Diabetics, Dodge Holiday Disasters with These Holiday Travel Tips

Can't beat the 'beatis, my grandpa used to grumble. Meaning, he felt powerless against his diabetes.

It's a different world now, one that includes insulin pumps and a TSA.  How to keep these two entities from making your life miserable during holiday travel is our subject today, with a little help from the CDC's just-released Tip Sheet,  Managing Diabetes During the Holidays.


Packing Medical Supplies
If you read these guidelines carefully, you might spot a theme:

• pack at least twice as much medication as you think you'll need
• pack the right amount of blood-testing supplies - then double that too
• if you're traveling to a place with limited medical resources, double down again

If you're traveling long distances, make sure you move around or get up and walk every 30 minutes, to combat your increased risk for blood clots.

For time (zone) travelers, experts recommend Type 2 Diabetes patients ease into their new schedule by beginning to adjust medication times for insulin in increments in the 3-5 days prior to your departure.

However, if the time change is greater than four hours, ask your doctor to revise your dosing schedule to reflect your new time zone, to reduce the chance for a dosage error.

XO, RX

Carrying a prescription (in the original packaging) along with a letter from your doctor specifically outlining  your treatment plan (e.g. "take prescribed medication every 3 hours, take insulin shots 3 times per day") will reduce the chance of TSA hassles, like confiscation of syringe or other medical devices.

Pump Up Your Caution

 The CDC reports research that has shown changes in airliner cabin pressure during flights can cause insulin pumps to deliver too much insulin when the plane is climbing.  Therefore, diabetics who are extremely sensitive to insulin should disconnect the pump before take-off.  Always check an airborne insulin supply for air bubbles, even after deplaning.

Related Resources
Stopping Diabetes Before It Stops You
Unexpected Ways Technology is Changing Medicine 
Don't Be A Christmas Casualty

Happy Holidays from the Health Traveler! 

Diabetes, Obesity, Superhero Workouts Top Internet Health Searches of 2011

What do obesity and pin-thin Ryan Gosling have to do with each other? Well, a lot, according to Google. Seems "obesity", and "Ryan Gosling workout" are among the top two topics among Internet searchers in 2011.   

With more than two-thirds of the population overweight, and one third obese, America is flabbier than ever. But that may be about to change, if the search topics of 2011 are an indication:  among the most searched terms were "high protein diet" the "Thor" workout, the “Ryan Gosling workout,” the “Chris Hemsworth workout,” and the “Captain America workout.”

The most searched diet term: the “Dukan diet” (also known as the Kate Middleton pre-wedding diet, and also also known (by the British Dietetic Association) as one of the top 5 worst celebrity diets to avoid).  The “four-hour diet” and “17-days diet" were also in the top three.

With more than two-thirds of the population overweight, and one third obese, America is flabbier than ever. But that may be about to change, if the search topics of 2011 are an indication. 

Other top health-related search terms include:

• diabetes symptoms
• obesity
• gall bladder symptoms
• diet
• poison ivy 
• sunscreen
• sinusitis
• bipolar disorder

The most popular search terms at Health Travel Guides: obesity, diet, diabetes, joint replacement, and fertility treatment.   Our most popular articles include:

• Is American Medicine Losing It's Edge?
• Why Ginger Grant Would Never Marry a Dentist 
• Woman Refuses to Cash IRA for Hip Replacement Surgery

Popular New York Times Health Searches 
The New York Times reports the most highly searched health topics include alternative therapies, the brain and mental health, and happy relationships.  Below are some links to the Times' most searched articles of the year:

“How Meditation May Change the Brain”
People who meditated 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had changes in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

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“Go Easy on Yourself, a New Wave of Research Urges”
A new area of psychological research suggests that self-compassion, a measure of how kindly people view themselves, may be the first step toward better health.

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“One Sperm Donor, 150 Sons and Daughters”
As the number of children born through artificial insemination increases, concern is growing about having many children fathered by the same donors.

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“Can Exercise Keep You Young?”
A new study finds that exercise reduced or eliminated signs of aging in mice genetically programmed to grow old at an accelerated pace.

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“Expert on Mental Illness Reveals Her Own Struggle”
Across the country, people with severe mental illness live what appear to be normal, successful lives. Now, a small number of them are openly discussing their struggles.

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“Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated”
The newest findings on what specific foods people should eat less often — and more importantly, more often — to keep from gaining pounds as they age.

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“Alzheimer’s Therapy Focuses on Care”
Science is weighing in on many aspects of taking care of dementia patients, applying evidence-based research to what used to be considered subjective and ad hoc.

