To China for brain injury treatment Heartening to read about a young U.S. man who after a five-week stay in China can now drink unassisted, control his drooling, open and close his eyes and hear better - and it is early days yet. As well as the stem cell therapy the young man received intensive physiotherapy, acupuncture, massage and speech therapy.
For the price tag (much of which was met by local support and fundraising) his parents are delighted with the early changes they can see every day. As his mother says: “In the rehab world these are huge things”.

This story is just another example of how people are being helped to a healthier and better quality of life right now - thanks to adult stem cells.

The hype makes one gasp and stretch one’s eyes!Columbia University are using mesenchymal stem cells derived from patients’ own bone marrow or adipose (fat) tissue then implanting them over a scaffold where they go to work creating bone, fat, cartilage and other types of cells.

Imagine what this could (and will) mean for victims of accident or war and all those who have had disfiguring sugery for cancer. Grafts shrink and lose their shape and volume. In animal studies to date these implants do not - and, of course, there is no risk of rejection. Apart from that, grafts taken from a patient’s body create additional wounds.

This is amazing stuff and will bring realistic hope to all those who have disfiguring scars because these cells replicate themselves and differentiate into what the area needs.
Another example of how science is being driven forwards so rapidly in this exciting area of regenerative medicine. There’s nothing alternative about it - this is mainstream medicine with vast potential. Adult stem cell research results are being released virtually daily.

We are truly living in exciting times that will bring new hope to the hopeless and new lives to those suffering from a vast range of previously considered untreatable or hopeless conditions. Diseases like Freidreich’s Ataxia can be helped right now. Heart Failure patients and those who can only walk with great pain from periperal artery disease (PAD) can be helped right now. The list goes on and on. It’s my privilege to make therapies using adult stem cells  known so that patients can join the thousands already leading new lives because of them

Adult stem cells help kids with diabetes - Hot off the Press! Another study has shown that adult stem cells have the potential to help patients with various diseases. Seven children aged from 2-7 with diabetes were given adult stem cells. The group was matched with 13 who were treated solely by insulin. Results to date show that the therapy helped enhance blood glucose control and management. Given that some 21 million Americans have diabetes which can lead to severely debilitating or fatal complications, this is really exciting news.

The number of conditions being successfully treated with adult stem cells continues to grow. Regenerative medicine has to be the most exciting thing around. Ask any heart disease or PAD patient and they will tell you that they never dreamed they could return to a more active, energetic and pain-free life. I wonder how long before the FDA will approve adult stem cell therapy as a safe, effective and mainstream procedure

I’ve just spent several hours reading blogs about medical tourism and finished feeling that blogs were little else than a marketing voice of travel firms and providers. When you look at the language used it is overwhelmingly the language of advertising. “Get to the airport with your passport.” “We only partner hospitals that have shown the same attention to safety and quality as U.S. hospitals.” And so on, and on. Superlatives abound and then with a little help from search engines I find this was written by an association that is connected to a health insurer promoting policies to employers that include coverage for overseas hospital services!!

I don’t like to be cynical but who can you trust? Some 500,000 will travel abroad this year for health services so we expect the big boys to form associations to make a dollar. We know the U.S. health system is run by lawyers and we know that many who travel abroad for dental, cosmetic and surgical services are not particularly wealthy or uninsured. What most patients say is that they can have the treatment they want safely in an accredited hospital at about a 70 percent saving. It makes sense but buyer beware.

If you read the ads for hospitals in some countries you would be persuaded - you are a targeted and profiled consumer. Remember that there are good apples and bad apples BUT we at ThaiMed Associates will only work with hospitals we know and trust and which are internationally accredited. We believe there is a place in the medical tourism market for a boutique firm that starts with the patient not the provider.