Medical travel for unproven stem-cell-based therapies is commonly referred to as stem celli 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.
Comments
Stem cell?
before we look in to the development of stem celli 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
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. belfast restaurants
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 celli 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
Stem cell tourism
good explanation about stem celli 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
Be dangerous and not
Be dangerous and not recommended, I think that in many places is also not allowed this drug.
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 celli. 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?
Submited by : Bajar Libros Gratis
re
The stem celli treatments ranged in quality and safety but very few, if any, offered genuine hope.
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Matt from essay writing services
I recently read a study on
I recently read a study on sciencedaily.com entitled, "Stem celli study seeks to prevent heart failure". In fact, their are many studies like these that suggest that stem cell treatment does work. Sometimes, when you are about to die and you have no hope and some1 comes up to you and tells you about some form of experimental treatment, chances are you are going to go for it just because of that chance that it might work. If people want to go overseas to try and save their lives, by all means they should go simply because of that chance.
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Melisa from mac data recovery ltd.
re
Took me awhile to read all the comments, but I really love the article. It proved to be very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It's always nice when you can not only be informed, but also engaged! I'm sure you had fun writing this article.
Thanks
Medical tourism is today one
Medical tourism is today one of the biggest revenue generators for many countries, With health care costs in developed nations being quite high an increasing number of people are choosing to go to other countries that offer equally good health care but with low cost of medical care. What is also does is allow the patient to leave behind all the work and routine of a daily life and take completely rest that facilitates speedy recovery.
Keith from Doctor Locums Australia
Hair vacations
Yeah, medical tourism is huge in America (so is temporary health insurance). I've got people I work with who make very little money (relative to other Americans), and they are going to Cambodia for vacation and getting their teeth done for about 1/3 of the cost it is over here in America.
Re: Can anyone explain?
Hi Bajar,
There is not a simple answer to your question. At the moment, research into stem celli 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 from lifetime health