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“Left-Handedness Loses Its Stigma but Retains Its Mystery”
Over the centuries, left-handers have been accused of criminality and dealings with the devil; today, the riddle of handedness remains.

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“Talk Doesn’t Pay, So Psychiatry Turns Instead to Drug Therapy”
Many psychiatrists, in large part because of how much insurance will pay, no longer provide talk therapy.

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“Calcium and Vitamin D – Who Needs It, and How Much”
New recommendations for calcium and vitamin D have left many people wondering whether they are getting enough, or perhaps too much, in their diets and supplements.

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“The Hazards of the Couch”
Increasingly, research is focusing not on how much exercise people get, but how much of their time is spent in sedentary activity, and the harm that does.

Erectile Dysfunction Often an Early Sign of Heart Disease

Erectile dysfunction  - that is, difficulty maintaining an erection sufficient for successful intercourse -affects approximately 30 million American men. That's 50% of men in the 40-70 age cohort.


While erectile dysfunction (ED) is indubitably inconvenient, and potentially ego-deflating, men should know that it is one of the most overlooked early symptoms of heart disease.

Often, ED turns out to be a sign of a more serious health condition involving the blood vessels.  For men under the age of 50, ED can be a clue that arthreosclerosis -the main cause of chronic heart disease - is present. 

Researchers at the Journal of the American Heart Association found erectile dysfunction to be a strong predictor of death in men with cardiovascular disease. Most worrying, men with ED have been found to be more than one and a half times more likely to suffer from heart attack, stroke or other serious cardiovascular problem.

Age is also a factor, of course. In men under 50, ED more than likely a sign of cardiac disease (in men over 70, this is less likely)

If You Suffer From ED
Our society's penchant for "a pill for every ill" is a disservice to men when it comes to ED.  While ED drugs may initially address the problem, they do not protect against cardiovascular disease or other illnesses.

Talk to a doctor about getting a cardiology work-up to assess whether you show signs of arthreosclerosis  and determine the proper treatment. Be prepared for a lifestyle change that involves first and foremost to stop smoking.  It will also involve a healthy diet that limits cholesterol, as well as integrating regular exercise into your routine.

Adult Stem Cell Transplant for ED
Studies have shown that injection of  adult stem cells has been shown to be effective in treating ED. Regenerative Medicine Institute at Hospital Angeles currently treats ED with its proprietary adult autologous stem cell therapy program.

To find out if you are a candidate for treatment, fill out this secure online personal medical history. A Health Travel Guides (Toll Free 866.978.2573) will contact you to communicate the medical team's decision regarding next steps. 

Further Reading
Top 10 Stem Cell Treatments of the Next 10 Years 

Why Gastric Bypass Spells the End of Type 2 Diabetes

Bariatric surgeons and patients have known for years that the gastric bypass procedure has one effect that is often more immediate even than the weight loss it is designed for: an improvement in blood sugar levels that often results in the resolution of Type 2 diabetes.  Now research has given us the ‘why’. 

According to a study published in Science Translational Medicine the key lies in amino acids: the gastric bypass procedure significantly reduces the amount of branched-chain amino acids circulating in the blood.  This decrease results in an improvement in the body’s response to insulin.

Somehow this drop in amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) improves the body's response to insulin with the end result of normalizing blood sugar and correcting diabetes. 

The blood sugar of the gastric bypass patient is also stabilized due to decreased food intake.  Patients having the gastric bypass experience a surgical reduction of stomach size – after the procedure, the remaining stomach pouch typically holds only 1 ounce.

Insulin  resistance continues to improve over time as the gastric bypass patient loses weight as a result of  reduced stomach capacity as well as the malabsorption of nutrients created by re-routing  of the intestines (food that is consumed bypasses the segment of the small intestine closest to where it attaches to the stomach). 

Additionally, anatomical changes resulting from the gastric bypass procedure result in hormonal changes which also effects insulin resistance. 

Gastric Bypass: The Gold Standard
Although adjustable gastric banding – ubiquitously referred to as Lap-Band – has rapidly become the most popular weight loss surgery, the gold standard for obesity surgery remains the gastric bypass. 

This surprised me – after all, Lap-Band is a much less invasive procedure with far fewer risks to the patient.  The Lap-Band takes just 20 minutes and can be performed as an outpatient procedure.   The stomach is reduced through the placement of a silicone band that is adjusted, or filled, with water to create a sensation of fullness in the patient.

By comparison the gastric bypass is a far more serious procedure, involving intestinal re-routing and up to 80% of the stomach permanently removed.  That doctors sworn to ‘first do no harm’ would prefer a maximally invasive operation over the minimally invasive Lap-Band seems counter-intuitive, to say the least.

