"Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to alleviate so much suffering."
~ Nancy Reagan
So, for the last few months, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been running rampant across the planet. Celebrities ranging from Steven Spielberg to Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, up to and including political figures like Justin Trudeau, George W. Bush, and the Governor-General of Canada, have dunked litres and gallons of water, and pounds of ice over their heads, in an effort to raise awareness and funds for research into this medical condition. I myself was subjected to 25 litres of ice and six pounds of frosty, freezing... well, let's just say it was 20 degrees Celsius outside, and I'm not a fan of anything over 15.
But, as it must always be, with anything of this sort, there are those who choose to sneer at such things. There's a whole host of criticisms out there, available for anyone who can read. But there's one that, as I'm sure few would find surprising, kind of aggravates me.
American leaders of the Catholic Church, citing the use of embryonic stem cells in ALS research, have heavily criticized it. Of course, they don't often speak well of where these stem cells are procured: in vitro fertilization. Dr. Robert Geraldo, medical director of Culture of Life Family Services, a faith-based non-profit that coins itself as an alternative to Planned Parenthood in San Diego, said on a Youtube video that the process "turns the child that is produced into a commodity."
He goes on to say that "the only right [the husband and wife] have is the right to each other's bodies," and therefore have no right to have children of their own. From a completely pragmatic viewpoint, I can agree with that last quote, even though saying that leaves a horrifically distasteful smear on my lips. But what about a person's right to life? I'm not talking about pro-life against pro-choice when I say this, though I can understand some people dragging me that direction with this topic.
I mean the right to live a full and healthy life, the right to see the world in all its wonder, while not having to suffer tremendously from some medical condition. Isn't that why we have hospitals and doctors? Embryonic stem cells are quite often harvested from the 'leftovers' of in vitro fertilization - the embryos created during the process that are not wanted by the couple looking to start, or enlarge, their family. These are embryos, the vast majority of which are less than five days old, well short of the 20-week threshold so many Republican politicians have so often pushed for.
In exchange for allowing the detritus of creating the next generation to be reused for other purposes, what benefits could be reaped? (Because, you know, it's all about the Three R's.) Current research in stem cell treatments could be applied to treatments for everything from ALS and multiple sclerosis to strokes, spinal cord injuries, macular degeneration, diabetes, and even severe burns. Combine this with use to repair damaged or failing organs - and anyone with a brain cell can tell you about a severe shortage in viable organs for transplant - and the number of reasons to stand against stem cell research seems to dwindle to the point of absurdity.
And when both the wife and son of Ronald Reagan, the president many blame for having started the Republican slide to the consolidation of church and state, have been quoted multiple times as being in favour of stem cell research (oh, so many I could have chosen from) you can call me crazy all you want - but I'm going to pay attention.
Showing posts with label Health Issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Issues. Show all posts
28 August 2014
15 March 2010
Memories of Swine Gone By...
"And if you're not going to have a clear health threat, you don't want to panic people."
~ William Scranton
From the latest figures released thus far, 'Swine flu has claimed at least 16,173 people around the world since it was uncovered,' according to the World Health Organization. (AFP, 13 March 2010) This came less than a year after CNN reported 'thousands of flu-related deaths since January' 2009. Those were all the dreaded H1N1 as well, right? Wrong. Those deaths were your standard, run-of-the-mill influenza that makes its rounds every year.
Now, you ask, 'What's the sense in pointing that out to us?' To this, I am forced to answer, 'To add perspective.' And it's true - from everything I've seen thus far, the major global killing threat swine flu was destined to become by God Himself has yet to materialize, and there is already evidence to suggest that we're already through the second wave of contagion.
This should certainly stand as a lesson to all: history repeats. Quite out of left field on that one, aren't I? Very well, let me set the stage. It's 1976: the would-be assassin of then-President Gerald Ford is sentenced to life in prison; Palestine has been allowed to speak at a debate in the United Nations - but not vote; the world's first supersonic passenger jet, the Concorde, saw its first commercial flight; and, NBC has just introduced its new logo. That's just in January alone.
19 January also saw the first emergence of H1N1, which was predicted to take the world by storm and end all mankind as we know it, at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Vaccination programs are launched across the United States as quickly as it can be managed, one of the largest ever to date. The flu burned itself out in 21 days, having never left Fort Dix, with the vaccinations having had no effect to stem its spread - because it hadn't spread far enough.
History now knows it as the Swine Flu Fiasco, because the flu only killed 13 people. The more ominous thing about the flu was the vaccine itself, which killed 25 and caused five hundred cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an extremely rare (2 out of 100,000 people) medical condition which causes ascending paralysis, usually causing death when the paralysis reaches the diaphragm. That's right - it causes you to suffocate if left untreated. Nice vaccine, eh?
The point I'm making is this: just because a major outbreak of some 'dangerously infectious and highly lethal disease' is anticipated to roll through like Captain Trips (see Stephen King's 'The Stand' for this reference) doesn't mean you need to pack up on canned foods, get every inoculation medical science has to offer, and hermetically seal your apartment for the next 250,000 years. Mass panic and mob mentalities have probably killed more people than bubonic plague in the last thousand years.
~ William Scranton
From the latest figures released thus far, 'Swine flu has claimed at least 16,173 people around the world since it was uncovered,' according to the World Health Organization. (AFP, 13 March 2010) This came less than a year after CNN reported 'thousands of flu-related deaths since January' 2009. Those were all the dreaded H1N1 as well, right? Wrong. Those deaths were your standard, run-of-the-mill influenza that makes its rounds every year.
Now, you ask, 'What's the sense in pointing that out to us?' To this, I am forced to answer, 'To add perspective.' And it's true - from everything I've seen thus far, the major global killing threat swine flu was destined to become by God Himself has yet to materialize, and there is already evidence to suggest that we're already through the second wave of contagion.
This should certainly stand as a lesson to all: history repeats. Quite out of left field on that one, aren't I? Very well, let me set the stage. It's 1976: the would-be assassin of then-President Gerald Ford is sentenced to life in prison; Palestine has been allowed to speak at a debate in the United Nations - but not vote; the world's first supersonic passenger jet, the Concorde, saw its first commercial flight; and, NBC has just introduced its new logo. That's just in January alone.
19 January also saw the first emergence of H1N1, which was predicted to take the world by storm and end all mankind as we know it, at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Vaccination programs are launched across the United States as quickly as it can be managed, one of the largest ever to date. The flu burned itself out in 21 days, having never left Fort Dix, with the vaccinations having had no effect to stem its spread - because it hadn't spread far enough.
History now knows it as the Swine Flu Fiasco, because the flu only killed 13 people. The more ominous thing about the flu was the vaccine itself, which killed 25 and caused five hundred cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an extremely rare (2 out of 100,000 people) medical condition which causes ascending paralysis, usually causing death when the paralysis reaches the diaphragm. That's right - it causes you to suffocate if left untreated. Nice vaccine, eh?
The point I'm making is this: just because a major outbreak of some 'dangerously infectious and highly lethal disease' is anticipated to roll through like Captain Trips (see Stephen King's 'The Stand' for this reference) doesn't mean you need to pack up on canned foods, get every inoculation medical science has to offer, and hermetically seal your apartment for the next 250,000 years. Mass panic and mob mentalities have probably killed more people than bubonic plague in the last thousand years.
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