The Dawn of New Medicine: Stem Cell Therapy: Old Dogma, New Hope

By Mike K.S. Chan

Stem cell therapy, otherwise known as the regenerative medicine, promotes the regrow, repair or replacement of the diseased, dysfunctional or damaged tissues using stem cells. The Dawn of New Medicine expresses stem cells therapy as the new hope in modern medicine. This book explores the holistic dimension of stem cells therapy, from the basics of stem cell therapy to the possibilities it may bring to modern medicine.

Chronic diseases have stolen joy from a lot of people when, as a patient ourselves or when someone close to us was diagnosed with an illness for which there was no solution to. While symptoms of these diseases are often managed by medication and medicinal services, stem cells therapy go beyond the conventional management to discover therapies that support to body to repair, regenerate and restore. This book wishes to enlighten readers that there might be hope in managing diseases such as Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum, Cerebral Palsy and global developmental delay as mentioned in this book.

Professor Dato’ Sri Dr. Mike KS Chan is a scientist, senior researcher, educator and expert in anti-aging owning 26 medical wellness centers including hospitals Germany), clinics (Lugano, Switzerland), medical centers (Athens, Greece), and wellness clinics (Switzerland, Bangkok, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia-Kuala Lumpur, and Kota Kinabalu, Manila, Mexico, Ecuador, Frankfurt, Germany, Switzerland, Cambodia, Bangladesh, etc.). His precious experience and findings he gathered in his 36 years of advancing this field, he shares it here.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Jan 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9781803134260

Mike K.S. Chan

Prof. Dr. Mike K.S. Chan is a Senior Researcher, Educator and author of multiple books on Biological, Integrative and Regenerative Medicine, including stem cells, with over three decades of experience in all of the fields. He is an Associate Professor of American Academy of Stem Cell Physicians (AASCP) and Board Member/Head of Regenerative Medicine of several world-renowned organisations including European Society of Preventive, Regenerative and Anti-Aging Medicine (ESAAM).

Book preview

THE BEGINNING OF HOPE: A JOURNEY

MY JOURNEY TO STEM CELL THERAPY

It was Charlie Chaplin who started my journey to stem cell therapy.

At age 73, he became one of the oldest fathers in history when his youngest child was born, a remarkable feat made possible through stem cell therapy.

It is this discovery that inspired me to learn more about cell therapy, a journey that began three decades ago.

My research led me to several institutions, one of which included the famous La Praire Clinic, in Vevey. From Vevey to Montreux, I visited a number of hospitals and medical centres involved in live-cell therapy that had already been frequented by many renowned Asians of different nationalities, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia for the purpose of revitalization. Youth restoration became the focal point in drawing the affluent to undergo these programmes and led me to more research, to eventually meeting Dr Samuel Baxes, student of the famous Dr Franz Schmidt, who was also known as the partner of the father of cell therapy. At that time in 1972, the father of cell therapy, Professor Dr Paul Niehans, had already passed away and the trio, along with Professor Dr Albert Landsberger, were the partners for the manufacturing plants in Germany known by the name Cybila and they had already manufactured a number of cell therapy related products in lyophilized forms and solutions.

A dear friend of mine, Dr Michael Culbert, who had unfortunately passed away in early 2000, introduced me to Dr Wolfram Kuhnau, a German doctor and one of the great Professor Dr Paul Niehans’s proteges, who was based in Tijuana, where he had gone for the active promotion of cell therapy with his own unique preparations. Both his and Michael’s books sent me to the Bradford Institute, which provided more literary resources on the biochemical analysis of live-cell therapy. With a better picture of cell therapy now, my next encounter was with Dr John Smith in the Bahamas, who brought these live cells from Germany to the Bahamas and administered them via injections to the Americans there.

I have made countless trips and visits to these labs and returned with more discoveries on cell therapy, with one of them being the fetal precursor stem cells of xenogeneic form that started with human fetuses, practised in the Soviet Union back in the 80s. With the knowledge I have gathered and together with my wife, Michelle, we took the plunge into this cell therapy business with all that I had at that time, which was a minute amount but we persevered because we believed in this and the remarkable benefits it could bring to the medical field and, most of all, to mankind. That led to our starting point in Carouge, a small French town in Switzerland, and our very own first base for cell therapy, which in time brought me more resources and I was able to further fund even more studies in Europe, which in turn led me to learn about ultra filtrates, peptide therapy, and organotherapies, along with stem cell and live-cell therapy.

