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APPETIZERS
Reversal of Androgen Inhibition of Estrogen-Activated Sexual Behavior by Cholinergic Agents
In the News: Womens Dementia Worsens Faster Than Mens
Battle of the Sexes
SENSITIVITY TO PUNISHMENT REQUIRES SEROTONIN SIGNALING
Remembering a Pleasant Experience Protects Mice Against Stress Whereas Experiencing the Pleasant Experience Does Not
After a Heart Attack: Promoting Cardiac Repair and Reducing Cardiac Dysfunction
Using Sleep to Brainwash
The Logic of Increasing Freedom By Appealing to the Scientifically PROVEN Human Desire to Punish Bad Actors
Authors Summary of Why the Niacin Flush May Be Surprisingly Beneficial to Your Health
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Life Extension News - Life Enhancement Products
Life Extension Manual – A Guide to Anti-aging, Genomes, and …
Life extension involves learning how to make use of the knowledge that modern medicine has provided in order to live longer and healthier lives. We can use knowledge about DNA and personalized medicine, nutritional supplements, maintenance of hormone levels-- and other medical information-- in order to live a longer healthspan. By living longer, we can be alive long enough to take advantage of medical advances that are yet to be developed. Life extension is an aggressive form of preventive medicine.
The Life Extension Manual began as a handout for seminars on Life Extension I was doing once or twice a year during the early 1990s. As the "handout" grew in size to that of a small book, I began to convert it into a stand-alone document and to distribute it separately from the seminars.
I won't be doing any more of these seminars, but I have done significant updates occasionally of the online Life Extension Manual and I plan to do some more updates, including adding new chapters, during the coming months.
I cannot predict when new material will be added. I earn very little from this Life Extension Manual, so I don't have much incentive to put additional effort into it. I still find this subject to be of upmost personal interest to me, though, and I enjoy sharing this information.
Whatever I may do with this information in the future, this basic Life Extension Manual will remain only available online. There are no plans at the present time to make any printed copies available.
Whenever I can make enough time, I'll be adding chapters on the additional subjects currently listed in the Table of Contents.
Life Extension is a new form of applied science that is filled with uncertainties; but in the short history of this applied science, many of those who have learned to manage the uncertainties have already benefited greatly from it.
Science is the one successful method that has been developed for managing uncertainty. Knowledge and certainty are mutually exclusive. Certainty is a myth of unscientific worldviews.
Those of us who have been practicing state-of-the-art Life Extension for more than a decade have been pleased, and sometimes pleasantly surprised, at just how well these techniques work. (I've been at it to some extent for more than 45 years, beginning when I was about 20 years old.)
In many respects, though, the true science of anti-aging medicine is just now in its infancy. In the past, we have only been able to slow down some of the manifestations of aging. In the near future, we may finally begin to be able to do something about aging at a more fundamental level. In fact, we can now begin to attack aging at its most fundamental level, but we can currently only make perhaps a five percent dent in the most fundamental causes of aging.
At this point in time, the very small number of us who have been at this life extension process for several decades, and have succeeded to some extent in making our biological age much less than our chronological age, are regarded (to some extent) as social freaks. So one must be psychologically prepared to deal with this. (This problem is actually much more pervasive and difficult than most people would think. It is a major disincentive for aggressively continuing a life extension program.)
Long before we completely conquer aging at its most fundamental level, we are likely to encounter what scientist Aubrey de Grey calls the Methuselarity, which is a point in time where expected human lifespan increases by more than one year for each year of elapsed time. At this point, one's expected remaining lifetime stops decreasing and begins increasing. This certainly does not mean immortality or the end of death. It basically means, though, that you will have no real idea of how much longer you have to live. Some people will find this situation very uncomfortable or disconcerting. It is likely that most people alive today will live to see the Methuselarity.
I had intended that the Life Extension Manual would be revised and updated frequently, but this has proven to be quite time-consuming and difficult. I realize that some sections are inadequately referenced to the primary medical literature. I have added a number of important references during the past two years. I hope to be able to remedy this problem further over the next several months, although it is likely to be a slow process.
