Stem Cell Research - Protect Consumers from False Claims and Miracles
Due to the potential therapeutic uses and the potential profit from stem cells, there has been an increased interest in stem cell research. While some progress has been made, we do not know nearly enough about how stem cells work to use them for the treatment of human diseases. However, there are researchers that claim that they have developed the technology to apply stem cells to the treatment of aging and diseases. Websites such as www.youngeryounger.com and www.medra.com state that they have created a miraculous medical cure, known as cellular therapy, which can treat just about any problem.
Cellular Therapy was invented accidentally in 1931 when Swiss physician, Dr. Paul Niehans, injected parathyroid cells from a calf into a patient with damaged parathyroid glands. Eventually the patient recovered, which Niehans credited to his experimental transplantation of the young calf cells. Realizing the potential curative powers and applicability of his treatment, Niehans pursued the idea of cellular therapy and continued his research in the area of animal-human cell transfer (American Cancer Society, 2002).
So what is cellular therapy? The basic premise behind cell therapy is the injection, transplantation or ingestion (now the treatment comes in oral tablets!) of living or freeze-dried animal tissue from fetuses, embryos or organ's of young animals. The tissue is most commonly taken from sheep, cows, and sharks with sheep being the most optimal donors because they are "vital [and] hardy animals with the best immune systems" and their "proteins are particularly compatible with the human body" (www.youngeryounger.com, 2003). The tissues or cells transplan...
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...n cellular therapy so everyone knows what it is and how to prevent themselves from being scammed, or worse, from being harmed.
Sources:
American Cancer Society. 2002. Guide to Complementary and Alternative Methods. Accessed on 10/15/04.
Barrett, S. 2003. Cellular Therapy. Accessed on 10/15/04.
Barrett, S. 2003. The Shady Side of Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy. Accessed on 10/15/04.
Medra, Inc. 2004. Accessed on 10/15/04
OneRom Group, Inc. 2003. Accessed on 10/15/04
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. 1990. Unconventional Cancer Treatments, OTA-H-405. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Despite the significant portion of Americans that do not support embryonic stem cell research, it should be federally funded because of the potential health benefits, the definition of human, and the opportunity to clearly define regulations for ethical research. The wide range of prospective uses for stem cells could greatly improve the health and wellbeing of many people. In stem cell treatments, undifferentiated cells are programmed to form specific cells, which can then be transplanted to the afflicted area. Stem cells can possibly treat afflictions including “Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis” (“Stem Cell Basics”). Another important use is drug testing.
Skloot gains credibility by describing researchers who took different approaches to culturing cells. A French surgeon at the Rockefeller Institute named Alexis Carrel grew his “immortal chicken heart.” Many researchers believed it was not possible to have tissues living outside of the body, and Carrel proved them wrong by growing a sliver of chicken-heart tissue in culture successfully. Doctor George Gey was the head of tissue culture research at Johns Hopkins Hospital where Henrietta was treated for her cancer. Dr. Gey, along with his wife, had spent years trying to grow cells outside of the human body in search of the cause and cure for cancer. Most cells they tested either died or hardly grew. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot writes, “The Geys were determined to grow the first immortal human cells: a continuously dividing line of cells all descended from one original sample, cells that would constantly replenish themselves and never die” (30; ch. 3). Little did they know, they were about to grow the first immortal human cells, using cells they removed fro...
In this argumentative essay written by Dr. Ron Kline a pediatrician who wrote his essay titled “A Scientist: I am the enemy”. The article gives an insight on how animal research has helped many people and shine a light on the benefits of animal research. Ron Kline is the director of bone marrow transplants at the University of Louisville. Furthermore, the essay explains his thoughts and his own reasons for his love of medical research. In addition, the essay include the opposing side of the argument which has a lot feedback from activist groups that think that animal research is horrible.
All stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies. They are known collectively as The Hero’s Journey. Understanding these elements and their use in modern writing is the object of our quest. Used wisely, these ancient tools of the storytellers craft still have tremendous power to heal our people and make the world a better place (xxvii).
...e Reconstruction Finance Corporation was administered in order to assist corporate America in their struggle against nation-wide finances. Roosevelt also began making sacrifices such as joint resolution to abandon the gold standard in order to stay fast in the struggle against economic pandemic spreading massively across the globe. Furthermore, Roosevelt founded the National Employment System Act in effort to create the U.S. Employment Service.
Dissociative identity disorder, a condition that has plagued and altered the minds of those who were diagnosed for many years, represents the condition in which an individual displays multiple personalities that overpower his or her behavior around others and even alone. Such personalities or identities can have staggering differences between them even being characterized by a disparate gender, race, or age. One of the sides of them can even be animal-like and display feral qualities. Also, the disorder severs the connection between the victim’s sense of identity, emotions, actions, and even memories from their own consciousness. The cause for this is known to be a very traumatic experience that the person had gone through previously and fails to cope with it, thus they dissociate themselves from the memory in order to keep their mental state in one piece. All these results from the disorder do not begin to tell of the rest of the horrors that gnaw away at the affected human.
