A solid new, blinded placebo-controlled Phase II study from the Duke Autism Center clearly shows no benefit of cord blood for autism. Surprisingly, the team has said they are encouraged by the results. As a result, they apparently will continue this kind of work anyway despite their data. In contrast, I see the data as a …
Duke Autism Center trial: no benefit of cord blood for autism Read More »
Amongst all that is bouncing around within the stem cell clinic maelstrom out there, one thing stands out for me as the most troubling. I’m talking about for-profit experimentation on children, such as injection of kids with unproven stem cells for autism or cerebral palsy by unproven clinics. In my opinion it’s almost always going …
Journal erred on Panama clinic stem cell for autism paper Read More »
Stem cells for autism? After watching this area for many years, I’m not sure there’s any “there there”. There are logical reasons to think that certain stem cells might help many specific diseases, but in my view autism isn’t likely to be one of them. I hope I’m wrong, but today at least in 2018, …
Stem cells for autism: time to hit pause in 2018? Read More »
What do you get when celebrity podcaster Joe Rogan talks about stem cells? There can be big impact one way or another. I don’t believe his shows on stem cells have helped provide solid info. What do I mean? Patients can be strongly influenced by what they see on social media and YouTube videos pack …
Deconstructing Joe Rogan promotional stem cell video with Mel Gibson Read More »
Some notable newly published Phase II data from the Duke cord blood for cerebral palsy trial unfortunately doesn’t give much reason for optimism that this approach is going to have a substantial positive effect for these kids. The double-blinded, placebo-controlled study did not find a meaningful benefit overall from infusions of autologous cord blood (ACB) for …
Cord blood for cerebral palsy: mostly discouraging new trial data Read More »
When patient families reach out to me, one of the most common questions is whether stem cells for autism offer real hope. The short answer at this time remains “no”. Of course, it’s not as simple as just “no” because there isn’t enough data to be sure, but there is reason for major skepticism about …
Why I am still very skeptical about stem cells for autism Read More »
In 2014, I reported on a groundbreaking, but debated Duke stem cell-based clinical trial being launched for autism. Where does that trial stand today? (note that as of 2018-2020 I am very skeptical about stem cells for autism) The cord blood trial has continued. It is led by Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, whom I interviewed about cord blood stem …
Upbeat Update from Duke on Stem Cell Autism Trial, but Questions Remain Read More »
Is there real promise of stem cells for autism? At this point the jury remains out on that question, but a growing number of kids are nonetheless getting such “treatments” at for-profit dubious clinics. Academic clinical researchers are interested in this area as well. Still, the potential use of stem cells to treat autism is …
Duke Launches Large, Debated Stem Cells for Autism Trial Read More »
There is a critical need for treatments for children with autism. 2020 update: see this more recent post on my thinking on stem cells for autism. About a year ago I wrote about a clinical trial at Sutter Health in Sacramento that was approved by the FDA for stem cells for autism. At that time …
Why I do not believe in stem cells for autism today Read More »
Autism affects millions of children in the U.S. alone; could stem cells for autism help? It is a perplexing spectrum of disorders with “autism” being an umbrella term for a host of related neurological illnesses. The negative impact of autism on our society transcends economics, but has been estimated at 10s of billions of dollars. …