Stem Cell Therapy: The Process and Science Behind It
We have heard it in movies, we have seen it on the news. It has also been practiced for over thirty years but what exactly is stem cell therapy and why is there such a keen interest in it? Scientists believe that unlocking the power of stem cells can help solve the biggest factor that causes health deterioration. Disease. Now with the involvement of our biggest silent enemy ‘Covid 19’ we have realised how one small virus or disease can wreak havoc on the planet.
Understanding how diseases occur and how to replace it is the biggest equation which scientists, doctors and global research companies are trying to solve.
If you have not gotten into the details of it, we are here to simplify this for you.
Let us Understand the Basics, Shall We?
In layman’s terms, stem cell therapy is the process wherein stem cells are used to help treat or altogether prevent a certain disease or condition. Now before we go deeper, let us understand what stem cells are.
Stem cells are the raw cells in your body that can be used to further develop many different types of cells in the body. This can be done both within the individual’s body and can be acquired from donors. Your raw cells come to be of invaluable use when they are put under ideal conditions in a laboratory or your body where they can further divide to create more cells which are also known as daughter cells.
These cells have the potential to act as a repair system for the body against several health issues. While Stem cells have several sources, they mainly come from, ‘embryonic stem cells’ which are derived from embryos before the process of implantation occurs and ‘adult stem cells’ which are found in minimal numbers in bone marrow or fat which is a part of adult tissues.
What is Stem Cell ‘Therapy’?
Stem cell therapy is also referred to as regenerative medicine. In this process stem cells are first taken through a process of ‘apheresis’. Scientists then place these stem cells in a lab in ideal conditions for the process of growth. Through the right influence, these cells transform into specific types of cells. Depending on what kind of disease a person is suffering from, stem cells are first transformed into those types of cells and then implanted into a person.
A great example would be that from mayoclinic.org where they have further explained,
“If the person has heart disease, the specialized cells could be injected into the heart muscle. The healthy transplanted heart muscle cells could then contribute to repairing defective heart muscle. Researchers have already shown that adult bone marrow cells guided to become heart-like cells can repair heart tissue in people, and more research is ongoing.”
Take Away
Stem cell therapy, which is also known as regenerative medicine, is one of the most sought out after research areas in the pharma industry and is one of the important breakthroughs that mankind has discovered. While it does come along with controversies concerning its usage of embryonic stem cells, which scientists are working hard towards changing and finding alternatives, stem cell therapy does come with a very promising bit of pros as well which with time will only increase and create greater breakthroughs.
In fact, Mankind will see a different level of treatment options for major debilitating diseases including CNS disorders which otherwise is considered incurable which will in turn change the future of the medical world.
Stallion Market Research is a global business research company, offering end to end market research and consulting services. Our market research reports contain details related to Product Portfolio Analysis, Market Forecast, Revenue analysis, Market Analysis and Segmental Analysis.