The FDA is set to crack down on a number of clinics across the United States that offer expensive stem cell therapies to treat various diseases, as they claim.
Diseases and conditions, which stem cell therapies are said to cure, range from erectile dysfunction to autism. However, there is no scientific proof that they actually do cure those diseases.
Over 200 stem cell clinics have appeared in the U.S. over the last few year, but they didn’t go through heavy regulations for the reason that those clinics extract from a person’s own body and nothing is really done before reinjecting the cells.
Just recently, the FDA released guidelines in which it states that the stem cells used in most clinics are drugs and that’s why approvals need to be issued before the use on patients.
There are two types of stem cells used by such clinics: derived from embryos and adult stem cells. Both of the cells are said to be capable of curing various diseases thanks to their regenerative properties. It must be noted that stem cells extracted from bone marrow have been used to treat cancer, blood and immune diseases and conditions for a long time now.
Cell Surgical Network, a forefather of dozens of stem cell clinics in the United States, claims that there are over two dozen conditions that could be treated with stem cells, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, lung disorders, congestive heart failure, Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy and a number of others.
According to clinical trial evidence, stem cells could also speed up wound healing, treat scleroderma and strengthen the heart.
However, to date there is no clinical evidence that stem cells cure serious conditions such as strokes and lung diseases, while clinics that offer expensive stem cell therapies claim that they are extracting stem cells cleanly. But there is no evidence of that as well as there is no evidence that they are extracting those cells at all.