Stem Cells Uses, Importance, and Potential Medical Applications by Dr. Stalin Ramprakash

So, in a way, stem cells are our body’s natural reservoirs that supply and stock specialized cells to function our body properly. You can understand the duty and importance of stem cells by knowing the fact that they produce roughly 1000,000 million new blood cells each day.

[Read : Everything You Need to Know About Stem Cells]

Stem Cell Research and Its Merits

So what are stem cells used for or why should we research them? The main motive behind stem cell research is to cure the damaged tissues and cells that cannot heal by themselves. And with its improvement, many patients with chronic diseases are finding hope for cures. Stem cell therapy can go simply from cell transplanting or directing them to develop into healthy, new tissue, up to coaxing the stem cells existing already in the body to work more and produce more new tissues.

Stem cells can be collected from embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics which are never implanted in the women’s uterus. More commonly, they are collected from the umbilical cord blood, bone marrow or mobilizing the stem cells from the marrow into the peripheral blood with help of growth factors and collected directly from the blood. So the stem cells of a healthy person’s bone marrow can become potentially curative for many different medical conditions of an ill person.

[Read : List of Diseases that can be Cured and Treated by Stem Cells]

Thus, the future of medical science relies upon researching what stem cells can do. And also to what extent they can cure or re-establish any tissue or organ.

Possible Medical Treatments by Stem Cell

Stem cells, as mentioned above, can cure a number of conditions, including degenerative diseases. Stem cell research has opened the doors to many other advantages as well:

1. Stem Cell Research Has Proven to be a Boon

The study and application of stem cells are important because they can help us understand how complex organisms develop from a fertilized egg. Birth defects and cancer are caused due to abnormal division of the cells. By studying the stem cells in the laboratory and witnessing their growth, one can understand genetics, molecular controls, and comprehend how such diseases occur.

2. BMT Helps Restore Blood Cell Types

BMT or Bone Marrow Transplantation, otherwise known as hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), is a tested and successful medical use of stem cells. Through the process of BMT, one can restore different blood cell types and repopulate the bone marrow after a high dose of radiotherapy or chemotherapy. This will work as our body’s natural defense to eliminate the cancer cells. It is also used for many defective bone marrow conditions, bone marrow failure, genetic blood disorders and inborn immunodeficiency states.

3. Treatment of Diseases

Soon diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s disease, type 1 diabetes, Mellitus, Huntington’s disease, cardiac failure, celiac disease, neurological disorders, muscle damage, macular degeneration etc will be treated positively by applications of embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The first research of implanting fetal cells for Parkinson’s disease has resulted in the survival of the dopamine-producing stem cells and the release of dopamine and an improvement in the patient’s clinical conditions. Researchers are now trying to eradicate the side effects and make stem cells more useful.

4. Treatment of Diabetes

Diabetes is a very common disease caused due to the abnormal metabolism of the insulin hormone. A cellular structure in the pancreas named Islets of Langerhans produces this insulin. Thus implanting stem cells that can create copies of pancreatic islets can help produce the necessary insulin to control diabetes. Recently, research on insulin-producing cells from a mouse’s stem cells has been done, which successfully creates cell structures that resemble pancreatic islets. With its successful transplantation in the human body, people can get relief from taking constant insulin injections in the near future.

5. Research Continues to Find Solutions and Cures

The application of stem cells can go to the extent of producing a large number of specialized cells to experiment with new medications without using a living body. This will reduce the almost cruel act of animal testing. For example, the potential anti-tumor drugs are now being tested on cancer cell lines.

[Read : Top 10 Stem Cell Banks in India]

Stem cells are necessary throughout our lifetime and have a lot to offer to medical science. But instead of knowing what stem cells do or what stem cells are used for, a few religious groups, anti-abortion groups, and some conservative people are protesting against it because, using cells from an embryo is, allegedly immoral as it destroys life. However, the majority can understand why stem cells are important for us. And thus the stem cell research gets passed by a 2-1 margin and is backed by the federal government despite all the controversies. This is a rapidly evolving area in medicine that has the potential to cure many hitherto untreatable conditions in future.

FAQ’s

1. Can Stem Cells Cure Juvenile Diabetes?

No, not yet. However, research is being done on this front. A solution is expected very soon.

2. Can I Extract My Stem Cells Now, For Future Use?

No, this is not possible. Stem cells have to be extracted at birth. These are the cells extracted from the cord blood.

3. Will My Child’s Stem Cells Match Me?

Yes, they can. A child’s stem cells can be a 50% match for their parents. It can even match their siblings.

4. Are There Any Side Effects to Treatments Using Stem Cells?

This is an on-going research. Stem cell therapy is being tested on many fronts. We will have to wait a while until we have more details about this type of treatment.

Read Also: List of Diseases that can be Cured & Treated by Stem Cells