Medical travel for unproven stem-cell-based therapies is commonly referred to as stem cell tourism. Clinics worldwide over-promise the benefits of their so-called treatments and grossly downplay or ignore the risks. Such unproven therapy is without scientific rationale. Neither the efficacy of the treatments, nor the lack of serious side effects has been shown in animal models. This 'magic cure by stem cells' approach must be condemned under all circumstances. If there is no chance of improvement in the patient’s condition, the 'therapy' is both unethical and scientifically and clinically unacceptable. It will not help the patient; the risks for adverse effects may be high; and it will not contribute to the development of clinically-established stem cell therapies. Even if the administration of stem cells is associated with negligible or minor risks, clinical application remains unjustified on a compassionate basis: the patient's expectations will not be met and they are very likely to suffer emotionally as a result. The solution must be to encourage governments to tighten regulations and to better educate patient-consumers.
Further information
- The International Society for Stem Cell Research has recently launched a new website - A Closer Look at Stem Cell Treatments - designed to equip patients, their families and doctors with the tools and information they need to make decisions about stem cell treatments.
- A Patient Handbook on Stem Cell Therapies is available on the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s website. The handbook contains information about the current state of stem cell treatments, and advice for patients and their relatives on what questions to ask clinics offering such treatments.
- More information about stem cells and their potential for treating disease is also available in EuroStemCell's FAQ section.
- An article by Sorapop Kiatpongsan and Douglas Sipp published in Science in March 2009 explores stem cell tourism in more detail: Monitoring and Regulating Offshore Stem Cell Clinics, Science 20 March 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5921, pp. 1564 – 1565
- The UK television programme Panorama broadcast a programme entitled, 'Stem Cells and Miracles' on 18 May 2009. This programme follows a British family as they take their daughter to China for stem cell treatment. The Panorama website provides more information about viewing this programme.
Re:
Every website nowadays gives information and somehow advertisement of stem cell treatment. They say that stem cell science is extraordinarily promising, that there have been great advances in treating diseases and conditions of the blood system using blood-forming stem cells, and these show us just how powerful stem cell therapies can be. Bus as for me, I dont believe in this new method. Every kind of treatment sghould start from cleaning human body and eliminating the cause of the disease, not the effect.
Researchers have made great
Researchers have made great advances toward the clinical application of stem cells, however, for many diseases they haven’t yet put all the pieces of the puzzle in place. Stem cells do hold tremendous promise for the treatment of many serious diseases.Your web site loaded with facts about the types of cells used and their potential to treat various diseases. Great stuff...!!
Here's info from Science
Here's info from Science Daily about the struggles of stem cell research, even still in Europe:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100623212846.htm
stem cells
The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial, because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo. Additionally, because in some instances adult stem cells can be obtained from the intended recipient, the risk of rejection is essentially non-existent in these situations.
Stem cells, however, are already studied extensively. While some scientists are hesitant to associate the therapeutic potential of stem cells as the first goal of the research, they find the investigation of stem cells as a goal worthy in itself
Encourage governments to tighten regulations
I totally agree with you that this solution must be to encourage governments to tighten regulations and to better educate patient-consumers.
Last year there was a small,
Last year there was a small, hopeful study of MS patients published in Lancet Neurology. It involved chemotherapy to wipe out the existing immune cells before re-injecting stem cells taken from patient’s bone marrow. A larger study is ongoing. It’s a lot different than randomly injecting stem cells harvested from god-knows-where!
Luke
Issues are so complicated
Thanks for posting your useful information. I have found many article on this topic and all are confusing me, stem cell treatments which make claims that are not based on logical science and good clinical practice can be wrong and possibly harmful. However, the issues are so complicated because they raise questions concerning the limits of satisfactory medical innovation and medical travel.
This issue has been my concern since months
This issue has been my concern since months. The first thing to be done to eliminate the risk and protect patient consumer is government regulations.
Scientific community should lobby regulatory authorities
Members of the scientific community should lobby regulatory authorities to regulate bogus stem-cell clinics, according to the latest policy forum in Science this week (subscription required). The piece calls out the claims and (lack of) evidence put forward by stem-cell clinics in countries “not known as leaders in biomedical research.”
Stem cell?
before we look in to the development of stem cell one needs to look at these factors?
what are the risks invole, its benefits,who it will benefit, is there a liklywood of someone getting hurt.
What it means for you,your family and friends?
It cant be a thing were we just think for ourselfs.
Fantastic post !!!
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed and informative article. It has given me a lot of inspiration and I look forward to more like this in the future.
Implant Dentist London
I agree
yes i definitely agree with this one. this article is one of those posts i get interested reading with. informative indeed. thanks a lot for sharing this one to us. Currently writing an essay for my freelance writing job.
agreed in part
The scary part about all this is the lack of knowledge about regulation in other countries. At home you have a certain government buffer between you and unsafe practises, maybe not so much overseas.
controversial
Theoretically, it should be possible to use stem cells to generate healthy tissue to replace that either damaged by trauma, or compromised by disease. However it opens up a myriad of issues and this is where the problem lies. It will come down to individual moral stances in the end I guess.
The big problem with this
The big problem with this and trust that people have these therapies, very good post!
Guilherme
big hug!
