5th Installment - 10 Questions with Dr. Burton Feinerman

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This month's installment is 10 member submitted questions answered by Dr. Burton Feinerman.



1) Some of us have felt "symptoms" (real or imagined) immediately after treatment, some even during the stem cell infusion. These seem to usually disappear. Why do they occur and then go away?

The question does not mention what stem cells were infused or for what condition. Patients can sometimes experience flushing and warmth to the face and body that is transient. Also muscle aches and generalized malaise may occur. All of these symptoms disappear uneventfully without any treatment.


2) I got 5 million autologous stem cells on Nov. 13. I felt "fluey" for the first week, then nothing much happened until about the 9th of Dec. After that, all my original symptoms, eg. fatigue, pain got steadily worse. Is this a "common" reaction? At times, I've felt so weak I wondered if I were dying. Slight improvement today, but it would be helpful to know why the deterioration happened. My doctor has no explanation and expected me to have some progress by now.

Again, no mention about what kind of stem cells and for what condition. I need to know this information in order to answer the question.


3) Are follow up or booster treatments more likely to be needed when a patient is treated with cord blood-based cells or with human (autologous) cells? Please answer this question only as it applies to COPD or other illnesses in which both cord blood cells and human cells (marrow or peripheral) have both been used with some success in treatment.

I would expect the need to booster injections of autologous stem cells when compared to umbilical cord stem cells. Autologous stem cells are best used to treat autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's Disease, Scleroderma. Umbilical cord stem cells are best for COPD, Heart and Kidney disease, Diabetes, and Neurodegenerative diseases.


4) Many of us have already had one or more stem cell treatments and have had vastly different expectations about the time frame for results. We have been told (from time of treatment): up to a year or longer; 6 months; 3-6 months; several weeks or less. Doctors and/or clinics have given us all of these time frames. What would be realistic? Would the type of stem cells have anything to do with it?

Improvement after stem cell treatments is relative to the nature of the disease, duration of the disease, age of patient, source and type of stem cells, and the severity of the disease in the patient.

For example, a patient with diabetes receiving pancreaatic islet stem cells often will exhibit improvement within 4-6 weeks in decreasing their insulin dose, and hopefully being able to stop it after 3-6 months. Patients with alzheimer's or spinal cord injuries may take 6-12 months before they see initial improvement.


5) Could a patient with Bronchiectasis and no Emphysema or other lung condition who has classic deterioration caused by Bronchiectasis be helped by stem cells? Also, are stem cells injured or destroyed if patient allows O2 level to drop below 90? Would how often and how low the O2 is allowed to get be significant in the patient's final benefit from stem cell infusion?

Patients with Bronchitis and Emphysema should be helped by infusions of stem cells. A repeat booster might be necessary at 6 and 18 months after first treatment.


6) Why would a patient receive stem cells from 2 or 3 labs in one infusion "cocktail"?

There are specialized laboratories that prepare only Cardiac or Neurological or Pancreatic stem cells which can be mixed safely in one infusion rather than given seperately.


7) What current research do you consider the most promising and/or what researcher's work do you most closely follow? Do you know what Phase II or Phase III trials look like they may truly lead to approved treatments the soonest?

There are many concurrent trials going on, particularly in Singapor, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Regarding stem cell treatmens. Certainly treatments for spinal cord injuries, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Multiple Sclerosis are in the forefront, and we have seen significant improvements with our patients. Our company is working hard to develop a protocol to treat blindness due to optic nerve atrophy and Macular Degeneration. There are already highly successful stem cell treatments for Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Crohn's. Our company has seen much success in treating diabetics that were on insulin pumps and are now running normal blood sugars. At our new hospital center in Peru, we shall be implanting direct implants at the site of injury with Neuron stem cells, Neuropeptide, Neurotrophin, Nerve cell factor in patients with ALS and spinal cord injuries.


8) Doctors and clinics are striving to perfect cell delivery methods and, in some cases, various formulations to accompany the cell infusion before, during or after the infusion as well as different cell processing. Could we not be dealing with virtually an unlimited number of different possibilities that could take many, many years to sort through?

Working and developing different protocols is the history in Medicine of many serious incurable diseases in the past hundred years such as Cancer, AIDS,infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B and C. With the advent of stem cell therapies, Nanotechnology, Gene Therapy, and Tissue Engineering, there are going to be merging sciences all to the benefit of the patient.


9) If a patient pays the current rate for a cell treatment and then the clinic comes up with a better delivery method, formulation or method of cell processing, would it be fair to charge the patient full price again for the newer method if the patient needed it? Could there be some kind of "warranty" work done in cases like this?

Our company will make every effort to offer new improved treatments to patients that have had previous therapy done at a greatly reduced rate. There are never any guarantees in medicine, especially when it comes to new and evolving protocols.


10) What single disease, if you could only choose one, would you say shows the most promise to be cured with stem cell treatment or is cure not the correct word to use?

I expect and hope to see the challenge of spinal cord injuries to be met within the next five years by direct stem cell neuron implants. Serious Ischemic Heart Disease with direct Cardiomyocyte stem cell implants. Pancreatic Islet stem cells that produce Insulin; Neuron stem cells that produce Dopamine. New and better protocols for Alzheimer stem cell treatments are becoming available. There are concurrent trials going on combining stem cell therapy with Gene therapy which will more adequately address the problems of advanced Metastatic Cancer.



Burton Feinerman, M.D.

Stem Cell Biotherapy
1-877-STEM123
www.stemcellbiotherapy.com

Clinics in: Mexico, Peru, Cayman Islands
 
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