friend and I never got any of the results we were looking for. So for me it was a crap shoot theirs no guarantees and you'll sign a waiver that says that they are not held responsible if the cells do not work. I'm still a very firm believer in stem cell therapy and stem cells thru bone marrow are showing better results. Their are clinical trials going on in the US with very positive results. Unfortunately, until Big Pharma can make trillions of dollars and control the industry stem cells are 5-10 years away in the US. To sum up, I went to Panama because I have relapsing remitting progressive ms hoping to stop the progression I was on copaxone for (3) years and hoping the stem cells would help the progression (they didn't) my friend from Texas who I still am in contact with also did not benefit from the stem cells. I am now starting Tecfidera program this week. Hopefully, this will slow the progression. Please note that the above statement is my own personal view and experience not intended to influence anyones decision or give negative feedback to the Stem Cell Institute in Panama. Best wishes to you, Paul

Comment by jan wexler on June 30, 2013 at 12:08pm

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Went to the one in Costa Rica before the government closed it down. They relocated in Panama. For me and ALL the others that were there at the same time, it initially helped all, except me (no difference at all) but now all have declined further. I ran fever every time I received an injection of stem cells. So I did not participate in physio. Everyone else did. I believe that is why those people improved initially. Some are now thinking this is a CSF problem originating from compression in the cervical spine (neck). Exercising to strengthen the muscles, especially in the neck will keep the neck/posture in the correct position and keep symptoms at bay. I showed no symptoms of MS for 17 years. And I was an gym junkie. Weight training with HEAVY weights. 5-7times/week. It was when I stopped going to the gym my condition started to decline and decline.

Comment by Faith on June 30, 2013 at 11:09am

Judi Lecoq is on Facebook. I told her and she said to friend her. She will friend you back to share her stem experiences in Panama. She is a wealth of information.

Comment by J Baker on June 29, 2013 at 1:52pm

In India they are doing the CCSVI procedure along with stem cells and also in Bulgaria. If anyone has done this, I would love to hear how it went. In India they are injecting stem cells into the CSF via LP.

India:


Comment by Stephen Lovatt on June 29, 2013 at 1:27pm
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My experience with stem cells therapy in Panama - MSWorld Forums

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Stephen Lovatt

I was treated in 2012 with cells I banked with Celltex. They are not a clinic, they bank, culture and expand your cells so you get a very high dose of pure mesenchymal stem cells, 200 million per IV infusion. To get information directly from them, fill out their contact form, http://celltexbank.com/about/contact/

I have had very good results for SPMS. I know longer feel like I'm on the verge of a nursing home, and all of the miserable symptoms like incontinence, constipation, leg spasms are gone or minimal now. Yes, there a a few MS patient who used Celltex and didn't respond, but this is the case for every clinic, I know because I am in touch with people who have been to India, Panama. This applies to those who have done HSCT, which also carries the risk of death from infection after the immune system is removed with chemo. But the majority of MS patients treated at Celltex are having positive results, although it can take up to 6 months to manifest.

If you want to connect with other Celltex patients, PM me, or friend me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/sammyjo.ldn

Patients are working to make our voice heard against the FDA ruling that our own stem cells are a drug, so that we don't have to resort to medical tourism.
To learn more, subscribe to our blog at http://www.patientsforstemcells.org/
and Like our page at http://www.facebook.com/PatientsForStemCells

http://www.regenexx.com/2013/08/update- ... etty-weak/
Adipose tissue contains many types of cells of various therapeutic applications depending upon the disease being treated. Adipose cells are of interest for this, but also for their very low cost of harvest and delivery, which some might try to take advantage of. Studies with adipose derived cells suggest homing characteristics to areas of inflammation where they can release a wide range of trophic signals that influence surrounding tissues, but they have not been as useful for regenerating neurons if used to treat neurodegenerative diseases like MS or ALS. Many claims are being made by medical tour operators about their ability to regenerate nerves and repair the central nervous system using adipose cells. This study put together by Dr. Chris Centeno shows that in real-world clinical trials going on at university hospitals and institutes around the world, cell from an adipose source are generally discarded just because they don’t the ability to significantly affect the disease course of neurodegenerative diseases.

