Stem cell therapy is a regenerative treatment option that uses body's own or donor stem cells to repair damaged tissues and treat diseases. Stem cells have the ability to become specialized cells like the heart, nerve or blood cells for regeneration. FDA has approved its use in treatment of blood cancers and there's ongoing research for diabetes, heart disease and neurological conditions.
The goal of stem cell therapy or treatment is the clinical application that uses stem cells to manage or treat medical conditions. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can develop into different cell types like bone, muscle or nerve cells. The goal of this therapy remains leveraging the regenerative abilities of stem cells to help remove the damaged target tissues to manage diseases and injuries.
Here's what the treatment includes:
- Collection of stem cells from the donor (could be the patient's cells too): This includes gathering these cells from the bone marrow, umbilical cord blood or even lab-grown sources.
- Processing the cells to get the specific cell types through isolation, concentration and manipulation in a lab (when needed).
- Transplantation of the processed cells to the damaged area through injection or infusion.
- Regeneration of the transplanted cells happens in the body where they grow and differentiate into target tissue or cell - promoting natural healing.
The therapy is mainly used for treating blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, severe anemia. The use of this therapy for other conditions is still under research with progress in heart diseases, neurodegenrative conditions like Parkinson's, diabetes and even autoimmune diseases.
Types of Stem Cells
There are mainly three types of stem cells that are used:
- Hematopoietic Stem Cells or HSCs which are found in bone marrow, cord blood and can form all types of blood cells like the RBCs, WBCs and platelets.
- Mesenchymal Stem Cells or MSCs which come from bone marrow, dat and help with tissue repair and have anti-inflammatory effects.
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells or iPSCs which are created in the lab using reprogrammed adult cells. They can become any cell type.
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