Doctors don’t promise cure with stem cell therapy

MANILA, Philippines Amid the recent warning issued by the Department of Health (DOH) regarding stem cell therapy, doctors who are offering the treatment in the Philippines clarified that they are not promising a cure.

We are very careful about claiming cure. These days ang dami nagsasalita, nawala ang sakit. All of a sudden siya (stem cell therapy) na yung magic bullet ng buong mundo, like if you get stem cell, you get cured, said Dr. Michelle de Vera, deputy director of the Institute of Personalized Molecular Medicine at The Medical City.

Kapag may narinig na ganyan dapat lalo silang mag-ingat. Cure is zero evidence of disease or kung genetic yung disease dapat napalitan yung genes mo. Hindi mangyayari yun at this point," he stressed.

De Vera, an allergologist and immunologist, does stem cell therapy on her patients at The Medical City but he said he believes that the DOH is right in warning patients on stem cell therapy.

Tama naman na magbigay sila ng warning,I think what their trying to do is regulate stem cell therapy, the doctor said.

Public advisory

The DOH recently came out with a public advisory on stem cell therapies saying that there is an "observed proliferation of centers offering stem cell treatments for medical and aesthetic purpose, and although this technology holds promise, stem cell therapy is not yet part of the standard of care and is considered an investigative procedure for compassionate use."

The DOH further stated that "applications of stem cells for the treatment of malignancies, blood disorders, degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzhimer's), metaboloc diseases (eg diabetes), and immune cell therapy are still under clinical evaluation and study."

I did not say it doesn't work but it takes a while, a lot of experiments and clinical studies before it is considered a standard of care in medicine, clarified Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona.

Ona also added in his statement that "the public is strongly advised to avoid stem cell therapies which use the following as sources for stem cells: embryonic stem cells, aborted fetuses, genetically-altered and animal fresh cells." Not from animals

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Doctors don't promise cure with stem cell therapy