The advanced online April issue of Nature Medicine contains an article that details the possibility that fetal brain stem cells may not help fight off Parkinson’s Disease but the disease may actually transfer from the host’s brain cells to the implanted brain cells. Published online: 06 April 2008; | doi:10.1038/nm1747

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nm1746.html

The article details the history of a woman who received a brain implant of fetal stem cells.  Fifteen years later her autopsy shows that the implanted fetal stem cells developed signs of Parkinson’s Disease.  However, for ten years, this lady showed improvement in her movement and symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.

Now questions are being raised about the effacy of using fetal stem cells in research for Parkinson’s Disease cures.  These brain cells were harvested from aborted fetuses and implanted in the brain of this particular lady.  This study was conducted by Dr. Thomas Freeman of the University of South Florida in a controversial trial of surgeries performed at the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.

Dr. Freeman states, “”We have learned a lot about Parkinson’s itself.  This type of trial is a road map for how to make stem cell therapies, when they become available, even better.”

So, do you believe, as a reader, that we should scrap all stem cell research?  Many of you do believe this.  But do you believe this because of definitive research, or because of emotional and religious beliefs?

Should Salk and Sabine have abandoned their research to find a polio vaccine because of the difficulty Salk encountered in developing the dead injectable vaccine?  Many people contributed to the success of this research and the development of the oral polio vaccine.  There were several false starts and discouraging results after the attenuated live vaccine was shown to be unsuccessful in the 1950s.  Sabine went on to develop the oral polio vaccine after refining the process.  Should this research have been stopped when the first live attenuated vaccine was shown to be a failure?  NO, research should not have been stopped or limited.  These scientists took their research to the next level, working tirelessly to refine and develop the vaccine that would later result in the near-eradication of the devastating disease, polio.

Should we abandon conducting research with fetal stem cells because of these discouraging results?  NO!!  Scientists like Jeffrey H Kordower, Yaping Chu, Robert A Hauser, Thomas B Freeman & C Warren Olanow should continue in their research to find a cure.  Even if their research discovers something that will help PD patients live their lives free of the need for so many drugs, it is worth every minute that they toil in their research.

I commend these scientists and doctors for continuing onward in their quest to find a cure, a prevention, or even a help in management of this disease.  There are so many of us Parkies who are anxiously awaiting the successful discoveries that will improve our lives.  The 58,000 Americans who suffered from polio in 1952 and 1953 would have gladly welcomed the vaccine that slashed the number of the infected to 5,600 in 1957.

Knowing the facts, should we scrap stem cell research?  Absolutely NOT!  I pray for the continued success of Jeffrey H Kordower, Yaping Chu, Robert A Hauser, Thomas B Freeman & C Warren Olanow.   Keep up the great work! 

 

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