It turns out that surgeons have different criteria for gold standard than patients which on reflection is not surprising. Patients value convenience (will I have to miss a lot of work? Will I be in a lot of pain?) While surgeons, of course, are focused first and foremost on patient safety – i.e. reducing the risk and potential seriousness of complications.

The gold standard of any surgical procedure is all about the availability of long-term tracking data and outcomes; the gold standard is a benchmark against which newer lesser known procedures are measured quality and effectiveness.

Long-term studies have clearly demonstrated that the gastric bypass regularly results in significant long-term loss of weight and recovery from Type 2 diabetes.

As well, gastric bypass results in improvement in other obesity correlates that pose serious health problems, for example cardiovascular risk factors and premature mortality.

Dr. Oz Advocates for Gastric Bypass Surgery
Most of us have heard weight loss surgery referred to as ‘the easy way out’, an attitude that suggests that healthy ‘normal’ weight loss can and should be achieved solely through diet and exercise.  Perhaps not surprisingly, Dr. Oz does not agree.

“We probably do only 1% of the gastric bypass surgeries we should do."  ~Dr. Oz

USA Today and Prevention magazine both quote Dr. Oz as having  no qualms recommending  gastric bypass surgery, a procedure he considers essential in the fight against obesity.

Dr. Oz points out that a 50-year old with a BMI of more than 40 (the medical definition for obesity, usually constituting more than 100 lbs of excess weight) has the same mortality rate as a cancer patient.  Most would not hesitate to operate for cancer, and the same should be true of obesity, says Dr. Oz.

“You have to do it with counseling and full awareness of what you're doing, of course. But if you get people to start losing 5% of their excess body weight, you're really taking a big whack out of the two-thirds of Americans."

Lifestyle Changes After  Gastric Bypass

Full awareness of what you’re doing includes, of course, the permanent limitations patients face post-RNY gastric bypass, which are substantial:

·         You can eat only a few ounces of food at a time.

·         You must eat very slowly and  thoroughly or risk the vomiting and pain of food getting ‘stuck

·         No room at the inn – you will not be able to drink before, during or after meals

·         A lifetime of vitamins and supplements to prevent bone and hair loss (due to malabsorption of nutrients caused by intestinal re-routing)

·         Avoiding simple sugars – candy, soft drinks, ketchup, etc – which move quickly through the stomach and intestines to cause dumping syndrome. 

Gastric Bypass Cost
The bad news: for many patients, gastric bypass is financially out of reach: the cost of gastric bypass in the US is typically more than $30,000, rarely covered by insurance or Medicare.  However, the globalization of medical care offers patients an opportunity to get the gastric bypass procedure with the world's most experienced obesity surgical teams, at a state-of-the-art hospital, for only a fraction of the US cost.

Gastric bypass medical travel programs through Health Travel Guides are all-inclusive, with prices starting at $10,215.  Work with surgeons that have performed thousands of gastric bypass procedures on US health travelers demanding more value for their health dollar. Submit a secure online medical profile; the results go directly to a top obesity surgical team for review, and a Health Travel Guide will contact you to answer any questions.

Related Resources:

• Green Zone Lap-Band resulting in faster, sooner weight loss  
• Is Weight Loss Surgery a Drastic Solution to the Problem of Childhood Obesity? 
• Gastric Plication: Is This Evolution of Reflux Surgery a Revolution in Weight Loss Surgery?

Laureli (Laureli@HealthTravelGuides.com / 866.978.2573 x121) has lost 80 lbs since having Lap-Band.

Scientists Confirm: A Moment on the Lips, Forever On the Hips

I read a story today that reminded me of a recent exchange with a Starbucks barista who,  in response to my order of a small cafe mocha, inquired brightly,

“Would you like whipped cream on that?”  She smiled conspiratorially. “It's only 10 calories!”

Sure, I said.  What, after all, is 10 calories?  

Well, according to obesity researcher Dr. Kevin D. Hall of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the daily addition of those 10 calories with my coffee will raise the body weight of the average person by 20 pounds in 30 years. 

And just in case you are thinking that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, these researchers (whose study, published in The Lancet, was also summarized in the New York Times article Why Even Resolute Dieters Fail) also found that  saying “yes” to the whipped cream will result in more pounds gained by a heavier person than by a lean one.  

Adding insult to injury, the heavier person will gain not only more weight but more ‘fat’ weight vs. ‘lean’ weight.   That’s right – not just more fat, but fatter fat. 

