In order to discover the ways for the remedy of diseases, studies in therapeutic approaches have been doing widely and kept increasing at accelerated pace. A lot of research areas had emerged for that purpose including one of the most fascinating and highly active areas at present, stem cells therapies. Due to self-renewal property and differentiation capability of stem cell, it becomes a new hope in modern treatment.
The first successful case of stem cell therapy in human was reported in 1959. Bone marrow restorations were observed in leukemia patients who received total body irradiation subsequent by intravenous injection of their twins’ bone marrow (Thomas et al, 1957). Nevertheless, that effect was transient and the following bone marrow transplantation attempts in non-twin patients and donors can eventually lead to patient’s death from graft-versus-host disease (Mathé et al, 1965). During that time, the safety of hematopoietic cells transplantation was not guaranteed because of the limited knowledge in human histocompatibility and immunosuppression. However, the turning point came after the discovery of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) groups (Dausset, 1958; van Rood et al, 1958), HLA typing and compatibility testing were performed prior to the transplantation. In addition, the improvement of immunosuppressive protocol also helps bringing the bone marrow transplantation to become more and more successful (Donnall and Hutchinson, 1999).
Although the success rate of hematopoietic stem cell therapy was great, patients’ mortality still happened as a result of some factors. Besides from graft-versus-host disease which have previously mentioned, infection contributes for most cases of patient death (Kernan et al, 1993). In allogen...
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...there are some risk factors in using stem cell for therapeutic approaches, hematopoietic stem cell therapy by bone marrow transplantation has already been proofed to be safe if donors’ background and screening, cell contamination, HLA matching and opportunistic or nosocomial infections during immunocompromised period were carefully monitored and controlled. Still, other types of stem cell therapies, despite of their good therapeutic efficacy, are remain in experimental stage and need more data to support and demonstrate the safety in clinical trials. More understanding of stem cell biology is also required in order to keep stem cell under controlled and avoid some complications that they might cause. So, to pave the way for successful stem cell therapy, research in this extent is needed to pursue to maximized therapeutic efficiency with highest safety in patients.
... it, which destroys all healthy bone marrow in the body. As a result of this, the patient will have to undergo a process to replace all deteriorated or damaged bone marrow. This process involves taking the stem cells from a donor and transplanting them into the patient’s body, so that the patient will transform these stem cells into bone marrow. Bone marrow can also be a complication for the body if it escapes into the blood stream. If the bone marrow enters the blood stream, it can travel throughout the body, and cause serious complications. This is a condition referred to as fat embolism, and mainly occurs after serious trauma or surgery to lower limbs. There is not a specific diagnosis or treatment for this; it is mostly based on the patient’s condition or symptoms. Bone marrow can be a very dangerous thing if it has any type of complications within the body.
As the healthcare field continues to grow and evolve at an accelerated rate, new and advanced technologies are sprouting up everyday and becoming increasingly commonplace. A technology that has garnered both positive and negative attention is transplanting stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells refer to the body's blood forming blood cells (American Cancer Society, 2013). Here is some background information on these types of stem cells. These cells are young and immature.
“Through the isolation and manipulation of cells, scientists are finding ways to identify young, regenerating ones that can be used to replace damaged of dead cells in diseased organs. This therapy is similar to the process of organ transplant, only the treatment consists of the transplantation of cells rather than organs. The cells that have shown by far the most promise of supplying diseased organs with healthy cells are called stem cells.” (Chapter Preface)
Research by Hotchkiss, Monneret, & Payen’s (2013) has revealed that sepsis is an immunosuppressive disorder, therefore patients can benefit from immunostimulatory therapies used to treat those who have lowered immune systems. Accordingly, focusing on boosting the immune system has been shown to decrease mortality in patients (Hotchkiss et al. 2013). Hotchkiss et al. (2013) announces that while these statistics are encouraging, the mortality rate is still considered high and further research and techniques are needed in order to continue the downward trend. Hotchkiss et al. (2013) states that it is unclear why some patients survive sepsis and others do not recover. Until the true cause of death in sepsis is understood, the best course of action is prevention, early detection, and immune system support.
Because stem cells are essentially a blank slate, scientists are theoretically capable of growing any human tissue cell. There is enormous medical potential in this. Stem cell research is the next step in advancing the medical field. It is comparable to the discovery of penicillin or the inoculation for smallpox.
