Stem-Cell-Influencing Therapies

Stem-Cell-Influencing Therapies

In the 21st century, stem cells are going to play an ever-increasing role in restoring function lost by disability, disease, or the entropy of aging. From conception until death, they are the cells of renewal and regeneration through which many growth and healing energies are mediated. The expression of stem cells can be positively or even negatively influenced by numerous therapies. Conceivably, some could augment the effectiveness of the many stem-cell transplantation programs emerging throughout the world. This article discusses several of these therapies. Although the discussion revolves around spinal cord injury (SCI) – the author’s area of expertise – the principles are applicable to many disorders.

Acupuncture: Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that a life-force energy qi permeates all living things through meridian channels punctuated by acupuncture points. Stimulating these points promotes health- and regeneration-enhancing qi flow.

Scientists have shown that acupuncture influences neuronal stem-cell expression in several animal models of neurological disorders. Because of such suggestive studies, as well as others indicating that acupuncture can restore some function in both acute and chronic human SCI, acupuncture has been incorporated into a number of SCI stem-cell programs.

According to Harvard University’s Dr. Charles Shang (USA), the acupuncture system and stem cells are closely linked through an “organizing center network” composed of under-differentiated, electromagnetically sensitive cells. Confirmed by published studies, this network is created early in embryogenesis before the formation of other body systems (e.g., spinal cord) and has the potential to influence these later-formed systems throughout life. Under this model, acupuncture has extensive growth-control effects and can trigger network stem cells into action.

As a crude analogy, view the acupuncture-sensitive “organizing center network” as a behind-the-lines’ general ready to send in “green” reserve troops (i.e., stem cells) who will evolve into the front-line combatants replacing those who have fallen from the attacks of disease, trauma, and aging. In the case of transplanted stem cells, Shang speculates that they can be recruited into a new network for repair and regeneration.

Laser: Evidence indicates that laser therapy promotes functional recovery after SCI. For example, Dr. Kimberly Byrnes et al (USA) demonstrated that laser energy alters gene expression in rats with SCI and in cells being transplanted into the injured cord. Dr. Semion Rochkind (Israel) also has shown that functional recovery in rats with SCI was maximized when embryonic cell transplantation was followed with laser irradiation.

This research is particularly relevant because individuals with SCI have attempted to maximize restored function after stem-cell transplantation using laser-based therapy, especially with the Laserpuncture program developed by France’s Albert Bohbot. Dr. Emilio Jacques (Mexico) has also used laser and acupuncture therapy after transplanting stem cells into the injury site.

Hyperbaric Oxygen: With hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy, patients are put in chambers pressurized at 2-3 atmospheres containing up to 100% oxygen. Studies suggest that HBO is beneficial for treating a variety of neurological disorders in which blood-flow-related oxygenation is compromised, including acute and perhaps chronic SCI. The premise is that HBO will force oxygen into injured oxygen-deprived CNS tissue. Dr. Stephen Thom et al (USA) has shown that HBO stimulates the bone-marrow production of stem cells. Specifically, stem cells doubled in the circulation of humans after a single two-hour, two-atmosphere HBO session, and after 20 treatments, increased eight-fold.

Omental Surgery: As discussed elsewhere, Dr. Harry Goldsmith (USA) has developed surgical procedures for various CNS disorders that use the omentum, a physiologically dynamic tissue that hangs like an apron over the intestines and lower abdomen area. For SCI, the omentum is surgically tailored to create a pedicle of sufficient length and intact circulation so it can be attached to the cord’s injury site (like cutting a square handkerchief into a long necktie). Dr. Ignacio García-Gómez et al (Spain) have shown that human omentum contains stem cells, which synthesize key, blood-flow-enhancing growth factors when transplanted.

Electromagnetic Fields (EMF): EMF reduces neurological damage after acute SCI. Because numerous studies indicate EMF influences stem-cell proliferation, including neuronal stem cells, EMF-associated regenerative effects may be partially mediated through such cells. Some speculate that EMF could be the much-needed physiological steering wheel that directs the difficult-to-control, theoretically powerful embryonic stem cells to the desired terminal destination.

Herbal Medicine: Certain common herbal supplements stimulate stem-cell proliferation. For example, consuming blue-green algae increases the number of stem cells released from the bone marrow into the blood by 25-30% for several hours, and ginseng stimulates proliferation of brain stem cells involved in memory.

Inert-Gas: A little-known therapy, inert-gas treatment builds up the electromagnetic energy fields possessed by all living things, thereby enhancing regenerative potential. Because transplantable stem-cells are living and possess energy fields, some suggest that exposing them to inert-gas energy while in culture will beef-up their physiological robustness and viability before transplantation.

Chemotherapy - Stem-Cell Killer: Recent studies indicate that commonly used chemotherapy agents are more toxic to neuronal stem and progenitor cells than the cancer cells it targets. Due to this toxicity, chemotherapy is associated with many adverse, long-term neurological consequences. Given the incidence of cancer, it is estimated that more people suffer from chemotherapy-related neurological damage than many of the more widely recognized neurological disorders.

Psychoneuroimmunology is a highfalutin scientific term to describe how our emotions, attitudes, and consciousness influence health. Speculatively, one mechanism may involve stem cells. For example, as discussed in The Biology of Belief (2005), Dr. Bruce Lipton states that our emotions affect the electromagnetic fields we internally generate, which modulates the structure of proteins embedded in our cell membranes. In turn, these modulations affect gene or DNA expression that determines cell role and fate. If external EMF can stimulate neuronal stem-cell expression, theoretically, consciousness-generated fields can do so also.

Conclusion: Many therapeutic modalities in our healing spectrum can synergistically work together to enhance health if we are open-minded enough to consider the possibilities. If, for example, the world’s most ancient healing tradition, acupuncture, can influence the most state-of-the-art therapy (i.e., stem cells), we should pay attention, or the promising therapeutic potential of this emerging technology may be compromised.

Author

A former FDA Regulatory Scientist, National-Institutes-of-Health division director, and director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Spinal Cord Research Foundation, Dr. Laurance Johnston has written extensively on various therapies that expand the healing spectrum of people with disabilities, ranging from the ancient wisdom of Eastern Medicine to state-of-the-art stem-cell therapies. He is the author of Alternative Medicine and Spinal Cord Injury: Beyond the Banks of the Mainstream and has been listed in Who’s Who in America for many years.

You can visit his website for the latest in alternative medicine: www.sci-therapies-info