Chord blood vs Embryonic Stem Cells

[Guest guest]

I hope this helps you Bobby. There is more, I just selected what I thought was

the most important evidence to support a cause you can understand more fully. I

would go to the website and print out each separately from the website and then

look at them side by side to see which one proves more useful for Parkinson's

and others. I know this is a personal issue with you and you would like more

information. If your SIL is seeing the best doctors for his condition, I don't

think there is anything else we can tell them about the disease, but I see where

you are coming from. To an outsider CML is a terrible disease they wouldn't want

to have, either, but we learn to live with it and look to the next person who

has MS or something equally disabling and we think of how lucky we are its not

us. Any neurological disease where you are encased in this bubble and can see

no way out is equally horrifying.

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While embryonic stem cell may show vast potential, cord blood has already been

proven to treat diseases such as leukemia without any repercussions such as

killing an embryo. I can't vouch on the scientific evidence of this article,

but it is one that explains it without commercialism. Here is an article that

compares the two.

Umbilical Cord Blood

" The first cord blood transplant was performed in 1988, and has spurred a flurry

of activity in the area. Umbilical cord blood has many benefits that bone marrow

transplants and peripheral blood stem cells lack. It's painless to extract, and

once it's banked, it's readily available for transplant needs. There are a host

of diseases that cord blood can treat, making it a leader in cell-based

regenerative therapy. Because it's a source of more primitive stem cells, there

is a lower risk of GVHD. Because of this lower risk, it is possible to treat

patients with less perfect HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigens) matches.

" Also, because the costs of cord blood transplants are lower, medical insurance

companies prefer cord blood banking to bone marrow; there are even companies

that will allow you to do cord blood banking for free if you meet their 'case of

need' criteria (visit our company listings and information page). Lastly, you

can choose whether you prefer banking your baby's cord blood or donating it to a

community bank. Banking with a private company means the cord blood will be

stored for your own personal use. Donating to a community bank is an act of good

will; it will allow patients in need to use your baby's life-giving stem cells

to treat their diseases. Community banks are also popping up throughout the

country, which means you have more banks close to home. Some of these banks even

give you priority to your baby's cord blood in case of your need.

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Embryonic Stem Cell Basics

" Embryonic stem cells are cultured in a Petri dish using the spare fertilized

eggs of in vitro fertilization (IVF). These eggs are donated with the informed

consent of the donors. Many moral and ethical questions arise in embryonic stem

cell research; this is especially true of fetal stem cell research, the use of

older embryos. The issue lies in scientists making their own embryos from

scratch for use in stem cell research.

" Embryonic stem cells have the capacity to replicate themselves, a process

called proliferation. At about six months, cultured embryonic stem cells have

created millions of new stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can proliferate for a

year or more in the laboratory.

" With those countless stem cells, scientists have the potential ability to

create various specialized cells. This is because embryonic stem cells are

pluripotent, or they have the ability to transform into virtually any cell.

Ideally, these specialized cells will be able to treat a number of diseases and

disorders in the future including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart disease,

spinal cord injuries and vision and hearing loss.

" However, scientists haven't yet perfected the growing and differentiating

process for embryonic stem cells. As a result, embryonic stem cells can

sometimes differentiate spontaneously, which, currently, could cause serious

repercussions if the stem cells were used to treat people. Throughout the world,

though, there is continuous research being done on embryonic stem cells with new

discoveries being made every day about how to best use these stem cells.

http://www.sodahead.com/living/stem-cells-embryonic-vs-cord-blood/question-10884\

11/

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" To date, current research on embryonic stem cells has resulted in no promising

results. Ironically, a leading pro-ESCR advocate is the Juvenile Diabetes

Foundation, but ESCR research has failed in fighting this disease.

" Past supporters of this controversial research are now speaking out about the

false hype surrounding the results. The San Francisco Chronicle recently

reported that doubters are coming out of the woodwork. Billings, who

studied stem cells' effects and co-founded a stem cell bank, said that hopes for

major new medical treatments based on embryonic stem cells are " very remote " .

" The problems are so complex that we're not likely to be able to tackle them

with the stem cell gambit in the foreseeable future. "

" Researchers in China met with a disastrous result. Fetal tissue injected into

a patient's brain produced temporary improvement, but within two years the

patient developed a brain tumor and died. An autopsy revealed that the fetal

cells had taken root, but had then metamorphed into other types of human tissue

- hair, skin and bone. These grew into the tumor, which killed the patient.

" A devastating result occurred at Columbia University's College of Physicians

and Surgeons, and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In some

of the patients, the implanted embryonic cells apparently grew too well,

churning out so much of a chemical that controls movement that they writhed and

jerked uncontrollably. Dr. E. Greene called the uncontrollable movements

developed by some patients as " absolutely devastating. " He said, " They chew

constantly, their fingers go up and down, their writs flex and distend. It's a

real nightmare. And we can't selectively turn it off. No more fetal

transplants. We are absolutely and adamantly convinced that this should be

considered for research only. "

_________________________

" Of the 15 US biotech companies solely devoted to developing cures using stem

cells, only two focus on embryos. Embryo stem cell research is at the

drawing-board stage - not for lack of funds but for lack of promising research

to finance. Venture capitalists have no agenda beyond making money; if they see

embryo projects that are likely to bear fruit over the next five to seven years

- the usual VC time horizon - they will fund them. That the market is speaking

so loudly against embryo stem cell research probably explains why embryo

researchers are so eager to reverse the ban on government funding. "

" Diane Irving, Ph.D., a former professor of biology at town University and

former biochemist with the National Cancer Institute, said, " I have argued that

adult stem cells are better because they are closer to the stage of

differentiation than embryonic or fetal cells - therefore they do not have as

long a distance to travel differentiation-wise as the younger cells. Therefore

there is far less of a chance for genetic errors to be accumulated in the

implanted cells and less side effects for the patient to deal with. "

http://www.lifeissues.org/cloningstemcell/bradsarticle.html

As I have said before, please don't shoot the messenger. Anyone can post an

article of their choice. Here I am trying to show both sides on 2 different

websites on just where we are going with stem cells, bmbryonic stem cells and

chord blood. In the end, I think it will all boil down to costs. If you don't

think cost of drugs is affecting you, have you tried swallowing those generic

drugs they give you at the hospital to replace your own? They buy the cheapest

drugs they can find from whomever will sell at the lowest price. MY DIL was an

accountant for a hospital for 15 years, that is my source. My throat and taste

buds also know the difference, they begin to dissolve before you can get them

down your esophogus.

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FYI,

Lottie Duthu