As health care costs are mounting in western societies, more and more people are shopping elsewhere. So far, India is ahead of the curve. Indian doctors who have worked overseas for many generations are returning home to create the attraction of medical tourism. Once outsourced, thes Indian medical experts are going back to India, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines to work. In fact, France already has a policy of inviting Philipino physicians. A lot of young or recently graduated doctors who have successfully completed their residence are working and living in France.

In the West, more and more patients are taking advantages of the low costs of very specilized services offered by those places. You can think about hip replacement and other special works that need to be done. We are talking about the outsourcing of medical know-how.

Medical tourism is a cross between health care, travel and leizure. Usually, the patients who go to those countries for affordable or cheap medical help end up getting the best treatment possible. They stay at posh hotels on world-class resorts and beaches. Their needs are taken care and included in the package. It is a $ multi-million business that most countries would envy, but they don't have the infrastructures. India is a prime destination because of the level of education and adoption of hard sciences such as Computer sciences, engineering, medicine etc.

Posted by Fashionista Shopping Analyst at 11:36 AM EST

Updated: Sunday, 19 March 2006 11:39 AM EST

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There have been a lot of talks about stem cells lately. What are they? They are master cells that grow into any type of bodily tissue. Industry analysts say that cells taken from human embryos are uniquely versatile. They could lead to new treatments of Alzheimer’s, type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other diseases. So a lot of scientists have been trying to showcase the benefits and treatments that could derive from stem cells. Through therapeutic cloning, stem cells could be manipulated to form different types of tissues. They could be transplanted into suffering patients whose immune system will not reject them.

Now stem cells can also be extracted from uncloned human embryos. They are mostly the results or by-products of fertility treatment. When an infertile woman undergoes various fertility procedures, sometimes, the reproductive specialists will try to collect various eggs from the woman. The idea is to try to have more fertilization. No wonder that dealing with human embryos leads to the rise of opponents and advocates of the practice. Advocates say that stem cells could lead to disease treatments. Opponents do not buy this view. They state that human embryos are destroyed. What many researchers and TV programs such as 60 Minutes have shown is that these embryos may end up being discarded as biohazards since there is no regulation to deal with them effectively. What is clear is that these scientists can not expect to receive funding from the federal government for research on stem cells developed after August 2001.

Read the rest of this article at Fertility Gold: Stem Cell Research Funding Debate

Posted by Fashionista Shopping Analyst at 3:22 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 19 February 2006 3:43 PM EST

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