X-Message-Number: 22924
From: "Basie" <>
Subject: Paralysis breakthrough
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:33:24 -0500

      Paralysis breakthrough
      24/11/2003
      Brazilian scientists claim they've restored feeling to people who have
been paralysed for at least two years, says a report in Chemistry and
Industry magazine.
      Stem cell research study
      The scientists harvested stem cells from the blood of 30 people with
spinal cord injuries. The stem cells were reintroduced to the patients'
bodies by injecting them into the artery supplying blood to the area of
spinal cord damage.

      After a few months, 12 of the patients responded to electrical
stimulation of their paralysed limbs, the report says.

      The claim has raised some eyebrows.

      Nothing like this has been done in humans before, but the worry is
that human studies have tended to be unscientific, Sam Pfaff, a professor of
molecular biology at the Salk Institute of Biological Sciences, comments in
the Chemistry and Industry report.

      Ethical issues to consider
      The Brazilian research may also pose ethical problems.

      Our concern is that stem cells have the potential to keep growing.
They may even do more harm than good, Pfaff says.

      The Brazilian research is currently being reviewed for publication in
a peer-reviewed journal. - (HealthDayNews)

      Read more

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