The two phased approached suggested by these researchers on how to achieve lasting weight loss might classify as the closest thing to  a scientifically proven way to lose it for good, so I reprint here:

Phase 1  implement a temporary, aggressive change in behavior

 Phase 2   segue to more relaxed but permanent behavioral changes that can prevent the weight regain

For some facing serious and long-term consequences of excess weigh (such as Type 2 Diabetes), a surgical procedure is the best way to implement Phase 1 - anything from the non-invasive 20-minute outpatient gastric banding (LAP-BAND) procedure, to the significantly more invasive RNY gastric bypass procedure featuring stomach resection (80% removed) and intestinal re-routing.  


Because the number of weight loss surgeries has increased so dramatically (more than 500,000 LAP-BANDS placed since 1993), the number and type of surgical options has expanded as well. One of the latest innovations of bariatric medicine offers patients more weight loss opportunity with less risk: the Green Zone Gastric Plication, an evolution of the surgery for GERD (reflux) that shows very promising weight loss results with less risk of early and acute complication.

10 Celebrities Who Have Had Weight Loss Surgery

For weight loss maintenance, research results from the National Weight Control Registry suggest two tactics:

-  continuing physical activity

-  regular weigh-ins

Why Diets Don't Work  According to the research, there is a good reason most people can’t stick to their diets; diets actually don’t work.  Let’s look at the numbers to prove it: if a pound is comprised of 3500 calories, then creating a caloric deficit of 3500 calories over 7 days (a 500 calorie reduction each day) should result in a weight loss of one pound per week.

Not so, according to Dr. Hall et al, who built a model for weight loss that demonstrates obese people actually have to cut more calories to lose weight than it took to gain the extra pounds in the first place. 

The research authors note that typical weight-loss programs result in significant losses over a period 6-8 months, at which point most dieters (more than 95%) reach a sort of universal plateau. Then, prompted by an internal set point -  most dieters begin, unconsciously, start to eat a little more - a couple of saltine crackers here, a banana there, half a cookie in between.  

Though an extra 100 daily calories would be undetectable on a day to day basis for most of us, the weight game, as most of us know, is all about time. 

Let’s Move  Though the claim that one’s physical activity does not have much, if any, effect on weight loss tends to hover around dieters like bees around  honey, Dr. Hall’s model suggests otherwise.
Turns out First Lady Michelle Let's Move anti-obesity initiative is aptly named.  According to Dr. Hall’s weight loss model calculations, physical activity is critical to weight loss and especially to weight maintenance.  

For example: A man weighing 220 pounds who runs an additional 12.5 miles a week at a moderate pace would lose more weight at a faster rate than if he cut calories alone.   

Low-Carb Mania   So all diets are equally bad? Not so fast, say the researchers, who conclude

"some diets can lead to reduced hunger, improved satiety, and better overall diet adherence”

Is Atkins one of them? Dr.  Hall et al are circumspect on this score.   Although there have been numerous studies indicating low-carb, high protein  diets are more effective for losing weight, the researchers say little is known about the long-term effect of such diets and how they compare to more balanced distributions of fat, protein and carbohydrate in terms of weight maintenance or health of the dieter. Stay tuned!

Related Articles

Even Weight Loss Surgery Has Gone Green: New FDA Approved Green Zone LAP-BAND
Health Conditions Highly Associated With Obesity 
Is Weight Loss Surgery a Drastic Solution to the Problem of Childhood Obesity?

Let Them Eat Chocolate! 12 Anti-Diabetes Superfoods

Type 2 Diabetes presents one of the greatest health risks to the population today.  It is the seventh leading cause of death in the US.  Diabetes are more likely to experience glaucoma, cataracts, and neuropathy (nerve damage to the feet that impacts ability to feel pain, heat and cold), is also the leading cause of kidney failure.

Recent research confirms that diabetes increases the risk of heart attack and stroke:

• women with diabetes have an 11% greater  risk of cancer mortality
• men with diabetes have a 17% greater risk of cancer mortality.

Diabetes experience higher incidence of cancer of the colon, liver and rectum. Diabetic women have greater incidence of stomach and endometrial cancers while diabetic men have higher incidence of bladder and pancreatic cancer.

Diabetes can be prevented and controlled through diet. People who are obese (i.e. have Body Mass Index of >30) are 400% more likely to suffer from Type 2 Diabetes (aka “diabesity”), and so are more likely to receive a cancer diagnosis or die from cancer.

