StemEnhance™

A Simple Hypothesis

How does one explain the origin and purpose of the Adult Stem Cell in a world that is just discovering (once again) that we are more than a bunch of randomized genes, chromosomes and protoplasm that found our way here by some accident.
Yes, I know that some will find what I write quite amusing if not completely ridiculous due to the level at which I communicate and the fact that I believe that our bodies, both anatomically and physiologically, are no accident or random happening.
To understand the Adult Stem Cell requires some knowledge of how life starts and our bodies develop. First, as soon as the egg is fertilized by the sperm life and cell division begin. The early cell divisions are considered embryonic because they are of the embryo and are not differentiated (meaning they have not specialized into any type cell) these are the ones many researchers want to use for research because they can be "engineered" to become any type of cell, at least in vetro meaning outside the body. How many cells are we talking about? Depends on which report you read, but most put it between 140 and 200 cells. At this point the cells begin to differentiate, or become cells with a specific purpose. One may be for bone or skeletal production, another for the digestive system, another for the nervous system and so on. Yes, this is a very simple explanation and does not go into any of the details on how this actually happens. There are many reports available, written by top researchers that will go into these details, but for my purpose they would only confuse the issue. The point I am trying to make is that these cells are "builders" that build our bodies through continued duplication.
There is another cell that appears to differentiate into what we now know as the Adult Stem Cell. These cells are not "builders" as mentioned earlier, but are the "repairman" or "maintenance men" for our bodies. Their function is to help the body heal itself by traveling through the blood supply to an injured area then attaching themselves and differentiating into the type of cell that is injured or damaged then multiply as necessary for healing. Until recently, researchers have considered the Adult Stem Cell (which is normally stored in the bone morrow) interesting but of little value when it comes to repair of the body. The approach most were seeking was to obtain the embryonic stem cell, genetically program it to become whatever tissue was needed then grow them in vetro and eventually inject them into the patient. However, as early as 2000, researchers were finding out that the adult stem cell had the ability to differentiate into other cell types, including but not limited to bone, cartilage, muscle, brain, nervous, optical etc.
In concert with this new information, a researcher named Christian Drapeau who had been studying a product called AFA began to unlock the secrets of the adult stem cell. In turn, this led to the development of a patented product called StemEnhance, a natural nutritional product containing concentrations of two key ingredients of AFA. One component causes an increase of adult stem cells in circulation while the other encourages them to travel to any area needing repair, thus allowing the body to help itself naturally. StemEnhance is produced and marketed by StemTech HealthSciences Inc.
As with any new concept this revolutionary and far reaching, there will be those who will cast doubt, criticize, distort the facts and even attempt to interject scare tactics in an attempt to discourage potential users of the product. I would expect those most likely to travel this path will be those who feel they have something to loose - especially financially. At this point I would like to inject one of my favorite quotes given to me by a friend, "The mind is like a parachute - it works best when open".

Question #4 Taken from the International Stem Cell Forum

Q4. Have stem cells been used to treat any human diseases yet?

A. Adult stem cells such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow (hematopoietic stem cells or HSCs) are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human disease. Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for over 40 years. More advanced techniques for collecting HSCs are now used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and several other blood disorders.
The clinical potential of adult stem cells has also been demonstrated in the treatment of other diseases, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease and advanced kidney cancer. For example, in 1999 scientists in the USA removed 10 to 15 neural stem cells from a Parkinson's disease patient and used them to reproduce 6 million dopaminergic neural stem cells in culture. These were reintroduced into the patient's brain tissue, producing a 62% increase in dopamine uptake and a 40-50% improvement in certain motor tasks. However, these newer uses of adult somatic stem cells have involved studies with very limited numbers of patients.
Embryonic stem cells have not been used to treat any human diseases yet, but are thought to offer potential cures and therapies for many devastating diseases. Scientists only began studying embryonic stem cells in the late 1990s, so much of the research is still at an early stage.

This is just one of hundreds of research papers available on www.pubmed.gov

Loebinger MR, Janes SM. MSc, Centre of Respiratory Research, Rayne Building, University College London, 5 University St, London, WC1E 6JJ, UK. s.janes@ucl.ac.uk.
Respiratory diseases remain one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Interest has increased as to the possibility of optimizing the repair of the lung with the manipulation of stem cells. Embryonic and adult stem cells have been suggested as possibilities. Adult stem cells have traditionally been thought of as having limited differentiation ability and to be organ specific. However, a series of exciting reports over the last 5 to 10 years have suggested that adult bone marrow-derived stem cells may have more plasticity and are able to differentiate into bronchial and alveolar epithelium, vascular endothelium, and interstitial cell types, making them prime candidates for repair. This article critically reviews the evidence for this plasticity and the use of predominantly adult stem cells to help with lung regeneration and repair and assesses how this technology may be utilized in clinical medicine. PMID: 17625088 [PubMed - in process]

Is this the cell that could revolutionize medicine?
(Note: This was written in January 2002 - We have come a long way since!)

