Paying to Store Menstrual Blood Stem Cells
Since these would presumably be blood stem cells, I'm not sure why they would need to be stored and frozen. And why would menstrual stem cells be any better than other adult stem cells that could be obtained later in time of need? But I do know a very imaginative pitch when I see one. The only question is: Is this a potential panacea, a hoax, or a waste of money? I say the latter.C'elle's exclusive and revolutionary service provides women with the unique opportunity to collect and preserve vital stem cells that can be harvested from the body's menstrual fluid during the menstrual cycle. Until now, menstrual blood has typically been discarded as unsanitary waste. However, exciting new research shows that menstrual fluid contains, self-renewing stem cells that can be easily collected, processed and cryo-preserved for potential cellular therapies that may emerge in the future.
During the process of cryo-preservation, menstrual stem cells are literally "frozen in time," which enables these abundant stem cells to retain their potency and viability for an indefinite period of time--possibly even decades. Patented technology allows cryo-preserved menstrual blood stem cells to be retrieved and thawed over time. Stem cells from menstrual blood may potentially be utilized in the future to treat a host of life-threatening and debilitating medical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and spinal cord injury, just to name a few. Cryo-preservation of menstrual stem cells may have the potential in providing women with a broad range of personalized regenerative medicine as well as prospective cosmeceutical stem cell therapies. These beneficial therapeutic treatments may emerge as a result of global research and development in the future. However, realistically, it may take several years for these menstrual stem cells to be developed into potential widely-available commercial therapies.
Labels: Stem Cell Businesses
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 7:05 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
O_O;;;
SQUICK!!!!!
Now that my mind is officially boggled, at this point I have to re-examine the statements made in the passage.
"Stem cells from menstrual blood may potentially be utilized in the future to treat a host of life-threatening and debilitating medical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and spinal cord injury, just to name a few."
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but aren't these the same kinds of cures that the ESCR types are claiming for embryonic stem cells? Alzheimer's - check. Parkinson's - check. Spinal cord injury - check.
So they're saying that menstrual blood cells (which as far as I learned in basic biology are *blood cells* plain and simple)possess stem cells that can do all the same thing that ESCR is supposed to be able to do, without the need to harvest cells from an embryo.
As totally squicky as this sounds, at least this group is doing something to promote research that doesn't cause ethical delimas or moral quandaries. IS there something that differentiate's the stem cells in menstrual blood from the stem cells in the blood in my arm? If there is (and I mean *IF*), then I guess it wouldn't be *that* much squickier than saving umbilical cord blood from a birth.
There have to be biology types out there reading this - what's the verdict? Is menstrual blood exactly like the blood flowing in the rest of your body, or does it possess some kind of difference that makes it closer to umbilical cord blood and therefore have more potential for use?
Either way, I'm not sure I'd have the guts to actually donate any blood other than what I give twice a year for the Red Cross. ::doubt doubt doubt::
These would be adult stem cells, which are moving forward in early human trials on many fronts. But the scam, er, idea to store stem cells for the future is directed at way future potentialities. Why anyone would pay between $500 and $1500 to store menstrual blood stem cells, and then $200 a year is beyond me.
I asked around a little about whether menstrual blood is somehow different than blood, blood. There was some thought that it might be a richer stew or that contact with the uterine wall might somehow make a difference. But nobody actually knew.
I guess the idea is that people would associate menstrual blood with placenta blood and therefore be more open to donating their blood for stem cell research. That's the only reason why I can think of these people trying to "havest" cells from menstrual blood - women might be more likely to part with it because of the (not exactly logical) connection to umbilical cord cell blood.
You're right, it is a scam, unless somebody knows for a fact that menstrual blood mimics the effects of cord blood cells to some degree. Since nobody you asked knows for a fact, then it shouldn't be any different than offering up the blood from your arm to an experiment.
DID ANYONE SEE THE RECENT PAPER BY MEDISTEM SHOWING THAT MENSTRUAL BLOOD STEM CELLS ARE MORE POTENT THAN BONE MARROW AND CORD BLOOD?????????????????????????????
A Japanese group grew cardiac tissue from menstrual stem cells. That can be done with cord blood, but, to my knowledge, not with bone marrow.
Of course, new exciting types of stem cells are being found in cord blood and may eventually be found in menstrual blood, If someone bothers to do the research. This group is not doing research, they are just freezing women's menstrual blood and charging them for their trouble.
Actually, if you read their press release, C'elle's "owners" Cryocell have hired 4 independent researchers and are working with Dr. Amit Patel, who is somewhat renowned for his research in the cardiac area. Cryocell also stores Umbilical Cord Blood, which like a lot of other companies, charges a fee for that service. This service that C'elle is offering is actually a LOT cheaper than privately storing your umbilical cord blood. Coming from a family with heart disease, Parkinson's Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis--I am willing to gamble on this bet. So I lose a few hundred bucks...at worst.....but possibly my stem cells could help me in the event of a neuromuscular or cardiac disease. They think that they might even help my children and siblings! Hooray for those thinking outside the box for stem cell research. Let's bypass the whole embryonic thing and get cures in a different way!
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