Medical research?

TDM

My stepfather had a massive stroke at 46 and for the past 4 years has been mosty paralyzed on the left side of his body. Recovery has leveled since leaving him home-bound, which is hard enough for the elderly but especially difficult for someone as young as he is.

Recently he has done some investigation into stem cell therapy and found many companies outside of the US (example: Stem Cell Biotherapy Inc) that offer treatments for people with neurological ailments. He and my mother have asked me to do some research into the viability of the treatments as they are expensive and potentially dangerous.

I do have some data mining powers but I am consistently impressed at the collective intelligence and resourcefulness of this community; do any of you have suggestions on how/where I can dig for more info on this subject?

Thanks in advance.

Mace1370

Talk to a doctor, preferably one who doesn't have any views that are biased against stem cell research due to religious convictions.

http://scholar.google.com/ has always been good to me in the past when working on research papers.

mts

try pubmed or biosis for scholarly journals, though google scholar is getting better. If it isn't peer reviewed its probably not true

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

It sounds like a horrible scam to me. Stem cell research is in initial clinical trials and banned in this country. Anyone selling stem cell therapy is a charlatan. Stem cells are not a magical cure-all and won't be for a very long time. The tests have been done on mice, and in localized areas. There is no viable stem cell treatment, yet. I'm very sorry to have to tell you that.

Gdiguy

I'm really sorry about your stepfather...

the truth, though, is that stem cell research isn't anywhere near that point yet... *maybe* in 5 years, but I haven't read anything to suggest that anything is even close to human trials. There's currently not really a good way to make stem cells that are genetically identical (to avoid immune responses), and there's not really a good reason to think that injecting undifferentiated cells will cause them to properly develop (they're far more likely to just create a tumor)

There are promising things, especially involving try to get get chemicals to stimulate neuronal stem cells to proliferate and replenish damaged neurons, but it's still at a theoretical stage

corcorigan

Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy(CBSCT) is not a US FDA approved procedure and is in no way to be construed or presented as a cure for any condition, degenerative disease or injury. Any changes in medication or prescribed treatment program should be made under the supervision of the administering or treating physician. As with any medical treatment, results from CBSCT should not be undertaken without consulting a qualified physician and Significant Clinical Benefits from CBSCT can not be guaranteed. Information presented here or in any of our literature should not be construed to represent a guarantee or claim for a cure or clinical benefit for any disease or injury. CBSCT does not serve as a substitute for a participant's current medical care and prescribed treatment modalities. Nor is CBSCT intended to serve as a preventive measure, treatment or cure of any condition, degenerative disease or injury.

I like how that company says stem cell treatments are experimental and unproven, then sells them. They're as bad as homeopaths.

Quacks!

Nibble

There has been some experimental stuff done with stem cells in humans, as in the case of the guy who grew a new jaw bone in his back; but there's certainly nothing in the way of verified, standard procedures for these kinds of things.

TDM

Thanks everyone. I was coming to the same conclusions with my brief seaches but will be doing some more digging using the tools you have suggested.

I love you guys!

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

TDM wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I was coming to the same conclusions with my brief seaches but will be doing some more digging using the tools you have suggested.

I love you guys!

I would like to reiterate, as a biotech major, that there are no viable stem cell treatments. Like really, anyone selling them is a scammer. I cannot stress this enough.

corcorigan

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

TDM wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I was coming to the same conclusions with my brief seaches but will be doing some more digging using the tools you have suggested.

I love you guys!

I would like to reiterate, as a biotech major, that there are no viable stem cell treatments. Like really, anyone selling them is a scammer. I cannot stress this enough.

Yes, just to add my weight to that, they even admit to being fakes.

It really annoys me actually. Bunch of bastards milking off the desperate and worried.

BetelguesePDX

Gdiguy wrote: »

I'm really sorry about your stepfather...

the truth, though, is that stem cell research isn't anywhere near that point yet... *maybe* in 5 years, but I haven't read anything to suggest that anything is even close to human trials. There's currently not really a good way to make stem cells that are genetically identical (to avoid immune responses), and there's not really a good reason to think that injecting undifferentiated cells will cause them to properly develop (they're far more likely to just create a tumor)

There are promising things, especially involving try to get get chemicals to stimulate neuronal stem cells to proliferate and replenish damaged neurons, but it's still at a theoretical stage

What he said. There are no approved, clinically proven treatments in humans available at this time.