I had my genome analyzed in May, 2008 by deCODEme.com, a division of Decode Genetics in Reykjavik, Iceland. (DeCode was purchased by Amgen in December 2012, and they have since discontinued their DecodeMe personal genetics testing services for new customers.) In November, 2008, I had a further analysis done by 23andMe. These companies did not decode the entire genome, but they did decode the points of human DNA that are the most common variations among different individuals.
At the time of my DNA scans, DeCODEme.com decoded 1,013,349 points on an individual's DNA, and 23andMe version 2 decoded 579,751 points. These points are among the points known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs (pronounced "snips"). There is a lot of overlap in the SNPs that were decoded by the two companies. To learn more about SNPs, see SNPedia, which is a Wikipedia-like encyclopedia about single nucleotide polymorphisms.
One result of my DNA tests was that I was able to identify an unusual variant in a gene that codes for the aromatase enzyme. A malfunctioning aromatase gene was causing me to lose bone density, especially spinal bone density. As a direct result of the discovery of that variant, I had further testing done, and I discovered that my estradiol level was far too low. Estradiol is an estrogen that is necessary for health in both males and females. After using supplementary estradiol for 10 months, the bone mineral density in my lumbar spine increased by more than 20 percent. By June 2012, my lumbar bone mineral density had increased by 42.5 percent above the bone density just before I started using topical estradiol. You can read more details about my DNA tests, including medical references about the problem of estrogen deficiency in males, at:
I already knew that I had a genetic propensity for spinal osteoporosis, a disease which resulted in my father's death in 2005 after a long period of severe disability. Shortly after my father's death, I had a DEXA bone scan that revealed that my bone density was also abnormally low, primarily in the spine, but also to a certain extent at the hip.
By May of 2008, my spinal bone density had decreased to the point that it met the technical definition of osteoporosis. I was able to identify the most significant probable causes as variants in the IGF-1 and aromatase genes.
Results of a DEXA bone density scan on May 6, 2009 indicated an increase in lumbar spinal bone density of 20.1 percent during the previous year as the result of using supplemental transdermal estradiol and injectable growth hormone. DEXA bone density scans in December 2010 and June 2012 showed a continuing increase in my spinal bone density. My spinal bone density is 42.5 percent higher (as of June 2012) as compared with its was lowest point in May 2008. I am no longer in the osteoporosis range.
Progress in medicine is expanding so rapidly that the doubling time for medical knowledge is now about four years (although there no means of really measuring a moving target like expanding knowledge with any degree of accuracy). That means that during the next four years, we will learn as much about medicine as was discovered from the beginning of human existence until now.
The field of human genomics is currently advancing faster than any area of information that I have seen in my lifetime (and I have spent the last four decades imbedded deeply in the rapidly-moving electronics revolution). The 20th century was the century of electricity and electronics, but the 21st century promises to be the century of biology and medicine.
Figuring out how to manage and apply all of the information is an enormous challenge, a challenge made even more complex by biochemical individuality: the fact that each of us is unique. In both preventive medicine and traditional "curative" medicine, what works well for most people may have adverse effects on any given individual. If we can stop FDA obstruction, the new science of human genomics will help us to sort this out, and this process of individualized medicine is beginning already.
23andMe no longer provides any details on health risks for new customers. They still allow you to download your complete DNA SNP file, plus ancestry information.
If you want to obtain your health risk information from your DNA file, you will have to either consult with a professional, or else analyze your raw 23andMe DNA file as I have done (as described elsewhere on this site). The FDA will not allow 23andMe to directly provide any health risk information of any kind for customers ordering after November 22, 2013. The DNA scan price is still $99.
My Promethease analysis, mentioned above, has a lot of information about how I am likely to react to various medicines. In the future, DNA analysis will also be able to give some valuable information about how any specific individual is likely to respond to various foods and nutritional supplements. Promethease is software for comparing a person's individual genetic data from a DNA scan with the known information about the effects of different variations in DNA.
