alzheimers

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Recommended: Alzheimer's introduction

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. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. The very first stages of Alzheimer’ include symptoms like confusion and using the right words while talking. As it gets on to later stages symptoms like loss of memory and mood swings start to appear (Begley et al., 2001). Any sort of stem cell treatment is not available to Alzheimer’s patients yet as researchers are still conducting new experiments. There are multiple neurons that get damaged by Alzheimer’s which makes the problem even more complex and different approach needs to be followed every time a clinical trial is conducted. One approach that the researchers are following includes transplanting few neural stem cells from the brain of a normal person into the brain of patient suffering from Alzheimer’s (Abdel-Salam and Omar, 2011). Through this the researchers hope that patient’s brain will start making healthy neurons but even if the transplantation is successful there is no guarantee that the symptoms will reduce as during Alzheimer’s many areas of the brain get damaged (euros... ... middle of paper ... ...he fact that scientists can use it to understand what causes tangles and plaques in the brain of the patient and to discover new treatment drugs (Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2005). This approach can be very helpful for doctors and clinicians to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease but this disease varies a lot in each patient and they all might have a different cause of the disease (Begley et al., 2001). Many companies have started to offer stem cell treatment for this disease however there is no evidence that it is an effective and safe treatment. A lot of scientists are considering the fact that one day stem cells will help cure and treat Alzheimer’s disease in another way sooner than the advancement of potential stem cell transplant therapy. Using stem cells taken from Alzheimer’s patient new treatments can be developed and it is a growing field of research.

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