New Alzheimer's Treatment Showing Early Improvements

WESTPORT, Conn. - April 22, 2019 - PRLog -- The first thing our doctor noticed the day after his patient received the ACIST stem cells was her saying hello to him in a heartwarming fashion- completely different from the day before treatment when she was quiet and withdrawn. Post-op day one was a new beginning for this beloved mother and her daughter, fighting mom's Alzheimer's disease together.

"When I brought the car to start driving her home, my mother got in and instead of being confused and trying to put the safety belt into the door as was typical, she put it in the buckle! "excitedly explained her daughter during a call while driving home that same day.

Her mother had enrolled in MD Stem Cells' new 'Alzheimer's Autism Cognitive Impairment Stem Cell Treatment Study' or ACIST.  This is the first open-label, non-randomized study designed for patients with dementias, including Alzheimer's, treating them with their own bone marrow stem cells called BMSC.  All enrolled patients receive active BMSC treatment- there is no placebo arm- making it different from most drug studies.  The ACIST study is  registered with the National Institutes of Health on their www.clinicaltrials.gov website NCT number 3724136.

Dementia is a condition where memories and the ability to think logically are progressively lost.  There are several causes of dementia including Alzheimer's (ALZ), Lewy Body, Vascular, CADASIL, Parkinson's, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and other conditions that can affect neurons in the brain.  Care for ALZ sometimes includes medicine such as Aricept or Memantine that can temporarily keep neurotransmitters more active.  But there is still no drug or therapy that can stop the disease progression.  For years research focused on preventing or removing Beta-amyloid, a protein that builds up abnormally in Alzheimer's- but no benefit has ultimately been proven using this approach. "Unfortunately, the possible drug development solutions to reverse ALZ or other dementias have diminished " reports Dr. Steven Levy, co-developer of the ACIST study, Study Director and CEO of MD Stem Cells. "I think most researchers would agree that new approaches are desperately needed."

Now home, the patient spontaneously dressed herself one morning- the first time in many months- surprising and delighting her daughter.  For the first time in years she ordered tea when they were out, something she used to love but had forgotten about because of her disease.  Rather than staring at the floor during the time with her daughter, she was much more alert and engaged.  Formal testing with the Mini-Mental Status Exam will come soon, but improvement in real world activities is much more important to a family.

"BMSC have the ability to circulate multiple times and enter the brain and spinal fluid through our extremely safe application approach.  They have intrinsic repair and neuroprotection functions that may benefit this disease", explains Dr. Levy.  "Our physician group is very pleased that certain activities of daily living have improved so early for this patient, presumably because the memories of how to do them have been recovered.  We hope this points the way to further benefit."

ACIST is a clinical study in which all enrolled patients receive stem cell treatment, but individual responses cannot be predicted.
It is not known if participant improvements, if any, will be maintained. There are specific inclusion, exclusion and follow up requirements to participate. This is a patient sponsored study and there are direct costs to the patient which are not covered by insurance. Patients  interested in learning whether they may be eligible to participate in ACIST, as well as healthcare providers seeking information, may email Dr. Levy at stevenlevy@mdstemcells.com or call him at 203-423-9494 Eastern Time USA.