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Alabama Woman: "I'm Living Proof that Adult Stem Cells Work Far Better than Embryonic"
LifeSiteNews ^
| 8/10/07
| Elizabeth O'Brien
Posted on 08/10/2007 2:55:19 PM PDT by wagglebee
HOUSTON, August 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Alabama woman was successfully cured during a groundbreaking study in which adult stem cells were used to regenerate her failing heart, CitizenLink reports.
Carron Morrow, a 58-year mother of two, was on a heart-transplant waiting list after she suffered a massive heart attack last year while hanging up lanterns for an outdoor event. She discovered afterwards that her heart was functioning at less than fifty percent of its normal level. Morrow was devastated by the worsening condition that made it impossible for her to walk without support.
In the midst of this very bleak situation, however, Morrow and her church community started praying for her life.
Desperate for any option that might offer hope, Morrow offered to join a groundbreaking new study on adult stem cell therapy that was about to be conducted at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. She was one of 30 participants, only 20 of whom actually received the treatment.
The Food and Drug administration had not approved the surgery, but she stated, "My next choice was just to drop dead, so I signed everything and had full confidence in that group."
During the surgery, which took place on October 16, 2006, Morrow's birthday, the doctors cut out bone marrow cells from her hip, cultivated them for approximately four hours and then injected them into the crippled area of her heart.
Not long after the surgery, Morrow began to feel her old strength returning. "I knew within two months something was going on," Morrow says. "I could sing a whole song at church." She soon returned to her job as an event planner, and less than a year after the operation, she was overjoyed to receive the news that her heart was functioning normally again.
Referring to the stem cell debate, Morrow stated, "I told the doctor, 'I don't understand why we have this huge political mess going on about stem cells. I'm living proof that adult stem cells work far better than embryonic. And why should embryonic even be in discussion?"
"I'm here to say, 'I'm living proof. It saved my life.'"
Previously, Morrow needed an $85,000 defibrillator, but this is useless to her now. The stem cell culture on the other hand cost her less than $600.
Research involving adult stem cells has resulted in a whole list of successful cases where the cells have been used to help cure or alleviate the symptoms of diseases such as Alzheimer's, blindness and heart disease. 33-year old Edjuana Ross in Florida, for example, was suffering from a potentially fatal case of Lupus, and, like Morrow, she offered to participate in a study that involved adult stem cell research. One of 48 participants who received the treatment, she was treated with adult stem cells transplanted from her bone marrow. After suffering for years from diabetes and other serious side effects of the disease, Ross reported that all the symptoms disappeared after the surgery (see
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06020206.html).
Embryonic stem cell research, on the other hand, has yet to provide a single positive medical result. In fact, embryonic stem cells are consistently found to create additional problems such as rejection by the body's immune system. In addition, the rapid proliferation of embryonic stem cells quickly leads to the growth of threatening cancer tumors.
Despite these facts, however, major research societies continue to promote embryonic stem cell research, ignoring the grave ethical problems with the research. These include Juvenile Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society and more recently, the Huntington Society (for the full list of Canadian charities that support embryonic stem cell research see
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/060918a.html).
Read full CitizenLink report on Carron Morrow:
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005149.cfm Embryonic Stem Cell Therapies to Cure Disease is "Pure Folly", Says MIT Prof
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/dec/05121209.html Adult Stem Cell Discoveries Could Treat Alzheimer's and Blindness
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05021405.html Why Embryonic Stem Cell Research? It's About Human Engineering, Not Ending Disease
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06050902.html
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: moralabsolutes; prolife; stemcellresearch; stemcells
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Guaranteed NOT to be reported by the mainstream media.
1
posted on
08/10/2007 2:55:35 PM PDT
by
wagglebee
To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; 8mmMauser
2
posted on
08/10/2007 2:56:04 PM PDT
by
wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
To: 230FMJ; 49th; 50mm; 69ConvertibleFirebird; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; An American In Dairyland; ..
3
posted on
08/10/2007 2:56:28 PM PDT
by
wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
To: wagglebee
As the screenwriter wrote in the movie “All the President’s Men” (it wasn’t in the book:
“Follow the money”....
All tha private investing is going to adult stem cells research... I wonder why? ;)
4
posted on
08/10/2007 3:04:37 PM PDT
by
Mikey_1962
(If Roger Maris got an asterisk next to his name, Bonds should get a syringe)
To: wagglebee
As the screenwriter wrote in the movie “All the President’s Men” (it wasn’t in the book:
“Follow the money”....
