Did anyone catch the report on Newsnight Scotland last night about the opening of the stem cell research facility in Edinburgh. The main guy who was interviewed, Professor someone or other was pretty sure that within 5-10 years they will not only be able to halt the progression of this b****y illness but would also be able to repair damage that had already been done. As I said this was not a hope he was expressing but pretty much a certainty. So the question is, Do we get excited about this or do we just think it is another false dawn? Personally I tend towards the positive option. Any opinions?
I’ve no doubt it will eventually be curable, or at least manageable, to the same extent diabetes is for most people.
But I think 5-10 years is wildly optimistic. The technical breakthrough may be made in that time, but it doesn’t allow anything like enough time for the extensive trials and bureaucracy that would have to be cleared before it got approved for general use.
Then, I expect, we’d have the usual thing about it only initially being authorised for patients who’d failed to do well on other treatments, because of the cost to the NHS, and so on…
I agree Tina, though the good news is that progress is being made. I hope I’m alive to see the breakthrough though I seriously doubt that I will live to see the treatment become routine.
I agree with Tina and Annie. I think it is perfectly reasonable to get excited about it, because it is a very exciting field, and full of promise, but I doubt whether it will be of much practical benefit on the timescales that are relevant to most of us. Maybe some young people on here though…?