Autologous stem cell COPD therapy

[pasquino]

Hi,

I underwent an excision of my left lung due to cancer in 2017, I am 70 years old and from the day of the operation I decided not to use medicines but to rely only on rehabilitation, good nutrition, and lots of exercise.

The only help I have are sprays of saline with eucalyptus drops 3 times a day, and very rarely the use of salbutamol via nebulizer.

Now, after almost 4 years the situation has not absolutely worsened, on the other hand I have not suffered any side effects.

The right lung (the only one left) unfortunately suffers from emphysema and fibrosis in a minor (stable) form.

My question is this and I would like it if we could develop a debate on it;

On this US site they talk about stem cell therapy that takes place in different locations, which apparently are not as effective as those made with pluripotent cells (not yet authorized by the FDA) but being autologous they do not have rejection problems but apparently are less effective.

Here in London there is a center in Harley St where they practice this therapy ... I inquired but I got the impression of talking to doctors who in reality do not make promises of any kind, but only suggest a therapy through injections, which I think is anti-inflammatory, with results not guaranteed even to the slightest degree.

All at a cost of 25k + 3k for preliminary tests .

In the USA, on the other hand, the therapy is carried out with much less (10K) and it seems that the results are at least interesting and lasting, as the administration of autologous cells provides a certain benefit and partial regeneration for respiration.

Therefore I am attaching the link pending your kind interest.

bioinformant.com/cost-of-st...

Regards

mario

[ck101]

Ok I’ll kick off the response. Here’s a very recent article on stem cell therapy in COPD.

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

If there was a credible basis for SCT in COPD big pharma would be all over it. They’re not, as of yet anyway.

A improvement in the respiratory function of a mouse is about as far as they’ve got, they were at this point 20 years ago btw.

It’s shocking the amount of progress that’s been made in an industry that’s been designed around selling each other’s preparations in combination inhalers of different colours.

Personally I’m hoping something comes of Bronchial rheoplasty or Targeted lung denervation (TLD).

Both of these are a lot further down the road than stem cell therapy and don’t seem to have any opportunists lurking in clinics in Mexico, Panama or Thailand waiting to extract my hard earned cash under the guise of a groundbreaking cure.

[Bham-Mo]

I agree with ck101. This is ‘therapy’ which is not treatment. And there is a reason for it not being FDA approved. I was reading a article about stem cell transplant which is a totally different level of treatment for rare lung diseases. erj.ersjournals.com/content...

[pasquino in reply to Bham-Mo]

Point is that I was looking for "something" that could improve a bit my respiration.Then if exists, remain to see if the price is worth the benefit.

So I wanted to get in touch with someone who used this palliative therapy

Considering hat preventers give a lot of side effects the chance of an apparently side effect free therapy is tempting.Then remains to see why the government says that stem cell is NOT approved but tolerates the opening of clinics offering useless remedies.

Something tells me that the opportunity of having millions of medicine users for a lifetime inhibit the opportunity of allowing an one-off cure without side effects until the traditional massive stocks of medicine are sold.

An old italian politician used to say : being suspicious is a sin, but most of the times you get it right!

[ck101]

Hi Pasquino,

I hope you didn’t feel I was too negative. Given your situation you seem to be doing very well staying off meds.

On the stem cell treatment I think there were a few here many years back that proceeded with therapy. You may also consider posting your query on the US site COPDFoundation.

Members there like some here have mostly advanced COPD and they have a team of trained volunteers answering questions from members. There’s no charge btw.

Some of them have been contributing to both the COPDFoundation site and EFFORTS (a site for Emphysema support) for over 20 years.

They have a leading Pulmonologist who logs on twice a week to answer questions and Respiratory Therapists passing through daily that also contribute.

The site has a Q&A section, ensure to post there.

It’s worth a shot as it will reach both a larger audience and members of the medical community.

Good luck!

[pasquino]

thanks a lot , i will do and keep the community here updated...