Superfoods for Diabetics
A great step for diabetics and pre-diabetics: integrate the following 'super foods' into your regular diet and experience a prompt impact lowering blood sugar, cholesterol and heart disease risks (click here to see the list full size) 

Additional Resources

• Take the  Diabetes Risk Test in English or Spanish.
• Attend a free online medical webcast about weight loss surgery  -  attendees receive  $250 medical credits 
• Prevent, Control and Eliminate: Diabetes and Your Weight  
• Increasingly Obese and Diabetic, More Adolescents Getting Weight Loss Surgery 
• Internet radio:Lean and Green: New Green Zone LAP-BAND Improves Results!
• Diabetes and Job Discrimination: Know Your Rights
• Adult Stem Cell Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes
  
   

Resveratrol-Like Drug Eliminates Many Health Risks of Obesity

Fat Chance: 
Obese Mice Given Resveratrol-
Mimicking Drug Live 44% Longer

A designer drug for obese mice suppresses typical obesity-related co-morbidities has given new energy to the notion that the aging process of humans can be significantly slowed.

by The Health Traveler, August 19 2011



Researchers at the National Institute on Aging have discovered that a resveratrol-mimicking drug , SRT-1720, reduces liver fat and improves insulin receptivity when given to obese mice. The obese mice taking the drug added 44% to their lifespan. Clinical trials for humans are now underway.

“SRT-1720... is good evidence that this compound has a positive effect on the physiology of the obese animal, and that is definitely promising for humans”

~Jan Viig, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx

More Evidence of the Health Benefits of Calorie Restriction
SRT-1720 was designed to essentially mimic resveratrol, the ingredient in red wine (and purple grape juice) thought to activate protective proteins called sirtuins, which gives mice on low-calorie diets a longevity boost.

Since it takes very large doses of resveratrol to obtain the longevity benefits, chemically simulated resveratrol mimics such as SRT-1720 were developed to activate sirtuin at much lower doses.

Sirtuins have been in the longevity reearch spotlight for some time, but studies by Pfizer, among others, did not prove out a relationship. But the National Institute of Aging study is more robust, following large groups of mice for over three years.

Although the drug improved the lifespan of obese mice, it did not not reverse the effects of obesity altogether. In the study, the treated fat mice lived longer than the untreated ones, but had a significantly shorter lifespan than the normal weight mice. SRT-1720 enabled the obese mice to enjoy more of their available life span without actually increasing the normal lifespan, itself.

It is not yet known if SRT-1720 prolongs the lives of normal weight mice; however given SRT-1720 drug did not extend the maximum life span of the obese mice, the researchers said it would be "surprising if it did so with lean mice."

However, the scientific world is watching with interest. Brian Kennedy, president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging says that sirtuins could turn out to be “key modulators of aging.”

Further Reading

• Resveratrol 
• What is Resveratrol?  
• Resveratrol and Cancer: What is the Relationship?  
• Is Weight Loss Surgery a Drastic Solution to the Problem of Childhood Obesity?  
• Maternal Obesity Crisis: Very Overweight Moms 3x More Likely to Die Within One Month of Birth  
•   The 13 Most Dangerous Complications of Obesity

Is Green the New Black? Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Now Even Green Zone LAP-BAND

Allergan, makers of LAP-BAND, reports that more than 350,000 people around the world have had the LAP-BAND stomach restriction procedure for weight loss. Recently, the FDAapproved relaxed requirements for LAP-BAND, with millions more meeting the qualifying requirement of BMI > 30.

• QUIZ: Not just for soccer moms! What NFL lineman - and coach- had LAP-BAND?

The FDA change is just in time for more patients to take advantage of the latest innovation in non-invasive stomach restriction procedures: the Green Zone  LAP-BAND.  This evolution of the non-invasive procedure will help patients lose post-op weight faster than before, thanks to an FDA-approved medical device by Crospon called the  Endolumenal Functional Lumen Imaging Probe- or EndoFLIP.

Recently I watched a demonstration of the EndoFLIP, which allows the gastroenterologist surgeon to take multiple (up to 16) real-time images of the bariatric patient's gastroesophogeal tract, enabling very precise placement of the LAP-BAND so the patient feels a restriction that is not too loose (not enough weight loss) and not too tight (leading to nausea or reflux, and discomfort during and after eating), but just right for optimized weight loss.

Most importantly, the EndoFLIP enables the surgeon to perform the first fill of the LAP-BAND interoperatively - so patients leave the hospital with a 'jump start' to their LAP-BAND.  Most patients won't need their next fill for 5 or more months, a significant savings on hassle and cost compared to the regular LAP-BAND, which requires the first fill to take place within 4-6 weeks of band placement, and at least another band fill in the first six months. 

 

 Medical Travel Talk radio recently hosted Health Travel Guides on its show to learn about Green Zone LAP-BAND - case manager Leslie McDeavitt has worked with thousands of LAP-BAND patients having their procedure with the top Allergan-certified  obesity surgical team at the Weight Loss Surgery Center at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana Mexico, just 20 minutes from downtown San Diego, where more than 5,000 US patients have had their LAP-BAND placed by Dr. Juan Lopez Corvala.  

