Diabetes, Parkinson's cure, autoimmune diseases, epilepsy and even varicose veins, is promised by therapeutic options that claim to use stem cells.
However, any treatment of this type - with the exception of bone marrow transplant(IVIC).
The stem cells have the task of repairing the tissues or replacing the cells that are routinely lost by aging or injury.Cell therapy accepted by the Venezuelan regulatory framework allows the use of cells from bone marrow and umbilical cord, which are capable of generating blood cells.
Although this legislation is two years old, it is still common to find offers to return health thanks to alleged therapeutic options with stem cells.
"All these treatments are false. To develop them, it is necessaryhealth
Applying this type of therapies without complying with the procedures indicated in addition to a scam A risk to the patient, as they can trigger side effects."The stem cells can end up colonizing other tissues and cause cellular alterations and tumors, especially when they are not located in the areas where they originate," said Hernández.
So far, bone treatment, cornea and skin with stem cells is in approval.With the authorization of the respective Bioethics Committees, the IVIC Cell Therapy Unit executes a research protocol which is being applied in patients from the Caracas University Hospital.Only when the procedures meet all the required experimentation phases, they can be offered safely.
The institute indicates that one of the strategies managed by storage centers of stem cellsame and guarantee its utility later.
"The quality criteria for storing blood are so high that it is usually discardCaracas.To comply with the norms and permanent controls that are required, a large investment of economic resources is essential.
Therefore, it is unlikely that cord blood cells stored in private banks in Venezuela are trained to function when required.Statistics further limits the use of these cells, since the chances of a patient can use their own cells is 1 to 200,000 stored cords.
"The use of stem cells is difficult to understand, not only for the pregnant woman who wants the best for her child but also for the medical community, because it is a very specialized topic that lends itself to the inappropriate management of information and confusionof the population, "said Saltiel.