The Stem Cell Debate: Setting the Record Straight

Stem cell research is one of the most compelling and far-reaching debates of our time. Yet, you, as well as most of the general public are probably confused about this important issue.

Why? Because most of the news media, scientists and elected officials simply don't tell you that there are three types of stem cells: adult stem cells, iPS cells and embryonic stem cells.

They routinely fail to inform you that the score is 73 to nothing. There are 73 documented diseases and conditions that have been successfully treated using adult stem cells. Here are some moving examples:

Adult Stem Cell Research Brings Results for Human Patients

• A groundbreaking paper was published in the February 16, 2009 issue of the Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal regarding a clinical trial using adult neural stem cells in a patient with Parkinson's Disease. The article states "...for the five years following the procedure the patient's motor scales improved by over 80% for at least 36 months."
  
  
• The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine published a study of seven patients with spinal cord injury demonstrating that a patient's own adult stem cells and mucous can treat paralysis. Two of the seven reported bladder sensation. One of the seven patients (who received treatment more than six years after the injury) regained bowel control and bladder sensation. Every patient improved in motor scores. "Most [of the patients] recovered sensation below the initial level injury that was repaired," the article states.
  
  
• Three-year-old Jordan Daye's blinded eye was prepared for cornea transplant by removal of adult stem cells from a wedge of skin from the surface of his healthy eye.
  
  
• A Brazilian woman suffering from a paralyzing brain hemorrhage has regained her ability to walk and talk after undergoing an adult stem cell transplant.
  
  
• Hwang-Mi-Soon, a paraplegic South Korean woman, took steps using a walker after undergoing a transplant with adult stem cells obtained from umbilical cord blood.

Real treatments for real people!

No One Has to Die to Retrieve Adult Stem Cells

No one has to die to retrieve adult stem cells which are found on virtually any part of a person's body. Umbilical cord blood, the product left after a woman gives birth and previously believed to be medical waste, is rich in adult stem cells. So is the amniotic fluid surrounding an unborn baby. No ethical problems here