The promise of treatment or cure of many chronic illnesses has led to thousands of patients worldwide travelling internationally to receive Stem Cell Treatment. This is what has come to be known as stem cell tourism.
The medical facilities offer Stem Cell Treatment to treat conditions like Spinal Cord Injury
Such clinics are mainly spread across Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Patients from the West – the United States, Western Europe and Australia – travel to these facilities to receive treatment. The main reason for this travel is that the approval of drugs in the East is faster and more accommodative than in western countries.
One of the Bloomberg Businessweek publications told the story of an American man who travelled to China to receive treatment for paralysis caused by severe Spinal Cord Injury.
Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury
24-year-old Chuck Melton suffered a head injury and a severe spinal cord injury after a diving accident. He remained paralysed from the chest down for five years with no hope for a cure in the US. He then opted to travel to China to receive Stem Cell Treatment.
He was injected with stem cells into his spine and was showing significant improvement a week later. His doctors noted that the involuntary muscle spasms in his legs had stopped. He was also able to perspire for the first time since the injury. This allowed him to spend time outdoors without endangering his life.
Five years after the treatment, he may not be able to walk but his quality of life has improved greatly. Before the procedure, Melton has told the media that he hoped to walk again but would be satisfied with any improvement in his condition.
Many conventional researchers may fault the treatment options offered by Stem Cell Treatment facilities in the East for “lack of orderly research” but for the patient whose time is limited, it is their only hope. With success stories such as Melton’s, stem cell researchers are willing and have come out to defend their work.
The researchers have unequivocally stated that conventional medicine is not the only way to treat patients. It was noted that even some crucial treatment procedures in modern medicine bypassed the customary approval route. One such procedure is heart transplantation, it was quickly co-opted by heart surgeons worldwide (before orderly research) after Dr. Christiaan Barnard’s first successful procedure.
H/T: Stem Cell Tourism
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