Thanks to a special arrangement with Irish medical device maker Crospon, the Green Zone LAP-BAND is available exclusively at Hospital Angeles, a super state-of-the-art facility in a gated medical campus that is the shining star of Mexico's largest private hospital network.

The all-inclusive Green Zone LAP-BAND medical travel program is offered at $5,950 including 2 nights at the hospital and all associated pre-op tests, doctor, surgeon, and medical fees.  Patients are also enrolled in a one-year follow-up program and receive one year of free fills   from Hosptal Angeles.

• read about other medical device manufacturers going abroad

Thanks to Leslie for providing the following information: to find out if you’re a candidate for Green Zone LAP-BAND and learn more about the medical travel process: 

•  click here to email  Leslie 

• call toll free 866.978.2573 x 119

•  securely submit you  personal medical history online (under age 18 use this form) 

  Related Articles:

  • FDA Approves Relaxed Requirements for LAP-BAND
  • VIDEO: This US Doctor Had His LAP-BAND in Mexico

Dogs and Horses Gain Quality of Life with Stem Cell Treatments...Will People?

38-year old Yankee pitcher Bartolo Colon had it ..and pitched a shut-out, reviving his professional career. A race horse by the name of Be a Bono, had it... and went on to earn more than $1.25 million in winnings.

"It" , of course, is adult autologous stem cell transplantation - what many are calling the future of medicine, and which has been applied successfully to a number of chronic disease conditions:

• Click here to read Top 10 Stem Cell Treatments in the Next 10 Years

But are stem cells a ‘fountain of youth" (as Sports Illustrated breathlessly reported) or a dangerous patient rip-off? (as bioethicist Arthur Kaplan crankily opined on MSNBC).

• Click here to visit a Bioheart Stem Cell Center of Excellence for the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure.

• Click here to watch a video of US pharmacist Mort Farina, who received adult stem cell treatment for stroke and heart attack in a private Mexico hospital on the advice of his UCLA cardiologist.

• click here to find out who said "the potential uses for ...adult stem cells.... are nearly limitless"

This blogtalkradio interview, sponsored by Health Travel Technologies' Medical Travel Talk program, features Julia Szabo, a New Yorker who got stem cell treatment for her dogs - that's right,  two dogs. Julia hopes to have an adult stem cell treatment herself for a chronic health problem, and is writing a book about how stem cells have changed her - and her dogs' - life.

Download the interview here: Stem Cell Therapy From Fixing Fido to Firing Fastballs 08/10 by MedicalTravelTalk | Blog Talk Radio

To find out more about the ICMS-registered stem cell treatment protocols available at the Regenerative Medicine Institute at Hospital Angeles Tijuana for treatment autism, cerebal palsy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), erectile dysfunction (ED), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's, ASL, "Diabetic Foot", Type 2 Diabetes, and more, contact a Health Travel Guide Toll Free at 866.978.2573.

If you are one of the 50 million people in the US without insurance, or if you are one of the more than 25 million so under-insured you find out-of-pocket costs too high, Health Travel Guides takes the guesswork out of finding the highest quality treatments with board-certified specialists around the globe.

Oh My Aching Back: CEO Has Revolutionary LDS Surgery for L4L5 Pain

My guest blogger today is Paulo Yberri (pictured at left), who lives in San Ysidro California, and is the CEO of a large private hospital on the Baja Penninsula in Tijuana, just south of San Diego. His story is a lot like my husband's - ongoing back pain at the L4L5 that finally drove him to surgery.

My husband was cured of his pain, but only after FOUR surgeries in eight months. We have insurance, but the insurance company dropped us like a hot potato when the second surgery was required, citing a 'pre-existing condition' (meaning, the error the surgeon made in the first surgery).  The total bill: $165,000.  Yes, you read that right. Believe it or not, he never spent the night at the hospital.


By comparison, Paulo was in and out of the hospital in 24 hours, with a bill of $14,000, because he was lucky enough to work at a place where one of the world's leading back specialists, Dr. Juan Dipp, has written the global protocol for a new lumbar surgery made possible by US medical device manufacturer PercuDyn - a fairly common practice:

Medical Device Companies Look Abroad
Free Medical Webcast: Noninvasive LDS for L4L5: Free Your Back From Pain for Life

So without further ado, meet Paulo:  an active 37-year-old male: in addition to being a CEO of a large company, he practices martial arts and is a biker and skier, and the father of two young children.

