Many diseases and conditions such as cerebral palsy, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, autism, liver cirrhosis, spinal-cord injuries and strokes can be successfully treated with stem cells. Additionally, stem cells are known to rejuvenate ageing tissues and stem cell treatment is often used in anti-ageing. The benefit of a biotechnology such as using stem cells is plain for all to see. There have been literally thousands of people around the world who have been treated by skilled physicians with stem cell therapy. Many diseases that were once considered incurable seem to respond extremely well to stem cell treatments and have, in fact, managed to restore the quality of life for many people.
Stem cells can best be described as unspecialized cells that are capable of helping the body to repair itself. Should you be struck down with a specific disease or injury, stem cells provide a healing quality by multiplying and differentiating into certain specialized cells. However in order to complete the healing process they must be present in the body in sufficient numbers and must additionally receive the correct signals to heal an injury or cure a disease. You will actually find that the number of stem cells in the body also decrease as you get older. This will result in our body’s ageing however stem cell treatments and therapies are more than capable of rejuvenating this ageing tissue.
Stem cells have actually been used in various medical applications for over 40 years now. Hematological conditions such as leukemia use stem cells as their approved method of treatment. You will find that stem cells are actually capable of performing three very important functions and they have some very unique abilities. Firstly stem cells have the potential to change into various other cell types such as nerve cells. They are capable of actually homing in on and travelling directly to the site of damaged tissue. They are also capable of uniting with other tissues. This will basically mean that if a specific stem cell is injected into a patient who has a nerve disorder, the cell will automatically migrate towards the exact location of the injury. The reason this is possible is because stem cells are attracted by specific chemicals that are released by damaged tissue.
A stem cell will home in on a damaged area within the body and will fuse with the damaged tissue by a process known as engraftment. It will then become part of that same tissue and will display the properties of plasticity. Many stem cells that are injected into the body will not migrate or engraft and will travel directly to the bone marrow. They will simply store themselves here in your body’s blood cells until they are needed or called upon. Stem cells are more than capable of responding to signals from damaged tissue from the bone marrow.
Stem cell treatment is not looked upon as a cure. It is more than capable of rejuvenating damaged cells and tissues however this cannot be considered a guaranteed therapy. Results in different individuals will vary, but stem cell treatment has over an 80% success rate. Stem cell treatment is available for both outpatients and inpatients. As mentioned they are used to treat a whole host of conditions and these include, anti ageing rejuvenation, brain neural and neural tissue, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, lung disease, osteoarthritis, and many other conditions.
Stem cell treatments are not merely used in human beings but are also used for horses and dogs who suffer from certain orthopedic conditions. Stem cells have been used in therapy and for the surgical repair of certain types of fractures found in dogs and horses. They can also be used for ligaments and tendon injuries, osteoarthritis and osteochondrosis. The stem cell treatments for horses and dogs have been commercially available since 2003 in the United States and 2006 in the United Kingdom.
Stem cell treatments have also caused much controversy, especially in the use of embryonic stem cells. There is much opposition to the use of human embryonic stem cells in research however this is mainly based on philosophical, moral or religious beliefs. There are many alternative sources for stem cells that do not specifically require the destruction of an embryo. They can be found and used from the blood from an umbilical cord, milky teeth stem cells and bone marrow stem cells. These other methods are completely safe and efficient and therefore this does eliminate the need for using the extremely controversial embryonic stem cells.
Stem cell treatments are best known as a genetic medicine that is able to introduce new cells directly into damaged tissue. They literally have the potential to completely change the way that we view diseases and may even be able to eventually alleviate all suffering.
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