My wife, Michelle, and I have personally experienced the wonderful effects of the therapy, along with our families, with our mothers being the first we recommended to and they have been long-term users ever since. It is not just our own families and friends who have witnessed the benefits; I have also witnessed miracles in conventionally deemed untreatable conditions such as Down’s syndrome and cerebral palsy, with patients diagnosed with the latter being able to stand up and walk just following a few rounds of cell therapies and injections of stem cells.

Dr Med. Milan C. Pesic, the president of the International Society for Thymus Research in Bad Haezburg, Germany, back then, is another notable figure I must mention who brought me further on my journey. He brought me to his clinic during my visit and both Michelle and I were given a live demonstration of him treating a pair of old couples. He had also a personal letter of appreciation from the late President Ronald Reagan, whom he used to treat. Dr Milan is dedicated to thymus therapy and it was he who shared his knowledge with me, which resulted in our partnership in the production and research on peptides, with me being his counterpart in Asia. I have also collaborated with various scientists from the former Soviet Union, where we fund the manufacturing of the precursor stem cells, peptides and ultrafiltrates.

I brought this knowledge of cell therapy back to Asia, in 1992 and in just four to five years of manufacturing we started the production of placenta and some xenogeneic organo-materials in both Switzerland and Germany at a time when they were high in demand, especially in the USA, along with parts of Asia such as Japan and Korea and around the world. We are also probably the pioneers in introducing cell therapy to Asia, including Malaysia, in the 80s, and other parts of the world, and one of our earliest patients was a relative of the prime minister of Malaysia, who had a child diagnosed with Autism, who we treated with satisfactory results in Ampang Puteri Hospital, our main base in the country, and one of the only facilities equipped for stem cell therapy.

The first event took place in 2006, in Singapore, one of the largest of its kind then in Asia, where I introduced the concept of stem cell, cell therapy, and RNA therapy. With three prominent professors from the States, Switzerland, and Germany specially invited to introduce the wonders of cell therapy and stem cell therapy, the event was targeted at medical professionals, particularly doctors, and to my surprise it turned out to be a huge success that we further extended to Malaysia, and were met with another round of overwhelming support from the Malaysian government, where officials from the Ministry of Health and selected doctors attended. The three-day programme was designed as training for the doctors and they were required to sit for an examination to qualify for certification following the programme. That was where the wave of demand started for our therapies around the world to a scale where we took on the distribution model to cater to the supply.

Nanotechnology was one of my inventions, where the size of the particles or materials are nanosized and they go through the tongue as part of the digestive tract and further into the bloodstream just like an injectable. This invention won us numerous awards in Switzerland, Europe, and the Middle East. It was definitely a historic moment for we are the pioneers in this technology. I continued my journey with the guidance of more experts, from Schmidt, Kuhnau, Pesic Milan and Albert Landsberger, who was the last partner of Franz Schmidt’s team and had passed away a few years ago. He was the inventor of Resistocell and Sicca Cell in Germany, where it was formulated, and these were popular due to their benefits to the immune system. Landsberger was probably the one who introduced mesenchymal cell in Germany back then. I have also met Professor Shi of Fu Dan University in Shanghai, who was another expert in stem cell research, which opened my doors to China and then in Hong Kong in 2006, where I worked with the Soo Chow Children Hospital on brain cell treatment for the many young patients who travelled there from all around the world with a diagnosis of Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and global delay development, among many other neurodevelopmental disorders.. It was a monthly commitment with my American, German and Swiss doctors who were specially flown over to Hong Kong for that purpose and the list expanded to include even patients with Parkinson’s and various kinds of neuro-related disorders at that time, where treatments were by deep subcutaneous injections, intramuscular and lumbar puncture and xenogeneic material for treatments involving the brain.

Along with my team of dedicated clinicians, we were treating an average of 30 patients a day (including our monthly trips to Hong Kong) and with patients from the USA, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Australia in Ampang Puteri Hospital. There were still no hospitals or medical centres that specialized in stem cell facilities to cater to these patients. In the meantime, our research in stem cells had also advanced with umbilical cords and human autologous and allogeneic stem cells and even fetal (precursor stem cells) in Germany and Austria, as early as the 80s.

