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Show Sunday. July 20, 2008 DAILY Americans seeking Marie McCullough - PHILADELPHIA In February, Marcela DeVivo took her baby son to the Dominican Republic and paid $30,000 to have him injected with blood stem cells from aborted fe- tuses. Nathan, who turns 2 next month, was born with the hemispheres of his brain fused. He is physically and mentally handicapped. DeVivo is among a growing number of Americans spending up to $75,000 in the hope that clinics in developing countries have realized the dream of regenerative medicine: using stem cells to fix the so-funfixable. From Guatemala to Ukraine, dozens of stem-cel- l purveyors are selling that dream over the Internet. They say they are helping patients whom mainstream medicine cannot. And they purport to treat a stunning list of illnesses, especially incurable conditions such as Parkinson's, cerebral palsy and paralysis. Their Web sites, many loaded with patient testimonials, offer little or no scientific evidence to support their claims. While no one knows exactly how big this new form of "medical tourism" has grown, it is booming. One of the biggest stem-cefirms, Beike Biotech whose slogan promises "tomorrow's treatments today" says it has treated 3,000 Chinese and foreign patients at its 24 hospital A9 medical treatment turn to overseas clinics that say, blood or fat harbored them. But now scientists can genetically reprogram specialized cells to be as versatile as albeit only embryonic ones in the lab, with methods that would be unsafe in humans. PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER THE stem- - cell HERALD magically fix any problem in every organ system, experts say, but that's what stem-cetourists are led to believe. professor George Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston. "It is fertile ground for exploitation." Most stenvceU purveyors claim to use blood stem cells. These cells readily extracted Scientific advances, media from circulating blood, bone hype and public confusion have marrow, fetuses or umbilical fueled stem-cel- l have been used since cords tourism, critics say. the 1960s to treat "There is a risk that patients diseases such as leukemia and who are desperate will misunlymphoma. derstand the amount of progThere is no evidence that a shot of blood stem cells can ress," said Harvard University report neurological changes within 48 hours of receiving stem cells. Even stem-cel- l purveyors acknowledge that nerves cannot grow much less regrow ll William Rader, a psy- chiatrist in Malibu, Calif., who owns the Dominican Repubthat fast. lic clinic where Nathan was "We believe these immediate results occur from the neural treated, says on his Web site that the fetal blood stem cell growth factors used during "searches out, detects and then the transplant process," says attempts to repair any damage Beike's literature, suggesting blood-syste- or deficiency discovered." Rader did not respond to quests for an interview. Many patients or families re- growth chemicals revive exist- ing nerves. Critics cite other factors: Care that includes surgically opening an injured spinal cord may free compressed nerves. Believing is seeing, also known as the placebo effect. No one wants to feel bilked, especially after fundraisers and loans. "The problem with folks who say, 'Things are a little better' is that they've just spent a lot of time and money," said Bruce Dobkin, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "And they think, 'Maybe I'll continue to get better.' " ll clinics in China. Mainstream researchers condemn stem-cel- l tourism as unethical and dangerous, if not fraudulent. They urge patients to wait for rigorous studies. Wise Young, an internationally known researcher at Rutgers University, declared: "Let's say these guys are making $20,000 per patient. They're making hundreds of millions of dollars. They can't take time to document it and publish it? This is the wrong way to do it." For many patients, the proper way years of animal studies followed by arduous human testing is too slow. They hope the experimental cells hit the right targets, like magic bullets, even if humans are shooting in the dark. "I went to the Dominican Republic expecting a miracle," y f "lfllf'li. "Vv DeVivo, of Valencia, Calif., wrote on her blog, prayforna-than.or- "Will he walk out of the clinic? Maybe he will say his first full, clear word. What will it be?" A decade ago, when embryonic stem cells were first isolated, the controversial cells were thought to be the only ones that could give rise to all tissues in the body. "Adult" stem cells, in con- I If- - 411 MMNMENU v t . ' trast, were presumed to resup-pl- y only the specialized tissue W V - I".- MAYTAG " store. rtt v IV- - " Vi. New In I I VERIZON AMERICAN Store Hours at select stores and malls may hours: 6328 S. State New' 985 W. Riverdale Rd. In front of Home Depot St. (801) OGDEN Layton Hills Mall (801) SAIT 1082 E. Fort Union Blvd. University NpW! 250 BUSINESS CUSTOMERS, please call 1.800 FarnttyOwnea operated IN COLLABORATION ncn-117- 0 n r. t ideCa'iinqPbn. Visit a local store WEST VZW 4BIZ 7203 HTY Mall E. I0P0AN Plaza Center S. 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