Dissociation is a word that describes what happens when normal perceptions, sensations, memories, or identity become disintegrated. It is a separation between two things and becomes a disorder when the behavior is extreme and uncontrolled. Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as multiple personalities, can be defined by as a mental disorder in which individuals experience a shattering of a unified identity into at least two separate but coexisting personalities with different memories, behavior patterns, and emotions(1). Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) shows an onset of multiple “alters” in a patient. Alters are personalities that appear to have the control over a person’s functioning in certain situations. These alters can dress,
WILSON, B. (n.d.). Patient with multiple personalities sketches her 17 alter egos | Mail Online. Mail Online. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-489655/Patient-multiple-personalities-sketches-17-alter-egos.html
...inations or delusions, not multiple personalities (7). Without proper diagnosis the individual could experience additional problems.
People often act and feel differently in various settings. For example, teenagers may act differently at a party than they do at school. However, people in good mental health maintain constant awareness of themselves no matter what the situation. Individuals with dissociative identity disorder do not. They experience sudden changes in consciousness, identity, and memory. They may discover new clothing in their closet without knowing where they got it, or even find themselves in a strange place and not remember how they got there. Their identity is broken into pieces consisting of different emotions, memories, and styles. They may shift from being passive and accepting to being hostile and uncooperative. Sometimes one personality may cause the individual to inflict physical harm on his or her own body.
My topic of choice for this research paper is Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. This appellation is rather new; therefore, most are more familiar with the disorder's older, less technical name: Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD. When first presented with the task of selecting a topic on which to center this paper, I immediately dismissed Dissociative Identity Disorder (which for the sake of brevity will be referred to as DID for the remainder of this paper) as a viable topic due to the sheer scope of the disorder. However after an exhaustive examination of other prospective topics, I found myself back at my original choice. There are several reasons why I chose DID. The foremost of which is the widespread fascination of this disorder by many different types of people; most of whom otherwise have no interest in psychology or its associated fields. One would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been captivated at one time or another by the extraordinary, all too well known symptoms of this disorder. This fascination… dare I say ‘allure’ to this disorder is exemplified by the myriad of motion pictures that have been produced based on cases, real or fictitious, of DID. Another reason for my choice is what I feel is the insufficiency of effective treatments for DID. Despite what is known about this disorder, (which is relatively a lot) there are only two chief treatments for DID; the first and most prevalent is psychotherapy; also known as ”talk therapy”, the second is medication. The third and final reason for my choice is my own enchantment with DID. I must admit that ever since I read about Sue Tinker, a woman who was diagnosed with over 200 different personalities. In writing this paper I hope to discover more about this disorder and perhaps be able to identify a few areas that I feel might require more research on the part of psychologists specializing in DID.
In 1974, a book came out to educate the masses about a rare disorder. The book’s name was Sybil and the disorder was Multiple Personality, now known as Dissociative Identity. By definition Dissociative Identity Disorder is when a patient has two or more distinct identities that switch in taking control of behavior. (Butcher 241). Even though Dissociative Identity Disorder is classified as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders third edition (DSM), it has not been fully accepted by the world of psychology as a whole.
Do you remember the main character of Fight Club? What about the villain Harvey Dent from Batman, who developed the criminal personality known as Two-Face after having acid thrown in his face during a trial or Alex Mason from Call Of Duty: Black Ops, seemed to become two different people after being brainwashed in a Russian prison camp. Maybe your favorite childhood character was Launch from the anime and manga Dragon Ball, who changed from a sweet and caring person to an angry criminal and vice versa every time she sneezed. These media characters all had the same disorder called Dissociative Identity disorder. Many believe that Dissociative Identity disorder was a made up diagnoses for it is often shown in movies and other media from comedy or suspense, but there are people who suffer from this disorder daily and when properly educated on this subject, you can begin to see and learn that this disorder is not always the comic relief it is usually used for in your favorite movies or television shows.
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric disorder, a diagnosis that entails a person undergoing multiple distinct personalities. These other personalities are often referred to as "alters." Alters are often created after a traumatic event or a abuse filled childhood. "The brain has a conscious of its own," a phrase commonly heard, but truth does justify the saying to be true, the conscious of the brain is survival, the brains in these patient 's coops with the traumatic events by creating alters, allowing the patient to escape, "escapism" from the darkness of their past. Professors of psychiatry say that dissociative identity disorder is actual a useful mechanism of surviving a abusing, rejecting environment that might push the patient into suicide. According to WebMD, the different personalities are each their own unique individuals, having their own sex (which can be oppositional from the host), age or even ethnic background. "Each has his or her own postures, gestures, and distinct way of talking. Sometimes the alters are imaginary people; sometimes they are animals." "As each personality reveals itself and controls the individuals ' ...
Homework is a topic that almost everyone fights about, from educators to students to parents. According to Marzano, during the first couple decades of the twentieth century, teachers believed that homework helped students become more disciplined, but by 1940 homework was thought to interfere with the home life of students (Marzano, 2007, p.74). That trend goes back and forth until the 1980s when people started to have varying opinions (Marzano, 2007, p.74). The definition of homework is activities or assignments that a teacher gives a student that should be completed at home (Landing-Corretjer, 2009, p.14). Homework should be abolished because it does not improve testing abilities or achievement, causes unneeded stress, and hinders students’ home life.