There is a 23 minute video tutorial on downloading a 23andMe file and obtaining information from that file on health risks and your personal pharmaceutical idiosyncrasies by using Promethease at:
Traditional one-size-fits-all medicine is rapidly becoming obsolete, and it will soon come to be generally regarded as dangerous.
I usually began my Life Extension Seminars by passing around a printed copy of the Index Medicus, the index of most of the medical research reports published in the world for any particular month. During the 1990s, the typical Subject Index for one month was a 9-inch by 11.5-inch book that was more than 2 inches thick and weighed more than 6 pounds (nearly 3 kilograms). (The separate Author Index was only a little over one inch thick.) This book was only the index for a single month of medical research reports in scientifically-respected peer-reviewed publications. It is no longer feasible to publish a printed index of new medical reports due to the ever increasing volume of new information. After December, 2004, printed copies of the Index Medicus were no longer published. That information is now only available electronically.
The information in the Life Extension Manual is derived from information in those research reports that you don't usually hear much about. I personally do make use of most of the information that is contained in the Life Extension Manual; but I am not recommending that anyone else do the same. I am a medical experiment-in-progress, and so is anyone else who decides to make use of relatively new medical information.
The decision whether, and to what extent, to personally make use of information about life extension and anti-aging medicine is a difficult one. While there is an abundance of data pointing to the benefit of, for example, the regular use of melatonin or certain other particular hormones, but there are also a large amount of unanswered questions.
I am frequently asked about my personal life extension program and about to what extent it has worked. I've always been reluctant to publish my own experimental regimen since it would be inappropriate for anyone to use it without medical supervision. I once had it online at this site, but too many people foolishly tried to use it inappropriately for their own program-- so I have deleted it. I have put a page back up about the core nutritional supplements that I consider important. That page is not a complete summary of what I take (since what I take changes as circumstances evolve), but contains information that I believe will be useful to others.
I have put the results of my latest personal blood chemistry tests, with comments online. That set of blood chemistry data shows the results of my 2010 blood tests and link to another page showing my blood tests for the earlier three years. I will have even more updated personal medical information available here later.
This online manual is heavily linked to many other interesting web sites, especially in the Recommended Reading and Resources section.
The Life Extension Foundation has also provided Futurescience with an article about natural means of increasing human growth hormone for those who do not wish to (or cannot afford to) use HGH injections.
The Life Extension Manual is written by Jerry Emanuelson.
If you send me an email, please be patient. I do carefully read all of my email, but I find it impossible to respond to every one.
Futurescience.com has an affiliate relationship with the Life Extension Foundation. I have been a member of this organization since very shortly after it was founded more than three decades ago. That organization provides a number of very valuable products and services, which you can purchase whether you become a member or not (although you get a significantly discounted price if you are a member.) One of those services is the ability to order your own blood tests of your choosing at a price that is lower than you will generally pay at a doctor's office. In this free Life Extension Manual, one of the major goals is to enable individuals to take greater control of their own health and medical care.
The Life Extension Foundation offers discount pricing on a wide variety of blood testing by one of the largest testing laboratories in the United States. The samples are taken at any one of the more than 1600 Labcorp sites all across the United States. This is a great opportunity to choose your own medical testing.
You can't really achieve optimal health and extend your life span without knowing the things about the true state of your health that only blood testing can tell you.
(If you have a problem taking blood tests because of problems with needle procedures, please see the Needle Phobia Page for many possible solutions to this very common, and often extremely difficult, problem. It is a problem that has been significant for me in the past, but I have largely overcome it.)
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Life Extension Manual - A Guide to Anti-aging, Genomes, and ...
Life Extension – Reviews – eVitamins.com
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Life Extension - Products on Sale, Coupons, Reviews, Free ...
