Friday’s COPD Newsletter from COPD Support, Inc.

newspaper12
Issue 38, Volume 9,
August 21, 2009
Joan Costello, Editor

BIO-MATRIX SCIENTIFIC SUBSIDIARY FILES STEM CELL THERAPY APPLICATION FOR COPD

Bio-Matrix Scientific Group, Inc. announced its majority owned subsidiary, Entest BioMedical unit has filed a patent application for the use of *adipose derived stem cells in the treatment of COPD. BMSN is excited with the progress achieved by Entest BioMedical, Inc. in identifying diseases it believes will be treatable through Stem Cell Therapy.

COPD is a major health disorder that appears to be treatable through adipose derived stem cell therapy. Currently, this disease is treated in similar fashion to asthma, utilizing inhalers and /or oxygen therapy. These methods are not solutions to the disease but merely provide the patient with greater level of comfort. Steven Josephs, PhD. noted, “The approach is intended at the very least to alleviate the chronic inflammation in COPD. This is done by using agents known to coax adult stem cells that are delivered to the diseased lung tissue (blood monocyte cells) to release cytokines (biologically active molecules) which in addition to the anti-inflammatory effects may actually promote the regeneration of functional lung tissue.”

The goal of Entest BioMedical, Inc. is to develop a stem cell therapy that reverses the effects of COPD on the respiratory system. The Company is working with Dr. Feng Lin, its Scientific Director and Steven Josephs, PhD in developing this stem cell treatment.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090819005242&newsLang=en

What are Adipose derived stem cells you ask?

*Adipose Tissue: Rich Cell Source: Adipose tissue, commonly known as fat, is the human body’s richest known source of stem cells, as well as other cells that are believed to contribute to repair and healing, referred to as “regenerative cells.” Due to its abundance and accessibility in the body, adipose tissue represents an ideal source for immediate access to a patient’s own stem and regenerative cells.
http://ir.cytoritx.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=228278

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

-HOW TO BREATHE
-FALLS IN PATIENTS WITH COPD
-SCIENTISTS CREATE AIRWAY SPHERES TO STUDY LUNG DISEASES
-FOREST’S LUNG DISEASE DRUG FAILS MID-STAGE TRIAL
-BRITISH LUNG FOUNDATION WELCOMES VICTORY ON AIR TRAVEL DISCRIMINATION
-MISCELLANEOUS

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SOURCES: News items summarized in The COPD-NEWS are taken from secondary sources believed to be reliable. However, the COPD Family of Services does not verify their accuracy.
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HOW TO BREATHE

Breathing is more than just a response to live – it’s the essential of life
If you suffer from anxiety, stress, migraine headaches, asthma, COPD, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, chronic pains, etc.… you need to better understand the importance of proper respiration.Our bodies are constantly trying to get our attention, because when you ignore yourself, bad things happen. Without being self aware on a daily basis, you become out of touch, unable to enjoy the true sensations of your body. You can go weeks with no food and days lacking water. But just a few minutes without oxygen will kill you! And to get oxygen you must breathe! This importance is what separates respiration apart from any other necessity.

Improper breathing leads to anxiety and stress – two main culprits that
cause so many devastating diseases and conditions. Daily practice is needed to make sure you are getting the most out of your breaths!

Most of us don’t know how to breathe properly. We just let our bodies natural reflex to exist do all the work. Our bodies have to be programmed to behave certain ways. Without training your range of breath is too shallow. Being a major oversight to your health, it’s very important to understand the value of a breath and how it can enrich your well being. Breathing techniques and exercises are becoming an important part of healing disciplines. Studies show that a proper inhale and exhale technique, if exercised at proper intervals, has measurable medical benefits.

Diaphragmatic breathing (stomach breathing) is the natural way to breathe by using the diaphragm muscle located under our ribs and over our stomach to move air in and out.The Diaphragm has also been called the muscle of the soul. This is how we breathe after we are born.

How do you breathe properly?

A breath should be or exceed 6 seconds in length. If you are processing air faster, you need to lengthen or deepen your breath. Dennis Lewis is an expert breather. He’s written many books and studied breathing for many years. Here are Dennis’s 10 secrets to better breathing:

Breathing Secret 1. When possible in your daily life, inhale and exhale only through your nose.

Breathing Secret 2. Sense the movement of your breath frequently in the midst of your everyday activities. Remember not to hold your breath.

Breathing Secret 3. Be sure your belly stays relaxed. Let it expand as you inhale and retract as you exhale. Touch it and massage it frequently.

