By Mary Bell


One can but marvel at the pace at which mankind progresses in all fields of endeavor. The field of medicine is no exception. New cures are now available for previously debilitating and deadly conditions. New drugs allow people to live more comfortable lives and people in developed countries live longer thanks to new treatment methods. Stem cell research facilities think that they are on the verge of the biggest medical breakthroughs in the history of mankind.

Patients suffering from cancers related to the blood, such as leukemia, have been given bone marrow transplants for some years, so the technique is not new. The chemo therapy that these patients receive kills all cells, mutated as well as healthy ones. Bone marrow transplants are given to encourage the growth of new blood cells to replace the ones destroyed by therapy. These transplants are still rare, however.

Bone marrow transplants are not, as some people think, a cure for cancer. It can prolong the lives of patients at best. Scientists nevertheless believe that further studies will eventually lead to a cure for many kinds of cancer. Unfortunately, this type of research is time consuming and progress is extremely slow. Bone marrow transplants as a cure for cancer are not foreseen in the immediate future.

It is not only cancer that scientists hope to cure with bone marrow transplants. Extensive studies are being conducted in the possibilities of these transplants to replace damaged brain cells. If this dream realizes, it will be possible to reverse the devastating damage caused by strokes and head injuries. Diseases such as Alzheimer and dementia will be conquered. That will indeed be a major medical breakthrough.

The use of transplants to overcome heart disease is also important to many scientists in this field. Once again, they hope that transplants will cause the growth of healthy cells in the heart to replace damaged or destroyed ones. As heart disease is still one of the major killer diseases all over the world, any breakthrough in this area will save many millions of lives. Positive results are still far in the future, unfortunately.

While researchers are confident about the many possible uses of bone marrow transplants, critics say that there is no evidence that these transplants hold any benefits. The procedure is dangerous, they say, and there is no proof that they actually make any difference at all. In addition, critics say that the harvesting of cells to be transplanted from umbilical cords of unborn babies can open a whole new can of worms.

Researchers are misleading the public, their funders and the authorities, critics also say. If there are any benefits to be had from bone marrow transplants, they are still many years in the future. Researchers are creating false expectations. Vast sums are spent on research that has not produced a single positive result. This money could have been used in other more likely fields of study.

The jury is still out on the potential of bone marrow transplants. The fact remains, however, that if the predictions and hopes of researchers in this field become fact, many millions of lives will be saved and the field of medicine will be turned on its head. Mankind will have to wait and see.




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