HEALTH | MULTIPLE CHOICE

What Condition Could Stem Cells Help First?

A- Loss of vision, B – Spinal-cord injuries, C – Limb Circulation

By Sharon Begley | NEWSWEEK
July 7-14, 2008 issue

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  • Posted By: spillane @ 07/22/2008 10:59:19 AM

    i think it would great to give so many people their sight as i think it is the worse disability a person can have

  • Posted By: bmmg39 @ 07/17/2008 7:20:09 PM

    ADULT stem cells (i.e. NOT embryonic) show promise in treating patients with ALS: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uosf-ucb062408.php

  • Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:46:44 PM

    Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.

    Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.

    So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.

    Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?

    Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.

    So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.

    McCain's plan SUCKS.

    It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.

    • Posted By: bmmg39 @ 07/11/2008 4:36:55 PM

      Are you, perhaps, shifting the debate to something else because you can't refute our point that adult stem cells are working better than embryonic ones? That's been my experience: when those supporting ESCR have their nonsense refuted, they beginning talking about Iraq/Katrina/Galileo/Philip Morris/etc.....

    • Posted By: Evax @ 07/08/2008 4:29:05 PM

      Nins: i) This article is about stem cell. Your bark on McCain is like exercising your bowel movement in a living room instead of on a toilet. ii) We told you that Obama's achievement is light weight for the President position. You disagreed and promised us that you would post Obama's heavy-weight achievements after you are entertained by kids. To date, we have not heard any compelling rationale from your mouth. We have to interpret that you are a con. Please disappear and do not vote in November.

  • Posted By: mlfcrisis @ 06/29/2008 10:16:24 AM

    Another idiotic misleading article that damages those who could be getting therapy now...Aastrom Biosciences has had a 90 to 100% success rate in bone regeneration (non healing long bone fract)..in Limb Ischemia, (saved many from amputation) and in their latest cardiac trials ejection fraction from 10% (deaths door life expectancy measured in days) to 25%.... and just as succesful results in a second patient..These are Humans getting treatment now...The title suggests otherwise...Newsweek. is lying by omission...

    • Posted By: vtpeach @ 07/01/2008 3:56:46 PM

      It is great that this treatment exists for this particular problem however, most other illnesses are not seeing this type of funding that can bring these trials and treatments to the patient (retinal diseases, genetic degenerative conditions among them) and for others that might have the funding the research and trials are not progressing due to the political climate (diabetes, ALS, Parkinsons). Thanks for providing the information on that company and its treatments. It may help someone who needs the treatment.

      • Posted By: bmmg39 @ 07/03/2008 10:22:51 PM

        Vtpeach, juvenile diabetes and Parkinson's are ALREADY being treated with adult stem cells in actual human patients, and ALS, it is now believed, is not far from having ASC human trials begin. The author of this article "conveniently" neglected to mention that.

  • Posted By: bmmg39 @ 07/03/2008 10:20:48 PM

    Is it really possible that Sharon Begley is so uninformed about stem cell research that she's unaware that ADULT stem cells are ALREADY treating these conditions in human patients, and are close to treating humans in many others? Here's just a sampling from the last two months or so:

    June 13 (ASCs restore eyesight):
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/13/sciblind113.xml

    June 11 (multiple sclerosis):
    http://main.pslgroup.com/news/content.nsf/medicalnews/852571020057CCF685257466000D0793?OpenDocument&id=&count=10

    June 3 (cord-blood stem cells treat often-fatal childhood skin disease):
    http://www.physorg.com/news131717475.html

    May 29 (trying to use iPSCs to treat sickle-cell anemia):
    http://www.physorg.com/news131291839.html

    May 27 (ALS):
    http://www.exacom.net/firstlibrary/Articles/Ontario%20Issues/Health/Drugs%20and%20bio%20research/Adult%20Stem%20Cells%20to%20treat%20ALS.htm

  • Posted By: rmatossian @ 07/03/2008 7:14:04 PM

    We all know that disease is just god's way of punishing us for being gay or whatever. We have no right to interfere with the process. It would be sinful of us to even try.

