What is the association between multiple sclerosis and identifying factors in pediatric patients?

Multiple Sclerosis in Pediatric Patients
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Multiple Sclerosis in Pediatric Patients
Ethical concerns on stem and embryo cell research on multiple sclerosis in pediatric patients are insufficient to prevent further studies towards management of the disease.
Brief History
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory illness that destroys myelin in the nerve tissue of the central nervous system. The common symptoms for the disease include sensory challenges, motor paralysis, visual impairment, and impairment of certain cognitive functions. These symptoms reveal themselves a few hours or days after contracting the illness and the attacks to attain a maximum severity within a few days and gradually resolve over days or weeks. Several studies point to the high prevalence of the disease among infants, children, and adults (Belman et al., 2016; Bechtold et al. 2014; Huppke et al., 2014; Nourbakhsh et al., 2017; Lee & Chitnis, 2016). The progression of the disease varies from one person to the next and consequently, the presentation pattern also varies between a gradual progress or a quick progress. The attacks tend to occur periodically. For example, after developing the disease and moving through the first early years, the attacks my happen every 12 to 18 months. However, the attacks become more frequent from 5 to 15 years.
Intervention Methods
Stem therapy has been a promising intervention that has attracted vast attention as an alternative towards management of the condition. This therapy was first introduced into the medical world in the early 2000s. Since then, several trials of the cell therapy have taken place around the world.
Concerns over the Interventions
Since the introduction of the stem cell therapy, concerns have emerged concerning the ethicalness of the practice. The main ethical dilemma surrounding the stem cell therapy involved the destruction of the human embryo. The question regarding the matter was whether it is morally appropriate to explore opportunities for curing illnesses through destruction of the human embryo. The moral problem in this case is based on two fundamental principles that govern human life. The first principles advocates for the prevention and alleviation of suffering whereas the other encourages us to respect the value of human life.
This research explores the relationship between the significant markers that affect the prevalence of multiple sclerosis and pediatric patients with diagnosis. Besides, the paper also looks at the ethical concerns surrounding the stem cell research as a therapy of MS. The main issues of concern have been the morals of destroying the human embryo, issues of consent, control, and justice.
Argument
Criticism
Critics of the stem cell research ethical and moral concerns in arguing against the stem cell research. The reasoning behind these principles is that life begins at conception and any action that interferes with the development of the embryo is immoral as it interferes with life. This claim is valid since the use of embryonic stem cells in research was akin to abortion, as it also involved destruction of the embryo. Such debates prompted researchers to explore other options that could provide the stem cells without necessarily destroying life. This research led to development of the adult stem cell. These stem cells are drawn from the bone marrow, brain and the gut, among other body tissues. These cells are chosen based on their ability to differentiate into a limited number of different types of cells including blood cells, muscles, and neurons. The downside with these adult stem cells is that they are not pluripotent, which implies that they lack the ability to differentiate into any cell type in the same manner that the embryonic stem cells do. Consequently, the adults’ stem cells have limited use in regenerative medicine and gene therapy from the biotechnological perspective.
Counter-argument
However, use of the adult stem cell for medical applications helps avoid the ethical and biomedical challenges associated with the embryonic stem cells. For example, the use of the adult stem cells does not involve the destruction of the embryos and hence the procedure is acceptable to more people. Another advantage of using adult stem cells is that it eliminates the problem of immunological compatibility. In this case, tissues grown from the adult stem cell are usually immunologically compatible with those from the person where the stem cells were harvested. These findings meant that such tissues could be transplanted into that individual without the fear of the possibility of the body rejecting the samples. On the contrary, the tissues obtained from the embryonic stem cells for use in regenerative therapy tend not to be immune-compatible with the individual whom they were intended and hence there is always a risk for the lack of immune-compatibility.
Criticism
Another ethical concern regarding the utilization of this approach in understanding the relationship between multiple sclerosis and the immunological limitations. According to critics of this approach, the process is quite expensive as it requires a tissue bank that is well equipped with large numbers of embryonic stem cell types that can be utilized and matched with the different recipients. Sustaining such a program cannot be very difficult and hence the process, according to critics, is not a useful investment. The number of embryos that would be required to operate the facility would require public participation, which is quite an involving exercise that may not be feasible. While researchers have developed alternative forms of embryos through therapeutic cloning, ethical obligations are still raised as to the purpose of creating an embryo for use that will eventually destroy it. These arguments focus on the moral status of the embryo, where the opponents argue that even a cloned embryo is still a living organism that can be transformed into its expected shape.
Counter-argument
Assessment of the different stem cell embryonic processes indicates that the gains in the pluri-potency of the embryonic stem in the generation of immune-compatible tissue is likely to occur at a cost of engaging in either the morally questionable exercise of human cloning, or that of destroying a large number of embryos to develop a sufficient range of embryonic stem cells for the banks. This implies that there is no clear alternative to stem cell research that can be substituted to serve the same purposes. Saving the embryo is saving a life and similarly, utilizing the embryo for clinical purposes also entails saving a life, which then becomes a question of whether it is morally appropriate to continue loosing life at the expense or fear of research. Young children are dying out of illnesses like multiple sclerosis and thus it would only be prudent to utilize what is available to try and find a solution. Using an underdeveloped life to save a more developed life should not be subjected to the moral scales of ethics as it is the most logical thing that one can do. Preventing advancement in research under the guide of moral ethicalness is indirectly standing against the extensive research that is currently underway to find better approaches of treatment. The traditional treatments were also initially despised but people have learned to accept their controversies and adopt them.
Criticism
Selection bias and social justice has been another ethical concern surrounding the use of stem cell research in the management of MS. Critics of this approach have raised concerns about the criteria used in the selection of donors of embryos and the selection of participants in the clinical trials. There have been concerns about the possibility that clinical trials of cell-replacement therapies could be biased through inequities that prevent access to the clinical trials. This situation mainly applies to the poor and disadvantaged people in the society, who cannot access such services. The study by Belman et al (2016) confirms the possibility of such bias in their sampling procedure. According to the authors, most of the centers were located in large urban areas that are often composed of more racially and ethnically diverse populations. This diversity may have led to an overrepresentation of the immigrants and minority groups. This argument is valid since the essence of any research is to present generalizable findings that can be replicated in different studies.
Counter-argument
The above criticism should not be regarded as an impediment towards the research as there are other studies that cover different regions that can be analyzed and the results compared. For example, while Belman conducts the study from the US Network of Pediatric MS Centers, the study by Huppke et al (2014) collected data from the database of the Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Childhood and Adolescence at the University of Medical Center in Germany. The aspect of biasness is rampant in different studies and should not be an impe...