With what appears to be thousands of Australians heading overseas for expensive treatments that don't reverse their illnesses, university researchers are trying to understand the ''stem-cell tourism'' phenomenon.

Over the past year, Bangkok Hospital has successfully treated more than 40 patients using stem-cell therapy — mostly Americans willing to travel overseas for a procedure that isn't licensed at home.

Professor McGuckin agrees: 'Stem cell tourism is already a problem. In the Ukraine and Holland, I have personally been involved with cases of desperate families from the UK who have gone to centres where they were kept in for less than a day with unproven techniques for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis and strokes.'