Stem Cell Promise for ALS
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN HOST: Good morning and welcome. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Welcome to a place where we're going to learn how to live longer and stronger. I'm your doctor and I'm also your coach. Imagine if a doctor told you this: I'm going do risky spinal surgery. It probably won't do any good. In fact, it could harm you. That's exactly what this medical pioneer was told. We got it first here on SGMD. We'll show it to you. And my conversation this week with a star of an Oscar-winning documentary. Her story may inspire you to move beyond any health challenges you have ever had. And finally, a medical mystery. We've been seeing images like this for the last week now. The Gulf Coast oil spill -- could it possibly impact your health even if you don't live on the water? I'll tell you. Let's get started.</s>GUPTA: First up, though, for more than a decade, we've been hearing about the promise stem cells may or may not hold, but they haven't produced a single proven cure backed by solid science so far. But now, the first FDA-approved clinical trial using fetal stem cells in adults with ALS is under way. I was getting some exclusive access and was able to follow a patient on his incredible journey.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): John Cornick has a terrible illness for which there is no cure. Can you imagine hearing this from your surgeon?</s>DR. NICHOLAS BOULIS, EMORY UNIVERSITY NEUROSURGEON: I don't honestly think that this is going to make you better ...</s>JOHN CORNICK, ALS PATIENT: Right.</s>BOULIS: ... which means that the reason that you're doing this is to help other people.</s>CORNICK: Right.</s>BOULIS: Right?</s>CORNICK: Right.</s>BOULIS: And, you know, you have all of my admiration and respect for being willing to do this for the greater good.</s>GUPTA: The greater good. You see, John has volunteered to be one of the first people in the United States to participate in an operation to inject stem cells directly into his spine. It's called a phase one clinical trial. This is the first step. No one knows what will happen. Here's how John got to this place.</s>CORNICK: Two years ago, I was running, playing golf.</s>GUPTA: And then gradually, literally, he began to lose it.</s>CORNICK: I started tripping and kind of like we thought it was like a foot drop and started catching my foot on bricks and curbs and started losing my balance initially, and then developed a limp in my right leg. I lost the dexterity and can't button buttons, can't tie shoes. I can kick a little bit, but I can't really pick my legs up.</s>GUPTA: John Cornick has ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It's better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The nerve cells in the spine and brain which control muscle movement destroyed. And when the brain can no longer tell muscles to move, those muscles wither away -- eventually, the diagram as well which pulls and pushes air into the lungs. Think about that. The brain is fine but you simply cannot breathe. John knows there is no cure for ALS, and so does his wife, and his two daughters.</s>CORNICK: My first thoughts were I hated for my girls to see me go through this.</s>GUPTA (on camera): So, today is a historic day. What we're going to see is the first FDA-approved clinical trial for fetal stem cells in adults. It's remarkable. Obviously, a lot of issues here. (voice-over): Dr. Eva Feldman developed the trial.</s>DR. EVA FELDMAN, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN, NEUROLOGIST: When we inject stem cells in the spinal cord, the stem cells surround those large nerve cells and allow those nerve cells to actually become less diseased. In fact, the nerve cells begin to look healthy.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): So, it's worth pointing out as John is going into the operating room, how important today is. The question they're really trying to answer, though, the most important question at this point is: are these cells safe? Is anything bad going to happen as a result of this operation? (voice-over): Getting stem cells into John's spinal cord is not easy. It took this surgeon, Dr. Nick Boulis, years to design this special platform to stabilize the needle that delivers the stem cells into the spinal cord. This is a huge breakthrough.</s>BOULIS: One thing that's critical in my opinion is the injection be done in a very slow and controlled fashion.</s>GUPTA: The entire operation would last four and a half hours. John is getting five injections, each one about 10 microliters of stem cells -- tiny, tiny drops.</s>BOULIS: That's it. We're done.</s>GUPTA: A week after the operation, John says he's feeling amazingly well. (on camera): Psychologically, I mean, just knowing you have the stem cells now in your body, in your spinal cord, how about that mentally? How are you feeling?</s>CORNICK: Again, I don't know what to expect. And I don't feel like there's anything going on in my body that's, you know, transforming anything. You just don't feel any effects from them. But I do feel like I'm gaining strength every day. I get to the point that I can physically take my shirt off myself, I'm fighting for those little battles to win those little battles psychologically. And the more of those I win, the better I'm going to feel about it and going to say, these doggone things are working. Whether or not -- whether or not it's just my mind over defeating the disease for one day or whether or not it's the stem cells working some magic.</s>GUPTA: He's just absolutely an amazing guy. And I can tell you, John's progress is going to be closely monitored by researchers at Emory University where that trial was conducted. And full disclosure, I'm on the faculty at Emory, as well. Now, if John's progress is as promising as two previous participants have been, more patients are going to have this particular procedure. I should point out, as well, interestingly, John's wife, Gina, who you met there, found out about this trial by going to the Internet. And if you want to learn more, you can also go to www.alsa.org. That's the ALS association. Now, a massive headache. It's called a thunderclap headache by doctors. One viewer wants to know what causes the pain. And I got an answer in "Ask the Doctor." And she was the focus of an Oscar-winning documentary. Well, Prudence Mabhena can tell us all about determination and overcoming obstacles. Plus, wait until you hear her voice. She gave us a sneak preview.