News Blockade: MSM Ignores Adult Stem Cell Human Trial Success in Treatment of Acute Spinal Cord Injuries
Geron recently obtained FDA permission to try using a potentially risky embryonic stem cell derived treatment developed to treat acute spinal cord injury in a human trial to test the safety of the product. But it turns out that a patient's own adult stem cells appear to already provide the same kind of benefit, and without the risk of tumors found in ES cells. From the story in Science Daily: Researchers from DaVinci Biosciences, Costa Mesa, California, in collaboration with Hospital Luis Vernaza in Ecuador, have determined that injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells (autologous BMCs) directly into the spinal column using multiple routes can be an effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) that returns some quality of life for SCI patients without serious adverse events...
Excuse me, but why isn't this a headline story? I did a Google search and this, published yesterday, was the only one I could find.
In eight patients who received BMC transplants through various routes and followed for two years, the scientists reported several functional improvements, perhaps the most important of which was improved bladder control. Finally, the researchers noted that one of their cases suffered a gunshot wound and that their study marked the first time a gunshot wound victim had received BMC transplants through multiple routes. "It is important to note," concluded Dr. Silva," that all of our patients with acute injuries improved significantly with no signs of deterioration or impediment of presumed spontaneous recovery."
Geron's future human trial made huge news. It's rodent experiments made huge news. But a successful human treatment for the same condition has been ignored by the MSM--as was another promising human trial for chronic spinal cord injury reported previously.
Why the news blockade? Wrong kind of stem cells, apparently: Doesn't make Bush look bad. So typical. So wrong.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 6:04 PM
11 Comments
11 Comments:
Well for years humans ignored the suffering of non-human animals and only now is a law proposed to sanction ignoring hitting a non-human animal with a car. If we're so much better than they are, how come we've got a death culture and they haven't? And it's a surprise that we can't get organized with common sense about stem cell research? Rather it's to be expected that we haven't done that.
Ianthe: The world of nature is tooth and claw and merciless. Only humans work actively to mitigate suffering, both human and animal, or perhaps to be more accurate, only us and those animals that we have touched, like dogs.
I definitely think there is a media bias in science reporting and this is something we need to be aware of. Science Daily is a great source of current research updates and science news, though. Sadly, I think major news media outlets sacrifice journalistic (and scientific) integrity to only report on splashy stuff. If ESC had been used, I would not be surprised if this made headlines. I guess we will have to dig for the news and research on our own. I hoped the failing newspapers coupled to the rise in internet information and news would make these headlines surface a little easier, perhaps that is wishful thinking on my part.
Good post.
Lanthe, I recommend viewing various Nature specials or such documentaries - animals, across all phylum, are vicious towards each other and other species. It appears that extensive empathy and higher cognitive consciousness are quite unique to Homo sapiens.
I do believe -- and I hope I'm not deluding myself here -- that the blockade is crumbling. CBS News gave ample coverage to the adult stem cell story on MS (I think it was MS; I may be confusing it with any of the many ASC success stories of late).
Perhaps the avalanche of ASC stories is getting too big to ignore. Maybe viewers/readers are better informed now, so that enough people are writing and calling in to inform and complain when a great story gets ignored. (I do see this on many message boards; no matter what board it is, there will be names from all over the country pointing out the many diseases being treated with ASCs, or that ESCs are commonly turning into tumors, or that Bush never "banned" embryonic research or its funding. The media might be realizing that they can't feed us a line of horsey-doo and expect us to gobble it up anymore.
Or...perhaps with BHO in office, there's less of a story of Bush's restrictions being in place, and the media are figuring, "Okay, I guess we can take off the uniform now..."
bmmg39: Yes, I saw a crumbling too. But I think it might be going back up again. Time will tell. For example, how not report this story when so much fuss was made over Geron's future study?
We're the ones that created a death culture. Also it's not unknown for other species to work actively to mitigate suffering. Watch them with each other, even with members of other species at time. The death culture, the medical system that we've got at times, isn't tooth and claw? And it's even worse when they claim to be working to mitigate suffering as a cover for causing it, and for murder.
The MSM's love affair with ESCs is definitely becoming more apparent each and every day. What's so special about the little cells?
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I was shocked to hear from three sources that Obama is going to rescind Bush's policy of using Federal money from going for NONembryonic stem cell research. One of the sources was on aclj.org's radio show today, and anyone interested can replay today's show and hear for yourself.
So Obama wants Federal dollars for immoral embryonic stem cell which do not work, but wants to take away money for ethical stem cells which DO work!
And here's another source:
“also covertly ended Bush’s federal-funding program for other forms of stem-cell research... stem-cell research that does not kill a human embryo.”
snip http://biglizards.net/blog/archives/2009/03/obama_kills_ste.html
Sunnie57: I reported that too, here and in the Weekly Standard. He is not refusing to fund non embryonic, but he rescinded a requirement that 'alternative' methods of finding pluripotent stem cells be funded by the Feds.
What's so special about the little cells?
ES cells are the process of how life is created. Without understanding how they work we're just playing pin the tail on the donkey.
Some therapies may stick to the wall if you throw enough materiel at it, but these scientist have no clue as to the root of how stem cells work to repair disease.
I think most scientists would agree that in this nascent stage of ESCr they are engaged in basic medical research to figure out how cells function. Treatments and cures to disease follow from learning how to alter cellular activity.
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