FRED THOMPSON SAID...
On November 20, 2007, Fred Thompson issued the following statement:
"There is exciting news for patients today. In yet another breakthrough for adult cell research, scientists have made normal human skin cells take on the relevant properties of embryonic stem cells. That is in addition to 73 breakthroughs for Adult Stem Cell research to date. There are still no Embryonic Stem Cell breakthroughs. ‚“
Senator Thompson is referring to the list, which came out in October of 2004 and was updated as recently as April 11, 2007, entitled ‚“Benefits of Stem Cells to Human Patients, Adult Stem Cells vs. Embryonic Stem Cells‚ - http://stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm
The list shows that the use of adult stem cells (ASC) in treatment produced therapeutic benefit for human patients in 73 different diseases. On that same list, the use of embryonic stem cells (ESC) in treatment produced therapeutic benefit for human patients in zero diseases. Or to put it simply, the score is ASC 73, ESC 0. This side by side comparison is a simplified version taken directly from ‚“Peer-reviewed references showing applications of Adult Stem Cells that produce therapeutic benefit for human patients ‚“ http://stemcellresearch.org/facts/asc-refs.pdf
Senator Thompson then said:
"For all who are concerned for patients and their families, the effective, ethical, and compassionate answer is to put our money where the breakthroughs are happening -- in adult research. Using adult cells negates the need for cloning embryos to harvest their stem cells. We all want to find cures to help people with chronic illnesses. Adult cells have provided breakthroughs for many illnesses including ovarian and breast cancer, Juvenile Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and Sickle Cell Anemia..."
Senator Thompson's position was very quickly attacked with seemingly angry inquisitions of "Where can Americans get these treatments?" As an example, on November 26, 2007, Steven Edwards of Wired Science had this to say:
‚“We at Wired Science think that people suffering from these 73 conditions would love to know where they can receive these cord blood and adult stem-cell treatments. So to Thompson, we issue a challenge: Provide a list of locations where Americans can receive these treatments. If you cannot, your pants are most definitely on fire.‚
I want to thank Steven Edwards of Wired Science for asking one of the most relevant questions of the 21st century! Indeed, it is a terribly important question and one that should concern us all. This is a question that should be asked at every deli counter, around every water cooler, on street corners and during the commercials of Heroes, House, American Idol and Grey's Anatomy. This is a question that people should be shouting from the rooftops of our office buildings, bouncing off the hallway walls of our schools and sharing over the dinner table in our homes.
‚“WHERE CAN AMERICANS GET THESE TREATMENTS!?‚
Where indeed? As I hope Mr. Edwards must be implying, it is tantamount to criminal that the United States does not already have ASC centers available for the treatment of its people. It is unjust and detrimental to the American people that there is not one ASC center in the USA. I'm NOT talking about embryonic stem cell treatment where the moral and ethical implications will take years to unravel and the scientific problems may take decades to solve. I'm talking about ASC treatment where all that is needed is a simple blood or bone marrow donation from the patient. There SHOULD be adult stem cell treatment centers in the US. In fact, there should be ASC treatment centers in every major city in America. There should be an ASC center within one hundred miles of every chronically ill American and we as Americans should have adult stem cell treatment centers on Main Streets, Oak Streets and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevards!
We should be able to wake up; grab our Frappuccino from ‚“Starbucks‚ or ‚“Dunkins‚ and then a quick shot of adult stem cells at the ‚“StemCellMart‚ before heading off to work. Unfortunately, this is not the case. ASC treatments for over two dozen "incurable" diseases are currently available all over the world, on five continents; many in countries that the average American would consider third world, but here in the United States and Canada where we have some of the greatest brain trusts, hospitals, medical schools and facilities there is NOT ONE ASC TREATMENT CENTER.
Does your father, your priest, your uncle, your mother, your sister or your child have Congestive Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy, Angina, Diabetes-2, or Peripheral Arterial Disease (which usually ends in amputation)? Sorry, but we can't treat them here. But don't worry though, hop onto your wheelchair, grab your oxygen tank, hire a full time nurse for three to four weeks and head for Asia, or Costa Rica, or South America, or to several destinations in Europe.