About Life Extension: Anti-Aging, Health Supplements …
Established in 1980, the Life Extension Foundation is a nonprofit organization, whose long-range goal is to radically extend the healthy human lifespan by discovering scientific methods to control aging and eradicate disease. One of the largest organizations of its kind in the world, the Life Extension Foundation has always been at the forefront of discovering new scientific breakthroughs for use in developing novel disease prevention and treatment protocols to improve the quality and length of human life. Through its private funding of research programs aimed at identifying and developing new therapies to slow and even reverse the aging process, the Life Extension Foundation seeks to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, such age-related killers as heart disease, stroke, cancer and Alzheimers disease.
The Life Extension Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to extend the healthy human lifespan by discovering scientific methods to control aging and eradicate disease. continue >>
Since its inception in 1980, the Life Extension Foundation has continued its dedication to finding new scientific methods for eradicating old age, disease and death. continue >>
The Life Extension Foundation has been a world leader in uncovering pioneering approaches for preventing and treating diseases. continue >>
Long-time members are keenly aware of the scientific research that Life Extension Foundation funds to develop validated methods to slow and reverse the aging process. continue >>
Life Extension Foundation Federal Income Tax information is now available to download in Adobe PDF format. continue >>
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About Life Extension: Anti-Aging, Health Supplements ...
The Life Extension Blog
If you're making plans for summer fun and vacations, keep in mind that the sun, while the source of life for our planet, has potentially dangerous effects that should not be overlooked.
Below, we'll explain the basics for helping to keep you and your family safe and healthy in the summer months.
Every man, woman, and child ought to be applying UVA and UVB-filtering sunscreen prior to outdoor ventures that involve exposure to sunlight, especially between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., when the sun's rays are at their strongest.
People living near the equator and at high altitudes need to be particularly vigilant concerning protection. Parents should consider not only themselves, but their children as well, since blistering sunburns early in life have been associated with the development of skin cancers in adulthood.
Ultraviolet-blocking sunglasses and protective hats and clothing offer significant protection and, unlike sunscreen, don't have to be reapplied throughout the day.
Vitamin D supplements are inexpensive, less time-consuming than sunbathing, and confer no health risk if consumed in a reasonable dose.
If you are unsure of the right amount of the vitamin to use, arrange to have your blood tested for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and adjust your vitamin dose accordingly.
Heatstroke symptoms include a body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, altered mental state, dry skin (unless vigorously exercising), skin flushing, nausea and vomiting, headache and rapid breathing or heart rate.
Heat stroke most often afflicts older individuals due to a reduction in their blood vessels' ability to dilate in response to heat, which is caused by a decrease in nitric oxide production. This also increases the risk for heart-related problems.
Recent studies show folic acid increases vasodilation by increasing nitric oxide production. This is valuable for aging men and women to protect against the cardiac risks associated with hot weather.1
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The Life Extension Blog
Life Extension Vitamins | Health Supplements | Garcinia …
Special Sale!
Life Extension Vitamins offers high-quality nutritional Health Supplements: Garcinia, CoQ10, Curcumin, Dhea, Phytoceramides, Probiotics, Vitamin D3 from the highest quality brands. Antioxidants, Chinese / Mushrooms, Glucose Control, Weight Management, Energy / Sports, Heart / Circulation and more.
Life Extension Vitamins, an authorized Life Extension retailer, honors special prices and quantity discounts without added membership fees, and free shipping in the Continental U.S.
Life Extension's Skin Restoring Phytoceramides with Lipowheat combines ceramides from non-GMO Lipowheat wheat (Triticum vulgare) oil extract, offering nutritional support for aging skin, to complement the topical products you may already be using.
CoQ10 | Curcumin | DHEA | GarciniaHCA | Life Extension Mix | Phytoceramides | VitaminD3
**We can order any item not listed on the web site as long as it is still available per the manufacturer: 1-888-771-3905 or emailus. Thank you for your business!
