Nightmarish effect of ESC/Fetal research on patients UPDATED

ORIGINALLY JULY 20, 2006 RECAPTURED BY WAYBACK MACHINE

Nightmarish effect of ESC/Fetal research on patients UPDATED
Filed under: Culture of Life/Death, Bush Good, Medical, America
UPDATE:::SCROLL DOWN FOR POST:::

UPDATE: Reader Brian sends a link identifying precisely what embryonic stem cells are and how they are derived which is highly informational.

In his email he related that the ESC’s are being harvested from embryos concieved in petri dishes, not the womb. To my way of thinking, it doesn’t matter whether they are concieved in a petri dish or a womb, though, an embryo is an embryo; it is human and it is life. Yes, a distinction should perhaps be made between petri-conceived embryonic stem cells and those derived from “aborted fetuses,” but recall that an embryo is not a “fetus” until the third month of gestation. Since the majority of abortions are performed between the seventh and tenth week of pregnancy, stem cells derived from what most people in both the medical profession and the press would call “aborted fetuses” would – in all likelihood – still be embryos, and so we’re still talking Embryonic stem cells, in my book.

END UPDATE

I mentioned this article in passing, yesterday, while writing about the president vetoing FEDERAL funding on EMBRYONIC stem cell research (yes, the caps are necessary, to counter the fact that the MSM keeps forgeting those words in their reporting).

I wanted to emphasize the facts as reported in this story, because I know people don’t always follow links.

Parkinson’s Stem Cell Implants Yield Nightmarish Side Effects
Gina Kolata/ NY Times

A study that attempted to treat Parkinson’s disease by implanting cells from aborted fetuses into patients’ brains not only failed to show an overall benefit but also revealed a disastrous side effect, scientists report.

In about 15% of patients, the cells apparently grew too well, churning out so much of a chemical that controls movement that the patients writhed and jerked uncontrollably. The researchers say there is no way to remove or deactivate the transplanted cells.
[…]
Some say it is time to go back to the laboratory and to animals before doing any more operations on humans. The findings also may fuel the debate over whether it is appropriate to use fetal tissue from aborted fetuses to treat diseases.

Although the paper depicts the patients with side effect in impassive clinical terms, doctors who have seen them paint a much different picture. Paul. E. Greene, a neurologist at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and a researcher in the study, said the uncontrollable movements some patients suffer are “absolutely devastating.”

“They chew constantly, their fingers go up and down, their wrists flex and distend,” he said. And the patients writhe and twist, jerk their heads, fling their arms about.”It was tragic, catastrophic,” Greene said. “It’s a real nightmare. And we can’t selectively turn it off.”

One man was so badly affected that he could no longer eat and had to use a feeding tube, Greene said. In another, the condition came and went unpredictably throughout the day, and when it occurred, the man’s speech was unintelligible.

For now, Greene said, his position is clear: “No more fetal transplants. We are absolutely and adamantly convinced that this should be considered for research only. And whether it should be research in people is an open question.”

It’s an open question for some. As I said, I think culling stem cells from embryos is like trying to use pure heroin. It’s too pure, too raw. Maybe it’s just too close to God for us to be messing with. In the meantime, I’m really glad we’re not funding this stuff via the government. Read the whole thing.

More: New England Journal of Medicine; Transplantation of Embryonic Dopamine Neurons for Severe Parkinson’s Disease
Lifesite: The Current Status of
Adult and Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Thanks to Sheridan J. for links.

Meanwhile, Sister Toljah notes Harry Reid is already fund-raising on the issue with the usual distortions and disinformation.

Related: EMBRYONIC Stem Cells, EMBRYONIC!