Today in our coverage of stem cell treatments from around the world, we bring you this report about the increasing number of patients who underwent stem cell therapy in Cuba.
From xinhua.net:
HAVANA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) — Stem cell treatment was successfully applied to 1,478 patients in Cuba from 2004 to 2009, the government said Monday.
About 74 percent of those treated suffered from inadequate blood supply to the lower limbs and diseases of the blood and lymph vessels unresponsive to conventional therapy, said Porfirio Hernandez, coordinator of the National Group for Regenerative Medicine.
There has also been an increase in stem cell treatments in orthopedics and traumatology, he said. Cuba started its stem cell research in 2003, focusing on angiology and heart diseases
How successful are these treatments? Cubaweb reports that the results for angiology are “very favorable”:
Hernandez said the results obtained in the field of Angiology are very favorable it has avoided important amputations. The expert added that the regenerative cell therapy is increasingly used in orthopedics and traumatology. The method has been successfully used to fix gum bone defects.
Earlier in January this year, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) reported that the Public Health Ministry’s e Institute of Immunology and Hematology (IHI) has undertaken a study that focuses on the use of stem cells in orthopedics. According to ACN, the “procedure consists of obtaining stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow, which are later administered trough a percutaneous injection in the joint cavity of the knee.”
Twenty one patients were involved in the study which has reportedly produced promising results.
Aside from the IHI specialists, other scientists involved in this study come from the Enrique Cabrera General Hospital and the Institute of Sports Medicine according to Porfirio Hernandez Ramirez, coordinator of the National Group of Re-Generative Medicinel.
*****
Can Stem Cell Therapy Benefit Athletes?
27 January 2011
Can stem cell therapy help relieve athletes from the sports injuries they suffer? Dr. Porfirio Hernandez is optimistic that it will. Says the doctor as quoted by the Cuban News Agency:
“This new treatment will be very valuable for bone fractures and muscle, ligament and tendon ailments”, he stressed. The Dr. added that “for the moment this procedure, which is not surgical, has had good results and the patients have shown quick recoveries.”
The doctor pointed out however that the procedure is still “very young” and that there is still a long way to go before we completely learn about stem cell’s regenerating capacity.
