“Stem_Cell_Research_and_Its_Effect_on_Multiple_Sclerosis”

“Stem Cell Research and Its Effect on Multiple Sclerosis” In society today there are many controversial issues, but one of the most controversial issues is the employment and use of stem cell research. This issue has garnered much attention due to its division of scientific and religious communities around the world. The main question to this argument is “when does life begin'” My study of the topic comes from my father. He has had Multiple Sclerosis for the past twenty years. Multiple sclerosis (MS for short) is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (also known as the central nervous system). When a person has MS, the covering (myelin) that protects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord is affected, so the message cannot always get through. According to an article on http://www.newscientist.com, after stem cells were removed from the bone marrow of patients with MS and the additional immune cells were destroyed and re-implanted, the patient showed improvement pertaining to their Multiple Sclerosis. Stem cell research is a very viable and potential cure for Multiple Sclerosis, but because of the controversy with stem cells, it is not being explored further. So what exactly is the controversy on stem cell research' In the National Multiple Sclerosis society’s magazine Inside MS, an article titled “Activists on the Hill” speaks about potential things that are being done to progress the research of MS. The first action that can be done is called “The Access to Life – Saving Medicine Act” talks about the FDA allowing more applications to be reviewed and accept for people to get more affordable generic drugs. Another action being done is “The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act”. This act speaks of increasing the number of embryonic stem cell lines used and allowing new lines to be created from embryos that have been donated to science specifically for this use. A third action is the “Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program” (CDMRP). The CDMRP would provide an additional source of funding for MS research through the Department of Defense. One last mentioned action in the action is “Elimination of Medicare’s “in-home” rule for mobility device coverage.” Currently, Medicare will only cover a mobility device if one needs one to get around the home. This elimination of the rule would allow Medicare for a mobility device for outside use as well. Personally I feel all of these efforts are absolutely phenomenal. Out of those actions I am most in favor and feel the one most needed is “The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act”. I feel with the use of Stem Cell Research, a cure would be able to be made, and we would not desperately need to use these other actions as we would now. After seeing my father constantly have to take injections every other night for his Multiple Sclerosis, I cannot help but feel that there either is or should be a better way to help people cope with living with Multiple Sclerosis. Oppositely, an article that first appeared in Canada’s national Post in January of 2000 titled “New life at the expense of another” speaks how as great as the possible solution for stem cells is, it comes at the cost of another possible life. A quote from the article best sums up the confliction of this controversial issue, whether it is viewed ethically or morally. “I could be released from the risk of breaking bones or continued deterioration with multiple sclerosis by feeding on unwanted human life. To gain my freedom, I would become more wretched by accepting the fruits of robbing another life, existence and a place in the world.” Further to the heart of this issue is the question of “when does life begin'” For this question I refer to two letters that were a response to a New York Times article that was published in January 2007, with the letters in response a week later. The name of the article is “A Middle Ground for Stem Cells” written by Yuval Levin. The first letter states that simply the embryos are destroyed no matter what and it’s just a matter if their destruction will be “in vain or will further human knowledge and, ultimately, human health and well-being.” The second letter responding to Yuval Levin states that “Yuval Levin’s claim that “human life begins when an embryo is created” is a religious conviction, not, as he claims, a “simple and uncontroversial biological fact.” My feeling as to when a life begins is when the fetus first develops a heart beat at approximately 18-22 days. A born human being is considered alive by their beating heart and a fetus should be no different. Life starts at the beat of a heart and life ends at the stopping of a beating heart. With that said, it would be okay to use the stem cells from embryos, only if it is early enough, and that they were donated for the purpose of science. Several therapies for multiple sclerosis exist, although there is no known cure. Out of all the possibilities looked at for a long term cure, Stem cell research seems to be the most promising of them all. Years ago, I wrote a poem in fourth grade called “My Dream” about finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis in this millennium and I hold that dream to be as true today as it was then. Stem cell research should be more progressively explored because not only can it potentially cure multiple sclerosis, it can cure so much more.