Jan 7, 2007 (AP)— Scientists reported Sunday they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies in the womb and produced a variety of tissue types from these cells sidestepping the controversy over destroying embryos for research.

Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University reported the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells. They reported they were able to extract the stem cells without harm to mother or fetus and turn their discovery into several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver and bone.

“Our hope is that these cells will provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for engineered organs as well,” said Dr. Anthony Atala, head of Wake Forest’s regenerative medicine institute and senior researcher on the project.

It took Atala’s team some seven years of research to determine the cells they found were truly stem cells that “can be used to produce a broad range of cells that may be valuable for therapy.”

However, the scientists noted they still don’t know exactly how many different cell types can be made from the stem cells found in amniotic fluid. They also said that even preliminary tests in patients are years away.

Still, Atala said the research reported in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology expands far beyond similar work discussed at a heart research conference in November. There, Swiss researcher Simon Hoerstrup said he managed to turn amniotic fluid stem cells into heart cells that could be grown into replacement valves. Hoerstrup has yet to publish his work in a scientific journal.

Atala said the new research has found even more promising stem cells with the potential to turn into many more medically useful replacement parts.

“We have other cell lines cooking,” Atala said.

The hallmark of human embryonic stem cells, which are created in the first days after conception, is the ability to turn into any of the more than 220 cell types that make up the human body. Researchers are hopeful they can train these primordial cells to repair damaged organs in need of healthy cells.

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However, many people, including President Bush, oppose the destruction of embryos for any reason. The Bush administration has severely restricted federal funding for the embryo work since 2001, leading many scientists to search for alternative stem cell sources.

The cells from amniotic fluid “can clearly generate a broad range of important cell types, but they may not do as many tricks as embryonic stem cells,” said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientist at the stem cell company Advanced Cell Technology. “Either way, I think this work represents a giant step forward for stem cell research.”

It’s the latest advance in the so-called regenerative medicine field that has sprung from Atala’s lab in Winston-Salem, N.C. In April, Atala and his colleagues rebuilt bladders for seven young patients using live tissue grown in the lab.

In the latest work, Atala’s team extracted a small number of stem cells swimming among the many other cell types in the amniotic fluid. One of the more promising aspects of the research is that some of the DNA of the amnio stem cells contained Y chromosomes, which means the cells came from the babies rather than the pregnant moms.

Dr. George Daley, a Harvard University stem cell researcher, said that finding raises the possibility that someday expectant parents can freeze amnio stem cells for future tissue replacement in a sick child without fear of immune rejection.

Nonetheless, Daley said the discovery shouldn’t be used as a replacement for human embryonic stem cell research.

“While they are fascinating subjects of study in their own right, they are not a substitute for human embryonic stem cells, which allow scientists to address a host of other interesting questions in early human development,” said Daley, who began work last year to clone human embryos to produce stem cells.

On the Net:

Wake Forest regenerative medicine institute: http://www.wfirm.org/

Nature Biotechnology: http://www.nature.com/nbt/index.html

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Jan. 6, 2007 — For Susie Neubaur, part of being a good Christian means trying to be physically fit.

She works out at the Lord’s Gym in Clermont, Fla., beginning her day with Bible study and a program called “Body by God.”

“Christians, your body is the Holy Spirit’s temple,” she says. “You want it to look good and be healthy.”

There is little spirituality at many of the nation’s millions of gyms. In fact, it is probably fair to say the deadly sins like envy, pride and lust are more prevalent than the cardinal virtues.

And that was the motivation for a trend in faith-based fitness, where divine inspiration comes with perspiration. At the Lord’s Gym, the walls are covered with motivational messages, and the instructors shout out stimulating quotations from scripture.

Body by God classes are now taught at dozens of gyms and churches across the country.

Prayers Get Physical

The 40-day program claims to be more than just the latest workout fad. Ben Lerner, author of “Body by God,” says his workout has staying power.

“The bottom line is that if you’re a Christian, you go to heaven,” he said. “There’s no weight limits, there’s no height limits, nothing like that in heaven. But the bottom line is we are called to honor God with our bodies.”

Body by God is not the only program of its kind. “What Would Jesus Eat,” “The Prayer Diet” and “The Hallelujah Diet” are other popular titles aimed at devout Christians who want to keep body and soul together.

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And many Christians — including Patricia Bodine, now a regular at the Lord’s Gym — say they do not feel at home in regular gyms.

“With most modern gyms, the tight clothes, seems as though a lot of people stare at you,” Bodine said. “Here, I just feel like it’s family. I don’t have to compare myself with anybody else.”

