Besides the primitive wheelchair, treatment of paralysis has changed little since Marlon Brando starred in the 1950’s movie, The Man.

Oh, yes prosthetics ( like one could consider the wheelchair to be), have improved some but the basic "treatment" of providing a wheelchair is still the only thing that can be done. And sure there are a few more options in rehab., but there still isn’t anything available that can either prevent the neural damage that causes paralysis, or that can repair any of the neural damage.

"Establishment" Medicine has grossly failed to provide anything better than the primitive wheelchair.

It is completely unacceptable then, to hold up the most promising research, the research with the most versatile stem cells, the ones that are the goldstandard for pluripotency because of fundy politics.

Pushing the boundaries with embryonic stem cell research is Dr. Geeta Shroff, who does not promise cures, but has produced improvements in many of the 60 spinal cord injury patients she has treated. Her research and treatment complies with India law and standards, though it remains experimental.

 A lot can be learned from her embryonic stem cell applications, including the fact that no tumors have been reported in any of her 300+ patients. This had been one of the fear tactics, long used by the fundy embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) opponents.

Hopefully Dr. Shroff will get an opportunity to present her work to her peers, at a medical conference as held by many medical societies annually. I sure would like to learn more about what she’s doing, and maybe we can put some of her findings to good use to speed up progress toward more substantial paralysis treatments.

Dr. Huang of Bejing was given the chance to present his fetal OEG transplant work to the world,……. let’s see if we can do the same for Dr. Shroff. We might find ourselves in a situation where "establishment "scientists will have play catch-up to the real pioneers like Dr. Geeta Shroff.

Funny how a lot of stem cell advocacy is simply preaching to the choir, with a few exeptions like Michael J Fox, who takes his message directly to the people through well-placed commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8lsjfjgAA8

I have high hopes for a new advocacy organization created by Michael J Fox called: Cures and Hope USA

Cures and Hope USA is a non-partisan, pro-stem cell educational and political advocacy organization dedicated to building nationwide support for stem cell research, including embryonic stem cell research (ESC). Cures and Hope USA’s focus will be to educate the electorate on all forms of stem cell research so that voters will make informed decisions when they enter the voting booth in 2008.

There are other ways non-partisan advocacy organizations can have an impact outside the realm of  "preaching to the choir", and that is to monitor and and hold accountable state stem cell programs as to their effectiveness in funding the type of stem cell research that the federal government has chosen to ignore.

In the absence of advocacy organizations’ strong response against states that use the positive ESCR propaganda to primarily funnel monies into adult stem cell research, it is heartening to see a prominent state Senator taking up the "diversion" issue where ESCR advocacy organizations failed:

September 20, 2007

Honorable Jon S. Corzine

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 001

Trenton, N. J. 08625

Dear Governor Corzine:

As a firm supporter of stem cell research, I commend you for your efforts in bringing the state of New Jersey to the forefront of stem cell research.  I believe that it is imperative that the state of New Jersey funds the type of stem cell research that the federal government has chosen to ignore.    

I am writing to encourage you to explore the promotion of embryonic stem cell research.  If New Jersey wants to become a leader in stem cell research, it must also be a leader in promoting embryonic stem cell research.  It was my understanding that New Jersey would primarily be promoting embryonic stem cell research.  Yet, out of the seventeen award recipients of 2006, only two are truly focused on the promotion of embryonic stem cell research. 

I appreciate your consideration in this matter.  I would ask that you contact me at 732-462-8883 or at SenKarcher@njleg.org.

Sincerely,

Ellen Karcher

Senator, 12^th Legislative District

PS 1 A big "thank you" goes out to Bob Katz, for forwarding a copy of this letter to stemblog.

PS 2 Let’s join Ellen Karcher in questioning Governor Corzine directly about how ESCR is quite neglected in NJ, contrary to the big hoopla that corzine and others are making over getting ESCR going in NJ.

For starters let’s send Senator Karcher a big THANK YOU note for standing up for the patient families who are desperately waiting to see ESCR proceed in the context of the various state programs.

We at Stemblog have decided to weigh in on the medical tourism issue, which is fueled by the lack of adequate curative treatments available in the US for many of the 100 million Americans who suffer deadly or chronic medical conditions. As this doctor says on the hope that stem cells injected into the spinal cord area will morph into the specific cell type needed to heal the damage:

"There is some evidence that this occurs in animal models," Magnuson said. "There is some basis for this. It’s just not proven to work in humans."

So should we wait or not, to try and improve our lives?

First, I want to caution that just because something has been "proven", doesn’t necessarily mean it works, or that it doesn’t have any undesirable side effects.

A prime example is the common use of methylprednisolone for acute spinal cord injuries, which initially was hailed as a medical breakthrough in the treatment of spinal cord injury, but in follow-up studies by others was found to be completely ineffective, with possible dangerous side effrects.

You can easily see that it’s equally important  to realize that there are huge dangers in legitimizing "proven" treatments that later turn out to have no value whatsoever.