Professor Niehans was a strong believer in the use of fetal cells, which inspired our direction in stem cell therapy as well, based on the notion that cells of all animals, including humans who preside on top are alike and there are similarities at the fetal stage. Stem cells from humans are prohibited in Austria and rabbits were found to be the alternative to sheep. The sheep had been, by far, one of the most acceptable animals but rabbits possess unique features: they are retrovirus-free, with findings supported by written publications from American veterinarians. Following Niehans’s trend in fetal cells, I further revolutionized with SPF (specific pathogen-free) animals, also known as VAF (virus antigen free) in Europe, where these specific animals were imported from one of the top listed companies in the USA, namely Charles River, who were also providers of the same SPF laboratory animals to top universities, including MIT, Harvard and Cambridge (UK) for the purpose of rabbits and animal-related lab testing and research. The discovery of this company led to us being selective of our animals, where only SPF-labelled animals were used at our centres, as part of our efforts in the prevention of viruses and contamination, and this has been our practice for more than a decade now. We are probably the only ones with only SPF-certified animals in our European products until today and there are no other suppliers to my knowledge that supply these SPF animals.

Bovines or Porcines are preferred in Germany, due to their lower costs and wider access, and Kuhnau states cows as his preference too; it was much later that he introduced sharks, specifically blue sharks, which he used to treat a number of celebrities. According to Kuhnau, blue sharks are also another great option owing to their cancer-free characteristics and this is the same thing the Swiss said of sheep, being hardy animals, which were also reported as having organs of superior quality. The Japanese and Indians were involved in the use of human placentas, as were the Italians in Switzerland in the 80s and 90s, and with all this knowledge I took the initiative to compile them in the world’s stem cell books with one of my former partners in 2006.

This is just a glimpse into my journey of what I call the medicine of the new century, where I am a witness to the profound effects stem cells have had in disorders and diseases known as untreatable and even cancer patients who enjoyed extensions of their lives with upgrades in the quality of their lives. We continue to see a lot of progress in this field and I believe the learning is never-ending and it is the reason I will continue to work with the top scientists and doctors in this field to create more awareness, and educate the world on the advantages and also the shortcomings of stem cell therapies. All clients acquiring the treatment must first undergo a proper diagnosis through our European Wellness’s proprietary DDRR (Diagnose–Detox–Repair–Regenerate) programme to ensure that they are eligible for treatment along with the required accuracy in the prescription of cells, protocols, detoxification, and oxygen therapy, which are all made possible through my acquisition of Paracelsus Klinik, Lustmuhle, Teufen in St. Gallen, Switzerland, the world’s largest regenerative hospitals, in 2010, along with my wife. It was the first acquisition and we subsequently acquired a number of other centres of biological and regenerative wellness hospitals, clinics and centres all over the world. Today, we already own some places and are in joint ventures around the world, and in November 2017, we acquired Villa Medica, the original hospital founded by one of the famous cell therapists, Dr Alexander Gali.

The purpose of this book is to share the stories and cases we have encountered through our years of experience and studies on stem cell therapy.

This is about my undying passion and I will not stop as I believe that sharing the knowledge will help more people out there. After all, the first rule in medicine is "Primum non nocere, which means to do no harm, and stem cell therapy does not harm but heal. I am myself a living testament for, at the age of 62, I do not have ageing signs such as grey hair but still sport a thick mass of black hair, which I wear proudly on my crown. As Niehans said, Add life to your years, not just years to your life".

To that, I add, I want not only a quality life but a life well lived to the fullest.

The future is about to begin.

PROFESSOR DATO SRI DR MIKE K. S.CHAN

PART I

WHAT IS STEM CELL THERAPY?

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Stem Cell Therapy: A Beacon of Hope

Picture the typical scenario of a patient diagnosed with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the kidney is already badly damaged. The kidney is beyond repair at this stage and there is nothing much medicine can do except to keep the patient’s condition under control and the patient is told that he will need to rely on dialysis to keep him living without properly functioning kidneys. It is devastating news to the patient and seemingly a death sentence for the kidneys.

What if I tell you this does not have to be the case?

What if I tell you that there is a way to revive and reverse the kidney damage?

What if there is still hope for the damage to be minimized to a less critical stage?

There is indeed and the way to do it is to inject similar kidney cells into the patient, where the kidney would be able to regenerate, hence reducing the existing level of the damage. This is true in the case of my own father-in-law, whom I love and respect very much and whom I have treated with stem cell therapy that reversed his nearly stage 5 CKD and he did not even need dialysis for the rest of his life. He is just one of the many success stories we have had with stem cell therapy.