Life Extension Vitamins respects your privacy and security. Orders are handled by a secure server. Your information is fully confidential and will not be given or sold by us to any company or organization.
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Life Extension Vitamins | Health Supplements | Garcinia ...
NEWS – Life Extension
Current findings published by news media worldwide on the topics of health and wellness, dietary supplements, diseases such as atherosclerosis, arthritis and stroke, and numerous other subjects of interest to those who wish to live a longer, healthier life are posted each day in Life Extension Daily News. New articles posted seven days a week under the headings of vitamins, nutrition, disease and aging cover a range of subjects, from health tips for the lay person to peer-reviewed medical journal reports.
Under Aging, cutting-edge research that improves our understanding of the aging process is revealed, in addition to suggestions for anti-aging supplements as we grow older.
The Disease section reports medical breakthroughs as well as alternative therapies for conditions and diseases that affect many of us, such as stroke, atherosclerosis, and arthritis.
Items posted under Vitamins provide the latest research findings and practical information on the best vitamins contained in food and dietary supplements, as well as legislative information.
Can't visit http://www.lef.org every day? Articles are archived under Aging, Disease, Nutrition and Vitamins (for a limited time period) to allow you to browse them at your leisure.
Articles featured in Life Extension Daily News are derived from a variety of news sources and are provided as a service by Life Extension. These articles, while of potential interest to readers of Life Extension Daily News, do not necessarily represent the opinions nor constitute the advice of Life Extension.
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NEWS - Life Extension
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, – Video
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine,
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, indefinite life extension, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes...
By: Massage
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Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, - Video
Life extension deniers part 3: their ignorance and stupidity – Video
Life extension deniers part 3: their ignorance and stupidity
via YouTube Capture.
By: scotty3861
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Life extension deniers part 3: their ignorance and stupidity - Video
An argument with a life extension denier – Video
An argument with a life extension denier
via YouTube Capture.
By: scotty3861
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Forever Young – Short Documentary (Regenerative Medicine/Life Extension) – Video
Forever Young - Short Documentary (Regenerative Medicine/Life Extension)
Features interviews with Dr. Udi Sarig and Elio de Berardinis on the subject of regenerative medicine and the possible implications of life extension.
By: Luke Watson
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Forever Young - Short Documentary (Regenerative Medicine/Life Extension) - Video
Life extension – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, indefinite life extension, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan. Some researchers in this area, and "life extensionists", "immortalists" or "longevists" (those who wish to achieve longer lives themselves), believe that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement (such as with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans (agerasia[1]) through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition.
The sale of putative anti-aging products such as nutrition, physical fitness, skin care, hormone replacements, vitamins, supplements and herbs is a lucrative global industry, with the US market generating about $50billion of revenue each year.[2] Some medical experts state that the use of such products has not been proven to affect the aging process and many claims regarding the efficacy of these marketed products have been roundly criticized by medical experts, including the American Medical Association.[2][3][4][5][6]
However, it has not been shown that the goal of indefinite human lifespans itself is necessarily unfeasible; some animals such as hydra, planarian flatworms, and certain sponges, corals, and jellyfish do not die of old age and exhibit potential immortality.[7][8][9][10] The ethical ramifications of life extension are debated by bioethicists.
