Families take their kids to China for Stem-Cell Treatments

by Suranee | June 1, 2009 at 10:11 pm

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Two families, the Klomps and Jennifer Schmidt are taking their children who have cerebral palsy all the way to China for an experimental stem-cell treatment in the hope their children will be cured.

FRESNO, Calif. | Driven mostly by hope, two California families are planning to travel more than 6,000 miles to China for an experimental stem-cell treatment for their children.

Aleesha and Michael Klomp of Hanford, Calif., say they don't need guarantees - they're willing to take a chance so their son Gryphon Klomp, 2, might walk and grasp a spoon some day soon.

Fresno mother Jennifer Schmidt has the same faith about the benefits of umbilical-cord stem-cell therapy for 2-year-old daughter Brooke Schmidt-Jordan.

Both toddlers have cerebral palsy. Their families' situation highlights the real-world effects of the prolonged national debate over stem-cell research.

The treatments the two children, Gryphon and Brooke will receive are not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers in the United States caution people not to get their hopes up since the effectiveness of stem-cell treatments from cord blood for cerebral palsy has yet to be proven.

The treatments Gryphon and Brooke will receive are not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. While research may be promising, the effectiveness of stem-cell treatments from cord blood for cerebral palsy has yet to be proven, say researchers in the United States. They caution people not to get their hopes up.

One Chinese company, Beike Biotech not only offers injections of cord blood stem cells to patients but has already transplanted stem cells into more than 5,000 patients.

But Chinese company Beike Biotech has leap-frogged the validation procedures required for western medicine and is offering injections of cord blood stem cells to patients, including Irish children, who have conditions affecting the brain and nervous system.

They have already transplanted stem cells into more than 5,000 patients with conditions such as ataxia, autism, motor neuron disease, brain trauma, cerebral palsy, optic nerve problems and spinal cord injury.

But scientists worry that desperate families are taking risks and spending vast sums on treatments that are years, possibly decades, away from being successfully developed.

Dr Stephen Minger, a stem cell expert at King’s College London said "If these were reputable cell therapies, why do you have to go to the Dominican Republic, why do you have to go to Russia, why do you have to go to China Why can’t you have those therapies in the UK."

Its effectiveness is questioned by mainstream scientists, who worry that desperate families are taking risks and spending vast sums on treatments that are years, possibly decades, away from being successfully developed.

"If these were reputable cell therapies, why do you have to go to the Dominican Republic, why do you have to go to Russia, why do you have to go to China Why can’t you have those therapies in the UK" said Dr Stephen Minger, a stem cell expert at King’s College London.