Beike Stem Cell in China, supposedly a leader in the young field, has done treatments for other autoimmune diseases -- SLE, MS etc. -- but nothing specifically on SS. It seems to be a one-size-fits-all AI treatment.
Obviously, desperate people do desperate things and desperate people consider desperate options -- so although the thought terrifies me, I continue to read about it.... Their Vimeo MS customer videos, 3 years after treatment, are pretty impressive.
Does anyone know of anyone that has actually done any stem cell treatment abroad?
Stem cell treatment has a significant mortality rate, and is extremely difficult and expensive. Desperate is right. And overseas clinics are often especially dangerous. Sharon
I haven't yet read anything about a higher mortality rate, but I'll keep slogging through what I can find.
Certainly, though, there's no harm in asking if anyone has heard even a rumor of it being used to treat Sjogren's. :)
I can't imagine I'm the first to wonder. Five, six weeks ago I considered myself in robust health, RA well-controlled, hadn't even had a cold in years. Now I feel awful, my chest and throat ache from coughing, I'm exhausted when I wake up, I'm half-panicked with my mini-doses of Evoxac, waiting for more side-effects, my stomach's upset, I've got new GERD....
Stem cell treatments involve killing your existing immune system, and then putting in a new one. As you can imagine, it is very expensive and risky. You might want to research it very carefully.
Sharon
Well, I am familiar with one instance of stem cell. My son's friend's brother broke his neck in a car accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. Tragic.
A few years after the incident, they took him to China for stem cell replacement. I do believe it did help him. After some time, he was able to wiggle his toes. It takes a while for it to work, so you don't know for a while if it did work.
I am not certain, but I vaguely recall my son saying that he is still improving -- slightly. I'm sure they were hoping for more -- especially considering they paid for everything out of their pockets.
It's very expensive -- and it's very much a long-shot at this stage of its development.
This is definitely one of those wait for advancement procedures.
I haven't heard of it being used for SS I must admit, this is new to me but even so I am dead against stem cell treatment on ethical grounds as well as safety grounds. I'd rather just bounce along as I am than have stem cell
In many cases, the stem cells they use are from the person. They isolate them, culture them and put them back in.
I know it is technology, but it sounds a lot like magic to me!
Sharon
I believe people are mixing apples and oranges in this thread.
There are promising treatments in development which use adult stem cells to rebuild, repair or grow tissues, organs, bones, etc.