There is a common myth that bone marrow stem cells do not work in the elderly.

However, we are seeing elderly patients respond very well to bone marrow stem cells.

In this blog, we share the experience of 80-year-old Georgia whose long-standing back pain resolved after bone marrow stem cell therapy. We will also explain why they are effective even in older patients.

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The common myth is that as we age, the number of bone marrow stem cells dramatically decline in the bone marrow. This is true for the bone marrow stem cells in the long bones. Fortunately, the stem cell numbers are much better preserved in the iliac crest bone [bone in the back of the hip] from where we obtain the cells. This is the main reason why we are seeing good results with bone marrow stem cells even in our elderly patients. Georgia is not an exception.

In fact, Georgia’s bone marrow cell numbers were very high. Her TNC [Total Nucleated Cell Count] was 1.87 billion. TNC is a surrogate marker for stem cell numbers. In one intradiscal stem cell study, the average TNC was 847 million. Georgia’s TNC was more than double of what was reported in that study. Age did not affect Georgia’s bone marrow stem cell count.

After false starts, drugs that manipulate the code of life are finally changing lives.

A new generation of “smart” implantable devices could replace traditional medication to treat a range of chronic conditions, including cardiac disease.

The results from the treatment have been nothing less than miraculous. The beta-thalassemia patient, a European native who needed 16 blood transfusions a year but hasn’t needed even one since the treatment and the sickle-cell patient doesn’t suffer from the pain attacks associated with the condition anymore.

Scientists have developed a system of lasers that can probe inside the human body, much like an ultrasound, but from a distance.

The system can accurately image what’s going on inside a person’s body up to a depth of about six centimeters, according to an MIT press release. While that may not seem like much, it’s still an important first step in removing physical contact from ultrasound scans, as that can sometimes introduce variability in a doctor’s readings.

The system, described in research published in the journal Light: Science & Applications on Friday, uses two lasers: one to generate sound waves that bounce around inside the patient’s body, and the second to detect them as they reflect back.

The device has allowed Chou’s team to investigate how microgravity affects different diseases. The scientists report it has been tremendously effective so far in eliminating cancer cells.

“When placed in a microgravity environment, 80 to 90 per cent of the cells in the four different cancer types we tested – ovarian, breast, nose and lung – were disabled,” said Chou.

Normally, these are the hardest cancers to fight. Chou’s experiments, without using any drugs, managed to either kill such cells or make them “float off because they can no longer hold on.”