Stem Cell Nutrition -- Video and Articles


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Stem Cell Health is simple and natural. Embrionic Stem Cells are Controversial Conversation. Consequently Stem Cells are hot political news. We are interested only in what everyone agrees about -- no bull here.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Scientists Reprogram Adult Cells' Function

Scientists Reprogram Adult Cells' Function

Advance Stirs Up Debate on Embryos


By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2008; Page A01

Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires

associated with embryonic stem cell research.

Through a series of painstaking experiments involving mice, the Harvard biologists pinpointed three crucial molecular switches that, when flipped, completely convert a common cell in the pancreas into the more precious insulin-producing ones that diabetics need to survive.

The experiments, detailed online yesterday in the journal Nature, raise the prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies.

"It's kind of an extreme makeover of a cell," said Douglas A. Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who led the research. "The goal is to create cells that are missing or defective in people. It's very exciting."

The work was hailed as a welcome development even by critics of research involving embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed to become any tissue in the body but are highly controversial because they are obtained by destroying embryos.

"I see no moral problem in this basic technique," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a leading opponent of embryonic stems cell research. "This is a 'win-win' situation for medicine and ethics."

Researchers in the field, who have become accustomed to rapid advances, said they, too, were surprised by the advance.

"I'm stunned," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., a developer of stem cell therapies. "It introduces a whole new paradigm for treating disease."

Melton and other researchers cautioned that many years of research lay ahead to prove whether the development would translate into cures.

"It's an important proof of concept," said Lawrence Goldstein, a stem cell researcher at the University of California at San Diego. "But these things always look easier on the blackboard than when you have to do them in actual patients."

Although the experiment involved mice, Melton and other researchers were optimistic that the approach would work in people.

more....


Monday, August 18, 2008

Jackie Johnson, 2008 Olympian, Heptathlete

Going to the Olympics is a "dream come true" for our newest member of Team Simplexity Health, Jackie Johnson!

During the 2008 Olympic Trials that were held in Eugene, Oregon, Simplexity Health was fortunate enough to meet Olympic contender Jacquelyn (Jackie) Johnson. Jackie will make her Olympic debut this year in Beijing where she will compete in the heptathlon. The women's heptathlon consists of the following events: 100-meter hurdles
High jump, Shot put, 200-meters, Long jump, Javelin throw, 800-meters. Her strongest being the hurdles and high jump.

Jackie is being named the most accomplished heptathlete in collegiate history and is coached by our very own Olympic decathlon gold medalist, Dan O'Brien. It's this connection with Dan that first lead her to Simplexity Health products in the fall of last year and her love of Alpha and Omega Sun along with Super Q10 that have kept her coming back for more.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Dan O'Brien's Golden Vault

BY NANCY GONDO

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 8/8/2008

America had no doubt Dan O'Brien would make the 1992 Olympic decathlon team and bring home a gold medal from Barcelona, Spain.

As it turned out, he never went.

During the track and field trials in New Orleans, he missed all three pole vault tries at his opening height of 15 feet 9 inches. So he scored no points in the discipline and failed to qualify for the Games.

As devastating as that was, he refused to let it finish him.

"What '92 did was it took me from wanting to win the gold medal to a pursuit of perfection," O'Brien told IBD.

He remembers saying: "I'm never going to let that happen to me again. I'm going to become the best pole-vaulter that I possibly can. I'm not going to make any mistakes."

He didn't. During the four years after those trials, he won all eight of the decathlons he entered, including his second and third world championships.

He made it look easy, though it took sweat and guts to get past the obstacles. "Every pole vault competition since 1992 has been nerve-racking for me," he told Sports Illustrated in 1996. "I get an increased heart rate, sweaty palms. I have to force myself to relax and do things correctly. But in the end I've always been very competitive."

Despite the pressure, by the time the 1996 Olympic trials hit, he was well ready. He made the U.S. team — and won a gold medal in Atlanta.

He held the world record for total points (8,891 in 1992) in the decathlon for nearly seven years and the American record for almost nine.

Rising To The 10 Events

"Dan is an extremely gifted athlete," said Rick Sloan, one of O'Brien's former coaches and current head coach of Washington State University's track and field team. "He is very powerful and explosive for an athlete his size. He is a great performer, very competitive and has a strong work ethic."

