Biological diseases or disorders are a common occurrence in all living creatures. These biological diseases can vary in terms of severity. There are also many treatment methods which have been used to cure these biological diseases. Stem cell therapy is one such treatment method. In this treatment method stem cells are used to both prevent and cure any sort of biological disease or condition. There are many experts who believe that this treatment method can be the key through which many lives can be saved in the future. This is why many studies are being conducted all across the globe to understand this treatment method in a better manner. Some of the most interesting studies which are being carried out are actually trying to find the method through which stem cell therapy can be used to treat heart diseases, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. In this academic writing piece, readers will be able to learn more about this type of treatment and that information would further be used to judge whether this treatment method is really promising or not.
What is a Stem Cell?
A stem cell can be defined as the raw material of the body. This raw material is actually used by the body to generate other specialized cells which are used to perform certain functions within the body. If the conditions are correct then stem cells divide to form daughter cells. This can occur within the environment of the body or in a laboratory condition.
Once the division of the daughter cells takes place then, those daughter cells can either then become new daughter cells or go through the process of differentiation into specialized cells. Some examples of those specialized cells include brain cells, blood cells, bone cells, or heart muscle cells. It is important for readers to remember that no other cells in the human body have the capacity to generate new cells apart from the stem cells.
An Introduction to Stem Cell Therapy
The stem cell treatment method is used to prevent and cure various biological diseases and conditions. The most common and widely used type of stem cell treatment method is the bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow treatment method has been used by many individuals who are suffering from cancer such as lymphoma and leukemia. However, all of this doesn’t mean that there have been no controversies related to this treatment method. This treatment method has been traced back to the cause of many abortion controversies and human cloning. There is still a lot of interest in the stem cell treatment method. There are a number of reasons for that. And some of those reasons are:
- Understanding the Process through which Diseases Occur
Many researchers from all across the globe are spending a lot of time and resources to actually observe how stem cells grow and mature into heart muscles, bones, nerves, and other tissues and organs. This can help the doctors and researchers to gain a better understanding of how diseases and conditions develop in living beings.
- Replacing Diseased Cells with Health Cells
The process of generating healthy cells to replace the diseased cells is actually a vital part of regenerative medicine. The main idea behind this type of medicine is that stem cells can be guided to become specific cells. These cells can then be repaired or regenerate the diseased or damaged cells or tissues in individuals. This treatment method is especially useful for individuals who are suffering from type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injuries, stroke, burns, heart diseases, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and osteoarthritis.
- Testing the Safety and Effectiveness of New Drugs
It is a commonly known fact that new drugs need to be tested for safety and effectiveness before it can be rolled out to the general public. And one way through which researchers can test out those new drugs is through the use of stem cells. Stem cells can be programmed into specific tissue cells which can then be used to test the effectiveness and level of safety of the new drugs.
Things to Know About the Stem Cell Therapy
To truly understand whether stem cell treatments are really promising or not, it is important to learn about a few important facts related to this treatment method. And some of those facts are:
- The Number of Treatments Proves Safe and Effective
The stem cell treatment method is still rather new. And because of that, there are many treatment types which have not yet been proven safe and effective. Because of this, the list of medical diseases which this treatment can fix is still rather short. This is not to say that many experts, researchers, and medical professionals are not extremely hopeful about the stem cell treatment method. Experts still firmly believe that this treatment method adds something valuable to the world of medical science.
- The Real Risk of Unproven Treatments
When it comes to treatment methods which have not yet been proven safe and effective then, one often believes that there could be no possible harm in trying the medicine. However, this is an extremely negative attitude. This is because of the fact that there can be many potential negative effects of consuming a drug or undergoing a treatment method which has not yet proven to be safe and effective. And when it comes to stem cell treatment methods then there is a real risk of those unproven treatments. These risks certainly outweigh the potential positive benefits.
- The Different Stem Cells and their Purposes
It is a commonly known fact that a lot of research and efforts are required before rolling out a treatment plan which is both safe and effective. This is also true in the case of stem cell treatment. However, the only point of difference is that it gets way harder in this treatment method. As it was mentioned above, different stem cells have different functions to perform in the human body. Hence, these treatment methods become specific to functions and capabilities.
The Verdict
There are many types of medical diseases and this means that there are also different types of treatment methods. Each of these treatment methods has its own merits and demerits. This is also true for the case of stem cell treatment methods. There is obviously a long way to go for stem cell treatment to truly make a powerful impact in the medical industry. However, there is still a lot of hope left for this method of treatment. There are many promising studies going on all across the globe which can yield significant results. Hence, it can be concluded that stem cell treatment is a promising endeavor.
The Conclusion:
Stem cell treatment is a method is used to prevent or cure a biological disease. Stem cells can be considered as the raw material which is present inside the body of an individual. Stem cells are used by the body to develop other specialized cells which have specific functions. The most commonly known stem cell treatment method is the bone marrow treatment. A number of studies are being carried out all across the globe to gain a better understanding of how diseases develop and how those diseases can be treated effectively.