In Russian clinics, stem cells therapy is the rage
MOSCOW: While scientists worldwide are only studying stem cells, dozens of Russian clinics and beauty salons claim they are already using both adult and embryonic stem cells to treat everything from wrinkles to Parkinson's disease to impotence.
Scientists warn that while stem cells are still being researched in laboratories, treatment by clinics claiming to use stem cells may cost patients their health and fortunes. Moreover, they say, even though it's illegal, enforcement is lax and no one knows if the injections patients are getting contain stem cells.
When Svetlana Galiyeva found a clinic offering to treat her multiple sclerosis with embryonic stem cells, she grabbed the opportunity. Twenty-thousand dollars later she is still in a wheelchair and desperate. And there is no proof her injections had anything to do with stem cells.
Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body — immature cells that can grow into bone, muscle and other tissues. They are plentiful in the embryo and fetus and are believed to be more versatile than stem cells from adult bone marrow and fat. But embryonic stem cells are controversial because they involve destruction of human embryos.
In leading clinics around the world, most stem cell research is limited to the lab dish and animals. But in Russia, it's a different story.
Galiyeva, a 40-year-old gynecologist in the Ural Mountains city of Perm, developed multiple sclerosis nine years ago. She gradually lost control over her muscles and was enduring nearly constant muscle spasms.
"I understood what was awaiting me. It was either death or...," Galiyeva said by telephone from Perm. Driven to despair, Galiyeva traveled to a Moscow clinic for a series of injections that her doctors said were embryonic stem cells, costing her about $20,000 — a huge sum in a country where the average monthly salary is about 300.
Initially, her body nearly rejected the treatment with a 104 degree fever. Her limbs then regained some sensation, but that didn't last. "Continuing that treatment was useless," she said.
Things didn't end there. She says her condition has improved after a new series of injections, said to contain adult stem cells, at Beauty Plaza, a private clinic in Moscow that advertises stem cell treatment. She still cannot walk, but can stand unaided for brief periods, she said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of patients are rushing to Russian clinics and beauty salons that claim to offer embryonic stem cell therapy for a range of diseases as well as cosmetic therapy.
Roman Knyazev's "Cellulite,' a clinic in Moscow, advertises injections of stem cells from aborted fetuses into thighs, buttocks and stomach to help women get rid of cellulite and look younger
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