A forty-four-year-old man came to us with scleroderma in 2008. His disease had already progressed several years by then and his skin had become hardened almost like cardboard. He was unable to turn his head because of the tightness of his neck and speech was difficult because of tightness of his lips. He had only limited movement in his hands and fingers and complained of pain in his joints and back as well as depression.

Medical science still doesn’t know what causes autism, which is a spectrum disorder of the brain that appears with varying severity in as much as one percent of the population, but we do know that the spectrum is associated with restricted flow of blood to the brain and with immune dysregulation.
The connection between autism and the immunological system has created a lot of interest within the regenerative medicine community.

Systemic sclerosis, also called scleroderma, is a disabling disease in which a patient’s soft tissues become hardened by fibrosis. This can affect skin, muscles, vital internal organs, and blood vessels. Most patients also experience numbness in their extremities and intensified reactions to cold and to anxiety. The cause of scleroderma is believed to be auto-immunological. [...]

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of visual impairment in older people. The patient loses vision in the center of the visual field and is left with only the ability to see colors and shapes. This condition is currently being treated with laser coagulation and expensive monthly injections into the eye’s vitreous humor;