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| Mike Moore: Girl Cuts Through Stem Cell Politics |
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| Glut IDS | |||
| Vendredi, 09 Février 2007 08:00 | |||
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There are no translations available. Source: Jurnal Times This will likely need to jump. HEADSHOT e-mailed to copy eds. possible hed: Girl cuts throughm stem cell politics With her walker, 9-year-old Brooke Barels can part the swirling seas of debate over stem cells. What Ed and Vicki Barels' daughter can't do is chatter away or run around like other children. A rare genetic mutation stunted her development. When we talked last week at their home west of Burlington, the family's minds were on China. That's where Vicki will take Brooke next month for a series of stem cell injections. She'll receive the ones predisposed to become a type of brain cells. "Her arms and legs are fine," Vicki said. "It's up here that's the problem." The family can safely clear a path through the stem cell debate because these are not the embryonic cells that bring science and ethics to shouting matches. These come from the blood in babies' umbilical cords. "Here they're derived from something that has been getting thrown away forever," Ed said. At least for their purposes, those are the Goldilocks porridge of cells: just right. The way Ed explained it, embryonic cells aren't mature enough for doctors to easily steer them. He said adult cells, the other kind you often hear about, are too mature and are "just gonna go and hang out." That leaves the cord-blood cells. This isn't a cure for the disorder known as GLUT-1, which prevents glucose from moving where her body needs it. The goal is to accelerate Brooke's learning curve. They've seen studies showing the procedure can improve speech and balance. Maybe Brooke will never throw around full sentences, but a successful treatment might help her to use a laptop-like communication device they just ordered. The machine has buttons she can push to communicate what she wants, like something to drink or to play a game. It's a fine line. The heavy cream that dominates Brooke's meals might look like a treat. It's a necessity. Her functions suffer if she strays from the high-fat diet. With some effort, she was able to rattle off the people she loves - everyone from younger brother Brady to the family dog - when I visited. "She's got to go through the whole list," Vicki said. Love and roughly $30,000 will take them to a hospital in Hangzhou, where they'll stay for a month. It's the first stop on a route Vicki almost missed. She dragged herself to a seminar last summer that she doubted would be of use. She was right, but the trip was salvaged when she ran into a doctor from Mexico who does stem cell treatments. The crash course began. "She came home and was ready to go to Mexico immediately," Ed said. Their attention turned east when they learned more and better cells were available in China. Vicki understands why the U.S. scientific community demands a slow, safe courtship with stem cells. Satisfying all of the tests to remove the "experimental" label could take decades. In China, the procedure is already several years old. The couple have seen enough data to be convinced it's safe. "No children have ever regressed or gotten sicker," Vicki said. Things keep falling into place. A visiting Chinese teacher at Catholic Central in Burlington gave some insider tips on their trip. Plus, Ed's company is working on a deal that could mean a business trip to China, just in time for Brooke's follow-up visit. Soon the family will find out if modern medicine can provide the kind of pleasant surprise they regularly get from their little girl. "When we think she's plateaued and we wonder if there's not any improvement coming," Ed said, "she pops up with something." To help cover costs of the trip, the Barels family has a benefit planned from 3 p.m. to midnight Feb. 24 at the Veterans Memorial Building in Burlington. For a $10 donation at the door, attendees can hear four bands, drink beer and eat. Cash bar, raffles and a silent auction are also planned. Other donations can be made to The Benefit for Brooke Barels, Fox River State Bank, 241 E. Jefferson St., Burlington, WI 53105. Mike Moore can be reached at (262) 631-1724 or Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.
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| Mise à jour le Samedi, 10 Février 2007 21:55 |