Stem Cell Treatments are the newest and most exciting medical procedures – and are offered only overseas.
The dust has not settled on the debate of whether stem cells or embryonic cell therapies should be used in future medical therapies. This is among the hotly debated topics in the field of human genetics. Even so, Stem Cell Therapy emerges as a brilliant concept and a new approach to treating formidable diseases. Actually, it is an intervention strategy that is used in medical treatment to facilitate the regeneration of damaged cells.
Medical researchers believe that this medical breakthrough will help alleviate human suffering in the future. At the moment, further development in research is being made to explore ways in which this concept can be used beneficially to help the masses.
Since Stem Cell Research was restricted in the US, research continued, but was forced to continue abroad. There was no way that such exciting developments could be stopped!
Obviously, patients want access to the kind of treatment that makes organ growth, or treatment for incurable illnesses possible, and don’t want to wait years or decades for it to be approved in the US. On the other hand, patients do need to be aware that due to the early stage of research, sometimes the anecdotal can be incorrectly presented as evidence. Some treatments are untested, and others will not be effective for all patients. But in many cases, patients feel that the benefits far outweigh the risks.
In a nut-shell, the patient needs to be clear in their mind that Stem Cell Treatment is still in the clinical trial stage.
Here are just some of the areas where the promise of Stem Cell Treatment is becoming very exciting indeed:
Diabetes Stem Cell Therapy
According to a report by University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and seconded by Northwester university(Chicago) there is a high possibility that diabetes stem cell therapy injections can help reverse the progression of type 1 Diabetes. This follows a research by Dr Julio Voltralleli who successfully treated 15 patients using their own stem cells in 2007. Generally, researchers believe the cause of diabetes is within the immune cells, and a viable proposition is to eliminate the entire immune system and replace that with a new one created from stem cells. Although this may come as a milestone, on the other hand, some experts agree that the greatest challenge is timing and transplantation.
Adult Stem Cell Therapy
This emerges as one of the most successful scientific medical breakthroughs in modern times. In this process, adult cells are derived from different tissues in the human body and used in treatment. Various medical reports indicate that this form of therapy can mutate and transform into other cells and this increases their reproductivity and usefulness in medical treatment. In medicine, adult stem cells have been used to deal with challenging health conditions and degenerative diseases, with a considerable degree of success. The therapy has been instrumental in initiating repairs to damage or defective human tissues.
Embryonic stem Cell therapy
As the name suggests, embryonic stem cell therapy involves the use of cells derived from embryos in the blastocyst stage. Although there is on-going research on embryonic stem cells, this form of therapy is somewhat prohibited and limited. It has created more controversy than any other kind of cell therapy that is used in medicine. Unlike adult stem cells which have already been used successfully in patients to reverse debilitating illnesses, embryonic therapy is yet to be formally used on a wider scale. Researchers argue that embryonic stem cells can be used to treat formidable diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and even Alzheimer’s disease. Any breakthrough in research will help curb the proliferation of diseases which develop at infancy.
Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy
Cord blood is what remains on the baby’s umbilical cord at the time of birth. This blood is a great source of stem cells, which can be used in different medical treatments. It has been used for over two decades in transplant medicine to treat diseases such as leukaemia and other blood disorders. It is currently being used to regenerate damaged cells and tissues and on-going clinical trials in treating brain injury and cerebral palsy seem promising.
Stem Cell Therapy Heart
This form of therapy is fast gaining ground and will revolutionize treatment of cardiac disease. In this procedure, stem cells from the patients’ heart are used and this significantly improves the heart condition of the patient. Basically, the regenerating cells help rebuild damaged tissue in patients suffering from conditions such as coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, and cardiomyopathy.
Lastly, medical tourism presents a very affordable and effective way of accessing stem cell therapies and treatment. Currently, China and South Korea lead in the stem cell sector having made significant strides in this field of human genetics. Brazil also follows suit, and emerges as a reputable hub going by the runaway success of other medical procedures in the last few years.
