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Foreign stem cell clinics booming |
| Date Added: November 03, 2008 04:00:41 PM |
| Author: Alex Rodriguez-Chicago Tribune |
| Category: Treatment |
Western patients travel overseas for treatments
Martin's U.S. 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 United States. 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 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." Martin is just one of a growing number of Americans and Europeans turning to Russia, China and other countries where the stem cell industry operates unfettered — and largely unregulated. NeuroVita, the clinic Martin has been visiting since 2007, attracts paraplegics and quadriplegics from around the world and maintains a waiting list for overflow clientele. What troubles critics is the rush in some countries to offer stem cell therapy on the health-care market, the absence of governmental oversight of treatments in those countries, and the lack of proof that the treatments work. If patients feel improvement, experts say, it's likely a placebo effect or 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 help treat cancer or brittle bone disease, most experts think that it's impossible to turn blood-derived adult stem cells into nerve cells. "I don't think there's much science to it," said Vladimir Smirnov, director of the Moscow Institute of Experimental Cardiology, a licensed Russian stem cell researcher. "It's all about making money." Click here for entire article. |
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