
Only recently emerging on our healing horizon,
experts predict that stem cells will become the body’s therapeutic miracle
workers, regenerating tissues and organs damaged by disease, trauma, or
aging. Once thought to be relatively rare or present only in unique
tissues, these cells have a ubiquitous presence and regenerative role
throughout the body, and may represent a common-denominator mechanism by
which many therapies mediate their healing effects.
Because pulling together seemingly disparate pieces
of the puzzle catalyzes progress, this discussion summarizes the influence
of various adjunct therapies on stem-cell expression. Conceivably, some
could augment the effectiveness of the many stem-cell programs emerging
throughout the world discussed elsewhere on this site.
Stem-cell transplantation procedures and results vary
substantially between programs. Cells from numerous sources (e.g., blood,
bone marrow, olfactory tissue, fetal tissue, etc) have been transplanted
via several routes, including into the spinal cord or fluid,
intravenously, or intramuscularly. Donor cells are not selected based on
the theoretical best source or regenerative potential but their isolation
ease, such as concentrating blood stem cells. Likewise, it’s a lot easier
and safer but perhaps not as effective to inject cells into a muscle,
blood, or spinal fluid than surgically accessing the spinal cord.
In addition, endogenous stem cells may play a healing
role in acute injury. For example, Drs. Charles Tator and A.J. Mothe (Neuroscience
131, 2005) have carried out studies in rats suggesting that that injury
itself mobilizes dormant spinal-cord stem-cells into action. Perhaps, some
of the therapies discussed below could amplify this healing response.
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,
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
(Washington, DC) 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 (Philadelphia, PA) has shown that HBO stimulates the
bone-marrow production of stem cells (link). 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
Dr. Harry Goldsmith (Reno, Nevada) 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 (insert link). 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
(Madrid, 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. For
example, Dr. Wise Young (Piscataway, NJ)
reported that the majority of EMF-treated cats with SCI were walking four
months after injury compared to none in the control group (insert link).
Pilot studies (Poland) suggested that EMF greatly improved neurological
outcomes in patients with acute SCI (insert link). Based on these
possibilities, several patients who have had stem-cell-containing tissue
implanted into their injured cord followed the procedure with EMF therapy.
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 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: ginseng stimulates proliferation
of brain stem cells involved in memory; and
Buyang Huanwu Decoction stimulates the outgrowth and differentiation
of neurites on neuronal stem cells.
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.
Physical
Rehabilitation
As discussed elsewhere,
it has been shown that functional improvements after the transplantation
of stem-cell-containing olfactory tissue into the injured spinal cord is
very dependent on the nature of the post-transplantation physical
rehabilitation program.
Psychoneuroimmunology
Psychoneuroimmunology is a highfalutin
scientific term to describe how our emotions, attitudes, and
consciousness influence health. From a holistic mind-body-spirit view,
the most powerful healing comes from adopting a health-enhancing
consciousness, whose overarching influence transforms the physical. Long
before stem cells became a blip on modern science’s radar, the influence
of consciousness on their expression was discussed in the Life and
Teachings of the Masters of the Far East (Baird Spalding):
1) “As the cell divides
and creates a new cell, our thought is implanted upon it…In the
first cell, all is perfect. That cell was first known as the Christ
cell.” (i.e., the anointed cell) “It is always just as young as ever it
was. It never takes on old age. It is the primal spark of life. When we
implant in it our thoughts of limitation or old age, or any condition
outside of perfection, the body responds. Cells born from the first cell
take on its image. Originally it is the image and likeness of God. It is
perfect in every way. But it becomes the form we carry in our
minds…if we carry the image of perfection always, what will it do for
these cells? It will build perfection.” (Vol. 6, Page 78)
2) “The moment a cell
divides itself from the parent cell, and the instant before it divides
itself, it takes on the exact image of the parent. As it goes out, it
comes under the influence of this imperfection that we think for
ourselves. What happens? We see the vibrations of the cell lowered,
and in some instances when it attaches itself to the organ where it
belongs, it is a dead thing…The very thought influence of
imperfection influences that cell until it dies. The vibrations go
so low that the dynamic influence flows out.” (Vol. 6, Page 92)
Scientists have proposed many physiological
mechanisms by which emotions, attitudes, and overall consciousness can
potentially transform our health and influence stem cells. For example,
Dr. Bruce Lipton hypothesizes that our consciousness affects DNA
expression through influencing proteins embedded in our cell membranes.
As shown in Menninger Clinic experiments,
individuals are able to shift consciousness in a way that can alter the
body’s electromagnetic dynamics. Lipton hypothesizes that this
alteration changes the physical configuration of membrane proteins, in
turn, affecting communication between the outside and inside of cells.
Roughly speaking, this consciousness-driven energy is like a radio
signal triggering the garage door to open. This opening initiates a
cascade of physiological events which regulate gene expression and, in
turn, cell fate, potentially in a life-enhancing direction.
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
(Dietrich J, et al. J Biol, 5(7), 2006). 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.
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.
Although we only
have a tip-of-the-iceberg understanding of them, stem cells will play an
ever-growing role in our efforts to restore function after SCI. As our
knowledge increases, ideally, we will be able to take advantage of various
adjunct therapies to maximize the healing potential of both transplanted
stem cells and those endogenously produced from within. From conception
until death, they are the cells of renewal and regeneration through which
our healing energies are mediated.
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