There is a puzzle when it comes to the controversial idea of using cord blood for autism, because two of the strongest proponents are the autism cord blood program at Duke and for-profit, unproven stem cell clinics. On first glance it seemed like this was a bit of an odd couple to me. The links between the Duke autism program and one particular Panamanian stem cell clinic called generically enough “The Stem Cell Institute” appear to go beyond just their enthusiasm about cord blood …Read More
Neil Riordan
A solid new, blinded placebo-controlled Phase II study from a Duke team 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 probable stop sign. Few have been as upbeat over the years as this Duke team about the idea of cord blood for autism spectrum disorder. I have been one …Read More
I thought I’d take a look again into the world of stem cell supplements since it’s been a few years. What I found wasn’t a pretty picture. (Note that “supplements” here refer to things people can ingest to somehow supposedly help their stem cells, not “supplements” that us scientists add to the media we use to grow stem cells.) Supplements in general For context, I’m fairly skeptical of supplements in general unless one has a documented deficiency in something like iron or maybe (maybe …Read More