Russian scientists develop an alternative way of growing taller using step cells

[Thermal49]

Don't you think somebody should have come with news if everyone can e-mail and ask for information?
There are only a few reasons.

1: They aren't revealing any information
2: The e-mail address is there but no one is going to send an e-mail or
3: The information they receive isn't intresting enough to show it here.

Well.. I think I am going to give it a try...
I'll share everything they tell me.

If you email them, they respond with a very informative email.  They are 1 year out from having a set procedure.

[soapey]

Does anyone have an idea of how much this would cost if it were to happen in a year?

[Repelsteeltje]

Does anyone have an idea of how much this would cost if it were to happen in a year?

I don't think they will give you information about the costs yet.

But you shouldn't hope for a price like $4.000,- because I don't think that is ever going to happen.
However I have seen stemcell treatments of $10.000,- which I think would be a good price for us all.

We just have to wait I guess . But don't be suprised if the price will be up to $100.000,-

[Repelsteeltje]

Wondering if they are ever going to take some time to answer my e-mail...
4 days ago already...

Unless someone else has some news to share, I guess we won't hear much from them any time soon.

[Repelsteeltje]

Sorry I post 3 posts in a row... I guess this isn't allowed, but I think this is important.

So I decided to send an new mail and for some reason they didn't receive my first e-mail.
This time they responded quickly and they are very kind. They appreciate it greatly if you send them an e-mail for information ( Just so you know )

So I got my e-mail, but I am not going to copy past it. Just going to pick out the most important information, for those who haven't send them an e-mail yet and are looking for information.

First of all, the method is not a clinical procedure at the moment. People say it will be in a year, but in my e-mail they haven't told anything about that.
Second, they are talking about an: "bone tissue biological graft based on human stem cell's". This bone graft will be implied in an bone defect that will activate tissue regeneration. In preclinical results the total regeneration was 2,5cm. Total regeneration was found in three months after operation. It is expected to increase human bones with 8-10cm.

The advantages of this method ( as they claim ) are short term of the gap regeneration and the lack of strict physical activity restriction during recovery period.

For me it is still not clear for 100%. I decided to reply to them tomorrow, but first I would like to ask those who are seeking for information and haven't contacted the company yet if you got any questions so I can put them into my e-mail.

Hope this was usefull information .

[Thermal49]

Sorry I post 3 posts in a row... I guess this isn't allowed, but I think this is important.

So I decided to send an new mail and for some reason they didn't receive my first email.
This time they responded quickly and they are very kind. They appreciate it greatly if you send them an email for information ( Just so you know )

So I got my email, but I am not going to copy past it. Just going to pick out the most important information, for those who haven't send them an email yet and are looking for information.

First of all, the method is not a clinical procedure at the moment. People say it will be in a year, but in my email they haven't told anything about that.
Second, they are talking about an: "bone tissue biological graft based on human stem cell's". This bone graft will be implied in an bone defect that will activate tissue regeneration. In preclinical results the total regeneration was 2,5cm. Total regeneration was found in three months after operation. It is expected to increase human bones with 8-10cm.

The advantages of this method ( as they claim ) are short term of the gap regeneration and the lack of strict physical activity restriction during recovery period.

For me it is still not clear for 100%. I decided to reply to them tomorrow, but first I would like to ask those who are seeking for information and haven't contacted the company yet if you got any questions so I can put them into my email.

Hope this was usefull information .

Thank you Repelsteeltje. I'm curious as to the cost or estimated cost of this procedure.  See if you can ask them that in your next email.  Typically Russia has had the cheaper costs compared to European and American operations.  Hopefully that carries over the same for this new LL method.  Also another question for you to ask is it seems that they plan, if I understood them correctly, to brake the bone separate it to the patients desired length, (as long as its under 2.5 cm) and then use the steam cells to aid in a rapid recovery.  My question is how will they be able to stretch the soft tissue so much at once?  The tissue stretch seems to be what causes most LL'ers the greatest pain will lengthening and thats only stretching a mm per day.

[Repelsteeltje]

Hey, Thermal49

Good questions, was wondering about the costs too so was already going to ask that...
However I don't think they will have an answer to that... Well I can always ask .

Btw, you haven't contacted the company by yourself yet? You sound you've did in previous posts.

Didn't have time today to send the e-mail so I will do it now. Hoping for an fast answer.
But I am a bit suprised to be honest... I thought more people would be interest.
Just hoping I ain't writing posts here for nothing.

[Thermal49]

Hi Repelsteeltj,

I contacted them and received a response sometime in May I believe.  They responded fairly quickly.  I look forward to hearing the updates.

