{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T06:50:44Z","timestamp":1792824644896,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Georg Thieme Verlag KG","issue":"02","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Semin Neurol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>\u201cStem cell tourism\u201d is defined as the unethical practice of offering unproven cellular preparations to patients suffering from various medical conditions. This phenomenon is rising in the field of neurology as patients are requesting information and opportunities for treatment with stem cells for incurable conditions such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, despite their clinical research and experimental designation. Here, we review the recent trends in \u201cstem cell tourism\u201d in both the United States and abroad, and discuss the recent reports of neurological complications from these activities. Finally, we frame critical questions for the field of neurology regarding training in the ethical, legal, and societal issues of the global \u201cstem cell tourism,\u201d as well as suggest strategies to alleviate this problem. Although there are ongoing legitimate clinical trials with stem cells for neurological diseases, procedures offered by \u201cstem cell clinics\u201d cannot be defined as clinical research. They lack the experimental and state-of-the-art framework defined by peers and the FDA that focus on human research that safeguard the protection of human subjects against economical exploitation, unwanted side effects, and futility of unproven procedures. \u201cStem cell tourism\u201d ultimately exploits therapeutic hope of patients and families with incurable neurological diseases and can put in danger the legitimacy of stem cell research as a whole. We posit that an improvement in education, regulation, legislation, and involvement of authorities in global health in neurology and neurosurgery is required.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0038-1649338","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,23]],"date-time":"2018-05-23T22:37:45Z","timestamp":1527115065000},"page":"176-181","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["The \u201cGrowing\u201d Reality of the Neurological Complications of Global \u201cStem Cell Tourism\u201d"],"prefix":"10.1055","volume":"38","author":[{"given":"Katie","family":"Julian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Yuhasz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ethan","family":"Hollingsworth","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Neural Stem Cells and Functional Neurogenetics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jaime","family":"Imitola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio"},{"name":"Laboratory for Neural Stem Cells and Functional Neurogenetics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio"},{"name":"Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetic Program, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"194","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,23]]},"container-title":["Seminars in Neurology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.thieme-connect.de\/products\/ejournals\/pdf\/10.1055\/s-0038-1649338.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,23]],"date-time":"2018-05-23T22:37:48Z","timestamp":1527115068000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.thieme-connect.de\/DOI\/DOI?10.1055\/s-0038-1649338"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,4]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"02","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,23]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,4]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1055\/s-0038-1649338","relation":{},"ISSN":["0271-8235","1098-9021"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0271-8235","type":"print"},{"value":"1098-9021","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,4]]}}}