Fitness merchandisers also are cashing in on this growing sector of the fitness industry. One of the big sellers at the Lord’s Gym snack bar is the Bible bar, containing the seven foods of Deuteronomy.

Jan. 6, 2007 — An unidentified 67-year-old woman in Spain is believed to be the oldest new mother in the world after giving birth to twin boys this week. She’s part of a trend that has some people asking if science is going too far.

The woman conceived her children through in vitro fertilization, but she is not the first woman to defy the biological odds.

In 2005, a Romanian woman gave birth to this baby girl at age 66. At the time, she was considered to be the world’s oldest mother.

In the United States, more women past traditional child-bearing age are taking advantage of modern medicine to make their baby dreams a reality.

Janise Wulf, a 62-year-old grandmother and mother of 11, gave birth to a healthy baby boy last February in California.

At age 57, Aleta St. James gave birth to twins in November 2004.

“I want to say, go for your dreams. You never know how long we’re going to be here,” said St. James after the birth. “You should never have any regrets.”

Despite how happy these new moms are, their pregnancies have provoked criticism; some say these mothers are just too old.

Glenn McGee, a medical ethicist at Albany Medical College and editor in chief of “The American Journal of Bioethics,” told “Good Morning America Weekend Edition” that “there should be limits,” but, “I wouldn’t want to be the person who condemned a person at any age for having a baby.

“As people have passed the point of menopause, the question of how far you could go … is a realistic question,” McGee said. “But what we’re not asking is how is too old for the kids. How old is too old for society?”

According to McGee, at least one-third of children in the United States are raised by their grandparents or by people over the age of 60.

Still, he insisted, people need to understand the limits of medicine.

If we don’t set limits, people begin to think that reproductive medicine is a business … and we don’t spend enough time studying the kids,” he said.

The four are Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa and One-A-Day WeightSmart.

The FTC alleged that the companies’ weight-loss and weight-control claims were not supported by evidence.

The companies also agreed to limit their advertising claims.

“You won’t find weight loss in a bottle of pills that claims it has the latest scientific breakthrough or miracle ingredient,” said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras in a written statement. “Paying for fad science is a good way to lose cash, not pounds.”

The money will be used for refunds, said FTC spokeswoman Jacqueline Dizdul. “They give back their ill-gotten gains,” she said.

She said it was not surprising that many people were seduced into buying the products. Professionally produced advertisements ran in major magazines. In addition, “I think everyone holds out hope that there is a quick and easy way of doing things,” she said.

“At the same time, we always encourage consumers to look at any claims like this with a healthy dose of skepticism.”

Though the companies may continue to sell the products, they will not be making the same claims, Dizdul said.

In the case of Xenadrine EFX, two marketers of the pills will pay between $8 million and $12.8 million to settle claims that its weight-loss claims were false and unsubstantiated.

Xenadrine EFX contains green tea extract, caffeine and bitter orange. It was advertised in such publications as “People,” “TV Guide,” “Cosmopolitan” and “Men’s Fitness.”

False claims documented

According to the FTC’s complaint, none of several studies showed Xenadrine EFX resulted in substantial weight loss and that endorsers who lost weight did so instead by engaging in diet and/or exercise programs. The endorsers were paid $1,000 to $20,000 for their testimonials, a fact that the company’s advertisements did not disclose, the complaint said.

The seven marketers of CortiSlim and CortiStress will surrender a total of at least $12 million to settle charges that they claimed — without substantiation — that the products can cause weight loss and reduce the risk of illness, including osteoporosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

CortiSlim and CortiStress infomercials “were deceptively formatted to appear as talk shows rather than advertisements,” the FTC said.

TrimSpa marketers will pay $1.5 million to settle FTC allegations that their weight-loss claims were unsubstantiated.

Ads for “TrimSpa Completely Ephedra Free Formula X32″ featured testimonials, including one from actress Anna Nicole Smith, who credited the pills for a 69-pound loss over eight months.

Finally, the Bayer Corporation will pay a $3.2 million civil penalty to settle FTC allegations that advertisements for its One-A-Day WeightSmart multivitamins violated an earlier commission order requiring its health claims to be supported by evidence, the statement said.

The complaint alleges that Bayer Corporation marketed One-A-Day WeightSmart with unsubstantiated claims that it increases metabolism; enhances metabolism through its EGCG content; helps prevent some of the weight gain associated with a decline in metabolism in users over age 30; and helps users control their weight by enhancing their metabolism.

The FTC noted that the agreements “are for settlement purposes only and do not constitute admissions by the settling defendants of law violations.”