All the private investing is going to adult stem cells research... I wonder why? ;)
5
posted on
08/10/2007 3:05:09 PM PDT
by
Mikey_1962
(If Roger Maris got an asterisk next to his name, Bonds should get a syringe)
To: wagglebee
Given that most people do not believe the media, that could be a good thing. Also, after 42 years in business for myself, I can guarantee that the best advertising is word of mouth. Every person cured and all their family and friends will each tell 10 more people, who will go on to tell another 10 and so on. Especially since the cost is so affordable for these treatments, it should soon be just commonplace, I hope.
To: reformedliberal
We need more stories like this. Maybe more stories like this will kill the taxpayer initiatives on stem cell research.
7
posted on
08/10/2007 3:13:51 PM PDT
by
tbw2
(Science fiction with real science - "Humanity's Edge" by Tamara Wilhite)
To: wagglebee
... I'm living proof that adult stem cells work far better than embryonic....Did they try embryonic stem cells on her? I didn't see that in the article.
8
posted on
08/10/2007 3:14:18 PM PDT
by
FReepaholic
(Boomchakalakalaka Boomchakalakalaka)
To: wagglebee
"The stem cell culture on the other hand cost her less than $600." PROBLEM! The drug companies will never let this get approved.
To: wagglebee
10
posted on
08/10/2007 3:30:25 PM PDT
by
kitkat
(I refuse to let the DUers chase me off FR.)
To: Mikey_1962
You are correct. Where are the all the pharmaceutical companies, Warren Buffett and the Gates Foundation when it comes to embryonic stem cell research? It appears that adult stem cell research has produced spectacular results, while embryonic stem cell research has produced squadoosh, as Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon is wont to say.
To: wagglebee
save to send to the disbelievers...
12
posted on
08/10/2007 3:55:18 PM PDT
by
krunkygirl
(force multiplier in effect...)
To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...
13
posted on
08/10/2007 4:05:12 PM PDT
by
Coleus
(Pro Deo et Patria)
To: Mikey_1962
Embryonic stem cell research is being pushed by the left for one reason and one reason only — to protect abortion.
There are no laws prohibiting private companies from spending whatever they want to on ESC research (and the drug companies and biotechs routinely spend billions on anything that shows a bit of promise) and they aren’t. The only conclusion is that they have no plans of wasting their own money on something that will never make them a penny.
BTW, great line you wrote!
14
posted on
08/10/2007 4:48:24 PM PDT
by
wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
To: Coleus
15
posted on
08/10/2007 5:57:07 PM PDT
by
Siobhan
(America without God is dead.)
To: wagglebee
16
posted on
08/10/2007 9:53:12 PM PDT
by
Salvation
(†With God all things are possible.†)
To: Orange1998
One thing I don’t understand is why the drug companies haven’t gotten into the stem cell game. If I was a ceo at one of them that would be a no-brainer. Spending huge money now in the adult stem cell game. Then charging whatever they wanted when treatments were developed. Lets just say theyw ouldn’t charge 600$ for something that could cure the heart.. which imo would be huge profit imo. Think you are competing against 250,000$ surgeries.
Maybe its just too early or they are stuck on the pharma model and don’t see themselves as being able to get into a new area. I think they risk being left behind if they don’t make the jump in all honesty. We already are seeing their revenues stagnate. The reality imo from my reading is we have gotten most of the ‘fruit’ to be gotten in the chemical molecule field. And it appears almost all of the low hanging fruit.
The next areas of human health, like adult stem cells, gene therapy promise going way beyond what we can do now. So the drug model seems to be destined to become ‘commoditized’, like it is now with some of their big money makers going off patent. I’ll give them they jumped into biologicals.
17
posted on
08/10/2007 10:03:14 PM PDT
by
ran20
To: wagglebee
To me adult stem cells are incredibly exciting. In time we will be able to do substantial rejuvination not just in the human heart, but across most of the body. Over time stem cells like other parts of the body wear down, the dna changes gradually over time, hurting the information stability of the system.. they fall in number and effectiveness.
Thus when the body receives normal damage from living, there isn’t the same ability to repair, and each part of the body weakens until a key part fails and death. With stem cells we can take out millions from a person’s body. Sort through them and find the ones that haven’t been degraded genetically. Then ‘breed’ those ones into hundreds of millions of youthful stem cells. And finally inject the plentiful youthful stem cells into the organ in trouble.
Of course there are 100’s of different typse of stem cells, but that just shows the commercial potential. Imagine what people would pay for that for their skin cells, and the supporting structures in the skin. Ultimately its not just one area of the body, but across the entire body.
18
posted on
08/10/2007 10:10:40 PM PDT
by
ran20
To: wagglebee
19
posted on
08/10/2007 10:16:33 PM PDT
by
shield
(A wise man's heart is at his RIGHT hand;but a fool's heart at his LEFT. Ecc 10:2)
To: shield; NYer; sockmonkey; Pyro7480
20
posted on
08/10/2007 10:17:10 PM PDT
by
Siobhan
(America without God is dead.)
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