Thursday, 23 June 2016

Stem Cell Therapy May Become The Next Big Medical Breakthrough

By Betty Hayes


During the past few decades a number of new treatment methods and medicines have revolutionised the medical field. The development of penicillin and antibiotics are just two examples. Patients that were sure to die in the past can now be successfully treated. Of course, research continues unabated and large sums are spent on finding cues for many medical conditions. Stem cell therapy promises to be one of the biggest breakthroughs ever made.

This treatment method, also known as bone marrow transplants, is not new. However, for the past 30 years treatment has been limited to transplants for patients suffering from blood related cancers such as lymphoma and leukaemia. Chemotherapy, which is common for such patients kills everything, both the healthy and the diseased. Bone marrow transplants can help them grow new, healthy cells and strengthen their immune systems that were adversely affected by chemotherapy.

Transplants have proven life saving procedures for many cancer patients, but researchers say that, in the future, numerous other patients with a very wide variety of medical conditions will benefit. There are many experts that firmly believe that these procedures will prove to be among the most revolutionary medical advances ever. Already astonishing results have been achieved with animals in laboratory controlled experiments.

One area of research that shows much promise is the potential of bone marrow transplants to treat conditions that cause neuro degeneration, including Parkinsons and Alzheimer disease. There is also high hopes that patients with severe spinal cord injuries and brain damage will benefit from this procedure. It is even foreseen that it will be possible to reverse the devastating effects of strokes.

Using bone marrow transplants for treating various heart conditions is also very high on the priority list of researchers in this field. It is believed that it will eventually be possible to grow new blood vessels in the heart and to even replace damaged damaged tissue in the heart muscles. This will limit the need for dangerous and invasive open heart surgery but the availability of such revolutionary treatment techniques is still some years in the future.

Research in this field has many enemies. Some argue that it will lead to unethical medical practices because it is not only bone marrow that is used but also the blood from the umbilical cords of unborn babies. They also point out that patients are almost sure to die if their bodies reject the transplanted materials. The risks involved in the use of this technology are simply too high, they argue.

Critics also complain that researchers are overly optimistic about the potential uses for this technology and that they are misleading the public about the progress made thus far. They say that facilities that already offer this type of treatment raise false hopes in patients and that such treatments are nothing other than an indecent pursuit of profits.

Most experts agree that there is much work to be done. They insist, however, that eventually bone marrow transplants will prove to be a massive breakthrough in the treatment of conditions that can currently not be managed. One can only hope that they will be proved right.




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