Stem cells with a placebo for people with osteoarthritis. Having to play defense,” says Shane Shapiro of the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville inįlorida, who has conducted one of the very few published trials that compared Marketplace, which conflates hype with reality, might ultimately damage The stem cell industry grows rapidly, many researchers who are studying stemĬells for their potential to regenerate tissues worry that the booming Stem cells or whether the contents should be defined as stem cells at all. Not even clear whether treatments being touted as “stem cells” contain viable (The only approved stem cell treatments are for certainĬancers and blood disorders.) Very few of the orthopedic studies in humans haveīeen scientifically rigorous, and none have shown stem cells regrowing None of the treatments advertised have been approved by the U.S. Justify using stem cells for any of the advertised conditions, including joint Important point gets left out of the cheery ads: There’s not enough science to
Most commonly, the ads focus on orthopedic issues, especially aching knees.Įstimated number of U.S. Local newspapers are wrapped in ads vowing “relief without surgery.” Stem cells are billed as treatments for everything from autism to multiple sclerosis to baldness. Stem cells sold at clinics are driving what’s thought to be a $2 billion global industry. Started falling out, and she descended into a deep depression. Places that had never hurt before, like the joints of her fingers. She knew she was taking a risk, but she felt hopeful.ĭays later, her face began to burn and itch. The cost was $30,000, siphoned from her husband’s Shoulder of stem cells from donated umbilical cord blood followed by an IV of She received injections into her back, neck and The idea that the treatment wasn’t a drug Patients had benefited from stem cell injections. SheĪttended one at a local hotel, and the presenter announced that thousands of Started seeing full-page ads for stem cell seminars in the newspaper. “I started watching it and then I just turned it off for a while because I thought, ‘I’m afraid I’m going to get my hopes up too high,’” says Joanna, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her medical privacy. Then she got an e-mail with a link to a video about stem cells and the conditions they could cure, including arthritis. “ ‘You’re getting older,’ ” she remembers them telling her.
Out why,” says Joanna, who lives in a Houston suburb. “It just happened so rapidly, and I couldn’t figure When the ache moved to her wrist, she went to a doctor who said she
She thought it was from an old injury, when her dog had slammed into her When she noticed that she couldn’t stand very long before her right leg would
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