Life extension is a controversial topic due to fear of overpopulation and possible effects on society.[11] Religious people are no more likely to oppose life extension than the unaffiliated,[12] though some variation exists between religious denominations. Biogerontologist Aubrey De Grey counters the overpopulation critique by pointing out that the therapy could postpone or eliminate menopause, allowing women to space out their pregnancies over more years and thus decreasing the yearly population growth rate.[13] Moreover, the philosopher and futurist Max More argues that, given the fact the worldwide population growth rate is slowing down and is projected to eventually stabilize and begin falling, superlongevity would be unlikely to contribute to overpopulation.[11]
A Spring 2013 Pew Research poll in the United States found that 38% of Americans would want life extension treatments, and 56% would reject it. However, it also found that 68% believed most people would want it and that only 4% consider an "ideal lifespan" to be more than 120 years. The median "ideal lifespan" was 91 years of age and the majority of the public (63%) viewed medical advances aimed at prolonging life as generally good. 41% of Americans believed that radical life extension would be good for society, while 51% said they believed it would be bad for society.[12] One possibility for why 56% of Americans claim they would reject life extension treatments may be due to the cultural perception that living longer would result in a longer period of decrepitude, and that the elderly in our current society are unhealthy.[14]
During the process of aging, an organism accumulates damage to its macromolecules, cells, tissues, and organs. Specifically, aging is characterized as and thought to be caused by "genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication."[15]Oxidation damage to cellular contents caused by free radicals is believed to contribute to aging as well.[16][16][17]
The longest a human has ever been proven to live is 122 years, the case of Jeanne Calment who was born in 1875 and died in 1997, whereas the maximum lifespan of a wildtype mouse, commonly used as a model in research on aging, is about three years.[18] Genetic differences between humans and mice that may account for these different aging rates include differences in efficiency of DNA repair, antioxidant defenses, energy metabolism, proteostasis maintenance, and recycling mechanisms such as autophagy.[19]
Average lifespan in a population is lowered by infant and child mortality, which are frequently linked to infectious diseases or nutrition problems. Later in life, vulnerability to accidents and age-related chronic disease such as cancer or cardiovascular disease play an increasing role in mortality. Extension of expected lifespan can often be achieved by access to improved medical care, vaccinations, good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking.
Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes and by environmental factors. Widely recognized methods of extending maximum lifespan in model organisms such as nematodes, fruit flies, and mice include caloric restriction, gene manipulation, and administration of pharmaceuticals.[20] Another technique uses evolutionary pressures such as breeding from only older members or altering levels of extrinsic mortality.[21][22]
Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan in humans could be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues, reversal of harmful epigenetic changes, or the enhancement of telomerase enzyme activity.[23][24]
Originally posted here:
Life Extension Information, Research and Products
Hockey legend Gordie Howes star power is raising awareness in the United States and Canada about advances in stem-cell therapies as he continues what is being called a miraculous recovery from a massive stroke.
Those closest to him, including his son, Toledo radiologist Dr. Murray Howe, are convinced the former Detroit Red Wings player would have died if he had not traveled to a medical clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, for an experimental stem-cell treatment not yet available in the United States.
After a debilitating stroke on Oct. 26, Mr. Howe, 86, had a few weeks of slight recovery, but then his health went downhill quickly, said Dr. Howe, director of sports medicine imaging for ProMedica Toledo Hospital. The family had started preparing for his funeral. But that all turned around after he had the adult stem-cell treatment on Dec. 8.
If you saw him now, you wouldnt know he had a stroke, Dr. Howe said.
Its been wonderful. Every day I would say hes a little bit better, and there are little hints of improvement. Certainly in the first month, every day his strength, coordination, and balance were better. He has been eating like a horse. He had lost 20 pounds, and now he has gained back 25 pounds, so he is pretty close to his playing weight now, Dr. Howe said.
In describing his fathers treatment and recovery in the last three months, Dr. Howe does not hesitate to use words such as unbelievable, astonishing, and amazing.
Eight hours after Mr. Howe received what is called a lumbar puncture, where stem cells were injected in the spinal fluid of his lower back by an anesthesiologist, he went from being bedridden and only mumbling short sentences to speaking clearly and walking with assistance, Dr. Howe said.
On the second day at the clinic, he received an IV infusion of a different type of adult stem-cell treatment.
When he returned to his home in Lubbock, Texas, on Dec. 10, Mr. Howes recovery from the stroke continued at an rapid rate, his son said.
His vocabulary had dropped down. If you showed him pictures the speech therapists when they were testing him, he could name about one of 10 items. After his stem-cell treatments, he was able to identify 80 percent of the pictures. The speech therapist was just floored, Dr. Howe said.
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