We have also encountered a 13-year-old patient diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who was referred to a paediatrician by an orthopaedic specialist. Children with DMD usually begin to experience weakness, especially of the lower limbs, as early as three years of age; and the weakness progresses such that by the age of seven years they will have difficulties walking independently. Conventional medicine, to date, has not found an effective treatment. Research in genetic therapy and stem cell transplantation is still ongoing to find an effective therapy. The sadness and sense of helplessness the parents experience when told there is no effective treatment available for this genetic disease is inconceivable.

This boy developed steroid toxicity as a result of treatment with deflazacort, the drug that was prescribed for him. He developed a cushingoid face (or a moon face), weakened immune function, osteoporosis, etc. It was a misery. Patients naturally explore other options when they feel the conventional treatment they are receiving is of no avail or causes distressing side effects. Social media exposes such patients to so many options. An empathetic doctor with an open mind would really be a great help in assisting such families make the choice. The above-mentioned patient was offered stem cell therapy protocol and, after a detailed explanation, they were very keen to try. They were more than glad to discontinue the steroid therapy. To date, after almost four years since the treatment started, he has shown no deterioration in his muscle power, although he is still wheelchair-bound. His poor cardiac function improved significantly after the treatment. Today, we are happy to see him continuing to keep himself active by reading and enjoying the company of his family, relatives, and friends.

Another significant case we have seen was that of a 42-year-old doctor in India, who was the sole breadwinner for his family and was lying in bed when we first met him. He had a spinal cord injury following his fall from the balcony in his own house and, though the family had sought professional opinions and treatments from one doctor to another, almost exhausting their own finances, it was to no avail. We performed the first treatment of a lumbar puncture on him and he recovered in nine months. He was also treated with ultra filtrates, which are now known as enhanced nano cell extracts (nano organo peptides) of CNS and we are pleased that he has not only regained mobility but also resumed his life and, today, he still continues to work and provide for his family.

We believe that there is no disease without a remedy. Doctors perpetually face diseases that are untreatable and medical research is a never-ending endeavour. Reports of success and inspiration to seek cures spur researchers like us to labour on incessantly. The gratification of seeing a patient recover from a serious disease with a poor prognosis is priceless and will never be forgotten. Doctors are just regular humans too. A doctor proposes a promising line of treatment, and nature will take its course, a reality that Albert Schweitzer himself was quoted in his own words: I do not cure disease. I just help the body heal itself.

Physicians cannot cure every disease but comforting the sick and their loved ones is very much a part of healing. We should refrain from reinforcing the sense of hopelessness and, instead, strive to help them look for solutions – even those out of mainstream medicine if conventional medicine cannot offer anything at that point in time. We can help them make a choice as to the modality of treatment that is safe and worth trying.

This book presents information about a treatment modality, stem cell therapy or stem cell xenotransplantation, the concept of which is ancient but has been continually updated through research and the practice of doctors in this field. In this book, we refer to the use of cells from animal sources that are transplanted or implanted in humans suffering from disease. It is fair to assume that most modern-day Western orthodox medical researchers either know nothing or know little about cell xenotransplantation (zellentherapie in German), made famous by the late Paul Niehans, MD, in Switzerland, who followed in the footsteps of earlier European researchers (Chapter 2). In reality, this concept is as old as 4,000 years. Cell therapy – which was officialized as a form of medical treatment in Switzerland in 1931 – has actually been around for more than 80 years in Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, the USSR, etc. In fact, there have been a lot of published studies and case reports on the subject. It is estimated that more than 250,000 articles can be found on PubMed, the medical database in MEDLINE, the US National Library of Medicine. This does not include many groundbreaking studies in the German and Russian languages. This technology can be easily understood by medical practitioners since it is not exclusive. Cell therapists require knowledge in the fields of anatomy, cell biology, physiology, pathology, biochemistry, genetics, bacteriology, parasitology, immunology, embryology (animal and veterinary), clinical medicine, and other related fields.

The principle of treatment using cell therapy is very different from drug and/or hormonal treatment. If the protocol is adhered to, the outcome of treatment will be optimized. Remember that, in cell therapy, like cures like. This was hypothesized by Hippocrates and also written by Paracelsus in XVI century. If, for instance, the dysfunctional heart is not recognized, the cell therapist may omit cardiomyoblasts in the prescription, thereby missing the opportunity to heal the heart. Likewise, the same goes for other organs as well: liver cells to heal the liver, bone cells to heal bone, kidney cells to heal the kidneys, lung cells to heal the lungs, etc.

The conventional medicine that we use is effective for acute emergencies, infections, traumatic injuries, acute illnesses, acute organ failure, poisoning, and treatment of many congenital abnormalities.