Breathing Secret 4. Breath is life and movement. Let your breath engage and fill every part of your body, especially your belly, back, spine and chest.

Breathing Secret 5. To transform your breathing, you must start with your exhalation, with letting go.

Breathing Secret 6. A long, slow exhalation helps harmonize your diaphragm and turns on your “relaxation response.”

Breathing Secret 7. Sense the natural pause after the exhalation; let
yourself rest there for a moment.

Breathing Secret 8. Let your inhalation arise by itself, when it’s ready.

Breathing Secret 9. As you breathe, sense the various breathing spaces of your body. Smile into these spaces and let them expand throughout your being.

Breathing Secret 10. Remember, you are a breathing being, alive right now and right here. Let yourself feel the mystery and the miracle of your breath and your life.
http://www.examiner.com/x-19165-Memphis-Life-Coaching-Examiner~y2009m8d18-Breathing-is-more-than-just-a-response-to-live–its-the-essential-of-life

FALLS IN PATIENTS WITH COPD

A call for further research: The effects of COPD are not exclusively limited to respiratory function and people with COPD face many non-respiratory manifestations that affect both function and mobility. Deficits in function and mobility have been associated with an increased risk for falling in older adults. The purpose of this study was to provide a theoretical framework to identify risks factors for falls in people with COPD.

Well-established fall risk factors in people with COPD include lower limb
muscle weakness and impaired activities of daily living. Other intrinsic
risk factors such as gait and balance deficits, nutritional depletion,
malnutrition, depression, cognitive impairments and medications are possible risk factors that need to be confirmed with more studies. There is no evidence that visual deficits are common in COPD. The role that precipitating factors such as syncope and postural hypotension may have on fall risk is unclear. Exacerbations and dyspnea do not have a precipitating effect on fall risk but they contribute to the progressive physical deterioration that may theoretically increase the risk for falls.

While these results suggest that people with COPD might have an increased susceptibility to fall compared to their healthy peers, further research is needed to determine the prevalence of falls and specific risk factors for falls in people living with COPD.
http://www.resmedjournal.com/article/PIIS0954611109001048/abstract?rss=yes

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MEDICAL DECISIONS. Your physician should be consulted on all medical decisions. New procedures or drugs should not be started or stopped without such consultation. While we believe that our accumulated experience has value, and a unique perspective, you must accept it for what it is…the work of COPD patients. We vigorously encourage individuals with COPD to take an active part in the management of their disease. They do this through education and by sharing information and thoughts with their primary physician and pulmonologist. However, medical decisions are based on complex medical principles and should be left to the medical practitioner who has been trained to diagnose and advise.
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SCIENTISTS CREATE AIRWAY SPHERES TO STUDY LUNG DISEASES

Using both animal and human cells, Duke University Medical Center scientists have demonstrated that a single lung cell can become one of two very different types of airway cells, which could lead to a better understanding of lung diseases. From this single “basal” cell, a small, squat stem cell that divides to replenish the lung lining layer, scientists created 3-D hollow spheres that were lined inside with both ciliary and secretory cells. This 3-D model can be used to study dynamic processes underlying lung diseases, including cancer, said Brigid Hogan, Ph.D., chair of the Duke Department of Cell Biology and senior researcher of the study.

“Now that we have this 3-D model and information about the gene expression ’signature’ of basal cells, we are in a strong position to see what happens when lung-cell behavior goes awry,” Hogan said. “We might, for example, be able to activate an oncogene (a cancer-causing gene) or other factors to see how lung cancer might develop in the airways. Amazingly, almost nothing is known about lung basal cells, which are so important to health and make up nearly a third of the cells in the human airways.”

Normally, basal stem cells maintain the airways by turning over slowly into new ciliated cells and secretory cells. Ciliated cells resemble waving brooms that sweep along particles and distribute secretions that are needed in the airways, and secretory cells provide the antibacterial and lubricating secretions. These two types of cells are neatly arranged in equal proportions in healthy lung airways. However, when lungs are affected by maladies like cancer, chemical damage, cystic fibrosis or asthma, the balance of these cells can be thrown off. By learning the role these basal cells play in maintaining the airway tissue, the scientists were able to create an entirely new way to study them.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090728170956.htm

FOREST’S LUNG DISEASE DRUG FAILS MID-STAGE TRIAL

Forest Laboratories Inc. said a drug candidate for chronic lung disease
failed in a mid-stage clinical trial, as the compound did not significantly
improve lung function at any dose. The trial was designed to discover which dose of oglemilast was most effective at treating mild to moderate COPD.

