I seem to remember another much heralded scientific breakthrough ...
Posted on 11/28/2004 1:49:27 AM PST by LibWhacker
A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.
Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago.
Last week her eyes glistened with tears as she walked again with the help of a walking frame at a press conference where South Korea researchers went public for the first time with the results of their stem-cell therapy.
They said it was the world's first published case in which a patient with spinal cord injuries had been successfully treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
Though they cautioned that more research was needed and verification from international experts was required, the South Korean researchers said Hwang's case could signal a leap forward in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
The use of stem cells from cord blood could also point to a way to side-step the ethical dispute over the controversial use of embryos in embryonic stem-cell research.
"We have glimpsed at a silver lining over the horizon," said Song Chang-Hoon, a member of the research team and a professor at Chosun University's medical school in the southwestern city of Kwangju.
"We were all surprised at the fast improvements in the patient."
Under TV lights and flashing cameras, Hwang stood up from her wheelchair and shuffled forward and back a few paces with the help of the frame at the press conference here on Thursday.
"This is already a miracle for me," she said. "I never dreamed of getting to my feet again."
Medical research has shown stem cells can develop into replacement cells for damaged organs or body parts. Unlocking that potential could see cures for diseases that are at present incurable, or even see the body generate new organs to replace damaged or failing ones.
So-called "multipotent" stem cells -- those found in cord blood -- are capable of forming a limited number of specialised cell types, unlike the more versatile "undifferentiated" cells that are derived from embroyos.
However, these stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood have emerged as an ethical and safe alternative to embryonic stem cells.
Clinical trials with embryonic stem cells are believed to be years away because of the risks and ethical problems involved in the production of embryos -- regarded as living humans by some people -- for scientific use.
In contrast, there is no ethical dimension when stem cells from umbilical cord blood are obtained, according to researchers.
Additionally, umbilical cord blood stem cells trigger little immune response in the recipient as embryonic stem cells have a tendency to form tumors when injected into animals or human beings.
For the therapy, multipotent stem cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood, which had been frozen immediately after the birth of a baby and cultured for a period of time.
Then these cells were directly injected to the damaged part of the spinal cord.
"Technical difficulties exist in isolating stem cells from frozen umbilical cord blood, finding cells with genes matching those of the recipient and selecting the right place of the body to deliver the cells," said Han Hoon, president of Histostem, a government-backed umbilical cord blood bank in Seoul.
Han teamed up with Song and other experts for the experiment.
They say that more experiments are required to verify the outcome of the landmark therapy.
"It is just one case and we need more experiments, more data," said Oh Il-Hoon, another researcher.
"I believe experts in other countries have been conducting similar experiments and accumulating data before making the results public."
So does this mean that Ron Reagan Jr will now support Bush???
I am very interested in stem cell research. There is data from Stanford that neurons are not as static as we once believed and that the human makes about 30,000 daily throughout their life. This is in the cortex. I do not know about the cord. That being said, wait until the research is published as a peer reviewed journal article. Initial press releases are frequently more hype than science. Most observers believe stem cells can (might) be of benefit in acute cord injuries but not in chronic cases.
Korean Gov't or private research?
Bingo...it's good to see that someone thinks. This story is highly suspect for many reasons and your point is a major one to be sure.
Has kerry/edwards taken credit for this?
If we had only let those aborted babies come to term and had used their umbilical cord stem cells, Christopher Reeve might be alive today!
This isn't a common way of announcing important medical discoveries. Usually, it's with a paper presented at a scientific meeting or published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. And usually it begins with reports of animal experiments, not with human experiments. I'd like this to be true, but I'm skeptical!
What are you taling about? This happened in SOUTH Korea, not NORTH Korea. I don't find that the South Korean people are as you described. Can you elaborate??
"This isn't a common way of announcing important medical discoveries. Usually, it's with a paper presented at a scientific meeting or published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. And usually it begins with reports of animal experiments, not with human experiments. I'd like this to be true, but I'm skeptical!"
I'm more than a little skeptical.
This women has been 20 years a paraplegic with gross atrophy of all musculature from the waist down. She also presumably had at the very least some deterioration of her bones. We are expected to believe that virtually days after an untried procedure she rises from her wheelchair like some sort of Lazarus and begins to walk?
"For the unprecedented clinical test, the scientists isolated stem cells from umbilical cord blood and then injected them into the damaged part of the spinal cord.''The sensory and motor nerves of the patient started to improve 15 days after the operation and she could move her hips. After 25 days, her feet responded to stimulation."
All of this in less than a month? Snake oil...............
"[T]his is not supposed to happen under "this administration!"
Huh? This didn't take place under "this administration". This took place under the administration of South Korea.
On June 20, the 26 year old Pak Kyoung Lim will set foot on Korean soil for the first time in 1 year and 4 months, but this time, she will be accompied by an American boyfriend 5 years her junior, a 21 year old named Greg (deleted).Scandal of scandals! Not only is he a white man, but he is also a younger white man.
These facts were learned from a Korean student studying in New York. This student conducted an interview with Sport's Today in an international telephone conversation. The student said that she attended the same language school as Pak. After introducing herself in that manner, she said, "A while ago, when Pak Kyoung Lim was making her airplane reservations, she also got a ticket for her boyfriend Greg." According to this student, she is not traveling with her boyfriend Greg only, but with his American friends as well.
Racism?
I don't believe it. (Only because I didn't want to chance spelling skeptical incorrectly out here)
Ditto: Charles Krauthammer, physician and spinal cord injury parapelegic:
First, the inability of the human spinal cord to regenerate is one of the great mysteries of biology. The answer is not remotely around the corner. It could take a generation to unravel.
Unfortunately there are thousands of charlatans for every miracle cure. The peer-reviewed double-blind trial is the greatest advance in medical science in the history of mankind.
I seem to remember another much heralded scientific breakthrough ...
I am very skeptical...as a physician I would expcect (hope) that any new developments would AT LEAST be reported at a scientific meeting and the subjected to peer review for publication in a journal. The way this institute went about announcing their result does not inspire confidence.
Hey, don't forget, North Korea is still making huge progress with Magic Stones.
I wonder how they repaired the nerves? From everything I've read and heard, stem cells do not help generate nerve cells. But since I don't even play a doctor on tv, I could be way wrong on this.
...and we all know that if something appears too good to be true, it usually is. Miracles are one thing, succesful use of stem cells is quite another. All things will fall into place when the time and technology are right. Patience will be rewarded.
I am Caucasian and my husband is of Korean descent. We have traveled to Korea several times and have seen no evidence of racism directed toward us.
To be honest with you, I have often considered that we might get certain "looks", or even comments, if we traveled in some areas of America.
I know that many Caucasian-Americans would be less than thrilled if their daughters came home with a man of color. Luckily mine weren't like that.
My husband's parents treated me like a member of the family from our very first meeting.
It's always dangerous to paint a whole race of people with a broad-brush. Koreans are not all racists.
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