subject: Beware the Great Stem Cell Rip-Off [print this page] Trying to understand stem cell therapy and its application in healing people I have come across countless doctors practicing strange medicine. Sometimes, for a laugh I like to scan the web just to see who is out there.
Rabbit Cells
Now I know that stem cell treatment is on the fringe, but animal cells, there's a strange notion. These rabbit or sheep cells, infused by serious-looking doctors in white coats speaking like "zis", are meant to have an energy that is passed on to the patient by some psychic/biological phenomenon as yet unidentified, but very present! These guys are brave, they make claims about effectively treating untreatable conditions without giving readers the slightest hint about how it works or why it should work, but they do say its been done for 70 years so it must work. They also say that cord blood cells are useless and rabbit cells are the Holy Grail that is yet unrecognised by scientists and doctors all over the world.
So what happens when my steak is too rare? Am I taking in stem cells from Ferdinand the Bull and do I get angry when the waiter cleans the table with a red cloth?
Any Disease Will Do
In China you can have any obscure disease treated and expect a response in five weeks.1 You name the medical canary and it will have been treated by a scientist with credentials known only to the country of origin, it will have a blog, written for the patient, stating the response, but never any follow up posts. What happened to these patients? Are they still well or are they sitting round a box with a candle perched on top wondering what happened to their life savings and why their symptoms returned after 3 months?
Limitations
I believe in stem cell therapy as much as my patients do, but I also know it has limitations. These limitations lie mainly in the area of the disease, but also in the cells.
Let me dispense with animal cells first. There is that meddlesome thing called the immune system that spoils our fun when we eat something we love, but are allergic to. It even raises its ugly head when we receive a cell from a human donor during a blood transfusion that does not match exactly. It kills foreign matter like animal cells, but can also make you very sick by causing an immune incompatibility disease that can persist for months because of the foreign matter. This mainly happens when we receive unmatched mature cells like white or red blood cells, but it does not occur with immature human stem cells. Animal cells can enter the bloodstream, but would only last a few seconds before getting destroyed by the immune system, but I am told the force is with them.
The other limitation relates to the type of disease. Progressive or degenerative diseases carry on their deterioration despite their responses to stem cells. We now know that progressive diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis can show temporary responses and even allow some patients to get out of their wheelchairs and walk again, but the disease still progresses and damage is done at the same rate as before, so the symptoms will return after this period of respite. It works best in static disease states like autism, cerebral palsy and stroke.
Cardiac failure, which is a progressive state, responds well, but that is because it gets the bulk of the blood and therefore the stem cells will pass through the heart and coronary circulation again and again increasing the chance of engraftment.
Stem cell treatment is still in its infancy, but there are certain elements that are consistent in its development and application:
Lunatics exist in the medical profession who will manipulate its sensation for their own needs.
Patients who are desperate will always be victims.
Read our guidelines at http://www.regenecell.com and be aware of what you are getting yourself into.
Be careful. Take lots of advice from credible people.
