You are correct, it is strange but he had a horrific experience and I must have blocked this out because it was so painful to remember. Actually my husband was in intensive care. He needed oxygen and multiple blood transfusions and I will never forget the horrible screams of agony because even high dosage injectable pain meds did not work due to drug tolerance as there was so much time between when he should have had the surgery and choosing to wait it out to see if the stem cells would work instead. . I urge people everywhere that if you need the surgery just do it!

The medical personel did say it may be connected but were not specific. It was tragic because his diabetes worsened considerably and in the months preceding surgery he was not able to exercise or even walk more than a few feet . I hope it has not shortened his life. Would you have any links to research papers or clinical experience you could share that could shed light on this?

I would really like to see regenerative science grow. . I have seen reports where people have died even in the USA but I guess I wondered if it was the cells or because they were already very sick and vulnerable. In fact some report there is an anti inflammatory effect from stem cells so that can be healing and that they are very safe as long as they are not cultured for too long before they are reinjected. I hope it is not like the study on anti oxidants where they did a Cochrane review and meta analysis of all studies and it was found with a combined number of particpants 230,000 that antioxidant pills do not reduce your chance of dying but rather increase it significantly. In an 18,000 person lung cancer trial where antioxidants were given the trial was halted as the participants were 46% more likely to die from lung cancer! (cited in Bad Science by Ben Goldacre,2006) We would all benefit from some expert opinion.

I am glad your husband survived. Others have not been as fortunate.

I have communicated with several cell scientists on your behalf and reviewed for progress on the donor bone stem cell mix. It would be a waste of resources for you to try this as the long term follow up results are not there. What they are finding is the regulatory genomic signals of the cells grown in culture may not match those at the site.

Another scientist relayed “My understanding also is that total hip replacement does quite well as a result of recent advances in engineering. My understanding is further that this cell, scaffold mix is not a recognized clinical entity, not approved by the FDA and as it holds human cells presents the patient with an increased chance of being infected with Aids, Herpes,Hepatitis, Mersa, etc, and ,may induce autoimmune disease, Since allogenic stem cells which do not carry the same risks are also implanted, the risks increase dramatically, as these may result in hyperplasia, which may have destroyed the hip in the first place, oncogenic transformation, infection in the trojan horse of the stem cell. No study shows convincing evidence that this mix provides any benefit and I would advise the patient to simply have her hip replacement sans any living tissue.

A third states perhaps with human stem cell treatment there could be a placebo effect if the patient engages in overseas health tourism, but we are seeing better results in animals and these are not translating to long term results in people. Further to this if something bad happens overseas imternational law is expensive and difficult to enforce and this person may be rejected/refused by their own health care insurance upon return. Perhaps this could be explained like putting an unauthourised part on a computer or car and voiding the warranty. I advise if they want treatment to only go to an NIH recognised center where they will be cared for, followed up and those holding the trials will absorb the costs of treatment and follow up. It would be best to get in a phase 2 or 3 trial as phase 1 triaal are for safety only. Try http://clinicaltrials.gov and put stem cells and hip replacement as search terms. These also find Non-USA trials .

All are hoping to get past the barriers to efficacy with stem cells and other forms of regenerative medicine but the consensus is that the cells are not ready for human use yet as far as effectiveness is concerned particularly for large areas such as a hip joint. I spoke with policy makers and evidence based medicine leaders. They shared the studies out of Colorado are neither robust or objective in their opinions and were particularly concerned about a safety study put out by that group.

Lastly my husband and 6 people I know in the immediate area all had stem cell treatment but it did not work for them. They were excited and motivated by seeing the testimonials on UTUBE and stem cell company websites. It would be great if these companies would do objective unbiased studies against regular standard of care even if they feel they can not afford to do FDA trials. My husband ended up with an infection which they think this may have led to problems with his blood and immune system. He was on antibiotics for a long time and these also carry their own risks. It is only this year that that these values have returned to normal levels. He ended up having both hips resurfaced and he is doing great.The resurfsaced hips gave him his life back as he became unable to walk without assistance, was in constant pain and his muscles atrophied because he couldn’t be active. This had a negative effect on his quality of life and resilience plus it was taking very large amounts of drugs to control the pain. He was very afraid to have this done and really wanted the cells to work, we all did. If I had to do this over again I would have insisted he get the hips resurfaced right away. The only downside is there are scars and he sets off airport metal detectors. His recovery according to him was less painful than what he faced everday with the hips.

I hope this gives you some information to consider and I wish you the very best with your treatment and recovery, It is a tough place to be in, please let us know what ends up working for you.