  • Posted By: claireroberson @ 07/03/2008 1:23:22 PM

    Sharon, please get your facts correct and stop misleading the public (and patients). #1 Bush enacted a partial lift of the ban approved by Clinton (Dickey Amendment 1997), #2 There are over 1,000 FDA-approved clinical trials using adult stem cells treating everything from corneal regeneration and diabetes to heart disease and spinal cord injury (www.clinicaltrials.gov; www.stemcellresearch.org); #3 ESC are still fraught with tumor-forming problems, and the reprogrammed cells do not have to use virus transformation and were shown not to be tumorigenic. Venture capitalists are not investing in the risking ESC because they can put their money on sure horses that are winning the race, adult stem cells.
    Claire Thuning-Roberson, Ph.D. (a scientist)

  • Posted By: p229 @ 07/03/2008 12:12:38 PM

    You missed the point. The logjam occurs because of something more fundamental than science, laboratories, and all their hope and prosperity. LIFE is the issue. At the very least, the reason for all of the debate comes from the use of HUMAN embryonic stem cells. If you disagree with it so much, why don't you offer up your own children (or embryos... you choose). If you can't make it work with animal stem cells, WORK HARDER!

  • Posted By: vtpeach @ 07/01/2008 3:49:55 PM

    Reading this article just upped my frustration level with this administration and how it has had no clue as to what effects its actions have had and are having on the general population. Because of this stem cell ban and its effect on biomedical research, my daughter will most likely be blind by the time she enters adulthood. When she was first diagnosed with a retinal degenerative disease a few years ago the hope was there that the development of retinal stem cell treatments could help improve, if not cure, her degeneration before she suffered full blindness - and while her body was young and still generating millions of new cells itself. But, because of the stupidity and short-sightedness of very few my daughter will most likely be blind before any treatment is available to her. And many others will suffer as well - Type 1 Diabetics (replace those defective pancreatic cells!), people with ALS, Parkinsons, etc., etc. All needless suffering. Many of these treatments that were in development could have been out of trials by now but, because of the ban and resultant lack of funding and research, they are not and many people - adults and children alike - are suffering as a result. Sharon - thank you for this article and bringing this issue to light.

  • Posted By: inyoface @ 06/30/2008 11:37:58 PM

    The hipocracy and corporate control of our government is illustrated by the ban. Who stands to gain by the ban? The pharmaceutical companies for one. They don't want a cure for lifelong diseases, it is less profitable. I mention hipocracy, because abortion is legal. So, it's okay to abort a baby, but not so good to use embryonic stem cells to help people? Give me a break. This administration is a joke. I wish they would just tell us the truth. Saying using the embryonic stem cells should be banned because they are life, and because of "religious" reasons is about as believable that the reason we went to war with Iraq was to fight terrorism and evil. Bush and congress should just come right out and say, "We're banning this avenue of research because the people who line our pockets want you to stay sick."
    "Furthermore, we're in Iraq because we want oil. But, don't worry. Once we get the oil, the oil companies will
    continue to charge you an arm and a leg."
    If anyone from the administration reads this, please consider my services as a speech writer. I don't mind getting paid in Saudi money.

  • Posted By: raob @ 06/30/2008 10:16:42 PM

    Thank you Sharon for an informative article. It is very useful for general readers and patients like me who have ASL and the likes.

    There are many patients, from all over the world and especially from the US, who spent thousands of dollars for unproven stem cell treatments in some developing countries like India, China and Thailand etc. I think that none of them had any lasting improvements which means they wasted their money.

    It would be of great help if you can interview some of these patients and publish another report. There is one Mr Depietro who has posted a letter in Bangkok Post, telling that his treatment in Thailand has been a waste of money. See http://www.bangkokpost.com/290608_Perspective/29Jun2008_pers010.php

    On a different matter: The window to post comments in News Week is very small. It is a great shame on this news magazine for continuing with such a backward format.

    Bill Rao (Sydney)

  • Posted By: raob @ 06/30/2008 10:15:30 PM

    Thank you Sharon for an informative article. It is very useful for general readers and patients like me who have ASL and the likes.

    There are many patients, from all over the world and especially from the US, who spent thousands of dollars for unproven stem cell treatments in some developing countries like India, China and Thailand etc. I think that none of them had any lasting improvements which means they wasted their money.

    It would be of great help if you can interview some of these patients and publish another report. There is one Mr Depietro who has posted a letter in Bangkok Post, telling that his treatment in Thailand has been a waste of money. See http://www.bangkokpost.com/290608_Perspective/29Jun2008_pers010.php

    On a different matter: The window to post comments in News Week is very small. It is a great shame on this news magazine for continuing with such a backward format.

    Bill Rao (Sydney)

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 06/30/2008 9:16:45 PM

    8 years lost... just because of the religious right who wants to impose their beliefs and keep up into the dark ages.. Let's wait until one of them get one of those disease and see if they spit on the treatment.. They will be the first one knodking on the door.

