Should people with serious spinal cord injuries attempt to find a cure with stem cells?
People with serious spinal cord injuries are understandably anxious and eager to find some treatment that will improve their condition. Does stem cell transplantation currently offer a realistic hope of improving the functional or pain le…
Spinal cord injuries can be caused by trauma to the spinal column (stretching, bruising, applying pressure, severing, etc… the spinal cord). The vertebral bones or intervertebral disks can shatter, causing the spinal cord to be punctured …
Dr. Hongyun Huang transplants OEG cells obtained from the brains of aborted fetuses into patients at Xishan Hospital near Beijng, China. While the OEG cells Dr. Hwang uses are not obtained from the patient, he reports that there have not been problems with rejection. To qualify for surgery the patient cannot have a complete transection (separation) of the spinal cord (a rare occurrence). Dr. Huang has performed the procedure on hundreds of patients and claims there has been some improvement in 70% of the individuals operated on. The length of time from the date of spinal cord injury to surgery has ranged from six months to 18 years. Treatment cost is about $20,000 (excluding travel costs and lodging) and the average stay in China is about one month. There have been some complaints from patients who have traveled to China about the quality of Chinese hospitals. Dr. Huang originally operated at Chaoyang Hospital but has since moved to Xishan Hospital, apparently at least in part due to complaints about the quality of Chaoyang Hospital. .
A different approach to the use of olfactory cells has been taken by a team headed by Drs. Tim Gerahty and Alan McKay-Sims at Princess Alexandria Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. They remove olfactory tissue from the patient and then culture it to grow additional cells. The cells (around 12,000,000) are then injected into the area of the injury. The injections do not require surgery. Some researchers question whether cells injected into the spinal cord will remain in the area of injury, given that cerebrospinal fluid bathes the cord and can wash the cells to other parts of the central nervous system, including the brain. The Brisbane team limited the patients in their small study (8 patients) to individuals with complete spinal cord injuries in the thoracic area that are six months to three years old. Results of their study, which began in 2001 and was scheduled to end in 2004, have not been published.
What Country has the best treatment for stem cell research regard…?
On March 9, 2009, President Barack H. Obama issued Executive Order 13505: Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Director of NIH, may support and conduct responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research, to the extent permitted by law.
These Guidelines implement Executive Order 13505, as it pertains to extramural NIH-funded stem cell research, establish policy and procedures under which the NIH will fund such research, and helps ensure that NIH-funded research in this area is ethically responsible, scientifically worthy, and conducted in accordance with applicable law. Internal NIH policies and procedures, consistent with Executive Order 13505 and these Guidelines, will govern the conduct of intramural NIH stem cell research.
The definitive guide for dealing 
