Chinese stem cell therapy still very dangerous
Some of the disabled believe that there are treatments available overseas that can cure brain cancer or spinal cord damage. They believe that the FDA keeps usable techniques down so that pill companies can keep making billions off of the suffering of the few. But it has been shown that the vast majority of stem cell injections either did nothing, or made matters worse. Patients found that pain is now increased at the site or that cancer has cropped up at the point of the injections. Unfortunately there are no strong standards to hold researchers to in China and other developing countries. While work is done by companies and universities, very little is done to create usable double blind studies that can prove that a treatment works. Instead these clinics hope that the success of their treatments is from word of mouth and that no science is required to keep customers coming in.Without real science, there is no way to determine if something works or not, or if it actually makes matters worse. There is a reason why western countries demand years of animal research before anything is done to a human. There are so many unknowns in dealing with stem cells to allow physicians to inject them in hopes that something useful happens. Without studies the doctors and clinics make a fortune from patients that often pay cash, and lots of it. (Source: Irish Times.com)
Don’t become a statistic. It is easy to speak to a few people that say wonderful things have happened to them. That does not mean that anything good will come to you with an unproven technology. This is the only body you will get, so you don’t want to make things any worse than they are. There is a reason why these procedures are only available in China, with no oversight they can say anything and promise the world in exchange for lots of your hard earned currency. Get involved with hospitals and research centers all over Europe and the US trying to find real answers to spinal cord injuries. Do it the right way so that you know it will be safe and will not require you to sell everything you own for a pipe dream. It would be a tragedy if you had a procedure in China done and the damage from it stopped you from getting a new procedure found to be safe and effective.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
User Comments
Acupuncture has been tested for many years and found to be safe and effective. Pumping embryonic stem cells into people’s brains and spinal cords have not been found to be either safe or effective. Many of those people not have cancer cells growing at the injection sites and there are presently no procedures to treat those problems. The issue is not Chinese medicine that has been around for centuries, it is a boutique medical industry that has popped up virtually over night with no oversight. It is imperative that many double blind studies over many years be performed before we turn the disabled into guinea pigs. I can appreciate having an open mind, but not to the point where your brain falls out.
Your ad hominem attack on my alleged beliefs of the war in Iraq and the 911 attacks does nothing but diminish your arguments. It shows that you have no way of propping up your beliefs so you attack the person directly. If you have links to major medical research showing the long term effects of embryonic stem cells on humans, please let me know because I have not seen them.
There are some animal studies that show that these cells may have great promise in the treatment and possible cure of Alzheimer’s as well as spinal cord injuries. However, there are no large studies across many human-animal types like pigs and monkeys using stem cells at 5, 10, and 15 years. These are critical for the medical community to understand what they are up against and will this even work. Doctors are finding out that the spinal cord is much more complicated then first thought and as such, more research has to be done so we have a complete understanding of damage to tissue and how to get the cells in the spinal column to regenerate.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Loading ...
Just because the treatments were not done in the west does not mean it does not work. Take a look at accupuncture which is now reimbursed in the UK. For years it has been ridiculed by western doctors and now they are embracing it. Try to have an open mind. I am guessing you probably still believe that the Iraqi’s have weapons of mass destruction and were responsible for 911.