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Home > Blog > April 2008 > Stem Cell Treatment in the Cayman Islands

Stem Cell Treatment in the Cayman Islands

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box and the MEDICAL CONDITION in the message.
I HAVE TO ADMIT I WAS UNAWARE OF THIS COMPANY MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE THAT HAS SEEMINGLY POPPED UP OUT OF NOWHERE.  IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE PROVIDING CORD BLOOD STEM CELL TREATMENT (NOT EMBRYONIC STEM CELL TREATMENT) IN GRAND CAYMAN.

HERE WE GO, MY COMMENTS ARE BOLD:



There are plans for a medical facility in Grand Cayman to begin treatment on a young American boy afflicted with a rare spinal disorder using controversial stem cell replacement therapy, a New York newspaper reports.  WHY IS IT CONTROVERSIAL?  WHEN WE READ FURTHER, IT DESCRIBES CORD BLOOD STEM CELL TREATMENT, NOT EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS:

According to the Oneonta Daily Star, the Utter family from New York are currently raising money to cover the medical costs to treat two- year- old Dylan Utter's spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Dylan was diagnosed with the disease when he was 15 months old, said his mother, Erica Utter.

SMA is a disease of the motor neurons that affects the voluntary muscles used for activities such as crawling, walking and swallowing. According to the Families of SMA website, fsma.org, the experimental procedure entails extracting compatible stem cells from umbilical cords, to be used in the replacement of dead or dying motor neurons in the patient's body.  A VERY SAD STORY.  I HOPE IT WORKS OUT FOR THE CHILD. HOWEVER, NOTE THE PART IN BOLD ABOUT UMBILICAL CORDS, IT WILL COME INTO PLAY BELOW. 


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the health regulatory body in the US, has not approved stem cell treatment. Consequently, the procedure is not covered by any health insurance providers. The stem cell infusion treatment, reportedly costing US$28,000, will be administered in the Cayman Islands because it is not available in the United States, Dylan's mother said.  OH, I SEE, MAYBE THAT IS WHY IT IS CONTROVERSIAL,  IT ISN'T APPROVED IN THE US YET. LET'S READ ON TO FIND OUT:

The controversy lies in the technique used to create new embryonic stem cell lines. These are the independent cells that can develop into any different cell in the body, and can be produced almost indefinitely.

The online Gene Almanac states that the technique requires the destruction of the blastocyst, which is the fertilised egg as it exists in week one of pregnancy, before its development into an embryo.  OH, I GUESS I WAS WRONG.  I DON'T UNDERSTAND, AT FIRST, THE WRITER TALKS ABOUT UMBILICAL CORD STEM CELL TREATMENT, BUT NOW HE IS TALKING ABOUT BLASTOCYSTS IN THE FIRST WEEK OF PREGNANCY BEFORE ITS DEVELOPMENT AS AN EMBRYO.   I AM CERTAIN THE BOY IS GOING TO RECEIVE UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD STEM CELLS WHICH ARE EXTRACTED FROM THE UMBILICAL CORD OF A NEWBORN BABY SO WHY IS THE WRITER GOING OFF ON A TANGENT ON SOMETHING ALMOST TOTALLY UNRELATED TO IT.  THIS IS WHY AMERICANS AND MOST OF THE WORLD ARE CONFUSED- BY ARTICLES SUCH AS THESE THAT TRY TO MAKE CONTROVERSY WHERE NONE EXISTS.  WHAT IS CONTROVERSIAL ABOUT A FAMILY GOING ABROAD TO TRY TO HELP THEIR SON TO RECEIVE STEM CELLS EXTRACTED FROM UMBILICAL CORDS?


CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE 
Posted: 4/22/2008 12:55:07 AM by Don Margolis | with 0 comments
Filed under: Research, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Stem Cells, Therapy, Treatment


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