Patients took either the drug or a placebo once per day for 12 weeks. Forest said oglemilast was not much more effective than the placebo at any dose.

The study involved 428 patients who were at least 40 and had smoked for at least 10 “pack years,” a measurement that is equal to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years. Oglemilast was tested in doses of 200 micrograms, 400 micrograms and 800 micrograms. Forest and its partner Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said they will continue studying oglemilast as a treatment for asthma. They expect result from a clinical trial in the first quarter of 2010.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/08/19/business-health-care-us-forest-labs-pulmonary-drug_6793596.html

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COMMERCIAL FREE: We do not accept any paid advertising. Any corporations, products, medicines (prescription or non) mentioned in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and not to be construed as an endorsement or condemnation of same.
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IT’S AN ACAPELLA

Celia/Scotland wrote to the COPD list:
Could you tell me what an Acapella does? More info on it would be good. Is it like a nebuliser or such?

From Peche/LA. The acapella sort of vibrates, loosening the mucus so that it can be cleared out. When I got mine they were $35 to $40, depending on where you got it. They may have come down a bit now. If you have phlegm, I hope you can try this device. I’ve tried others and was always disappointed…but not in this one. The acapella is not at all like a treatment as no medicine is used. All you do is take a deep breath in and then blow it out. Do this about ten times or more if you want. I usually do about 3 sets of ten but as I said, a respiratory nurse told me to do two sets of ten and then wait before doing more. It can’t hurt you but it sure can get the mucus moving.

Celia: I have never heard of that before, but how can blowing something cause vibrations in the lungs?

Helen/GA: Click on this link and then click on Acapella video:
http://www.henleysmed.com/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=d460.html

Sherri/KS: My pulmonologist gave me two Acapella’s and they do work well. A little hard to hold but well worth the effort.

The Acapella functions in much the same way as the Flutter Valve. It
generates vibrations and which aid in mucous clearance. It is a hand held device and a great deal larger than the Flutter. A positive aspect of the Acapella is that the amount of resistance/oscillation is adjustable. The range of resistance is excellent, which makes it useful for most any degree of lung function. This product is pricier than the Flutter and has more pieces when it comes apart, making it more difficult to clean/sterilize.

Like the Flutter, this is not a hands-free device which makes it less
suitable for working in those treatments on the go.

Dave/OH the COPD Forum Adminstrator: http://copdforum.portalone.us/
furnished the following link:
http://www.smiths-medical.com/catalog/bronchial-hygiene/acapella/acapella.html

BRITISH LUNG FOUNDATION WELCOMES VICTORY ON AIR TRAVEL DISCRIMINATION

The British Lung Foundation welcomed a significant step forward in their ongoing campaign to end the discrimination people with a lung condition can experience when they travel on planes. Thomson airlines announced that they will now allow people who rely on supplementary oxygen to access the airlines’ supply or bring their own, completely free of charge, making them an example of best practice on this issue. Currently 90,000 people in the UK with respiratory diseases such as COPD, Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Hypertension need some form of supplementary oxygen for at least 15 hours a day due to the low levels of oxygen in their blood. For these people portable oxygen creates the same degree of freedom and independence that a wheelchair gives to people with other disabilities. The vast majority of airline companies do not allow people to bring their own portable oxygen concentrator or cylinder on to their planes while simultaneously charging hundreds - and sometime thousands - of pounds extra to use the supplementary oxygen that the airline provides.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161048.php

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JOIN US? Subscription to this Newsletter is free and we hope that it serves your needs. For more Newsletter information, go to:
http://copd-support.com/signup-news.html

The Newsletter, like all the other endeavors of the Family of COPD Support Programs, is provided to you by COPD-Support, Inc. a non-profit member organization with IRS designation 501(c)(3). If you would like to be involved and help us provide these programs to the individuals who benefit from them, please consider joining us as a member. Further information is available at:
http://copd-support.com/membership.html
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MISCELLANEOUS

Need A Push?
http://www.eaglesneedapush.com/miami/

Some Fences Are Different
http://www.thisblogrules.com/2009/08/some-fences-are-just-different-than.html

Magnet Towers
Move your mouse to stack pills of the same color into a tower. Click the mouse button to create a tower fusion. The more pills you stack at one time, the more points you’ll get from the tower fusion. Don’t let your tower run into pills of a different color, or your tower will get blown apart!
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/games/play/80503590/

Game Ninja-a wide assortment
http://www.gameninja.com/

Until next Friday,

Joan Costello, Editor

Web version of the News: http://copd-support.com/news.html

Archives at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/copd-news.html

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