Stem Cell Reality Check #1

Myth: "Embryonic stem cells are the most effective for treating disease"

Reality: Actually, they're not. Embryonic stem cells have not helped a single human patient or demonstrated any therapeutic benefit. By contrast, adult stem cells and other ethically acceptable alternatives have already helped hundreds of thousands of patients, and new clinical uses expand almost weekly. Consider:

Juvenile diabetes

Adult Pancreatic Islet Cells
15 people with serious Type I (juvenile) diabetes became "insulin free" after adult pancreatic islet cell transplants; 9 still need no insulin injections.- American Diabetes Assoc. Report, June 24, 2001

Embryonic Stem Cells
No person has benefited

Spinal cord injury

Adult Immune-System Cells
A young woman rendered paraplegic by a car accident can move her toes and legs after injection of her own immune-system cells into her severed spinal cord.- Toronto Globe and Mail, June 15, 2001

Embryonic Stem Cells
No person has benefited

Immune deficiency
Adult Immune-System Cells
2 children born without immune systems ("bubble boy" syndrome) have left their sterile environment and lead normal lives after bone marrow stem cell treatment. - Science, The Washington Post, April 28, 2000

Corneal repair

Adult Corneal Stem Cells
Several legally blind people can now see more clearly after their corneas were reconstructed with corneal stem cells. - New England Journal of Medicine, July 13, 2000

No person has benefited

Let's fund promising medical research that everybody can live with.
Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - www.usccb.org

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Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3070

July 19, 2001 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops