Fetal cells used to treat ALS
Americans seek glial cell transplants in Beijing for spinal injury and other conditions
Jul 29, 2004
BEIJING—From the outside, the Chaoyang Hospital looks nothing like a state-of-the-art medical facility. The pavement outside the old red-brick building is broken, while patients inside lie on hospital cots in grim, dark hallways.
Despite its appearance, the hospital has become a magnet for patients with spinal cord injuries, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Parkinson disease from all over the world. They come to find neurosurgeon Huang Hongyun, who is using fetal tissue transplants in the hope of repairing neurological damage.
Over the past 3 years, Huang told