
A Cautionary Tale of ‘Stem Cell Tourism’ - prostoalex
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/health/a-cautionary-tale-of-stem-cell-tourism.html?_r=2
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mernster
I think the NYT should have done better job of explaining that not all stem
cell treatments are created equal. Associating "stem cell" with scary monster
teratoma is not helpful (although I of course feel terrible for this guy and
anyone else who has been victimized by this kind of irresponsible "medicine").

Under no circumstances should anyone be injecting embryonic cells into
themselves. Clearly, it is unsafe and I'm not sure there's a lot of evidence
to show that it does much to alleviate stroke or any other paralyzing
condition.

Bone marrow stem cells (mesenchymal stem cells; MSC) on the other hand have a
proven safety record, as do several other types of more mature stem cells
(cord blood, e.g.). Full disclosure, I'm a partner in Forever Labs
(foreverlabs.co), which is a company dedicated to storing bone marrow cells
while one is relatively young, so that they can be used later in life.
Articles of this type are important, but we need to make sure we don't throw
out the baby with the bathwater. Stem cell treatments have a bright future,
IMO.