The best of conventional medicine must be conserved. However, it cannot stimulate or regenerate dysfunctional or dying organs. This is where regenerative medicine comes in and this is the value of stem cell therapy, which is the main topic of this book. Stem cell therapy is recognized as the most effective harmonizer of the endocrine system. It can correct immune defects. The optimistic outcome of this therapy has ended the scepticism of many conventional medical practitioners. Significant responses in a high percentage of Down’s syndrome patients have been observed. One cannot be certain whether stem cell therapy will always work in conditions that are untreatable in conventional medicine. The probability of success will be enhanced if the patients for therapy are carefully selected and properly prepared, and if the treatment is carried out in accordance with up-to-date protocols established by the experts in the field. A patient opting for this treatment needs to be fully informed and to follow the prescribed protocol to enhance the probability of success. Stem cell therapy must always be an integral part of holistic treatment. With proper conduct and adherence to the procedures and protocols, the benefits will be felt.

It is to be expected that not every patient receiving stem cell therapy will admit feeling the benefit of the treatment, particularly if the pre-treatment preparatory protocol is not adhered to. Nevertheless, from the experiences of practitioners and array of literature, the published claims made by physicians in the past that it is one of the safest modes of biotherapy and it is even much safer if stem cells are obtained from state-of-the-art primary tissue culture can be attested. The animals from which these are obtained must be reared in accordance with the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA, and the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). These are the sources of our fetal precursor stem cell xenotransplants, which we have been using in our Malaysian initiative to treat our patients with diseases untreatable in conventional medicine. Side effects are rare even when the benefits are not experienced. It is imperative that doctors performing cell therapy carefully screen patients for stem cell therapy, follow the protocol of treatment, and ensure that the live stem cells are procured from an accredited laboratory. Patients undergoing therapy must be given full information as to the dos and don’ts to enhance the effect of therapy. Expectations of benefits should be discussed between the doctor and the patients or parents. Like all modes of medical therapy, no guarantee can be given that all the expectations will be realized. The patients are informed and assured of the safety of the therapy practices and allergic reactions are uncommon, with only occasional reports of occurrences of fever, rash, feelings of lethargy, and swelling at the site of implantation following the treatment. This is based on our own experience of more than 1,000 implantations carried out in Malaysia alone to date.

Stem cell therapy is also a part of holistic treatment. This implies attention to the diet, hygiene, nutrition, proper rest and adequate exercise, and abstinence from alcohol, drugs, and smoking. Those with stress, depression, etc., may need a referral to a mental health professional to help them achieve psychospiritual balance. Cultivation of a strong mental defence mechanism to be able to handle stress should be included in the aims of treatment. Patients have to cultivate patience, thankfulness, asking forgiveness, always with a sense of being in God’s grace, and a positive attitude. For instance, a paraplegic having cell therapy should be prepared to undergo physical therapy with discipline apart from following the other requirements of therapy. As a fellow cell therapist who had the same experience said, You must strive with blood, sweat, and tears. Receiving cell therapy but not being prepared to commit to an intensive physical therapy programme and to struggle with patience and hope will be a loss. Cell therapy has and will always be an integral part of a holistic approach to treating any patient with a chronic or untreatable disease in conventional medicine.

Stem cell therapy has been utilized by brilliant and dedicated doctors – mainly in Europe (especially in Germany and Russia) – for over 100 years to treat patients who have failed treatment with the medicine conventional at that time. This modality has not been without its critics among colleagues in allopathic medicine. Many notable doctors, though – including Nobel Prize laureates – have helped to advance the knowledge through their practice and research in this field, for which we should be eternally grateful. This modality of treatment must be used with attention to detail and fine-tuned in the light of up-to-date scientific knowledge. As doctors, we are and should be always reminded to abide by the code of professional ethics and take every precaution to ensure that, above everything, primum non nocere (first, do no harm).

The emergence of new diseases and existing ones with no known cure in modern medicine continue to call for prompt alternative therapies. The history, research, and clinical application of cellular and biological therapies has spanned decades and recorded merited successes. Backed with century-old studies to post-marketing surveillance, it is proven that these therapies are not only effective but also safe. Though allogeneic and autologous cellular therapy has been used therapeutically, the use of the xenologous method has been much preferred even in modern medicine, owing to its upper hand. It is just a matter of time for the usage of cellular and biological therapies to be widened and made one of the mainstream treatment modalities.

As mankind advances in timeline, emerging diseases and many existing ones pose a Herculean task to be solved. It is now that the alternative treatment modalities come to great play, owing to the advancement of