[6ftby2014]

Sounds like it could be a way to heal the gap quicker and have a faster recovery. More data is needed though. I believe that DR.M is using similar technology. Always good to be researching new ways to make LL better, you are not wasting your time posting.

[Repelsteeltje]

Just wanted to let you know the e-mail has been send.
Took a while, because my english is not great and I didn't want to sound foolish too them.

Hope to receive an answer tomorrow or sunday. I will update as soon as I can.

Sounds like it could be a way to heal the gap quicker and have a faster recovery. More data is needed though. I believe that DR.M is using similar technology. Always good to be researching new ways to make LL better, you are not wasting your time posting.

Too be honest I hoped for an whole new treatment, but it indeed sounds like it is to be used to heal the gap quicker. However reading the e-mail you could walk normally during recovery wich would mean you only have to be on crutches or a wheelchair for 2-3 months. It's not the dream treatment we were hoping for but reading other persons experiences it would be a great step in LL.

I still can't really judge about it. Let's just wait for their information and then we can continu this topic

[6ftby2014]

Just wanted to let you know the e-mail has been send.
Took a while, because my english is not great and I didn't want to sound foolish too them.

Hope to receive an answer tomorrow or sunday. I will update as soon as I can.

Too be honest I hoped for an whole new treatment, but it indeed sounds like it is to be used to heal the gap quicker. However reading the e-mail you could walk normally during recovery wich would mean you only have to be on crutches or a wheelchair for 2-3 months. It's not the dream treatment we were hoping for but reading other persons experiences it would be a great step in LL.

I still can't really judge about it. Let's just wait for their information and then we can continu this topic

Yeah, I remember when this topic first came out. I read the info and determined that it was indeed a treatment to aid in the recovery and not a standalone LL method. An aid in recovery is a huge deal though and if it works well and allows for quicker walking time, it would be a great compliment to any LL method.

[Repelsteeltje]

Hell, here is an update about the method ( Just an update, planning to send another mail soon but going to wait a week with that. )

First of all I asked them if it's known when the treatment will be available. Their answer is that they expect to have all
necessary documentation to be able to use the developed method in clinic in a year. Probably everyone already knew this, because of previous posts.
However receiving the same answer in july ( almost august ) as in may, I can say they probably have no any clue when it will be available.

I also asked them if this treatment would really be used for cosmetic cases. Probably not the question you were waiting for, but it is still an interesting one in my opinion.
Their answer: The method was developed to repair and lengthen bones. And cosmetology bone lengthening for height increase was exactly one of our goals.
So, no doubt about that anymore. This method WILL be used for cosmetic cases.

Now the most interesting question of all... what would be the expected cost of the surgery.
Now the most dissapointing answer of all... "We can't estimate even an approsimate cost of the future treatment."
Didn't expect an answer on that anyway... But reading the next answer you could probably guess it will be like current methods or even more.

Last question: How would the needed gap in healthy bones been made for height increase. In other words how would the actually lengthening work.
Well... here is your answer:
For this purpose the bone is surgically cut, the bone parts are separated and the invented bone graft ( of the necessary size ) is implanted. Our method resembles the illizarov's one only on the stage of surgical gap modulation. Ilizarov's method comprises bone healing due to intrinsic factors while stretching it. Our method is based on bone regeneration due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors of bone growth.

Too bad my english is not good enough to fully understand this answer. But I guess this method is like current LL methods but only in bone healing it is different.
Not sure how this is going to help and how it will be alternative to current methods. However, if it would be possible to treat both leg sections at the same time. I imagine it would be possible to do 2,5cm on each section ( 25 days to create gap ) and heal the bone with this method ( in which you could walk normally ). After completing you can go back for another lengthening if you like. But the most important thing about this is, it may be possible to finish the treatment in 25 days as bone healing is not an issue in this treatment.

Hope this was usefull information. And I know some people are now dissapointed, because they were waiting for a miracle treatment. But, I am going to try my best to get more information.

Again, if anyone has questions. Please, place them here so I can e-mail them about it. 

[elendil]

What is their email address?

[6ftby2014]

Good post Reep. Dr.M is using sveral advanced techniques to speed up the healing process as well. As we all know, it is not the lengthening of the bone that is the biggest issue but the stretching of the soft tissues. You still can not lengthen the soft tissues faster than they will allow you to ( or longer). These techniques seem to be great for healing the bone faster and thus would allow for faster distraction to consolidation time and a faster and fuller recovery. Hopefully these labs keep advancing their technology and the doctors use them ( prudently of course) to expedite the LL process.