Only a solid athlete can compete in, let alone win, a decathlon. It consists of 10 grueling track and field events: the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters on Day 1; the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run on Day 2.

How did O'Brien decide to pursue such a physical challenge?

"I got to meet Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988 at the Olympic trials and I was so impressed with her physical presence that I thought that's who I want to be," he said, referring to the heptathlon gold medalist in the '88 Seoul Games and again in Barcelona. "I wanted to be the male version of Jackie Joyner-Kersee."

He also knew he couldn't beat Carl Lewis in the long jump or run the 100-meter dash in 10 seconds. He did think he could become the next Bruce Jenner, America's decathlon darling of the 1976 Olympics.

While at a decathlon camp in 1990, O'Brien realized that he wanted to be an Olympic champ. Milt Campbell, who pulled off the feat at the 1956 Games, asked O'Brien about goals.

When O'Brien said he wanted to be a great athlete, Campbell said, "Quit, 'cause you're already a great athlete. What is it that you truly want to be?"

Then it hit him: He wanted to be the Olympic champion. From that day on, O'Brien pursued his goal.

"I went to bed with a goal and a plan each and every night," he recalled. "When you create that goal for yourself, then you do everything you possibly can to attain it."

He began seeing a sports psychologist and massage therapist, while continuing to work with coaches Sloan and Mike Keller.

On the mental front, he learned how best to breathe, relax and battle self-doubt. He taught himself how to sweep out negative thoughts.

"(I told myself to) think about how many times you came through," he explained. "Think about how many times you worried about something and when you actually got to that point it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be."

O'Brien also knew how to pull through from past experience. His path was easy. He'd had to overcome more hurdles than on the track.

In the mid-1980s, the athlete found himself out on the street after losing his college scholarship.

He'd excelled on the field, but let his grades slip until he was no longer eligible for sports at the University of Idaho. O'Brien had lost his way — but didn't want to give up. And he wasn't afraid to ask for help. "I didn't get into a lot of trouble, but I definitely wasn't taking advantage of the opportunities around me," he said. "So when I lost everything . . . I went to people for help and said, look, I'll do whatever you say."

One of those he asked was Idaho coach Keller, who encouraged him to enroll in a local junior college, find full-time work and train. Grateful and determined to dig out of his hole, O'Brien happily agreed.

He learned all about digging deep from his adoptive parents. After his birth parents gave him up for adoption, he spent his first two years in foster homes. When the O'Briens adopted him, he joined them at their home in Klamath Falls, Ore.

O'Brien was a natural when it came to sports — a good outlet for his boundless energy. He got started in track and field in the fifth grade, when he ran a one-mile fun run and won. In junior high, he ran cross country and then took up sprinting.

He took on even more, excelling in baseball, basketball and football in high school. At one point, he began training for the decathlon.

During his senior year in 1984, he placed fourth in the USA Junior Decathlon Championships. That helped him earn an athletic scholarship to the University of Idaho, where he first met Keller.

O'Brien flourished under his coaches' guidance. "I was willing to buy into somebody else's system and say you tell me when to be here, I'll train, you tell me how to throw, how to jump, and I'm going to do it your way," he said.

He credits that willingness — plus good coaching — for helping him improve vastly in the decathlon.

"Dan was easy to coach. He was a hard worker and loved to train," Sloan said. "He listened to what I had to offer and was able to develop his techniques."

In 2006, O'Brien was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in New York City, joining former decathlon greats Jenner, Rafer Johnson, Bob Mathias and Jim Thorpe.

He didn't grasp the honor right away, but he sure does now. "Those names are godlike. (They) transcend the event, and you never put yourself into that category when it's happening to you," he said. "I really enjoy it and like the fact that I can be mentioned with names like that."

Keys To His Lock

O'Brien's record made him a lock for the Hall, says Jill Geer, spokeswoman for USA Track & Field, the governing body for track, long-distance running and race-walking.

"First and foremost, what voters are looking for is an athletic record," Geer said. "I'd say being the three-time world champion, gold medalist and the world record holder, he pretty much hit the big trifecta of (athletic) accomplishments."

O'Brien is also a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Idaho's Hall of Fame.

Today O'Brien, 42, lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with his wife and shares his love of track as a volunteer coach at Arizona State University.

He's also a spokesman for blue-green algae products distributor Simplexity Health and specialty treadmill maker Pneumax, and does motivational speaking.

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