Different Stem Cell Treatments Both Produce Results For Two Similar Spinal Cord Injur

Nurses Activism

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In the first half of April 2006, Beike provided umbilical cord stem cells for the treatment of Gerald Allen, a 27-year-old American with an incomplete spinal cord injury at the c5-c6 disk level that occurred in 2002. Romanian citizen Razvan Iordache also suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury at the c5-c6 level in 1996. Gerry Allen underwent surgical implantation of umbilical cord stem cells during a two-and-a-half hour procedure at Beike, complemented by both intravenous injections and injections into the cerebral spinal cord fluid. Razvan Iordache had stem cell injections into his spinal cord fluid and an intravenous injection without the surgery. Due to national regulations neither patient could receive treatment in their own countries.

Both patients had been doing rehabilitation for years before coming to China, with little to no improvement. Gerald Allen's doctors in the United States had actually stopped prescribing rehabilitation. After the treatments, Gerald gained increased mobility in both his legs and arms, regained the sensation of hot and cold on his body, and he could even perspire below his neck again. When he returned to the United States, his doctor immediately prescribed rehabilitation again due to the progress and he was able to take steps backwards and just recently could take a step forward.

...

Razvan Iordache re-gained sensation below his chest down to his legs and is now able to move his fingers, stomach muscles and feet, along with great improvement in bladder control. He said, "It is a general boost in the quality of my life. I am most happy about being able to move my fingers and feet. I still have a long way to go but I am improving and my therapist has said that I have made more progress in three months than I have the last years."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=46233

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Specializes in pure and simple psych.

How sad that this is going on in China, not here. I think we are witnessing the fall of Rome-West.

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How sad that this is going on in China, not here. I think we are witnessing the fall of Rome-West.

:yeahthat: and :wakeneo: .

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http://www.mbbnet.umn.edu/scmap.html

countries with a permissive or flexible policy

australia. "research involving human embryos act 2002." "prohibition of human cloning for reproduction and the regulation of human embryo research amendment bill 2006." [pdf]

belgium. service public federal sante publique, securite de la chaine alimentaire et environnement. 11 mai 2003. loi relative à la recherche sur les embryons in vitro. p. 29287.

brazil. projeto de lei pl-2401/2003, lei de biossegurança, 2005.

canada. health canada online: research involving the in vitro embryo.

china. ministry of science of technology and ministry of health, "guidelines for research on human embryonic stem cells," january 2004. authorized translation, bioethics network in china. ("china issues document to ban human cloning" people's daily online)

czech republic. draft bill on research on human embryonic stem cells. [legislation was approved by the czech parliament and was signed into law by president vaclav klaus, may 12, 2006].

finland. opinion on allocation of eu-fp6 funding on embryonal stem cells, the national advisory board on health care ethics - etene, 2003.

france: projet de loi. modifié par le sénat en deuxième lecture relatif à la bioéthique. adopté avec modifications par l'assemblée nationale. titre v: recherche sur l'embryon et les cellules embryonnaire. délibéré en séance publique, à paris, le 8 juin 2004. under the law french researchers may derive stem cells from donated embryos beginning in the spring of 2005. agence de la biomédecine: research on human embryos and embryonic stem cells. updated june 28, 2006.

http://www.mbbnet.umn.edu/scmap.html

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Specializes in pure and simple psych.

Thanks for the links. Again, sad that it doesn't mention U.S.:scrying:

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Specializes in PICU.

yeah, a good friend of my is a c6/7 quad. he had to go to portugal for olfactory implanatition surgery ... the us is SO behind

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Specializes in Cardiac Surg, IR, Peds ICU, Emergency.

China is an emerging country with a massive amount of human resources. The US cannot be leaders in everything.

And while I'm an advocate of umbilical stem cell use, it's not being promoted and championed as much as other less-palatable and less-proven methods (embryonic).

Finally, this would never happen for the citizens of a socialized country. I noticed it didn't say who paid for it. It looks like good publicity for China, possibly at the cost to the impoverished Chinese taxpayer?

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Specializes in pure and simple psych.

This was umbilical stem cell. And it is being championed in the attached article. And you are correct in that the US cannot be leaders in everything. It is just sad that there are areas that we won't even try.

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Specializes in Cardiac Surg, IR, Peds ICU, Emergency.
This was umbilical stem cell. And it is being championed in the attached article. And you are correct in that the US cannot be leaders in everything. It is just sad that there are areas that we won't even try.

Don't be sad.

The US has been doing things with stem cells for over 40 years.

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Specializes in pure and simple psych.
Don't be sad.

The US has been doing things with stem cells for over 40 years.

"Doing things"?????? :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :monkeydance: :lol2:

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Specializes in Cardiac Surg, IR, Peds ICU, Emergency.
"Doing things"?????? :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :monkeydance: :lol2:

I can't help it if you don't like my word usage, but feel free to mock my language.

Otherwise, I apologize if you weren't able to understand the intent of the post. If it was confusing, a simple request for clarification would've been sufficient.

I forgive you. And since you are a liberal, the moderators will too.

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biologists have developed a technique for establishing colonies of human embryonic stem cells from an early human embryo without destroying it. this method, if confirmed in other laboratories, would seem to remove the principal objection to the research.

it could also redirect and intensify the emotional political debate over current limits on federal financing for research on human embryonic stem cells, which give rise to the cells and tissues of the body and which scientists and patient advocate groups see as a potential source for treatments for diseases like alzheimer’s, parkinson’s and diabetes.

but the new method, reported yesterday by researchers at advanced cell technology on the web site of the journal nature, had little immediate effect on longstanding objections of the white house and some congressional leaders yesterday. it also brought objections from critics who warned of possible risk to the embryo and the in vitro fertilization procedure itself, in which embryos are generated from a couple’s egg and sperm.

the new technique would be performed on a two-day-old embryo, after the fertilized egg has divided into eight cells, known as blastomeres. in fertility clinics, where the embryo is available outside the woman in the normal course of in vitro fertilization, one of these blastomeres can be removed for diagnostic tests, like for down syndrome.

the embryo, now with seven cells, can be implanted in the woman if no defect is found. many such embryos have grown into apparently healthy babies over the 10 years or so the diagnostic tests have been used.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/science/24stem.html?ei=5070&en=c988e77982177040&ex=1180843200&pagewanted=print

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