Brain cell transplants in early 2013
 

for better or for worse, this is where the rubber meets the road. As somebody said, "May you live in interesting times".

This is when one scientist says "Inn-terrestink, would you not say? Verrry, verrry inn-terrestink." And then everything depends on whether or not the second scientist replies. "But verry schtoopid".

My own amateur guess is that stem cell treatments (using your own cells) will revolutionize medicine, and basically cure a whole big pile of diseases.... but it may take many years to overcome nature's reluctance to give us a break on this.
But even if it comes too late for some of us, it is indeed warming to contemplate the day when many evil diseases will wash away and eventually be scarcely remembered by the human race.
It will happen, or this I feel sure.

Funny how the Amgen GDNF trials were much more successful in the U.K. than in the U.S.A.

At the time, it was noticed that the American researchers had used a different size of tube in the brain, and not as well attached; apparently some of the tubes came loose and did not deliver the GDNF to the exact spot required.
The clinical GDNF trials in America were also very brief - in the U.K some patients had most of their symptoms disappear - for up to 3 years, until Amgen pulled the plug on the whole thing, based on the failed American study; ignoring the pleas of Brits who had improved by 80% and gone back to work and to their pre-Parkinson's lives; and the research was shut down

Now, we see that stem cell research produced better results in Sweden than in the U.S.A.; and got delayed for a decade or two because 2 American trials failed.

U.S. too stringent; or other countries too lax?

Or U.S. groups fearful of massive lawsuits if it is not 100% perfect, whereas most other countries do not allow such massive lawsuits?

Or many Americans opposed to stem research; in Europe it is not opposed?

I have not grasped why the experiments in Sweden seem to have been more successful, and yet got shut down for 10 or 20 years when American researchers were unable to duplicate the comparative success of the trials in Sweden. And did it ever happen that somebody said "Hey maybe the two countries could work together?"

The country that is pouring money into medical research now is China. Do we ever hear anything about how their research is going? What are they researching?
When it comes to fighting diseases that are a scourge to mankind; whereby ALL people in ALL countries would benefit immensely, us humble patients would like to see co-operation, at least openness about what they are working on, and sharing results to avoid some of the rampant repetition of research that goes on now, around the world.
Any way, we are cheering for you, Sweden. The Nobel Prize is all packed and ready for you. Get it on; make history.

Will world-wide sharing of information and co-operation in research be talked about at the Montreal Spaz-fest in 2013?

regardless,
i'm getting in line. good news until proven different.

the canadians also had good results with fetal transplants, i believe mendez transplanted cells in 2 brain locations, but they also halted the procedure.

http://www.societyns.org/runn/2011/p...ogy%202003.pdf

http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/news/p...rent.php?id=75

Outside the box
 

It's people who think outside the box that make the real discoveries.

Who would have thought some blue mold would lead to penicillin.

For me personally given the choice I would have to vote for giving it a go.

gotta admire anyone willing to undergo brain surgery and it's inherent risks plus stem cell risk. when you could have a DBS or DUODOPA instead, that must be a very tough decision. i'm assuming those are choices, maybe i'm wrong, maybe candidates include DBS patients.

Do you remember?
 

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=32225

and now five years later...:D:D

Olle Lindvall and Anders Bjorklund (with Lund University group in Sweden) are a landmark for PD.