An Autologous Stem Cell Trial in the US
After a good few years of trials in less oppressively regulated regions of the world, a small autologous stem cell therapy trial has started in the US. "For the first time in the United States, a stroke patient has been intravenously injected with his own bone marrow stem cells ... The Phase I safety trial [will] enroll nine more patients who have suffered a stroke and can be treated with the stem cell procedure within 24 to 72 hours of initial symptoms. ... Animal studies have shown that when you administer stem cells after stroke, the cells enhance the healing. We know that stem cells have some kind of guidance system and migrate to the area of injury. They're not making new brain cells but they may be enhancing the repair processes and reducing inflammatory damage ... This study is the critical first step in translating laboratory work with stem cells into benefit for patients. If effective, this treatment could be helpful to a huge segment of stroke patients to reduce their disability." Remember, if the FDA didn't exist, this type of therapy would already have been benefiting those patients who decided to take advantage of it. It is disingenuous to pretend that great and novel steps are being taken here - this work has already been proven in other parts of the world, and all that is happening now is make-work and obstruction on the part of govenment employees who care little about your health.
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/uoth-uhr041509.php