Stem-cell therapy 'can be lethal'

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Stem-cell therapy 'can be lethal'
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation

Treatment cannot stop ageing process or cure illnesses, experts warn

BANGKOK: -- People considering stem-cell treatment have been advised to think again, with six groups of medical specialists issuing a strong warning yesterday that unlicensed stem-cell treatments on offer could kill a patient.

The medical societies that issued the statement include the Royal College of Physicians, the Dermatological Society, Heart Association of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King, the Thai Society of Haematology, the Nephrology Society and the Neurology Society.

The statement said the Medical Council of Thailand had only approved the use of stem-cell treatment on blood diseases - namely leukaemia, malignant lymphoma, aplastic anaemia, multiple myeloma and thalassemia.

Clinical research on the use of stem-cell treatment is ongoing, but there is no scientific evidence that stem-cell therapy can effectively increasing a person's longevity, or delay organ degeneration or improve a patient's quality of life, Prof Kriang Tungsanga, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said.

The move by the medical societies was prompted by widespread ads about stem-cell-based "miracle pills" that claim to ease the symptoms of chronic symptoms such as diabetes and heart disease.

The unlicensed use of stem-cell therapy to treat heart disease, diabetes or for aesthetic purposes has become popular among celebrities and rich people who can afford the treatment, which can cost anything from Bt100,000 to Bt1 million.

Some patients even fly to private clinics in Germany to receive stem-cell injections extracted from unborn sheep that they believe will improve their health and make them look younger.

However, Kriang reiterated that stem-cell therapy is not recommended or included in the standard clinical practice guidelines of any disease other than some blood conditions.

Wrong usage 'can hurt'

Moreover, inappropriate use of stem-cell therapy may be harmful to patients as they could develop an allergy, clotting in blood vessels, contamination of the blood stream, foreign protein materials, chemicals microbial organisms and other non-pure types of cells and cancer transforming cells.

"Inappropriate use of stem-cell therapy in humans is rising not just in Thailand but in other countries as well.

"Perhaps this is due to the gap between patients' hope for cures and the fact that the current medical technology cannot fulfil their wishes," Kriang said, adding that the problem could also be blamed on the gap between those who don't know about medical science and those who do.


-- The Nation 2013-09-07

[tinhead]

Interestingly, no specific case of death cited. No evidence that it's lethal. They jus' sayin'...

I suggest that, for effect, they now bury their heads in the sand.

[HerbalEd]

Old dogs and new tricks, huh? Actually, every day we're seeing more and more people being cured ... or greatly improved ... by stem-cell medicine. For sure stem-cell therapy and regenerative medicine are the future of medicine, but, per usual, many doctors will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into that future.

Unfortunately the criminal medical element that preys on the desperately sick are using the guise of bogus stem-cell medicine to give false hope and to rip people off. But that doesn't mean that legitimate stem-cell medicine isn't safe and valid.

Interesting how many times this article uses the word "unlicensed." Having worked in the alternative/complimentary medicine field for the past 35 years, I have seen many "licensed" doctors and treatments harm and kill also.

[BlackJack]

legal meds and certified doctors and hospitals kill more per year than stem cell therapy

[thomash]

Yeah and what about all the prescription

drugs that end up killing people, did they

forget to mention that to??

[ableguy]

What a bunch of negative comments from all the usual experts.

[SlackJawChef]

I know a guy that had them ejected into his heart about 7 years ago .... he was in his 50's and I don't remember what was wrong with him before the injections but the doctors back in america gave him only a few months/year's to live .... he went to Bangkok every 4 or 6 months for another round and you could see him looking better for it .... he also started (probably the reason he had heart trouble to begin with ) drinking heavily .. 2 to 3 bottles of samsong a day ( big 750ml bottles and he is an ugly bad drunk.. but great guy when you catch him sober-ish in the morning ).. and he was a chain smoker 3 pack + per day ..... plus he would entertain a different young lady every night .. the strain his injured hart was under would be enormous.. but with the stem cell injections it made him younger and all his tests came back the he had the heart of a man 20 years younger ... It cost him $150,000 + for the treatments maybe more by now ... If I had the money I would start doing them now ..... after seeing what they did for him..

S.J.C

[GuestHouse]

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, the 'Bar Stool' medical profesionals have spoken.

[manarak]

So... let's see... a panel of Thai doctors warn the Thai public against flying to Germany to receive unlicensed stem cell therapy there...

That's a bit surreal.

[AleG]

Surprise surprise, quack medicine can be bad for your health.

But hey, "stem-cell" sounds trendy and lazy journalists won´t take the time to diferentiate between genuine stem-cell treatments and research and snake-oil labeled as "stem-cell" miracle cures.

[hellodolly]

Old dogs and new tricks, huh? Actually, every day we're seeing more and more people being cured ... or greatly improved ... by stem-cell medicine. For sure stem-cell therapy and regenerative medicine are the future of medicine, but, per usual, many doctors will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into that future.

Unfortunately the criminal medical element that preys on the desperately sick are using the guise of bogus stem-cell medicine to give false hope and to rip people off. But that doesn't mean that legitimate stem-cell medicine isn't safe and valid.

Interesting how many times this article uses the word "unlicensed." Having worked in the alternative/complimentary medicine field for the past 35 years, I have seen many "licensed" doctors and treatments harm and kill also.

Yes I have noticed the tendency to say unlicensed rather than unprofessional. They reason there is about 200,000 licensed Doctors making wrong diagnoses often leading to death in the States. But it is OK they were licensed.

On another note if they were really worried about what could kill people they would be warning alcohol can and does kill people.

[Whidbeyboy]

Unfortunately in the US stem cell research is the devils work and politicians chattering to the right wing Christians have kept us in the dark ages, as usual.

[lee b]

Has anyone actually died from this yet?

[Thaddeus]

I know a guy that had them ejected into his heart about 7 years ago .... he was in his 50's and I don't remember what was wrong with him before the injections but the doctors back in america gave him only a few months/year's to live .... he went to Bangkok every 4 or 6 months for another round and you could see him looking better for it .... he also started (probably the reason he had heart trouble to begin with ) drinking heavily .. 2 to 3 bottles of samsong a day ( big 750ml bottles and he is an ugly bad drunk.. but great guy when you catch him sober-ish in the morning ).. and he was a chain smoker 3 pack + per day ..... plus he would entertain a different young lady every night .. the strain his injured hart was under would be enormous.. but with the stem cell injections it made him younger and all his tests came back the he had the heart of a man 20 years younger ... It cost him $150,000 + for the treatments maybe more by now ... If I had the money I would start doing them now ..... after seeing what they did for him..

S.J.C

This post is either a great piece of satire, or something else.

(ejected, lol, in the heart, v lol)

[BigSkip]

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, the 'Bar Stool' medical profesionals have spoken.

I agree, but your only half right.......... You got the wrong kind of stool...............

[JoeThePoster]

Stem-cell therapy 'can be lethal'

Yeh, it could be a killer blow to old school medicine and doctors who spent more time on golf courses rather than upgrading their knowledge.

[FarangTalk]

So... let's see... a panel of Thai doctors warn the Thai public against flying to Germany to receive unlicensed stem cell therapy there...

That's a bit surreal.

It's a clear, unambiguous reference to something we are not allowed to discuss.

[Yme]

Quite astute comment FarangTalk.

Some people have shown remarkable recovery from this treatment