Since 2001, Canada has therefor been moving to discontinue the use of methylprednisolone altogether in spinal cord injuries ( Neurosurgery - Fulltext: Volume 59(5) November 2006 p 957-987 ), and it is also not generally recommended by most spinal cord injury centers in the UK.

At the same time the cooling saline IV treatment that NFL player Kevin Everett received and which  "has a very robust and powerful effect" known since the early 1980s to prevent neurological damage remains underutilized, which I find unconcionable. Even though guidelines STILL don’t call for this treatment, because it hasn’t officially been "proven", one doctor says this about the lack of its use: "We wouldn’t consider it ethical now to withhold that [because] we’ve shown it’s useful."

For the medical establishment to wait is cruel and unacceptable in this case.

Now, let’s see what you might want to take into account as you make YOUR decision to proceed with currently available ADULT stem cell treatments overseas, or to wait for some better stem cell treatments to come along from continued stem cell research. Only one embryonic stem cell treatment is offered overseas. The more common Umbilical cord stem cell treatments are considered ADULT stem cell treatments as the stem cells are obtained after birth.

Most of all we want to caution those who are considering overseas’ stem cell treatments, NOT to expect MAJOR improvements. Realistically there aren’t any stem cell treatments available yet, even overseas, that can lead to MAJOR improvements.

However if minor to moderate improvements could mean a significant difference in your life, or if you are suffering a deadly condition, it seems reasonable to give these treatments a try, provided they don’t have harmful side effects, and you have the financial resources and emotional strength to handle a possible disappointment in the results.

Keep in mind that, even though minor improvements do seem to be the norm, some will experience no change at all.

On a personal note: though my son(17) ( who became paralyzed at age 7 after colliding with another soccer player) and I have engaged in medical tourism from 1997 to 2005, we have yet to try any of the stem cell treatments overseas. Our most recent trip in 2005 was to France for laseracupuncture. Our first trip was to the island of Cyprus in 1997 for amino-acid treatments as developed by the russian Primavera clinic.

So far we’ve drawn the line at anything invasive like surgery, but might consider repeated stem cell injections if more major improvements are consistently seen.

In the past I have frequently mentioned the willingness of female family members such as my son Jason’s four sisters to donate egg cells, to enable the development of a treatment that repairs damage to his cortico-spinal tracts and thus restores motor function to him.

Fortunately women, who themselves are patients, will now be given the opportunity to donate egg cells that would otherwise be thrown out as a byproduct of their own treatments.

Women, who are also frequent caregivers to injured or sick family members, arguably have more at stake in stem cell research than any other segment of our population, besides the injured and sick themselves. Their understanding of the immense need to find solutions to the horrible suffering of those they care for is unparalleled.

I therefor applaud Dr. Allison Murdoch’s new program that encourages women to help patients, so they can get their own treatment at half price:

Scientists at the Centre for Life said that human eggs donated as part of the MRC-funded scheme are "spare" and unfertilised eggs that would otherwise be thrown away.

Any residual DNA material would be removed from the donated egg before attempts are made - through an advanced procedure known as nuclear reprogramming - to replace the nucleus of the egg with donated cells from a patient.

The aim is to try to encourage the cell to divide, producing a line of stem cells that could be made to become different types of tissue.

One of the favorite arguments used "against" federal funding for ESCR is that "ESCR hasn’t led to a single cure yet". The catch 22 is that lack of research funds inevitably leads to lack of progress.

But luckily those who make their false claim are grossly wrong, as I know of at least three treatments that will be going to clinical trials in 2008. Two are for spinal cord injury and one is to treat blindness.

Ironically the first treatment uses cells from the 8 week stage of development that were obtained from elective abortion, but which are actually eligible for federal funding:

(Read on …)

You have to be there, if there is any way possible. The Summit is sponsored by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Burrill Life Sciences Media Group– and the Genetics Policy Institute, which is, of course, chaired by the advocate’s friend, Bernard Siegel.

Bernie Siegel is brilliant at bringing together the giants of stem cell science, industry, politics, and advocacy. In addition to being a lawyer with three decades experience, he is also a natural showman, and he uses his talents on everyone’s behalf.

(Read on …)

With a new President on the horizon, things are definitely looking up in the cutting-edge science arena. We will most certainly be able to accelerate the innovative discoveries needed to cure devastating medical conditions.

Those of us who are dealing with debilitating and deadly disorders in our families, will be pleased to find out about the latest advances that have already been made in hESCR and other stem cell research.

I urge you to check out this exciting line-up of leading stem cell researchers, and meet policy experts and family advocates at The Stem Cell Summit in Boston, Oct 2-3, 2007. Partial roster of speakers:

Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD
CEO, Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Kenneth R. Chien, PhD
Director, MGH Cardiovascular Research Center

George Q. Daley, MD, PhD
Principal Faculty, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Assistant Director, Stem Cell Research Program, Children’s Hospital Boston
President-elect, International Society for Stem Cell Research (Read on …)