Stem cell therapy – Buzzword of this era! We can find wealthy information on stem cell therapy; it can certainly be overwhelming to read through what is confusing and complex. Stem cells have a tremendous promise to help us understand as well as treat a range of injuries, diseases and other health-related conditions. The potential of this treatment is evident in the use of blood stem cells in order to treat diseases of the blood, a therapy that has saved thousands of children’s lives with leukemia. In addition to that, it can be seen in the use of stem cells for tissue grafts in treating bone, skin, and surface of the eye.
So many important clinical trials that involve stem cells are underway for many other conditions and the researchers continue to explore all possible avenues using stem cells in medicine. We will go through some facts in order to familiarize with this complicated stem cell therapy.
What is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cell therapy is nothing but a set of techniques that aim to replace the damaged or destroyed cells because of a disease with the healthy functioning ones. The amazing techniques themselves are still relatively new but their benefits and applications are vast. Some of the diseases they can help include:
- Cancer
- Eye diseases
- Diabetes
- Parkinson’s disease
- Various injuries such as spinal cord
Types of Stem Cell that has been identified:
Adult stem cells:
This can be found throughout the body. Adult stem cells are found as unspecialized cells among the specialized cells in our tissues as well as organs and in umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood which is hematopoietic stem cells. In general, an adult stem cell can either divide in order to make more adult stem cells or else it can differentiate to produce some or all of the major specialized types of the cell of the tissue or the organ.
Induced pluripotent stem cells:
IPS – Induced pluripotent stem cells are generated by reprogramming the adult cells that have already differentiated into a specific cell, like a skin cell. Post the reprogramming, iPS cells will be able to develop into any specialized cell type in our body.
Human embryonic stem cells:
HESC – Human embryonic stem cells come from embryos that develop from the eggs which have been fertilized in vitro means, in a test tube or any another artificial environment. These Embryonic stem cells can develop into any specialized cell type in our body.
Types of Stem cell transplant:
- Autologous transplant
- Umbilical cord blood transplant
- Allogeneic transplantation: Ablative – high-dose chemotherapy, Reduced intensity – milder doses of chemotherapy
- Parent-child transplant and haplotype mismatched transplant
Pros of the stem cell therapy
- Offers a lot of medical benefits in the therapeutic sectors of regenerative medicine as well as cloning
- Shows great potential in the treatment of a plenty of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injuries, cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia, and many others
Stem Cell Therapy Researches
- Helps the researchers know more about the growth of human cells as well as their development
- In future, the research of stem cell can allow the scientists to test a number of potential drugs and medicines without even carrying out any test on the animals and humans. The drug just can be tested on a population of cells directly.
- This also allows researchers to study about the developmental stages which cannot be known directly through the human embryo as well as can be used in the treatment of a number of infertility problems, birth defects, and also pregnancy loss. This understanding will allow the treatment of abnormal development in the human body.
- This therapy puts into use the cells of the patient’s own body so that the risk of rejection can possibly be reduced since the cells belong to the same human body.
Your specialist will suggest an AUTO or ALLO transplant construct generally with respect to the malady you have. Different elements incorporate the soundness of your bone marrow and your age and general wellbeing. For instance, on the off chance that you have the malignancy or another malady in your bone marrow, you will most likely have an ALLO transplant. In this circumstance, specialists don’t suggest utilizing your own foundational microorganisms.
Picking a transplant is confused. You will require assistance from a specialist who specializes in transplants. So you may need to go to a center that does many undeveloped cell transplants. Your contributor may need to go, as well. At the middle, you converse with a transplant master and have an examination and tests. Prior to a transplant, you ought to likewise consider non-therapeutic medicines.
