According to this article and others that have appeared recently in the U.S., the title should be "Millions of stupid, desperately ill people die from outrageously risky stem cell treatments in undeveloped foreign lands". They have drudged up the poor kid again that got some kind of bizarre treatment in the Ukraine as their prime example. Why not just write it like it is? The reason that desperately ill people are flocking to countries that I consider visionary and well ahead of the U.S.(and Australia too for that matter) is because we are tired of being desperately ill. We want to try stem cell treatment in the hopes of improving our lives. They never offer any statistics of anyone that has gotten seriously ill from stem cell treatment, except for the one poor child who had a cocktail that was made in hell. This snail's pace that we are going is just not cutting it and many are becoming angry. Where are all the clinical trials if they are so all out important? I couldn't get in one if I wanted to because there aren't any. I have had enough of these medical dogooders and the press that panders to them. Conventional medicine has no cure for many diseases the article states. At least they got that right! What has conventional medicine been doing for the last upteen years? The best that my disease (COPD) has received from all the conventional medicine gurus is that exercise is probably good for you and a handful of different inhalers one can try. It is too much for me. Give me stem cell treatment any day of the week. We need to comment on these sites that we aren't going to take this BS any longer. We want action NOW.
Here's the link and also the full article printed out. Dr.Payne brought this to my attention so I send my thanks to him.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25763550-23289,00.html
Julie-Anne Davies | July 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian
DESPERATE Australians who have paralysis, cancer and neurological diseases, as well as parents of children with intractable conditions such as cerebral palsy, are spending tens of thousands of dollars on unproven and possibly dangerous stem cell treatment at medical clinics in China, India, Mexico and several developing countries.
Leading stem cell researchers here and overseas say these clinics threaten the reputation of genuine stem cell treatment, as well as providing false hope to sick people.
In Australia, stem cell treatment is used only to treat some blood diseases such as leukemia, and some severe auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
An investigation by The Weekend Australian has found that a burgeoning international stem cell tourism industry is luring vulnerable people into embarking on stem cell therapy that has not been subjected to any of the usual stringent safety protocols, including clinical trials, that apply to potential new medical treatments. The internet is filled with websites offering so-called stem cell treatment for conditions that conventional medicine as yet has no cure for.
Although it is impossible to know how many Australians are forking out up to $35,000 for these treatments, the Australian Stem Cell Centre says it receives at least 500 inquiries every year from people wanting information about stem cell therapy overseas.
Kirsten Herbert, clinical adviser to the Australian Stem Cell Centre, said: "It is more prevalent than people think."
As a haematologist specialising in cancer, she knows of many patients who have gone overseas for stem cell treatment.
"The smattering of anecdotal evidence that these clinics publish on their website carries absolutely no weight, and that is something I try to drum into my patients who are considering going," Dr Herbert said.
Earlier this year, details of the case of a young Israeli boy who developed tumours after receiving stem cell injections at a clinic in Russia were made public in the journal PLos Medicine.
Three Australian families who have taken their brain-injured children to China for treatment said they had resorted to the unproven stem cell therapy because it was their last hope.
They all reported meeting other Australian patients at the overseas clinics.
The three children received stem cell injections and intravenous stem cell therapy after contacting Beike, a Chinese biotechnology company that not only provided the stem cells but also oversaw the treatment in hospitals in China.
Several requests by The Weekend Australian to speak with Beike went unanswered.
Sydney mother Nicole Patterson took her then 15-month-old son Will to China in 2007. She admits it was a leap of faith.
"We weren't expecting to bring him home without a brain injury," she said. "We had no illusions that this was a cure."
Mrs Patterson believes there has been some improvement in her son's development since the stem cell treatment. She said she was concerned by the lack of scientific rigour demonstrated by Beike, and particularly its unwillingness to offer up its clinical results for scrutiny by the international medical community.
Here's the link and also the full article printed out. Dr.Payne brought this to my attention so I send my thanks to him.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25763550-23289,00.html
Julie-Anne Davies | July 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian
DESPERATE Australians who have paralysis, cancer and neurological diseases, as well as parents of children with intractable conditions such as cerebral palsy, are spending tens of thousands of dollars on unproven and possibly dangerous stem cell treatment at medical clinics in China, India, Mexico and several developing countries.
Leading stem cell researchers here and overseas say these clinics threaten the reputation of genuine stem cell treatment, as well as providing false hope to sick people.
In Australia, stem cell treatment is used only to treat some blood diseases such as leukemia, and some severe auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
An investigation by The Weekend Australian has found that a burgeoning international stem cell tourism industry is luring vulnerable people into embarking on stem cell therapy that has not been subjected to any of the usual stringent safety protocols, including clinical trials, that apply to potential new medical treatments. The internet is filled with websites offering so-called stem cell treatment for conditions that conventional medicine as yet has no cure for.
Although it is impossible to know how many Australians are forking out up to $35,000 for these treatments, the Australian Stem Cell Centre says it receives at least 500 inquiries every year from people wanting information about stem cell therapy overseas.
Kirsten Herbert, clinical adviser to the Australian Stem Cell Centre, said: "It is more prevalent than people think."
As a haematologist specialising in cancer, she knows of many patients who have gone overseas for stem cell treatment.
"The smattering of anecdotal evidence that these clinics publish on their website carries absolutely no weight, and that is something I try to drum into my patients who are considering going," Dr Herbert said.
Earlier this year, details of the case of a young Israeli boy who developed tumours after receiving stem cell injections at a clinic in Russia were made public in the journal PLos Medicine.
Three Australian families who have taken their brain-injured children to China for treatment said they had resorted to the unproven stem cell therapy because it was their last hope.
They all reported meeting other Australian patients at the overseas clinics.
The three children received stem cell injections and intravenous stem cell therapy after contacting Beike, a Chinese biotechnology company that not only provided the stem cells but also oversaw the treatment in hospitals in China.
Several requests by The Weekend Australian to speak with Beike went unanswered.
Sydney mother Nicole Patterson took her then 15-month-old son Will to China in 2007. She admits it was a leap of faith.
"We weren't expecting to bring him home without a brain injury," she said. "We had no illusions that this was a cure."
Mrs Patterson believes there has been some improvement in her son's development since the stem cell treatment. She said she was concerned by the lack of scientific rigour demonstrated by Beike, and particularly its unwillingness to offer up its clinical results for scrutiny by the international medical community.