Another Example of Veterinary Stem Cell Therapies
Thanks to less regulation, veterinary medicine is years ahead of human medicine in putting stem cell therapies into practice. There's no sane reason why this should be the case; why do humans suffer needlessly when the technology works and is ready for use? From the Daily Gazette: "Charlie is one of 15 dogs that have undergone stem cell therapy [since] June, and one of 1,000 around the country since May who have been helped by the procedure. Most of the animals were suffering from hip displasia or some other kind of arthritic condition that severly limited their mobility, and in most cases, about 87 percent nationally, the dogs became rejuvenated soon after receiving their injections. ... I understand the science behind it, but it's still amazing to think that we can harvest these cells, inject them into a joint, and a couple of days later we have a dog that is running around and is pain free. It's incredible that it works, and it's incredible that it works so well. ... The general public really isn't aware yet of what's going on. They think all of this work is still in the research stage. Somedays I feel like an evangelist, and I have to continue to get out the word. There are places in the world where they're doing this on humans, not dogs. It works, and it's a dramatic new tool that we can all be pretty excited about."
Link: http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/dec/26/1226_dogs/