Pushing the envelope with medicine

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fourpawsonthefloor
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

Stories like this are absolutely mind boggling. Medicine is continuing to grow at an extrodinary pace.

However - in order to do some miraculous treatments, sometime you have to push that envelope that people are just not comfortable with. A prime example would be stem cell research.

For me? I'm fairly comfortable with most of the areas that they are pushing into...but I think, as with all things, that there are some limits. Sometimes I think that you can get so caught up in saving someone, that you aren't necessarily focusing on what is best for them. And I feel that sometimes, its just better to let them go.

Thoughts?

Paws

[Edited on 12/2/07 by fourpawsonthefloor]
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by The Drastic Spastic »

It should be up to the person when it's time to let go. If they are incapable of making the decision... they're already gone.

I am all for stem cell research. That's the cure for cancer right there.

What do you think is going too far, Paws?
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fourpawsonthefloor
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

I'm not to hot on cloning. The major things that I am not sure of is 'saving' people such as people that are left in a vegitative or brain dead state, or similar situations. There is a time and a place to let nature take its course. Now some physicians realize this and let it happen - and others do not. Same thing with the families or the affected person.

Though I suppose in that case it isn't the proceedure so much as its the application.

I'm also not overly keen on the extreme cosmetic surgery stuff. Giving a woman boobs the size of her head? Though, realistically, its their body - and as far as I'm concerned they can do with it what she wants. I just think it is dumb. So there. LOL

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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by idsunki »

I'm down with stem cell research.

Cloning. Hm. Spider-Man Clone Saga jokes aside, creating a full, living clone of a human has some wierd ethical stuff with it. Growing 'artificial' body parts like new organs for a transplant is pretty sweet, though.

Boob jobs... I prefer them natural, though I suppose there could be exceptions?

If you think this stuff is uncomfortable, go ahead and do some reading on the French, Russian, and American scientists (among others) who have experimented with brain and head transplants. There are documented cases of a chimp's brain being transplanted into another's abdomen, and a dog's head attached to another dog, while the original head was still on. Some only survived a few hours, some a few days.

Oh, and it looks like this guy with the restarted heart was basically dead for four days, which beats out Jesus's three day stint.

In general, except for the weird head transplant stuff, I'd argue more for science than against it.
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by JSherlock »

I'm all for science. Though for cloning a living breathing, thinking human, yeah, that's just weird. To make organs would be pretty cool, but, then, that also creeps me out a little. what really intrigues me is the face transplant for burn vistims or other people with facial disfigurement. I watched a program on it on the Discovery Health channel. I think I would go for it - after all, it's not the same bone structure, so it really wouldn't look the same.

Cosmetic surgery to help you, such as accident survivors who are mangled or women with large breasts that get reductions or people who NEED the surgery to help them because of physical injury, I'm definitely for that. But the people who get all sorts of stuff done to make themselves "look better" even though they're fine? Whatever. As long as they're happy, it's none of my business. Though I do think huge, perfectly round, perky boobs on a tall, skinny woman looks ridiculous. I just snicker to myself and hope she enjoys the back pains... (this is from experience. I saw a woman who'd obviously had hers filled to exploding point...ick. Though I did see another girl who'd had just one size up - the poor girl had had fried eggs - literally. She was so happy.)
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fourpawsonthefloor
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

Yeah...everything in moderation hey?

I'm for the growing of organs because a - there simply isn't enough donors to meet the needs and b - rejection isn't an issue. Its much more sensible. It was the cloning of pets/dolly stuff that I am not hot on...and the possibility of cloning a human is just plain distasteful. It's messing too much with nature, imho.

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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by The Drastic Spastic »

I don't have a problem with clones. There's this expectation that it will be the same person, but that's not how it would work. The motivation behind it would probably be suspect ("we'll get him back!"), but a clone is just an identical twin.

Plastic surgery... *shrug* Whatever. I think some of it is icky, but not any ickier than other body mods like tattoos or piercings. It's like... what's worse? A nose job to "fix" a fully functional nose or stretching the shit out of your earlobes so you can stuff crap in them? God. Just thinking about it... ew.
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by Angelique »

The problem with cloning is that while there wouldn't be any issue with rejection, my guess is there could be a greater likelihood that this genetically identical organ, bone marrow, what have you, would have the same problems that the original had.

I am all for research and use of adult stem cells. But if a cure for my condition requires killing human embryos, well, they're still human, so no thanks. I'd rather go on being sick.

Of course, there's been talk about ways of extracting embryonic stem cells without harming embryos. I could be in favor of that, as long as we do not abandon research on adult stem cells, which have already produced cures.
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by NachtcGleiskette »

Originally posted by The Drastic Spastic
I don't have a problem with clones. There's this expectation that it will be the same person, but that's not how it would work. The motivation behind it would probably be suspect ("we'll get him back!"), but a clone is just an identical twin.

Plastic surgery... *shrug* Whatever. I think some of it is icky, but not any ickier than other body mods like tattoos or piercings. It's like... what's worse? A nose job to "fix" a fully functional nose or stretching the shit out of your earlobes so you can stuff crap in them? God. Just thinking about it... ew.
Eh, cloning is weird to me. I don't see the point of actually cloning a full human being, and if there's no point other than "we can" than why do it?

Plastic surgery though? Whatever floats your boat. Nothing can top natural beauty *gorgeous*

Except this:

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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by Crocodile Hunter »

Originally posted by NachtcGleiskette

Plastic surgery though? Whatever floats your boat. Nothing can top natural beauty *gorgeous*

Except this:

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Good lord she looks horrbile.

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Millions of dollars to look horrible.
What a waste.

[Edited on 14/2/2007 by Crocodile Hunter]
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Pushing the envelope with medicine

Post by Garble »

(Embryonic) Stem Cell research: All for it. There's a ton of unused embryos produced by fertility clinics that no one mourns. There's no reason not to use them to help people.

Cloning (an entire human): No real reason to do this. A cloned human wouldn't be an exact duplicate but a whole new person. Plus all the manipulation that would be required to produce a cloned human would increase the chances of birth defects.

Partial cloning (cells, organs) in theory is just the next logical extension of skin grafting or bypass surgery. Cloning organs would have many uses like producing a new heart when the old heart has failed due to having been stabbed. Even cloning just single cells (like T-Cells) in large number could help with many conditions (like AIDS).

[Edited on 14-2-2007 by Garble]
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