There are countries which have developed stem cells therapies that are not approved in other countries. Countries like the UK and the US have very rigid standards for new treatments. Other countries may get new treatments "online" sooner because they require much less proof.
Because of these country-by-country differences in approval standards, a new tourism industry has been created called "stem cell tourism." There are even websites offering "miracle" treatments for multiple sclerosis and other illnesses through the use of stem cell therapy.
Unfortunately, these treatments are expensive and, often, not very effective. Think about it, if a treatment were as promising as the advertisement, it would at least be in clinical trials in the UK or the US. If you can't find the treatment in the clinical trials database (try clinicaltrials.gov) then there probably isn't very much promise in it.
Don't get fooled by the ads and the hype. Do your homework and save your money.
Because of these country-by-country differences in approval standards, a new tourism industry has been created called "stem cell tourism." There are even websites offering "miracle" treatments for multiple sclerosis and other illnesses through the use of stem cell therapy.
Unfortunately, these treatments are expensive and, often, not very effective. Think about it, if a treatment were as promising as the advertisement, it would at least be in clinical trials in the UK or the US. If you can't find the treatment in the clinical trials database (try clinicaltrials.gov) then there probably isn't very much promise in it.
Don't get fooled by the ads and the hype. Do your homework and save your money.
Good point made there. It was something I looked in to immediately after being diagnosed, and read some horror stories on people paying out 30kEuro to a clinic for their ‘cure’. I am positive stem cell will be great for MS, but it needs more research and thanks to Obama the whole world will benefit soon.
this may be of interest
Glia. 2009 Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print] Links
Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells induce Th2-polarized immune response and promote endogenous repair in animal models of multiple sclerosis.Bai L, Lennon DP, Eaton V, Maier K, Caplan AI, Miller SD, Miller RH.
Case Western Reserve University, Centers for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Translational Neuroscience, Department of Neurosciences, Case School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
Cell-based therapies are attractive approaches to promote myelin repair. Recent studies demonstrated a reduction in disease burden in mice with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) treated with mouse mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here, we demonstrated human bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-hMSCs) promote functional recovery in both chronic and relapsing-remitting models of mouse EAE, traced their migration into the injured CNS and assayed their ability to modulate disease progression and the host immune response. Injected BM-hMSCs accumulated in the CNS, reduced the extent of damage and increased oligodendrocyte lineage cells in lesion areas. The increase in oligodendrocytes in lesions may reflect BM-hMSC-induced changes in neural fate determination, since neurospheres from treated animals gave rise to more oligodendrocytes and less astrocytes than nontreated neurospheres. Host immune responses were also influenced by BM-hMSCs. Inflammatory T-cells including interferon gamma producing Th1 cells and IL-17 producing Th17 inflammatory cells and their associated cytokines were reduced along with concomitant increases in IL-4 producing Th2 cells and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Together, these data suggest that the BM-hMSCs represent a viable option for therapeutic approaches. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.