http://www.healthintheglobalvillage.com ... nspection/
http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_d ... ition.html

The record needs to be set straight. Adipose stem cells are different in their biological potential compared to all other cells ... they simply are NOT stem cells and are generally referred to as a ‘different species’. Although they can be manipulated through tissue engineering to become other types of cells also with limited potential because of their lineage, that’s not what we’re talking about here. In the context that patients are mentioning them here, they are not talking about manipulated cells, just cells aspirated from belly fat, spun down in a centrifuge and infused back into the body through the veins for the treatment of MS. Clinical trials using adipose sources have not ended in success for these investigations. Serious clinicians no longer work with them, especially for developing therapeutic strategies in regenerative medicine. It’s quite well-known that research projects targeting neurodegenerative diseases or clinical studies investigating experimental spinal cord therapies have made no progress using either manipulated or non-manipulated adipose cells. This is different for studies involving only vascular related pathology ( for ischemic events, and strokes) where there has been some success. On the other hand the clinical trials that I know of that are making progress toward effective therapies for neurodegenerative diseases are all using marrow-derived, either manipulated or non-manipulated, culture expanded, adult mesenchymal cells because they can be: 1) expanded to a clinical dose, 2)migrate to areas of tissue injury, regulate immune cells, promote repair mechanisms in the brain, suppress T-cells, produce trophic factors in the brain, and have a dramatic effect on oligidendroglial cells (cells that make myelin). Adipose derived cells simply cannot do this and there is no data to substantiate that claim. Finally Pub Med has catalogued over 1000 abstracts/articles on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that reside in the adipose tissue and that these are indeed capable of transferring to the brain and other organs upon infusion of cellular material.

Yes, if you are referring to stromal vascular fraction (SVF) from adipose tissue, that is going to has a lesser therapeutic effect, because there are only 20-50 million Mesechymal stem cells MSCs in 12 0z of fat, along with all the other cells type that are in the aspirate.

MSCs are MSCs no matter the source! They are present in both adipose and bone marrow aspirate, and once isolated, can be cultured and expanded to achieve a therapeutic dose. I know this personally because of the recovery I've had after receiving 600 million pure MSCs that were cultured at the Celltex bank. This is extracted from 1 oz of adipose tissue via mini-liposection, which never has to be repeated because Celltex is a cell BANK, where the cells are kept in cryo, and a new dose can always be cultured from the original cells. There process came from RNL Bio in S. Korea, where over 10,000 people have been treated since 2005 with positive results. The U.S. is just behind in this science. The choice for the patient is do they want to have aspirate taken from their hip bone, or from their stomach with liposuction.

Here is the animal studies that show MSCs from adipose source cross the blood brain barrier, and becomes neurons and brain cells:

Human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells improve cognitive function and physical activity in ageing mice.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23404260/

And this one from RNL Bio
The preventive and therapeutic effects of intravenous human adipose-derived stem cells in Alzheimer's disease mice.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=23049854

"We found that intravenously transplanted human autologous stem cells (hASCs) passed through the BBB and migrated into the brain. The learning, memory and pathology in an Alzheimer's mouse model mice greatly improved for at least 4 months after intravenous injection of hASC. The number of amyloid plaques and Aβ levels decreased significantly"

Sammy Jo, How many stem cell treatments have you received @ Celltex and how much per treatment?

Here's another Celltex review.
http://www.dwilliamsconsulting.com/test-blog-post

If any patient is seriously considering stem cell treatment, I have posted the following link http://www.regenetek.com/
If patients are looking for "Liposuction" Adipose derived cell treatment intravenously re infused into patients.These treatment regimes are available to patients in the continental USA. It has become a growing trend, a half of the plastic surgeons in California perform these treatments.