04/18/24
August 31, 2006
Weekend warriors to play forever?: Umbilical cord blood might provide the perfect "repair kit" for athletic bodies that are seriously injured or breaking down. (via Toronto Star)
If there is a way to heal someone from serious injury, disease, or whatever the case is and it is done safely, I'm all for it. How in the world would you save umbilical cord blood? Freeze it?
posted by dbt302 at 08:33 AM on August 31, 2006
Saving this blood to use for the child who donated it is fine. As far as an athlete is concerned, if they are injured and cannot play, they should get a job.
posted by joromu at 09:24 AM on August 31, 2006
Smithers, you have one helluvva nose for provocative story lines!!! Definitely a controversial edge to this story. I've got to spend some time to get familiar with all of the arguments surrounding stem cell use, but I think the most salient issue in this post is clearly using your child's stem cells for your own benefit. I used to think that cutting the grass and shoveling sidewalks was a pain in the butt! I can't imagine my dad askin' me for new knee ligaments!?!? I know it's more complicated than that ... but in some ways ... maybe it's not??? hmmm?
posted by Spitztengle at 09:34 AM on August 31, 2006
There are public banks. If any of these treatments actually come to fruition, perhaps that would be a better option. It's mainly a scam, they will probably never be able to use it, but the storage companies make money.
posted by bperk at 09:40 AM on August 31, 2006
Wow. I hope Dr. James Andrews has something set aside for his future. I see a future in which "Tommy John surgery" actually requires the use of parts of Tommy John.
posted by BullpenPro at 09:55 AM on August 31, 2006
Well BPP, remember that 8 samples of Ted Williams' DNA are missing.... jojomfd1, I think you might be right about the religion/politics angle, but in this case, I think the discussion is appropriate, since sport is providing a context in which these technologies/methods may or may not become normalized.
posted by smithers at 10:13 AM on August 31, 2006
Babies... Is there nothing they can't do?... with, uh, parts of them?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:51 AM on August 31, 2006
If only Barbaro had known about this.
posted by SummersEve at 10:59 AM on August 31, 2006
Typical meeja spin. Did you see that headline? Trying to pretend the players are actually using the babies instead of just usinf umbilical cells. Which would be discarded anyway so what is the big deal. It also states that a player "decided to store our new baby’s stem cells for possible future therapeutic reasons, both for our children and possibly for myself."
posted by Fence at 11:13 AM on August 31, 2006
I guess I agree with joromu, like any other athlete in the world. When you athletic career is done, it is done. It is time to move on. Stem cell research, if you believe in it, needs to be used for medical usages for things like M.S. and many others, not torn knees. Come on, let's put this into reality.
posted by Psycho at 11:33 AM on August 31, 2006
I wonder, does the stem cell bank have an ATM? Just slide your card in, press your code, and out pops your used umbilical cord. Thank you, drive through.
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 02:21 PM on August 31, 2006
If you were born via c-section, please proceed to the second window.
posted by BullpenPro at 03:17 PM on August 31, 2006
Irs amazing that Stem Cell is such a big issue. Bush and many others claim that its murder to kill an embryo, but then agin what the hell is Iraq? When technology progresses like this, then it should be studied and available to anyone who needs it. Interesting post smithers-
posted by Kendall at 09:56 PM on September 06, 2006
I smell a political/religious arguement coming.