Who decides whether a stem cell therapy is “good” or “bad”, and should that kind of a judgment be more focused on direct patient perspectives such as their stem cell therapy reviews as consumers or based on biomedical science? Both? I’ve written before about how stem cell patients are increasingly thinking of themselves as consumers […]
Stem cell therapy reviews: knees, lung, autism, & Regenexx 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 »
What’s the scoop on stem cells for autism? Could stem cells make a real difference for autism patients and their families? CNN has a big, high-profile new article out today on the Duke stem cell trial for autism that has been ongoing for a while and I’m wondering how good a job CNN did on
On Duke stem cells for autism trial, did new CNN article hit the mark? 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 »
There has been a lot of attention about a Sutter clinical trial to use adult stem cells for the treatment of autism. I did a post on it here. After more reading, I’m scratching my head even more about the hypothesis at the heart of that trial, but I’m no autism expert. Emily Willingham, who knows
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.
Stem cells for autism: are we there yet? Read More »
The private cord blood bank industry has promised families all kinds of great things over the years. A typical ad for such cord blood banks might say, “Your child may need cord blood in the future for a cure.” The industry also often uses the analogy of frozen cord blood as an insurance policy for
I’ve been wondering how the new Google AI overviews feature on its search platform would turn out for various stem cell searches. Frankly, I had a bad feeling that Google was going to blow this. Unfortunately, it seems even worse than I anticipated. Let’s go through three examples and talk about why this is so
Google AI overviews on stem cells are a bust so far & endanger public health Read More »