Well said, Frank.
Bart Conard


> [Original Message]
> From: FrankandTeri <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 5/9/2004 2:00:04 AM
> Subject: Re: any thoughts on stem cell questions?
>
> I am particularly interested in the last question number 4.  I believe you
> need to choose your battles.  We all have the same desire and that is to
> find a cure.  All to often we choose to make disagreements into political
> statements that serve some other purpose.  We lose focus.  The idea of
> teamwork, even when you disagree with your team members, is to find what
you
> can agree on and put your efforts into that.  Putting efforts into
political
> issues dilutes the limited political as well as financial capital there is
> to fight this disease.
>
> Embryonic stem cell research will remain an issue long after Bush is gone
be
> it his first or second term.  It will be here after a Democratic president
> is gone if he wins.  Using your own stem cells is another issue.  By
> launching and education campaign and working around sensitive "human
> cloning" issues this has to be the single best hope at this time.  Perhaps
> people will find a way to work together instead of viewing a disagreement
as
> a chance to "get" those we disagree with.
>
> When advocacy takes on the cloak of a political party and makes the other
> party a target it ceases to be advocacy and becomes a manipulative arm of
a
> political machine.  Advocacy must be inclusive of all, exclusive of
> political parties (either one) and focused on an achievable goal.  They
must
> avoid aligning with political parties and their penchant to use and abuse
> interest groups.
>
> Frank cg. Teri 52/47/40 15024
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "tomberdine" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 7:59 PM
> Subject: any thoughts on stem cell questions?
>
>
> > HYPERLINK
> >
>
"http://www.stemcellnetwork.ca/partners/jdrf/news/articles.php?id=27"http://
> > www.stemcellnetwork.ca/partners/jdrf/news/articles.php?id=27
> >
> >
> > With the Parkinson's community hard on the advocacy trail to allow
federal
> > money to be used for stem cell research for therapeutic cloning it
> occurred
> > to me that there are several questions that need to be asked.
> >
> > 1. With a 8 to 25 percent misdiagnosis rate of the disease, meaning that
> > between 120,000 to 375,000 of us (based on the guess of 1.5million
> diagnosed
> > in the US)currently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease do not have the
> > dopamine cell loss producing our parkinsonism symptoms, will stem cells
> that
> > can become dopamine cells help in these cases?
> >
> > 2. How expensive would stem cell therapy be and would insurance
companies
> > cover it?
> >
> > 3. If/When stem cell treatment for Parkinson's becomes available will it
> be
> > necessary to use the PET SCAN prior to treatment to ensure that the
> > parkinsonism is dopamine cell death? I ask this because Deborah Setzer
had
> > been flown to Cedars Sinai to be evaluated as a candidate in Dr
Lévesque's
> > stem cell clinical trials (using ones own stem cells to repair the
> dopamine
> > cell death). However when she got there he ordered a PET SCAN and found
> that
> > her parkinsonism was not dopamine cell death (true PD) and thus stem
cell
> > therapy would not help her.
> >
> > 4. Stem Cell therapy using ones own stem cells for other ailments is
> > currently already being successfully used. Dr Levesque of Cedars Sinai
has
> > done work in this area with reported great results with a Parkinson's
> > patient (Dennis Turner). Any idea on how Mr Turner is doing since the
> > implants 2 years ago? Last report I saw was he was 80% recovered. Also
> what
> > is the status of those trials and why is more attention not placed on
this
> > process vice the controversial embryonic stem cell?
> >
> >
> > ---
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