Joy Victory is deputy managing editor of HealthNewsReview.org. She tweets as @thejoyvictory.
At this moment, only a handful of stem cell therapies have been proven safe and effective through clinical research, according to the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).
Yet, that’s not evident from a recent Google News Search for stem cells, which pulls up 800,000+ results of varying quality, as we’ve seen in our examinations of stem cell stories on spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, severe combined immunodeficiency, and multiple sclerosis, among others.
This explosion of news coverage and stem cell hype is partly why, for the first time, ISSCR has added a section on communication to their guidelines for stem cell research and the development of new clinical therapies (see page 28 of the PDF).
Yet, that’s not evident from a recent Google News Search for stem cells, which pulls up 800,000+ results of varying quality, as we’ve seen in our examinations of stem cell stories on spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, severe combined immunodeficiency, and multiple sclerosis, among others.
This explosion of news coverage and stem cell hype is partly why, for the first time, ISSCR has added a section on communication to their guidelines for stem cell research and the development of new clinical therapies (see page 28 of the PDF).
Resources to help you avoid these pitfalls include this ISSCR patient information article, this STAT piece on the FDA’s efforts to crack down on clinics, a NEJM report on the “Wild West” of U.S. stem cell clinics, as well as this tipsheet from stem cell scientist Paul Knoepfler.
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