"My first back injury occurred when I was in my late teens. I was never able to pinpoint one cause or event –I was very active at the time, and the injury was probably the result of a number of things, for example, at the time I was practicing jujitsu, being slammed into a mat all day long.

Being young , I didn’t pay much attention to the pain at first. I just figured it was a cramp, nothing I couldn’t handle. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain, and this exacerbated the problem. My back began to get very painful, but only sporadically. If I laid down or stretched, it would feel better. The pain didn’t disappear, but it was manageable, so I kept on ignoring it.

Soon I was living with and managing the pain on a daily basis. I became aware that I was almost never pain free. I didn’t want to face the reality that something could be wrong with my back in a permanent way. But after awhile, the pain went from uncomfortable to totally unbearable. In the last two years it was a constant drag on my life: the pain was always there, and I was always aware of it.

You’d think that as a hospital director I of all people would understand that untreated pain does not go away by itself. But like many men, I though I could stand it ….that is, until the pain finally became so bad that I could not move easily, or get out of my chair like normal. My activities were limited by the pain; I could no longer work out with any intensity.

"At age 35 I was about to become a dad for the first time..but I was moving like a granddad."

 
The breaking point was when I had to start taking shots and medication on a regular basis, just to deal with the pain. I finally faced the fact that my back was not only not going to fix itself, it was degenerating, and I began to search for options.

Because I am a hospital director I was able to get access to many physicians to discuss treatments. I discussed spinal fusion with a very prominent surgeon in California, and while I am sure he would have done a great job, but I didn’t think it was a good option. Spinal fusion is an expensive surgery, a two-level fusion that results in a loss of mobility, a long recuperation time, and there is only a 70% chance of being pain free afterward. To me, the cost benefit analysis simply did not bear out.

When Dr. Dipp told me he was setting up protocols for a new spinal procedure that he was very optimistic about called Lumbar Dynamic Stabilization, I became very interested. I liked that it was low invasive, ambulatory and reversible…in short, very low risk with a very high likelihood of success. I would not require general anesthesia and there would be no risk of loss of mobility. I particularly liked that recovery time for LDS is lower than any other alternative out there, and that the procedure is reversible.

“The cost benefit analysis of spinal fusion, with its long recuperation and only a 70% success rate, did not bear out.”

In the ER, they sedated me but not full anesthesia. The surgery took 32 minutes. I woke up in recovery, went to my room, and was able to walk to the bed on my own. My only pain was a slight soreness from the incision. The next day I was walking around with no need for medication.

Today my life is exactly as it was before the back pain entered. Everything is normal –my sex life, my athletic life, everything is as it should be for a healthy 35 year old man. In the end, I suffered too much pain by not dealing with the problem, but I was very very lucky that when I was ready to deal with it, I did not have to take a risky and expensive measure like spinal fusion, that this innovative LDS procedure was available to me.

I’m proud that a surgeon on our hospital staff is working with PercuDyn (the American manufacturer of the implant device) to develop the worldwide protocol for this procedure –meaning, he is training surgeons around the globe in LDS. The LDS procedure is only available in Mexico and Europe, it is still in the clinical trial stage in the U.S.

Of course, we work with medical travelers every day at Hospital Angeles Tijuana –everything from coronary bypass to cataract surgery. Any US patient who is like me -unhappy with the high price tag, long recovery and 70% confidence of spinal fusion (especially in the US) can come to Hospital Angeles Tijuana to have the procedure with Dr. Dipp. We’re just a few minutes away from San Diego and we handle everything for the patient, including their travel itinerary.

Thanks for Paulo for sharing his story! If you are interested in learning more about the LDS procedure, contact a Health Travel Guide toll free at 866.978.2573 or go online to chat.

Surprising Science in Fido's Fat:

You read it here first: liposuction for dogs is real, it's out there, and it's happening now.  But far from being a procedure for the canine captives of Paris Hilton, 'puppy liposuction' is a tool for an actual scientific breakthrough - stem cell therapy for dogs provided by, among others, VetStem.  

Vet-Stem, formed in 2002, provides stem cell therapy for dogs as well as horses, most notable Be A Bono, who raced to more than $1 million in prizewinnings after stem cell treatment for a potentially career-ending injury.


If you are one of those who consider stem cell therapy an ostentatious display of spending for a mere pet, the price tag vis a vis contentional medicine might suprise you.  Take the example of the Riha family, whose story appeared on ABC News. When the Riha's beloved golden retriever Hunter was suffering from arthritis so severe he could no longer stand, the Riha's had the choice of a $10,000 doggy hip replacement, or $2,500 for a stem cell transplant. 

