stem cell research's first success

[bishop]

article

A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago. Last week her eyes glistened with tears as she walked again with the help of a walking frame at a press conference where South Korea researchers went public for the first time with the results of their stem-cell therapy. They said it was the world's first published case in which a patient with spinal cord injuries had been successfully treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

[Scribbler1]

And not from embryonic stem cells either. I wonder how this will affect how the feds view the research. There are a LOT more afflicted people where Christopher Reeve came from and although there aren't a lot of celebrities in that group (besides M.J. Fox) I think research should go full blast from here on in.

[bishop]

i definitely hope they keep building upon this one.. this story was some damn good news though.

the cynnic in me can feel the opponents to stem cell research going out and shopping for their own scientists.. kinda like how they find scientists to say that smoking tobacco isn't bad for you or how global warming is a farce.

[Scribbler1]

I can't see what case can be made against it now. Their only gripe about it was the embryo part and this was ordinarily discarded umbilical cord cells. It would be like saying aspirin isn't good for headaches.

[bullshitdetector]

All I know is that those who suffer and are dying have a better understanding of the importance of a cure. I once had a guy tell me that all this medical advancement and treatments for cancer and such should just be eliminated and let those who are biologically inferior die off and let the species flourish by procreating with only the purest and strongest, otherwise allowing those who should die, live, and let them procreate will make the human race weak and eventually kill us off. I thought that was the more barbaric inconsiderate moronic thing I have ever heard...again, I considered the source.

[Pooeypants]

Irony being that he probably has a fair chance of getting cancer if he lives in the US, but luckily they have the most advanced medical services around, if you can afford it that is.
I think when considering these matters, we should look from those who are suffering due to these afflictions, if I was paralysed in an accident that was due to no fault of my own, obviously I'd want to have a chance to walk again.

[bullshitdetector]

Yea it is ironic because this guy thinks only the weak can get cancer, which is laughable. It is a crap shoot considering everyone carries the cells from birth. All cancer needs is a off chance of something to trigger it and it's like a horse shot out from the gate. And you're right, everyone want's to live, nobody wants to suffer. I am a believer that there is a cure or vaccine for many diseases that are just never going to be brought to the table because of the sucess in finding the cure, it produces big dollars...there is big money in diseases and the never ending quest for a 'cure'.

[Scribbler1]

BSD,
That guy's first name wouldn't be Adolph by any chance, would it?
(actually, that was supposed to be a joke but on review that guy's mindset is anything but funny)

Pooey,
Yes, we DO have the most advanced medical science but it seems to always be playing catch up to the dangerous changes we ourselves cause in the environment. While we DO live longer than we used to, I wonder if we are just chasing our own tails when it comes to protecting our health from our own activities.

[bullshitdetector]

That is what I thought too, I just couldn't believe this guy, simply amazing!

BTW, the story behind the original post in this thread about the woman who is able to walk again because of this treatment is awesome. It really defies words to explain how awesome it is....

[Suburbanite]

Quote by: bullshitdetector Yea it is ironic because this guy thinks only the weak can get cancer, which is laughable. It is a crap shoot considering everyone carries the cells from birth. All cancer needs is a off chance of something to trigger it and it's like a horse shot out from the gate. And you're right, everyone want's to live, nobody wants to suffer. I am a believer that there is a cure or vaccine for many diseases that are just never going to be brought to the table because of the sucess in finding the cure, it produces big dollars...there is big money in diseases and the never ending quest for a 'cure'.

From what I know cancer isn't in you from birth at all. I think it is just that any type of living cell can get cancer...

[Scribbler1]

Cancer is essentially a mutation. It's just a regular cell that divides too much which is why Cancer can hit just about any organ or part of the body. A few cells go nuts, usually with some kind of chemical trigger like pollution and they starve out the healthy cells and that's pretty much all she wrote.

[bishop]

http://www.texaschildrenshospital.or.../research.aspx

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2][/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]The cancer genetics program translates research into useful information for families and their physicians.[/size][/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2] Studies suggest that approximately 10 percent of patients with cancer have a genetic predisposition to the disease.[/size][/font][size=2][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font][/size]

[Scribbler1]

I didn't know the percentage but I agree. It's as if 2 similar people in every way both lived in a high cancer rate area and only one gets cancer.

[Suburbanite]

Well certainly there is genetic weakness in cells that is inheritable, but cancer isn't something that remainsdormant nor is it always a for-sure thing. Example being that many people can be genetically predisposed to lung cancer if they smoke, but if they don't smoke it won't really be an issue. That is all I meant.

[Scribbler1]

I may have misunderstood, as I am by no means a cancer expert. My point was that cancer is not so much a disease caused by a specific thing, like a virus, but a condition in which a number of triggers cause the cells themselves to become the disease. My feeling about predisposition is not that anything is lying dormant or inactive but that whatever keeps the triggers OUT is weakened by this genetic predisposition.
But I could be wrong.

Old Doc Scribbler

[Rohien]

That is wonderful news that this woman can once again walk, in regards to the comment about the weaker people dying off... while that is certainly the most pragmatic way of looking at the situation, it's definitely not the humane way of looking at it. And humanity is what makes us human- is it not? Anyway, with more proof like this, hopefully people will come around to the potential that is available through stem-cell research (fingers crossed for that one).

[Catch 22]

Cancer’s mainly a byproduct of environmental factors such as the big mercury-belching smokestack down the road. There is some genetic predisposition but as long as you avoid the majority of triggers (which seems to get harder and harder every year), you’ll be fine. However I don’t really understand how getting cancer makes you “weaker” and less useful to society. It’s not like people who don’t get cancer are any more intelligent than those who do.

[legallyblonde16]

ok correct me if I am wrong but since it was just the umbilical cord wouldn't the baby have lived?

[Starboy]

Quote by: Scribbler1 I may have misunderstood, as I am by no means a cancer expert. My point was that cancer is not so much a disease caused by a specific thing, like a virus, but a condition in which a number of triggers cause the cells themselves to become the disease. My feeling about predisposition is not that anything is lying dormant or inactive but that whatever keeps the triggers OUT is weakened by this genetic predisposition. But I could be wrong. Old Doc Scribbler

Yes, that is my understanding as well. The causes could be viral, genetic, environmental, persistent disease or damaging exposure such as ionizing radiation or constant physical damage to the same group of cells. There appears to be more than one mechanism that can cause a cell to become cancerous.

Starboy

[Catch 22]

In all truth everything has the potential to be a carcinogen, because too much of anything delivered in a certain way will kill cells fast enough for them to mutate or scramble the dna enough to produce mutations.