Stem Cells for Macular Degeneration: Meticulous Science vs. Unethical Carelessness

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision loss in people over 50. Thirty percent of us will develop it by age 75-85. There is no cure. For the 10% of patients with wet AMD there are several mainstream treatments that can slow the progression of the disease, including drugs injected into the eye, photodynamic therapy, and laser surgery. For dry AMD, which affects 90% of patients, there is only one evidence-based treatment and it is based on somewhat questionable evidence: the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) found that a mixture of dietary supplements could slow the progression of moderate to severe disease, but the results may have been misreported and may actually have been negative. 

In the world of real medicine, researchers are investigating promising stem cell treatments. In the world of not-so-real medicine, enthusiastic but unsupported claims abound. I recently wrote about a claim that the Santa Fe acupuncture protocol would reverse macular degeneration in four days. The notorious Natural News website claims that saffron cures macular degeneration. I wish! Bogus stem cell clinics in foreign countries encourage stem cell tourism and hundreds of clinics in the US offer their own untested versions of stem cell treatments. I recently wrote about a Pain Relief Center that offers stem cell treatments that may not even contain stem cells.

A recent issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) contained five articles about stem cells: two Brief Reports, the first about a successful intervention, the other about interventions that left three women blind, an editorial about those two Brief Reports that called them “Polar Extremes,” an article in a series on Clinical Implications of Basic Research about reprogramming stem cells in vivo, and a Perspectives article from the FDA about “Clarifying Stem-Cell Therapy’s Benefits and Risks” that addresses regulatory issues…….

Read more: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/stem-cells-for-macular-degeneration-meticulous-science-vs-unethical-carelessness/?fbclid=IwAR0yrWp0sS5x_Mumv3bg5tZ6PmPP4jtDPbNonygUNsQEf3dJ4GHWCNTpFT8

Source: Science-Based Medicine- Article belongs to them