Adult Stem-Cell Success Ignored by the Media
Wayne State University School of Medicine
New treatment for spinal-cord injuries is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The mainstream news media -- which regularly tout any advance with controversial embryonic stem cells -- have been notably silent about a doctor in Portugal who used noncontroversial adult stem cells to cure people with spinal-cord injuries.
The peer-reviewed Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine published the success of a doctor in Portugal who used stem cells taken from nasal tissue.
Jean Peduzzi-Nelson, a researcher at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, co-authored the study that describes using stem cells from nerves in the uppermost part of the inside of the nose.
"These cell layers -- referred to as olfactory mucosa," she said, "are a source of adult stem cells and also a source of other cell types that are known to be important in repair of the spinal cord."
Six out of seven patients regained certain muscle functions and feeling after treatment.
"This is just really spectacular results in patients," Peduzzi-Nelson said. "Most of these patients had no hope of any other further improvement."
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said the news media are typically silent when such successes with adult stem cells come to light. She pointed to a recent media blitz concerning rats injected with embryonic cells.
"They slithered just a few inches, and they end up getting all this press and ink," she said. "So, it really shows the bias of the media."
Via CitizenLink.org.
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