Stem-Cell Procedure Helps Girl To See

[UndertheOcean]

SYRACUSE, Mo. -- Doctors said an 8-year-old girl would never see more than light and dark, but a Missouri family said seeing is believing.

The family of Savannah Watring decided to take a chance on an experimental stem-cell procedure in China.

....

Savannah's grandmother, father and aunt took the 8-year-old for seven stem-cell infusions at a hospital in Quingdoa, China.

The result is that Savannah can see.
...

"When Savannah was facing the mirror, she said, 'Hi.' Brent looked at me, and I looked at Brent. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," Ravana Watring said.

Now, Savannah is learning shapes, numbers and letters.

"It was like, one day she was not seeing anything, and the next day she was seeing the letter E and which way the legs went," aunt Shonna Millsap said.

Savannah is still learning, and her family said the improvement is a miracle.

...
Doctors said Savannah's blindness was caused by a condition known as optic nerve hypoplasia.

Insurance wouldn't pay for the experimental treatment, but the family received more than $50,000 from fundraisers to pay for the medical bills.

....


http://www.kmbc.com/health/17558129/detail.html#-

what an amazing story , too bad the USA is not leading in stem cell research

[TheWraith]

1. This little girl and all those like her should be entitled to kick Bush right in the ass.

The fact that we're not doing this sort of thing, just because of the completely wrongheaded objections of the fundies, is sickening.

[Sadie4629]

2. Did you know--

--that this procedure involved UMBILICAL cord stem cells, not embryonic. You can (rightfully) blame Bush and the fundies for a lot of crap, but none of them are against the use of umbilical cord or adult stem cell research.

[UndertheOcean]

3. I did not know that

[TheWraith]

10. They've been trying to block adult stem cell research too.

Why? Because they're stem cells. :eyes: It's about as rational as their other stem cell opposition.

[AdHocSolver]

13. The rationale is that if you cure a disease, you can't make profit selling drugs to control it. n/t

[whistle]

4. Stem Cell research is leading to a cure from diabetes...

<snip>
April 11, 2007

Diabetics cured in stem-cell treatment advance -- David Rose
Diabetics using stem-cell therapy have been able to stop taking insulin injections for the first time, after their bodies started to produce the hormone naturally again.

In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes were given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells. The therapy could signal a revolution in the treatment of the condition, which affects more than 300,000 Britons.

People with type 1 diabetes have to give themselves regular injections to control blood-sugar levels, as their ability to create the hormone naturally is destroyed by an immune disorder.

All but two of the volunteers in the trial, details of which are published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), do not need daily insulin injections up to three years after stopping their treatment regimes.

The findings were released to reporters yesterday as the future of US stem-cell research was being debated in Washington.

Stem cells are immature, unprogrammed cells that have the ability to grow into different kinds of tissue and can be sourced from people of all ages.

Previous studies have suggested that stem-cell therapies offer huge potential to treat a variety of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease. A study by British scientists in November also reported that stem-cell injections could repair organ damage in heart attack victims.

<MORE>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1637528.ece

[FirstLight]

5. My daughter has this condition...

I belong to a couple online communities and the Magic Foundation and have done alo of research and many people debunk this. I personally think it is great, but unless the procedure was available in a european hospital or a us hospital, I wouldn't go after it.

The procedure is over $30,000 K alone, plus youhave to stay in a hotel, you have to bring food to your child, bcause the hospital doesn't feed patients. you have to take a 6 hour ride from the airport in shanhai to the place they do this...


Just too risky, though my daughter only has one eye blind... if my child was totally blind, I might be more inclined to go to extremes...

[UndertheOcean]

7. "but unless the procedure was available in a european hospital or a us hospital, I wouldn't go after

I don't understand that sentiment , seems very puzzling to me.

[FirstLight]

8. With the scary recalls , poisonings and other questionable practices in China

I will wait till this procedure is available in what I call a "cleaner" country...

If this procedure is working so dramatically, then it should only be a matter of time before it is offered somewhere better.

[TheWraith]

11. There's a difference between their mass-market crap and their high-end medicine.

They actually care about making sure the latter is safe. It deals with people who have money.

[AdHocSolver]

12. If you have that much confidence in U.S. hospitals, then you need to develop a bit more skepticism.

I don't know about Chinese hospitals or European hospitals, but I have worked in U.S. hospitals and they aren't run a whole lot better than the drug companies.

Between the hospitals, the drug companies, and the insurance companies, the outcomes in a Chinese hospital are probably no worse than in an American hospital.

For example, the iatrogenic (doctor induced) disease rate in American hospitals has been estimated as high as 25 percent. That means that one out of every four people admitted to a hospital develops a serious problem (often some kind of infection) that they didn't have before they went into the hospital.

The problem with the tainted drugs you refer to occurred because the American drug companies didn't test the materials that they imported from China for quality and safety. It was failure by the American drug companies' quality control that the problems occurred.

Caveat Emptor applies as much to hospitals as to used car dealers. Your confidence in hospitals is misplaced. A more skeptical attitude and serious questioning are needed for self-protection.

[UndertheOcean]

6. please recommend people , I think this is an important advance

blindness is devastating

[applegrove]

9. I saw that story on the T.V. and it was amazing.