Posted on 11/19/2008 9:02:18 PM PST by Coleus
Every three months, David Martin, a quadriplegic, returns to a small clinic here in the Russian capital for therapy he cannot legally get back home in Kalamazoo, Mich.: injections of stem cells taken from his own body, at a cost of $12,000 per visit.
Martin's American doctors have tried to dissuade him from believing that any improvement in his condition could be the byproduct of stem cell treatments, a therapy not yet approved in the U.S. No scientific evidence has ever shown that such treatments can repair human spinal cord injuries, experts say.
Yet Martin notices glints of progress—a twinge of sensation in one of his curled, still hands, a faraway feel of something cold on his skin. He attributes it to the stem cell treatments he has been getting in Moscow.
"It's definitely unfortunate that the U.S. isn't doing this," said Martin, 36, paralyzed since a car accident in 2006. "It's not an inexpensive venture, and it's not easy on the body to have to travel this distance."
No regulation, proof What troubles critics is the rush in some countries to offer stem cell therapy on the health-care market, the absence of governmental oversight associated with stem cell treatments in those countries, and the lack of any proof that the treatments actually work. If patients feel improvement, experts say, it's likely a placebo effect or the result of their body's own healing mechanisms.
NeuroVita relies on adult stem cells taken from the patient's bone marrow, a type of stem cell widely regarded as having far less therapeutic potential than embryonic stem cells—stem cells derived from human embryos.
While adult stem cells may be useful in treating cancer or brittle bone disease, most experts think that it's impossible to turn blood-derived adult stem cells into nerve cells,
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Our FDA is WORTHLESS, anymore... Following the FDA’s advice and using meds they claim are “Safe and Effective” can KILL more people that they are supposed to HELP!
It’s expensive, so I guess we are supposed to pay for it.
I am all for an adult pursuing whatever therapy he or she wants, as long as they are honestly informed and not defrauded.
To act as though the US should pay for every new idea out there is totally unhinged.
We’d put all our GNP into quacks before the year was over.
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