Is anyone familiar with an old article regarding stem cell research done at Chicago's Hines VA Hospital in the early 1990's?
I remember most of the three page article. In the experiments, patients received daily injections of stem cells for a period of six months. The results were astounding as muscle tissue regrew, hair grew back, arthritis lessened and even skin regained elasticity.
The article failed to mention where the stem cells came from and it shouldn't be difficult to figure out why. The thing is that the article was supposed to be ongoing but never was mentioned again. I'm very curious if anyone else recalls this?
The article appeared in the Chicago Sun Times.
One of my best friends is a 13 year survivor of a lethal form of cancer. She is Canadian and received the stem cells of a man in Germany. When her DNA is tested, oddly, she has a Y chromosome, which I find fascinating. She was able to meet her donor a few years ago, which shocked me because I thought stems cells only came from embryos but in fact, hers came from his bone marrow.
There are currently over 7,000 clinical trials in stem cell research...you won't be surprised to learn that many of them are in China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
My father also received this treatment, but unfortunately, did not live. I believe Carl Sagan also received it and did live for about a year longer.
We are just now seeing stem cells being used to treat knee and spinal injuries as well...there are also numerous clinical trials on stem cells being used to treat ED...
I will see if I can find the article you referenced this weekend in my files...as you might have suspected, this is a subject that I am interested in.
I am going to say that your fears as listed below have a long way to go as the research is somewhat infantile in the applications moving forward to the degree of making man immortal...
You are correct that ethical issues still have to be dealt with...but fear should not be a reason to stop the exploration if the benefits can help those who are wheelchair bound, living with diseases such as MS, etc.
Thank you. Yes, I am all for the type of research and use that you mentioned. I tend to think of this discovery like that of fire. It can be used for good and then, well, you know.
@chucklesIII lol obviously we need to look at both sides...but my mind tends to go more for the possibilities than the implications...of course, a balanced look results with one of you and one of me...
My understanding on stem cell research (which isn't so contraversial here) is that the positive effects are not long lasting.
Exactly. The article mentioned that when the treatments were stopped, all the positive effects reverted back rather quickly. Understandably, the patients all came down with depression.
Do you have the author's names?
No. I had kept the article for tears but I can't find it now. A web search reveals nothing.
If they are helping, I don't care where the stem cells come from. It is just tissue.
It was the other issues that bothered me. Read my comment to John.
@chucklesIII I agree. It will definitely create new issues. Pretty much everything in life comes with a trade off. The people with money almost always benefit first. How many jobs and careers would a person have? There will most likely not be enough jobs for all these people. It would create massive changes in our society for sure.
Not able to help but that article sounds so very interesting.
It was definitely one of the most interesting things I've ever read. I'm not surprised I haven't found much discussion on the issue that goes into that depth of possibilities.