  • Posted By: jloring @ 06/30/2008 7:21:59 PM

    I enjoy reading Ms. Begley's opinions about scientific research, but this article hit a sour note with me because this is my area of expertise, and the article had several glaring factual errors. First, while many of the early stage embryonic stem (ES) cell lines identified by the president in 2001 failed to thrive, there are actually 21 lines that are approved for federal funding, not 6 ("There were 71 then; 65 have since proved useless"). There are at least 200 human ES cell lines that are available to researchers now, but we can't pay for research on those lines with federal grants. The second error was her description of my colleague Dr. Lipton's recent published scientific article. His work was on MOUSE ES cells, not HUMAN ES cells- there's a great deal of difference when one is studying the cells in mice. Please contact one of us if there is ever any question about our research- we often talk to the press and are happy to educate people about ES cells.

  • Posted By: relesabe @ 06/30/2008 2:27:41 PM

    There is absolutely no evidence that "everything that can be done with embryonic stem cells can be done with adult stem cells". Why would California and other states be devoting millions of dollars to organizations that will fund specifically Embryonic stem cell research. Both types of cells have their uses, but to stop trying to use ESC because of falsehoods/misconceptions such as you put forth is absurd.

  • Posted By: BRADBENSON2007@comcast.net @ 06/30/2008 1:11:33 PM

    It's one of those questions like, "When did you stop beating your wife?" It assumes that stem cell research can work/is working. Advances that have been made are with adult stem cells and they are making it into patient practice. The argument over embryonic stem cells was simply political. No private money is going into embryonic stem cell research because it isn't worth the effort. Anything you can do with embryonic stem cells can be done with adult stem cells more reliably, with less side affects and avoiding any moral issues.

    The way the media ran the stem cell argument, and is apparently still clinging to it, was/is irresponsible and misleading. You ought to be ashamed because you knowingly or unwittingly simply a political tool.

  • Posted By: BRADBENSON2007@comcast.net @ 06/30/2008 1:10:40 PM

    It's one of those questions like, "When did you stop beating your wife?" It assumes that stem cell research can work/is working. Advances that have been made are with adult stem cells and they are making it into patient practice. The argument over embryonic stem cells was simply political. No private money is going into embryonic stem cell research because it isn't worth the effort. Anything you can do with embryonic stem cells can be done with adult stem cells more reliably, with less side affects and avoiding any moral issues.

    The way the media ran the stem cell argument, and is apparently still clinging to it, was/is irresponsible and misleading. You ought to be ashamed because you knowingly or unwittingly simply a political tool.

  • Posted By: Alamerica @ 06/29/2008 7:36:41 PM

    Bush's supporters have to know that a large number of cells die within our bodies (eg, cells on the surface of skin) on a daily basis. They also have to know that they would have only one big finger but not five fingers per hand if cells between figers do not die during development of a hand. When a man dies (eg, Tim Russert), it is a tragedy; when a million men die (eg, citizens in Iraq), it is statistics; when a cell dies (eg, ESC in a laboratory), it is part of nature. To protect human rights of a cell by law is as foolish as a witch hunt in history.

  • Posted By: relesabe @ 06/29/2008 2:43:57 PM

    No, the article merely should have had a slightly different title: It should have mentioned Embryonic Stem Cells.

    The therapeutic uses of adult and embryonic stem cells are not in competition; they are probably complementary. Adult stem cell research has received much more financial support from federal agencies and without a doubt, much more moral support from the Bush administration

    It is time to stop pushing political or religious agendas regarding potential revolutionary therapies and to simply try to find out what works. No one is suggesting that using adult stem cells for bone fractures isn't possible or shouldn't be done, but embryonic stem cells might well be able to do extremely important things that adult stem cells can't. Let us find out.

  • Posted By: relesabe @ 06/29/2008 2:43:30 PM

    No, the article merely should have had a slightly different title: It should have mentioned Embryonic Stem Cells.

    The therapeutic uses of adult and embryonic stem cells are not in competition; they are probably complementary. Adult stem cell research has received much more financial support from federal agencies and without a doubt, much more moral support from the Bush administration

    It is time to stop pushing political or religious agendas regarding potential revolutionary therapies and to simply try to find out what works. No one is suggesting that using adult stem cells for bone fractures isn't possible or shouldn't be done, but embryonic stem cells might well be able to do extremely important things that adult stem cells can't. Let us find out.

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