[Repelsteeltje]

What is their email address?

Have you read the entire topic? You should find it atleast 3 times...
Their e-mail address is: scelltimes@gmail.com
You can also vist their website: stemcellrussia.com

Wondering why you need their e-mail address though... Think I've posted the most important information you need to know for now.
If you have any interesting questions, you should share it with us. We all want to know if this method is a great step forward.

[Repelsteeltje]

Hello everyone. I said I would e-mail them in about a week... Well I couldn't wait that long.
These questions just kept burning in my mind.
However I think this will be the last update for now, before they get crazy because off all my e-mails .
I think in this update you will get all answers you wanted to know I promise.

Since my English is not great as I mentioned before I would appreciate it, if someone could help me a little,
as I understand the answers for 90% but that little 10% is needed to fully understand it.

I asked them about the clinical studies. Don't really know how those clinical trials work so I wanted to know if they are or have tried it on human yet.
One person should be the first one anyway... But it would be interesting to hear if their are already people who have completed the treatment succesfully.
This is their answer: Clinical studies are implemented to test the safety and efficasy of any method/treatment on human organisms. Before that preclinical results on laboratory or farm animals are done. We have implemented preclinical studies on farm animals, sheep, to prove the safety and efficacy of bone tissue healing. Now we are preparing to do clinical studies.

Well as I understand they are now preparing clinical studies in which it will be tested on human. I think we are going to hear alot from them the coming year.

I also asked something about the gap modulation ( Just curious like a child ). Like many other I first thought this would be an method for fast bone healing on current methods.
Well.. They are the scientists, but as I read from others experiences, I don't really know what to think of this:

This is my question to them: In current methods of cosmetic height increase there is a so called lengthening phase with an speed of 1.00mm per day. Is this still an requirement in your method?

"The height increase in these methods is achieved due to bone tissue abillity to grow. So, when the bone fracture is surgically performed, the bone parts are seperated slightly and the bone tissue grows into the gap, to connect these parts. If the parts are seperated greatly, the bone tissue can never totally regenerate the gap. That's why it is done gradually and every day/several days bone parts again and again are slightly seperated.
Due to our method, great gap is surgically done ( with separating bone parts ) and our invented graft is implanted there. This graft is already a bone tissue equivalent because
it is made in vitro and based on adult stem cells application. So it is rather hard to determine the speed of bone growth."

Again, what I understand is that they DO lengthen the legs to the desire length in ONE surgery. I am very curious what you all have to say about that, because of the soft tissue that has to be stretched in one surgery. Like I said before, they are the scientists, but everyone says this is impossible.

And last I asked was the duration of the method. Didn't get a clear answer to that.
They said it would be possible to walk on crutches in a week after surgery.
And the gap is regenerated in 3 to 6 months after surgery. Well walking for 3-6 months on crutches is not the worst part of lengthening legs.
But would be great if this could be done at home so it would look like your just have an broken bone.

Would appreciate replys on this so we can discuss about it. 

[6ftby2014]

There may be a miscommunication somewhere. There is no way to lengthen much in the initial surgery. Just read some diaries where patients with the internal Albizzia nail needed GA Clicking ( under General Anaesthetic, the doctor lengthened their nail). After doing this for about 1 cm, the patients woke up very stiff and in a large of amount of immediate pain. Any more than that would be unbearable and pose a huge risk for irreparable tissue and nerve damage. 1 cm is approximately 1/3 of an inch. Trying to do a half an inch, the risk increases tremendously and with each additional increment, the risk increases exponentially. As for surgically lengthening an inch or two during surgery and then repairing this gap, it is not possible. This is why I believe there may be a miscommunication between you and the doctors in your email correspondence.

[Repelsteeltje]

I agree on that there may be an miscommunication. But then when I asked:
"In current methods of cosmetic height increase there is a so called lengthening phase with an speed of 1.00mm per day. Is this still an requirement in your method?"

I don't see how here could be an miscommunication.

I agree that it practically is impossible, but I don't think there is an miscommunication.

Don't get me wrong I believe it isn't possible, but still I would like to know what professionals say about it.

[6ftby2014]

if they are going to insist that 4cm can be lengthened during surgery and this method can heal this.... then they have just lost all credibility..... no more research need be done on this company..... I do not believe that they are claiming this though. I am not saying that you have misrepresented anything, I just think that maybe they misunderstood something and answered incorrectly..... I am just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Repelsteeltje]

I think I will have to e-mail them one more time, so I am sure there is no misscommunication.
After that I think we just have to wait a year. Till there is more information and the treatment is available.