Numerous individuals are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of stem cell therapy due to the coverage on the news. You have most likely wondered if stem cells could help you or your family with a medical issue or disease, exactly what stem cells are and how the therapy works. Stem cells are the master cells of your body. They are considered to be a type of raw material because all of your other special function cells are generated by your stem cells. When the circumstances in a laboratory or in your body are right, your stem cells will divide. This results in the formation of more cells referred to as daughter cells. These new cells can either self-renew and become brand new cells or become special cells created to perform a specific function. This includes bone cells, heart muscle cells, brain cells, and blood cells.
The only cells in your entire body capable of generating new cells are stem cells. This ability is natural and potentially capable of helping with numerous conditions such as type I/II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, severe burns, arthritis, and Parkinson’s disease. Physicians and researchers are studying stem cells to understand diseases, their progression and how to find cures. The way stem cells mature into tissue, organs, heart muscle, bones, and nerves may be the answer to understanding the developmental process of medical conditions and diseases. When a diseased cell is replaced with a healthy cell, it is known as regenerative medicine. It is possible to guide the stem cells into becoming certain types of cells capable of repairing and regenerating damaged or diseased tissues in human beings.
The individuals with the most to potentially gain from stem cell therapy have an injury to their spinal cord, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, serious injuries to joints and tendons, osteoarthritis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, serious knee issues, heart disease, certain types of cancer, burns, or diabetes. Stem cells have the natural potential to completely change regenerative medicine because these cells can be grown as new tissue. This tissue can then be used for regenerative medicine and transplants. Research is advancing continuously and fairly quickly because of the tremendous difference these cells can make in the quality of life all over the world. Stem cells are currently being tested in new areas and applications.
According to the latest research, stem cells can be used for the testing of new drugs for effectiveness and safety. Prior to using people to test investigational drugs, these drugs can be tested for quality and safety using certain types of stem cells. The majority of medical professionals now believe this kind of testing will have a tremendous impact on the development of numerous drugs including those used to test cardiac toxicity. New studies are being conducted regarding the effectiveness of stem cells programmed into cells specific to tissues for the testing of new drugs. The programming of these cells is in direct relation to the properties of the cells the drugs are targeting. This ensures accuracy during the testing. As time passes, more and more new techniques for the programming of specific cells is increasing.
A good example is testing new drugs by generating nerve cells. The test can show if the new drug had a positive impact on nerve diseases, the impact of the cells and if any of the other cells were harmed in any way. There are different sources for stem cells. At Zormeier Cosmetic Surgery & Longevity Center, we use stem cells harvested from adipose (fat) tissue.
During the past, the belief of the medical community was adult stem cells were only capable of creating similar cell types. A good example is cells harvested from bone marrow were believed to only provide blood cells. The evidence from the latest research has shown this is false. Adult stem cells have the potential to create a wide variety of different cell types. Researchers now believe both heart muscle cells and bone cells can be created from the stem cells found in bone marrow. This belief has resulted in more clinical trials being conducted. Although these trials are still in the earlier stages, the available results show stem cell therapy may be extremely effective, safe and useful for the treatment of numerous medical conditions and diseases in people, including heart and neurological diseases.
When the genes contained in the adult cells are altered, the cells can be reprogrammed by the researchers to act a lot like embryonic stem cells. Researchers have been using this new technique to use reprogrammed cells as opposed to embryonic cells to stop the immune system from rejecting the new stem cells. At this point in time, there have been no adverse effects resulting from this technique. Typical connective tissue cells have been taken and reprogrammed by medical researchers to perform as functioning heart cells. The new heart cells were injected into animals suffering from heart failure. The results of the animals injected showed an improvement in both survival time and heart function. The current expectations are this technique has enormous future potential for humans.
Stem cells are the natural raw material of the body. Other cells with specific roles are generated by these cells. Under certain conditions in the body or in a lab, the cells will split. This results in the creation of more daughter cells. These cells transform into stem cells through differentiation or self-renewal. These new cells than fill a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, or heart muscle. A wide variety of sources for stem cells have been discovered by researchers.
There are a lot of individuals suffering from chronic conditions that do not want to have reconstructive surgery. Stem cell therapy offers a viable option in many instances due to the progress made over the past couple of decades. Researchers have discovered numerous ways to use this treatment for common chronic conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. The latest and most innovative methods are used to help ensure people can live without pain and limitations. There has been so much research performed on stem cells, new breakthroughs are starting to occur at a fairly steady rate. This type of treatment offers a wide range of benefits. Regenerative medicine is about using stem cells to encourage diseased, injured, and dysfunctional tissue to respond.
Researchers are now capable of growing stem cells in a lab. These cells can be effectively manipulated to become specialized cells such as muscle cells, blood cells and nerve cells. These cells can be implanted in an individual with heart disease by a medical professional. The injection is given directly into the heart muscle to help the muscle regenerate. The therapy is fairly quick and performed on an outpatient basis.
The Procedure for Stem Cell Therapy
This type of therapy is a minimally-invasive procedure effective for back pain, soft tissue pain and joint pain. The process begins when the growth factors and adult stem cells are collected for the procedure. The most commonly harvested stem cells come from the adipose cells in the lower abdomen. This enables the medical professional to collect a large quantity of stem cells.
The cells from the adipose tissue are directly injected into the area that has been affected. This includes the joints in the shoulders, knees, mid back, lower back, soft tissue and hips. Either ultrasonic guidance or live x-rays are used during the procedure. This treatment only uses the natural stem cells from the individual being treated. This is an effective and safe procedure for enabling the body to heal using natural means. The odds for a successful outcome are higher when the procedure is performed sooner. This being said, there have been excellent results from individuals who chose to wait until they needed back surgery or a complete joint replacement prior to having this therapy.
The Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy
Regenerative medicine with stem cell therapy offers a wide variety of benefits. Some of the most common are described below.
• When an individual has a cardiovascular illness, their heart tissue is often deprived of oxygen. This causes scar tissue to form, altering their blood flow or blood pressure. The latest research shows stem cells derived from bone marrow can repair the heart and blood vessels because it secretes several different growth factors.
• There has been progress made in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. When adult stem cells are transplanted, they help form new brain cells, neurons and synapses after cognitive degeneration and brain injuries.
• Stem cells can help wounds and incisions heal by enhancing collagen production, promoting healthy new skin tissue growth, substitute healthy new tissue for scar tissue and stimulate the development of new hair after a loss or incisions.
• This therapy is being used as a newer option for individuals with debilitating and severe autoimmune diseases such as lupus and arthritis. An autoimmune disease causes the immune system to start attacking healthy organs, cells and tissues. This therapy can help with these conditions, is minimally invasive and offers a minimum recovery period.
• This therapy can also be effective for individuals with orthopedic conditions causing discomfort such as injuries related to sports and spine disease. The therapy takes the underlying sources causing the pain into account while providing the opportunity for lasting relief and healing.
If you are interested in stem cell therapy, please consider visiting Zormeier Cosmetic Surgery & Longevity Center to learn more. We are conveniently located in Noblesville, Danville, Shelbyville, and Healdsburg. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!
