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Controversy obscures stem cell options Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. We have all heard a great deal about embryonic stem cell research lately. Advocates from the late Christopher Reeve to Michael J. Fox and Ron Reagan Jr. have championed its potential, and the issue garnered significant attention in the campaign for the White House. If you have been following this debate, you might think that embryonic stem cells will cure diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's in the very near future. They will not. There is no denying the potential of embryonic stem cell research. The problem, however, is that there are no current clinical applications for embryonic stem cells. To put it in simple terms: We just aren't to the point where we can save lives - and it may be another 15 or 20 years before embryonic stem cells yield any clinical benefits. Fortunately, there is another stem cell option: umbilical cord blood stem cells. Like embryonic stem cells, these are very young stem cells with great elasticity. The big differences between these two types is that 1) cord blood, or newborn, stem cells are saving thousands of lives today, and 2) They do not engender the ethical debates that ensue with embryonic stem cells. UCB stem cells are found in the umbilical cords of newborn babies. They are almost always discarded at birth as medical waste - as medical practice. In fact, of the 4 million births per year in this country, only 2 percent of newborn stem cells are saved or banked. To date, there have been 4,000 successful newborn stem cell transplants, treating such diseases as leukemia and sickle cell anemia. And using UCB stem cells is actually safer and more effective than using donated bone marrow as the source for the cells. You do not need an exact match, as you do with the bone marrow. And there is no painful retrieval process for the donor, as there is with bone marrow. In addition to bone marrow, there is still another option for obtaining stem cells - the adult bloodstream. These stem cells can be "harvested" and used to save lives today. They are currently being used to repair the damaged cardiac muscle found in patients with congestive heart failure or recent heart attacks. The problem with these stem cells, as well as with bone marrow stem cells, is that they are "old" and not as pliable as the younger stem cells found in umbilical cord blood. So why are 98 percent of all cord blood stem cells thrown away? Sadly, few people know about this powerful medical tool. The giant spotlight cast on the embryonic stem cell debate is a piece of the problem, but, more importantly, the resources required to educate the general public and conduct further research have not been made available. Education is critical. Pregnant women and their families need to be made aware of the option to save their newborn stem cells. While many doctors, such as myself, give patients information about UCB stem cells so that they can make an informed decision about whether banking or donating their newborn stem cells is the right decision for their family, it is not enough. Federal funding should be allocated for a broad public education campaign. Additionally, we need to fund umbilical cord blood stem cell research. Failing to do so would be tantamount to sacrificing lives that could be saved today with current clinical application of UCB stem cells, rather than potential lives saved in 15-plus years from the use of embryonic stem cells. Clearly, available resources for stem cell research and education are limited. While I am not suggesting that work with UCB stem cells should get all the available funds, it has to be a higher priority than it is currently. There are many exciting medical advances on the horizon, some of which carry tremendous potential for improving the long term health of the human race. We just cannot afford to get too caught up in what lies ahead at the expense of the treatments, such as the use of newborn stem cells, that can save lives today. - Special to the Press Herald -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.289 / Virus Database: 265.4.5 - Release Date: 12/3/2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn