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Curious ---Is the NYT for or against stem cell implants research?? Guys. Don't give up! We are all learning for this. Look out the window. The world is still there. I bet when Carbidopa -levodopa was being developed and tested there were unusual results. Thank God they didn't give up. sincerely, nancy Murray Charters wrote: > > Thursday, March 8, 2001 > Parkinson's study using fetal cell implants has disastrous results > >From News Services > A carefully controlled 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 percent of patients, the cells apparently grew too well, > churning out so much of a chemical that controls movement that the patients > writhed uncontrollably. > > The researchers say there is no way to remove or deactivate the transplanted > cells. > > The results, reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine, are a > severe blow to what had been considered a highly promising avenue of research > for treating Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological ailments. > The study indicates that the simple solution of injecting fetal cells into a > patient's brain may not be enough to treat complex diseases involving nerve > cells and connections that are poorly understood. > > The findings also may fuel the debate over whether it is appropriate to use > tissue from aborted fetuses to treat diseases. Despite their disappointment, some > researchers said they hoped that the results would not halt fetal cell research. > The research has been controversial because the fetal cells were obtained from > abortion clinics. > > Parkinson's disease occurs when cells of the substantia nigra in the base of the > brain die, for unknown reasons. The hope was that fetal substantia nigra cells > might take over for them. But, the study showed that in older patients, the > operation had no benefit and that in some younger patients, the transplants > brought on nightmarish side effects. > > Dr. Paul Greene, a neurologist at Columbia University's College of Physicians > and Surgeons and a researcher in the study, described the uncontrollable > movements. "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. > > 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." > > Dr. Gerald Fischbach -- who was director of the National Institute of > Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which sponsored the study, and is now dean > of the faculty of medicine at Columbia University's College of Physicians and > Surgeons -- said that while the operation had been promoted by some > neurosurgeons as miraculous, this was the first time it was rigorously evaluated, > using sham surgery as a comparison. > > In the study, researchers, led by Dr. Curt Freed of the University of Colorado > Health Sciences Center in Denver and Dr. Stanley Fahn of Columbia University's > College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, recruited 40 patients, aged 34 > to 75, who had had Parkinson's disease for an average of 14 years. The patients > were randomly assigned to have fetal substantia nigra cells implanted in their > brains or to have sham surgery, for comparison. > > The uncontrollable movements first emerged a year after the implant, showing > up in five of the 10 patients younger than 60 who had at first appeared to benefit > from fetal cell surgery -- three who had the operation in the initial phase of the > study and two who requested it a year later, when they learned that they had > originally had a sham surgery. > > http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=83725529 > > ********