Understanding the Limitations of Stem Cell Therapy

Simply knowing the fundamental limitations of stem cell therapy can help patients make the right choices.

6. There are many types of adult stem cells, and each type of adult stem cell has its own purpose

In the embryo, stem cells can become almost any kind of cell in the body. In adults, stem cells can form a limited number of different kinds of tissue. Heart stem cells become heart tissue, blood stem cells become blood, and so on.

As mentioned earlier, some common medications have the unintended side effect of changing the programming of stem cells, causing baby bone cells to become baby fat cells, for example, but it is very difficult to change the programming of stem cells intentionally. Beware any claims that just scraping the inside of your mouth or taking a blood sample will provide unlimited stem cells for repairing body tissues.

7. One kind of stem cell treatment typically treats one kind of tissue damage

It is highly unlikely that any one stem cell clinic can treat multiple health conditions. The Scandinavian stem cell researchers who transformed skin cells into insulin-producing beta cells cannot treat pulmonary fibrosis.

The back surgeon who treated Texas Governor Rick Perry does not offer stem cell treatment for heart disease. The heart repair clinic in Thailand does not treat sickle cell anemia patients, and so on. Beware of claims that a single procedure result in many different kinds of benefits in adults.

8. Very few kinds of stem cell treatments are widely accepted

Bone marrow transplants have become standard, if risky, medical care . Injuries to bones, skin, and the corneas of the eyes can be treated with certain stem cell procedures. There is not, however, wide agreement on stem cell treatment for the heart and central nervous system.

9. Just because someone says a stem cell treatment helped them does not mean it did

Many people contemplating a $50,000-per-shot treatment make rational and positive changes to lifestyle to support good health. Many people who have spent their life savings on an unproven procedure have an enormous emotional investment in its success. Just because someone tells you that a stem cell treatment was a miraculous cure does not mean their cure was miraculous. It may even be due to their own hard work.

10. Science is a long, tedious, hard process, and stem cell science will take time to work out

It takes years or decades of painstaking research to know with scientific certainty what causes an illness or how to repair an injury . It takes years of careful clinical testing to know with scientific certainty that a procedure or medication will reliably produce beneficial results with a minimum of side effects, or at least with a limited range of side effects that can be explained so patients can make informed choices for their health. A treatment that looks promising in the laboratory or with animals may not work when it is tested with people, and a treatment that is a "miracle" for some people may be a catastrophe for others.

The process of peer review and publication in medical journals is not just a method for professors of medicine to justify their tenure and salary increases. Making scientific data public for the whole world to inspect is an essential step in making sure that treatments are truly helpful. Beware any clinic that uses procedures that have been found to be harmful in peer-reviewed research, and beware any doctor who claims to be smarter than "the system".