Does your loved one have Congestive Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy or Angina? Well, we can't treat them with ASC here in America but no problem, Thailand has been treating hundreds of such no-option patients since 2005 with 75% success (vs. 0%-5% using ‚“standard‚ American cardiology). Do they have Emphysema? Argentina is now treating patients there. If they have Multiple Sclerosis, go to Switzerland where the University of Basel has been using ASC for a decade. Germany is a fun place to visit and they lead the world in number of ASC treatments for heart disease, while India has so many clinics and hospitals treating so many diseases with adult stem cells that it is hard to even keep up with them.
China's major neurological hospitals are so far ahead of the world in adult stem cell treatment of neurological diseases that America, mired in useless debates about embryonics, will never catch up. China is currently treating ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease), Parkinson's (attention Mr. Fox!), traumatic brain injury, Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis (attention candidate Edwards), and, hold your breath, AUTISM. These five diseases comprise about half of the neurological diseases that they are now treating while Americans continue to suffer and die, devoid of any hope. The treatments are not easy and ten shots over five years may be necessary at the current early levels of the science---imagine: ten trips from Paducah to Beijing--- but what is the alternative for these people? There are none in America while the country continuous the insane bickering over something that won't possibly be able to help until after they suffer needlessly for years and die.
I would like to point out that embryonic research is not only permitted in Asia, it is actually the beneficiary of massive government support since 2001. For six years some of the greatest scientists in Asia have researched without restrictions and with full financial and government support. Even some of America's (and Europe's) own scientists, frustrated with the stem cell straight jacket employed on research in the western world, have gone to Asia to research embryonic stem cell therapy and to pursue what they hope will be the miracle cure of tomorrow.
For six years, with a huge brain trust consisting of both eastern and western scientific researchers, with no restrictions on areas of research and with the financial backing of governments, these brilliant men and women have labored to find successful ESC treatments for human beings. For six years they have tried to discover the first successful embryonic stem cell treatment, knowing full well that there was limited to no market for it in the United States due to presumed moral and ethical restrictions. For six years they have watched as one by one, ASC treatments were researched, tested, implemented and found effective. For six years their ASC colleagues were lauded with praise over their accomplishments in treatments of human disease in countries other than America, while they received none. And after six years of unrestricted research they have not found one successful embryonic stem cell treatment, NOT ONE.
I beseech you to help restore our rights to healthy living and freedom of choice. I ask you to assist the American people in getting ASC treatment centers built and in operation. I beg you to spread the word about the successes and the benefits of adult stem cell treatments. In doing so, we can reverse the illogical and unfruitful research, funding and focus on ESC treatment and switch it to its rightful place: on that of adult stem cell research and treatments.
We live in a great time of innovation and discovery and huge reversals of previously held conceptions of ourselves and the world around us. Today we know that the brain can regenerate neurons and cells, which spells great potential for the future of brain disease therapies. Today we've sequenced the human genome down to only 20-25,000 genes, a much more manageable number than previously believed. Finally, and possibly most importantly, today we know that adult stem cells are successfully treating diseases all over the world which were just a short time ago considered ‚“incurable‚.
Unfortunately, our plight as humans is that the more we extend our lives the more diseases we ultimately encounter. So be it. But isn't it obvious that ASC are the keystone for the cure or even the cure itself for a huge number of significant diseases? At the very least, one must admit that the mammoth potential in ASC is undeniable and the staggering positive results outside of the USA serves to substantiate that potential fully and unequivocally. ESC, on the other hand, have unfortunately not yet shown a single breakthrough. Not a single therapy dared to be even tested on humans. And it's not for lack of trying.
Let us shift the focus, readjust the attitude, and direct the funding and the research finally towards where they belong. ASC research has already been proven as THE ultimate weapon against the diseases of our time. ASC treatments have already done so and been proven extremely effective in many countries throughout the world. Let's embrace this monumental discovery of seemingly unlimited potential. Let's accept and allow the magic of ASC to become a force in our arsenal to combat the debilitating illnesses that are weakening our country from the inside out. Let's recognize and encourage ASC treatments as the rightful science and the harbinger of the cures of tomorrow in the United States. Every moment America wastes on the never-to-be-needed science fiction of embryonics, people are unnecessarily dying.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter and I await your written response.
Don Margolis
Founder S.A.I.L., NOW!