Stem Cell Transplant Heals Dog's Joints - Page 1

This article appeared in the Toronto Star on Saturday. I thought it might be of interest to posters here. Not all dogs can benefit from this, but statistics report a 75 to 95% success rate!

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/666233

Chip is a frisky, friendly 3-year-old chocolate Labrador. He's also a cutting-edge laboratory experiment.

While the promise of stem-cell therapies remain largely unfulfilled for humans, they are succeeding in leaps and bounds in dogs like Chip, whose transplant for his elbow dysplasia did what drugs, physio, water therapy and two surgeries could not. Elbow dysplasia, common in certain dog breeds, is a condition involving multiple developmental abnormalities of the elbow-joint.

"It's so exciting that they can do this," says Toronto resident Anne Molloy, about the April transplant of her pet's own stem cells. ....... [cut]


The procedure is not approved in North America for people, although it's in clinical trials in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia, Harman notes.



 

www.vet-stem.com/

www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/161381.html

My dad had this done to his knees about 4 years ago, they're just now starting to give him trouble again. He will be doing it again. His was experimental......

They are also using stem cell therapy for horses with suspensory ligament injuries.  Some of the ligaments look like swiss cheese and come back great!!

TENS units are being used also.  I am using TENS on a horse of mine, as we speak.  It allows me to exercise and stretch the muscles, ligaments and tendons 27,000 times in a 4 hr. period, without the horse pounding on a strained ligament.  It is great to be able to bring our animal athletes back to performance condition.

Debbie

Hopefully when legislators and the general public hear of more success stories of stem cell therapy involving animals, they'll reconsider some of their illogical and fear-based restrictions that were put in place during the Bush administration.