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Adult Stem Cells May Cure AIDS

New on The Corner. . .


COMMENTS   8

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   05/16/11 20:09

Expect this to be pretty much ignored since the source was adult stem cells.

If these cells came from an aborted baby, this news would have lead the 3 networks and had a week long series in the NY times.

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   05/16/11 20:21

Actually the story may be ignored because this headline is far from true.

"UCSF’s Dr. Paul Volberding, another pioneering AIDS expert who has studied the disease for all of its 30 years cautioned that while “the Berlin Patient is a fascinating story, it’s not one that can be generalized.”

Both doctors stressed that Brown’s radical procedure may not be applicable to many other people with HIV, because of the difficulty in doing stem cell transplants, and finding the right donor."

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   05/16/11 21:03
 DrJ
   05/16/11 21:11

"Actually the story may be ignored because this headline is far from true."

"Actually" the headline is not far from true. It says: "Adult stem cells 'may' cure AIDS." which is true. It states only a possibility. If it had said "does cure AIDS." Your statement would have more validity.

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   05/16/11 21:54

It may be technically "stem cells" but the procedure is just a standard bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, those are generally pretty risky so this isn't a cure you can apply to everyone.

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   05/16/11 22:24

Adult stem cells are used medically all of the time. Blood cancers may sometimes be cured using an adult stem cell transplant.

I don't know if this would work or not, but it the procedure is decades-old.

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   05/16/11 22:24

In ordinary (day-to-day) language, the words ‘may’ or ‘could’ or ‘might’ suggest something stronger than a logical possibility.

Consider:
(1) ‘Mitch Daniels may run for president’;
(2) ‘Ann Coulter may run for president’.

I say (2) is false, even if it is logically true. It is false because it communicates something false.

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stankleton
   05/17/11 18:08

"I say (2) is false, even if it is logically true. It is false because it communicates something false."

That argument would make more sense if you weren't commenting on an article that discussed Ann Coulter taking preliminary steps indicating that there's more than a theoretical possibility of her running.

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