IT MIGHT turn out to be the most important cell ever discovered. It's a stem cell found in adults that can turn into every single tissue in the body.
Until now, only stem cells from early embryos were thought to be able to do this. If the finding is confirmed, it will mean cells from your own body could one day be turned into all sorts of perfectly matched replacement tissues and even organs.

If so, there would be no need to resort to therapeutic cloning-cloning people to get matching stem cells from the resulting embryos. Nor would you have to genetically engineer embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to create a "one cell fits all" line that doesn't trigger immune rejection. The discovery of such versatile adult stem cells will also fan the debate about whether embryonic stem cell research is justified.

"The work is very exciting," says Ihor Lemischka of Princeton University. "They can differentiate into pretty much everything that an embryonic stem cell can differentiate into."

The cells were found in the bone marrow of adults by Catherine Verfaillie at the University of Minnesota. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and though the team has so far published little, a patent application seen by New Scientist shows the team has carried out extensive experiments. These confirm that the cells-dubbed multipotent adult progenitor cells, or MAPCs-have the same potential as ESCs. "It's very dramatic, the kinds of observations [Verfaillie] is reporting," says Irving Weissman of Stanford University. "The findings, if reproducible, are remarkable."

At least two other labs claim to have found similar cells in mice, and one biotech company, MorphoGen Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, says it has found them in skin and muscle as well as human bone marrow. But Verfaillie's team appears to be the first to carry out the key experiments needed to back up the claim that these adult stem cells are as versatile as ESCs.

Verfaillie extracted the MAPCs from the bone marrow of mice, rats and humans in a series of stages. Cells that don't carry certain surface markers, or don't grow under certain conditions, are gradually eliminated, leaving a population rich in MAPCs. Verfaillie says her lab has reliably isolated the cells from about 70 per cent of the 100 or so human volunteers who donated marrow samples.

The cells seem to grow indefinitely in culture, like ESCs. Some cell lines have been growing for almost two years and have kept their characteristics, with no signs of ageing, she says. Given the right conditions, MAPCs can turn into a myriad of tissue types: muscle, cartilage, bone, liver and different types of neurons and brain cells. Crucially, using a technique called retroviral marking, Verfaillie has shown that the descendants of a single cell can turn into all these different cell types-a key experiment in proving that MAPCs are truly versatile.

Also, Verfaillie's group has done the tests that are perhaps the gold standard in assessing a cell's plasticity. She placed single MAPCs from humans and mice into very early mouse embryos, when they are just a ball of cells. Analyses of mice born after the experiment reveal that a single MAPC can contribute to all the body's tissues.

MAPCs have many of the properties of ESCs, but they are not identical. Unlike ESCs, for example, they do not seem to form cancerous masses if you inject them into adults. This would obviously be highly desirable if confirmed.

"The data looks very good, it's very hard to find any flaws," says Lemischka. But it still has to be independently confirmed by other groups, he adds.

Meanwhile, there are some fundamental questions that must be answered, experts say. One is whether MAPCs really form functioning cells. Stem cells that differentiate may express markers characteristic of many different cell types, says Freda Miller of McGill University. But simply detecting markers for, say, neural tissue doesn't prove that a stem cell really has become a working neuron.

Verfaillie's findings also raise questions about the nature of stem cells. Her team thinks that MAPCs are rare cells present in the bone marrow that can be fished out through a series of enriching steps. But others think the selection process actually creates the MAPCs. "I don't think there is 'a cell' that is lurking there that can do this. I think that Catherine has found a way to produce a cell that can behave this way," says Neil Theise of New York University Medical School.

Author: Sylvia Pagan Westphal, Boston

New Scientist issue: 26th January 2002

New Scientist

The Bottom Line

After careful study and "due diligence" I can only conclude that StemEnhance brought to market by StemTech HealthSciences Inc. does in fact cause an increase in the adult stem cells in circulation after a single serving. The product is patented and has been brought before the International Society for Stem Cell Research in good faith. It is recognized that a certain degree of variability exists in the number of adult stem cells released by StemEnhance from individual to individual which may in turn require adjusting the serving size. This variability may also contribute to the time frame when results are noted. Our Bottom Line is that StemEnhance is a revolutionary product, the very first of it's kind, in a new group called stem enhancers. This product may truly redefine the aging process as we know it today, giving a wonderful new hope to the "baby boomer" generation!

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