Hunter's procedure was simple: first he underwent 'puppy lipo'; the extracted adipose (fat) tissue is the source of the autologous (i.e. self-donated) stem cells, which were then isolated and expanded in the laboratory.  The remaining stem cells  - now in much greater concentration than Hunter's body could accomplish on its own - were then reinjected into the dog's hip. 

Hunter is one of thousands of dogs who have been treated successfully with stem cells; some pet owners are so sold on the treatment they have commissioned it more than once, for example New Yorker Julia Szabo, a fashion editor who was so impresed with the boost in quality of life her dog Sam had in the years after his treatment, she was quick to sign a second pet up fro the treatment when hip dysplasia severely limited his mobility.

• Listen to an interview with Julia Szabo about her pet stem cell treatments on MedicalTravelTalk 
• Julia Szabo on the Today show here

Not Ready for Prime Time: Stem Cells For Humans?
Just as research in the adult autologous stem cell treatment arena ha proliferated (there are currently more than 50,000 adult stem cell papers registered at the libraries of the National Institutes of Health), so too has the commercialization of stem cell treatment undergone a similar explosion. 


While a few companies in the United States have  begun clinical trials with stem cells derived from the adipose tissue of humans, treatments are available for a number of orthopedic, cardiac and neurodegenerative disease conditions, among others, for the intrepid patient willing to travel abroad.


Conditions treated with adult stem cells include Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's, and even breast regrowth after mastectomy.   Although there are no protocols specifically treating stroke, like my dear friend Annie had, this treatment is undoubtedly awaiting us in the future.


In the United States, medical device manufacturer BioHeart has identified the first of six planned Stem Cell Centers of Excellence at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana.  In a press release, BioHeart's President and CEO Mike Tomas stated,

"We are extremely excited about the Center of Excellence established (at Hospital Angeles) in Mexico...and the preliminary results are very promising.  We look forward to providing novel therapies and regenerative medicine to additional heart failure patients whose options are currently limited."

Major League baseball pitcher Bartolo Colon had his now famous stem cell treatment in the Dominican Republic through a doctor associated with the Yankees (see: Athletes and Stem Cells: Miracle Fountain of Youth or Banned Performance Enhancer?).  However, stem cell therapy is not only for dogs, horses and the rich and famous.  A quick internet search will turn up dozens of treatment centers around the world providing adult stem cell therapy.  

And that's a problem, according to Dr. Arthur Caplan, who recently wrote on this topic in an op ed appearing on the MSNBC website entitled "Stem Cells Clinics Ripping Off Patients and Bullying Scientists."

Caplan (whose honorific is for a Ph.D, not an MD) insists (without citing any scientific or other expert sources)

"Stem cell transplants of any sort -- outside of bone marrow transplants and a few other rarely used treatments -- are not anywhere close to being ready for therapeutic use...You would never know this if you looked at the nonsense that is all over the Internet about the power of stem cell "cures".

Caplan has some reason to be suspicious.  As the 60 Minutes  program 21st Century Snake Oil made clear, the efficacy and safety of adult autologous stem cell treatment does not extend to all stem cell treatment providers.  In the 60 Minutes story, reporter Scott Pelley uses hidden cameras to expose medical con men (working without a medical license) that prey on dying patients by using pitches that capitalize on the promise of stem cells.

Caveat Emptor and ICMS
In response to the proliferation of providers and the Wild West nature of the internet, where credibility verification can be difficult, oversight and regulatory bodies are beginning to exert their muscle.  Non-profit International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) began an offshore registry of stem cell treatment providers, and oversees an accreditation program ensuring all adult stem cell treatment centers have legitimate, science-based, registered clinical protocols as well as patient safety and efficacy measures in place.

The ICMS acts as a kind of industry watchdog for adult stem cell treatment , issuing this open letter addressing stem cell treatment proliferation, as well as publishing online patient guides like this Stem Cells 101 resource, and working directly with the health officials of countries where hospitals are providing treatment.

Among some of the recommendations given to patients: work with JCI-accredited medical facilities, work with treatment centers that have US medical research/university affiliations (for example, the Regenerative Medicine Institute at Hospital Angeles is voluntarily monitored by an Academic Advisory Committee that includes surgeons and research scientists from Duke University's Clinical Research Institute, Columbia University, and BioHeart), and ensure all treatments are administered by a board-certified specialist.

Related Articles

• Adult Stem Cell Treatment for Chronic Disease: Why and How It Works
• Free Adult Stem Cell Therapy for Chronic Disease Live Medical Webcast 
• Talk to a Health Travel Guide today about stem cell treatment through the ICMS accreditation program, just click on the Case Manager card:

click to chat now!