Canadian tries Russian stem cell treatment

CTV ^ | 10.16.05 | Ellen Pinchuk

[Coleus]

Would you try an untested medical treatment on the off-chance it could let you walk again? Canadian Hanna Czarnecki has traveled all the way to Russia for stem cell injections at a private clinic specializing in spinal cord injuries.

Czarnecki is hopeful pioneering technologies that are less strongly regulated than in Western countries can bring her results she wouldn't be able to achieve here in Canada. Despite concerns from the medical community about such procedures, she says the choice is hers to make.

Two years ago, near Woodstock, Ont., Czarnecki was paralyzed from the waist down. Now, she is hoping that stem cell injections will repair her damaged spinal cord.

"I really want to try and they say they can help me," the Polish immigrant says.

At the clinic, stem cells are gathered from Czarnecki's own blood and nasal passage.

"Using the patient's own cells gets rid of the ethical and legal questions associated with embryonic stem cells," says the clinic's head doctor, Andrei Bryukhovetsky. "Also, there's no issue of the patient's body rejecting the cells."

At Bryukhovetsky's clinic, several patients with spinal cord injuries claim that within two months of stem cell treatment, they're seeing a big improvement.

"Now, I can move my legs, my muscles are working, I hold my knee in place and I can control my bladder," a patient named Bariat told CTV.

But, short of doing double-blind clinical tests, it's impossible to know for sure whether the treatment is really working, says one of Canada's foremost spinal cord specialists.

"Patients misinterpret, overinterpret, exaggerate the results because they want to get better so badly, and so do their doctors," says Dr. Charles Tator.

Stem cells are non-specialized cells that can renew themselves and to turn into different types of mature cells.

Mice with severe spinal cord injuries regained much of their ability to walk normally after getting injections of stem cells taken from the brains of human fetuses, scientists in California reported last month.

Despite the misgiving of some might have, Czarnecki says any hope is worth the trip and the $30,000 price tag.

"Even if there were any risks, I would take them because only people in wheelchairs know how difficult it is."

The clinic is booked months in advance with spinal cord patients seeking a miracle they hope stem cell technology can give them. They're willing to spend the time, effort, and money on what could be the answer to their prayers, or just a heartbreaking illusion.

[Coleus]

Doctors in Russia Prove that Non-Embryonic Stem Cells can be Used in Treating Spinal Cord Injuries

[AntiGuv]

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[Dog Gone]

Mexican doctors have been making millions in treating American cancer patients with apricot pits for years.

[jb6]

But does it work? Look, my wife had cateracts and got them removed and had lenses put in here in the US. Her mother, we paid for her to get it done in Moscow. Her mother has much better lenses. Besides the fact that her mother's service quality was much better at the paid clinic in Moscow then the paid clinic here (where the nurse insisted I get my sedated wife dressed and off the bed ASAP because they needed the bed....never mind they had another ten empty ones), the really crazy thing is: BOTH LENSES WERE AMERICAN MADE.

The difference? The new lenses hadn't passed the FDA facists and were not available to Americans, several years now after they came out.

[Dog Gone]

That's a good point, but I think there's a distinction between a new product and a new treatment. It's not hard to sell a new treatment to a desperate patient. Delays in access to new products are incredibly frustrating, especially when their value has been shown in overseas applications.

[frannie]

That's where Steve McQueen went and received that treatment but it didn't work.

[jb6]

In many high tech sciences, the Russians are actually very far advanced. Remember they created laser eye surgery and their physicists came up with the math for stealth (luckily the Soviet central committee of stupid bureaucrats didn't think it important), they have the more advanced ion drives that we've bought before and quite a few other things, like anti-missile systems for their tanks and the latest in fighter-bombers.

Not quite the 3rd world illiterate hell hole of Mexico.

[Dog Gone]

That's true, but Russia still can't deliver power and heat reliably to its citizens and it has an oligarchy/mafia that controls most of business in the country. It's a weird place where some things are sophistocated and some things are third world.

I think you take your chances any time you deal with them.

[Coleus]

That's where Steve McQueen went and received that treatment but it didn't work. >>>

that's because Steve went way to late, these treatments usually work when: you go there first rather than as a last resort, go there "before" the chemo and radiation kills the immune system. Some clinics won't even take you if you already had chemo and/or radiation.

[Paul_B]

Also, do a search on umbilical stem cells. Very promising.

p.

[jb6]

The people without power and heat are those in the villages and primarly in the east. The cities have plenty of both, even the cities in the east. Furthermore, they are only the 9th largest economy and we are the first and yet we have rolling black outs in California and more then a few of our country poor are also still without heat....well with stove heat anyways.