Stem Cell Therapy
The art of medicine is grown up to an extent where all the challenging diseases are now manageable and treatable. Stem cell is a treatment where the repaired cells or tissues are replaced with the stem cells. It can be one through Bone Marrow Transplants or infusing directly in the blood or taking it from the patient’s own system for self revamp.
What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are the foundation cells for every organ, tissue and cell of the body. Thus the developing embryo is the source of the first stem cell. Stems cells are the elementary cells of our bodies which are a class of undifferentiated cells that can develop and differentiate into any type of cell.
Stems cells migrate to injured areas within the body and get transplanted and transform themselves into new tissue cells that replace the damaged ones. These cells can form muscle cells, blood cells and nerve cells which cannot multiply themselves and have limited life spans.
Stems cells can multiply and renew themselves almost indefinitely. Stem cells from the bone marrow can develop into skin tissue, fat, nerve, brain, liver, as well as cardiac muscle. These cells are progenitor cells that lead to creation of new cells and are thus called as generative cells. Any of the blood cell types can be given rise by Haematopoietic stem cells that are found in the bone marrow.
Why it is done?
A stem cell therapy is a treatment that replaces or repairs a patient’s damaged cells or tissues by stem cells, or cells that come from stem cells. The stem cells might be planted into the blood, or directly immigrated into the damaged tissue, or even initiated from the patient’s own tissues for self repair.
A stem cell treatment can help to cure many diseases and one such is blood disorders, such as by killing cancer cells. In this type of stem cell treatment, the person will be given a heavy dosage of drugs with or without radiation therapy to kill the cancer kills. The doctor would than infuse the healthy stem cells into the body that has been collected earlier from the donor or from the same person when the body was healthy. These new stem cells that were infused migrate into the bone marrow and over time produce new healthy stem cells.
The stem cell treatment can help the person recover faster due to the healthy cells that is infused into the body and gives a big and great relief to the person.
Diseases treated with stem cells:
Risks of Stem Cell Treatment:
A stem cell treatment also poses risks and complications which depend upon the kind of diseases, type of transplant, age and the overall health factor of the person. Some people experience risks during the course of the treatment but few others develop after the treatment is completed. The types of risks associated are as follows;
The stem cell specialists will be able to explain in detail on the risks associated depending upon the disease and the treatment as it varies from people.
Care to be taken after the Stem Cell Therapy:
Even after days or weeks of the stem cell treatment, one has to have a close monitor with the progress of the body by undergoing various blood tests. Periodical visits to the doctor are always good so they are able to understand the progress and the medicines can be managed accordingly based on any complications that occur like nausea, diarrhea, etc.