The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has announced it
will reassess the risks and benefits of Prempro, a hormone replacement therapy drug.
Stem Cell Research
There has been a great move in recent years to study Stem Cells. Before making a
determination as to the KemeticDietview on this, we should first understand what
Stem Cells are and why the scientific community is interested in them. The follow-
ing update is representative of the two main groups involved in the Stem Research
debate.
Overview:
Astemcellisaprimitivetypeofcellthatcanbecoaxedtodevel-
opintomostofthe 220 typesofcellsfoundinthehumanbody
(e.g.bloodcells,heartcells,braincells,etc).Someresearchersre-
gardthemasofferingthegreatestpotentialforthealleviationof
humansufferingsincethedevelopmentofantibiotics.Over 100
millionAmericanssufferfromdiseasesthatmayeventuallybe
treatedmoreeffectivelywithstemcellsorevencured.Thesein-
clude heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
Stemcellscanbeextractedfromveryyounghumanembryos--
typicallyfromsurplusfrozenembryosleftoverfromin-vitrofer-
tilizationproceduresatfertilityclinics.Therearecurrentlyabout
100,000suchembryos.However,aminorityofpro-lifersobjectto
theuseofembryos.Theyfeelthatafew-days-oldembryoisahu-
manperson.Extractingitsstemcellskillstheembryo--anactthat
theyconsidermurder.Stemcellscannowbegrowninthelaborat-
ory,so(inapinch)muchfurtherresearchcanbedoneusingexist-
ingstemcells;nofurtherharvestingneedstobemadefrom
embryos.
Stem cells can also be extracted from adult tissue, without harm to
the subject. Unfortunately, they are difficult to remove, are
severely limited in quantity, and appear to be limited in
usefulness.