Stem cell research began in 1956 when Dr. E Donnall Thomas performed the first bone marrow transplant (“Adult stem cells are not more promising,” 2007). Since that time, research has evolved into obtaining cells from a variety of tissues. According to stem cell research professors, Ariff Bongso and Eng Hin Lee (2005), “Stem cells are unspecialized cells in the human body that are capable of becoming cells, each with new specialized functions” (p. 2). Stem cells are in various adult tissues, such as bone marrow, the liver, the epidermis layer of skin, the central nervous system, and eyes. They are also in other sources, such as fetuses, umbilical cords, placentas, embryos, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are cells from adult tissues that have been reprogrammed to pluripotency. Most stem cells offer multipotent cells, which are sparse...
Stem cells are a type of unspecialized cells that can revive themselves through the process of cell division (Abdel-Salam and Oma, 2011). They have a phenomenal potential to differentiate into other specific cell types in a living organism. These cells can also be activated to turn into organ-specific cells or tissues with defined activity but only under specific experimental set-up. Stem cells have the ability to remain as they are or divide further to renew deteriorated and damaged tissue cells. Recently it has been discovered that stem cells can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but still a lot of clinical trials are being conducted to find a specific government approved treatment.
Imagine that there is a cure for nearly every ailment that affects the human race. Imagine that you could help the terminally ill, put those you love out of pain, and cut the healing time of an enormous number of serious illnesses in half. Imagine a world in which pain and suffering would be nearly nonexistent, and the people you love can live safe from the fear of crippling injury. Now what if I told you that this utopia was a fast approaching reality? Everything from serious life threatening burns to lymphoma, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, and Strokes could, in the very near future, be eliminated through the simple culturing and implementation of stem cell therapy . These diseases are no small component of the myriad of conditions that plagues the human race, and yet, the end for these horrible maladies could very well be in sight. Man has always sought to end suffering, largely without success, until now. the promise that stem cell therapy holds could completely change our world for the better. Already, stem cell therapy is being used to treat leukemia, immune disorders, hodgkins and non-hodgkins lymphoma, anemia and a profusion of other ailments. As you all know, this is no small accomplishment. One day i believe that we may look at alzheimer's and diabetes and other major illnesses much like we look at polio today, as a treatable illness. Right now, our research with stem cells is providing us with new light into how we look at and model disease, our ability to understand why we get sick and even to develop new drugs. In 2008, a researcher from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Laborato...
Stem cells are an ongoing research project in which new discoveries are being made about them, and researchers are learning how to use them in new ways. The three current kinds of stem cells all prove to have their own challenges when it comes to using them. The important thing is finding out which stem cell is right for the patient and how much of an ethical concern there is when it comes to using the stem cell. As we learn the best way to use them and they become more popular in the medical field, stem cells will become a new weapon in the fight against certain diseases.
“Top Ten Things to Know About Stem Cell Treatments.” Www.closerlookatstemcells.org ISSCR. Web 1 November 2013
The wide range of prospective uses for stem cells could greatly improve the health and wellbeing of many people. In stem cell treatments, undifferentiated cells are programmed to form specific cells, which can then be transplanted to the afflicted area. Stems cells can possibly treat afflictions including “Alzheimer’s diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis” (“Stem Cell Basics”). Another important use is in drug testing. Drugs can be tested on stem cells that develop into the target tissue before using it on human test subjects, which improves safety. Finally, transplantation of organs created from stem cells could eliminate the need for human...
Eggleson, K. E. (2012). Stem Cell-Based Therapies: Promises, Obstacles, Discordance, and the Agora. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 55(1), 1-25.
Doctors now have three sources of stem cells available to them: bone marrow, mobilized bone marrow or peripheral blood, and umbilical cord blood. Bone marrow has traditionally been used as a source of stem cells, but research is proving that cord blood may be an excellent alternative source. Cord blood can be utilized for the treatment of many diseases, including leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and Hodgkin's disease. The first successful cord blood transplant took place in 1988 when a newborn's cord blood was used in a life saving stem cell transplant for her older brother .
...matopoietic compartment using integrating vectors particularly need to understand genotoxicity risks in relation to the risks of conventional bone marrow transplantation. A QPL could direct them to ask questions about risk, benefits and survival rates following transplantation at local centres; the prognosis of patients in the different haematopoietic gene therapy trials; the number and status of patients that developed leukaemia in the SCID-X1 gene therapy trials; and whether there are any differences between the proposed vector and the vector used in the SCID-X1 trial and any possible safety developments. This kind of guidance may help patients understand both what is known and unknown about specific applications of gene therapy.
Stem Cells and Healing: Impact on Inflammation: William J. Ennis,1 " 2' * Audrey Sui, 2 and Amelia Bartholomew3.