Even if the administration
Even if the administration of stem cells is associated with negligible or minor risks, clinical application remains unjustified on a compassionate basis: the patient's expectations will not be met and they are very likely to suffer emotionally as a result.
great article
The solution must be to encourage governments to tighten regulations
The trouble is, no matter
The trouble is, no matter how tight the governments regulate this sort of thing there will always be a country out there that will permit it.
Great article, thanks for
Great article, thanks for sharing.
The Power of Belief
Whatever you believe and you can conceive. I wonder the issue is that patient are pretty sick, they can believe everything. Simply because they require to believe it, they will hope to get over it.
Winson Ng
Problem
Guilherme
Cya!
Great Article!
Great Article!
I've been taking notes about
I've been taking notes about stem cell research and the ethical issues surrounding it. This article has helped me a lot. Thank you
Website Placement
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading.
Website Placement
Great Article! I just found
Great Article! I just found it on Google. Regards from Germany Sascha Albrink
Many thanks for providing
Many thanks for providing such handy information. I found your website perfect for my needs. I seriously value your expert approach. I would like to thank you for the efforts you made in writing this particular post. I am hoping the same from you in future as well.
Me to!
Just found this great post on google! thx for your post!
Stem cell tourism
good explanation about stem cell tourism, and its good that Clinics available worldwide over-promise the benefits of their so-called treatments and grossly downplay or ignore the risks, thanks for sharing such important information.
I think many tourists who
I think many tourists who are traveling various destinations in the world do tend to go various therapy centers without actually knowing the pros and cons of it. It is too dangerous.
Michael
The patient pay for hope
I think the problem is that people are very ill, they can believe everything. Because they need to believe it, they will hope to get over it. Then, we can't ask them to be informed about the last avanced of medicine. They can believe whatever treatment, because they need to find a solution. Therefore, the goverment must control all kind of medicine to avoid the scam. Because the medicine can be the perfect business for fraudsters.
Medical Tourism
I have read this articles about medical tourism. They said it has 2 benefits which are chance to travel and a chance to avail best medical institutions.
Medical tourism
I have noticed a high increase in the medical tourism in the past ten years, this is supported by the low airfares.
Going to Great Britan for medication became an easy excersie now adays.
Some countries like the UAE, Dubai has announced the start of health care city, which attracts the best doctors world wide as well as an enormous number of patients every year.
India is very rich in the biodiversity
India is very rich in the biodiversity and here around the world patients are coming to get cured. In the traveling industry, medical tourism is a new sector. It is flourishing very rapidly in india annual growth is 30% and its market will be 2 billions by 2012. For the patients treatment all types of medical equipments, medical technology, medicines, surgical modern tech are available.
These treatments seem very
These treatments seem very dangerous and naive to me. Simply stuffying a bunch of stem cells in your body won't necessarily lead to those stem cells differentiating into the cells you want. Different conditions in the body lead them to differentiate into all kinds of things. Without clinical trials, I'd say that these treatments are a waste at best, cancerous at worst.
Henri
the efficacy of the
the efficacy of the treatments, nor the lack of serious side effects has been shown in animal models. This 'magic cure by stem cells' approach must be condemned under all circumstances. If there is no chance of improvement in the patient’s condition, the 'therapy' is both unethical and scientifically and clinically unacceptable. It will not help the patient; the risks for adverse effects may be high; and it will not contribute to the development of clinically-established stem cell therapies.,,..Thank you,,.
Useful Info shared !!!
Nice post. The information shared was very useful about the stem cell. A Patient Handbook on Stem Cell Therapies is available on the International Society for Stem Cell Research's website and contains various necessary information.
Texas SEO
very informative
This article is related to the new discovery that red wine and dark chocolate can kill cancer. Studies says that if you eat or drink those it is like you have a therapy everyday.
The solution must be to
The solution must be to encourage governments to tighten regulations and to better educate patient-consumers.
Life is
Life is at stake.So anything that will be taken internally should be well knowned and checked. This is also true with theraphy. Anything unproven should not be applied unless otherwise approve by the patient.
Can anyone explain?
Can anyone explain this to me? Is it right the use of this cells? Does not have adverse effects?
Re: Can anyone explain?
Hi Bajar,
There is not a simple answer to your question. At the moment, research into stem cell therapies is in its early stages and scientists still have much to learn about how these cells work. Some clinical trials are underway to test the safety of particular kinds of therapies using stem cells and a great deal of work is going into this promising area, but thoroughly tested treatments are not yet generally available.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research has produced a handbook for patients that provides advice for anyone considering participation in a clinical trial, or paying for a therapy. It highlights key questions you should ask to make sure the risks are clear. You can find it at http://www.isscr.org/public/index.htm
Emma Kemp
The solution must be...
The solution must be to encourage governments to tighten regulations and to better educate patient-consumers.
Regards,
Aden Jeff
Nice Article
Thanks and Regards
Andy Ngeow
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Agree
Yah I agree with you, it is really a great article. I found it in google. I am looking forward to read more great articles from your blogs.
Let Us take a second time to think
The use of stem cells can be very beneficial to the humankind. It may fix and prevent future diseases rooted from our genes. However, let us also take into consideration the impact of using this stem cells. I don't totally disagree with the use of stem cells but can we take further research and study about the matter rather than just being pulled by people advocating its use.
Benjamin Robert Johnson
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