Every day, millions of people test positive for diseases and ailments. Sometimes these diseases cause loss or damage to important cells in the body. When this happens, stem cells become important to replace damaged or destroyed cells. Stem cell therapy and treatment is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition.
Stem cells are basic cells that can develop into specialized types of cells. They have unique properties. Also, they can differentiate into diverse specialized cells through mitosis division.
Stem cells are biological cells that are usually found in most multicellular organisms. There are lots of things to know about stem cell therapy and treatment to improve your knowledge.
1. There are Different Stem Cells for Different Purposes
There are Adult Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Cord Blood Stem Cells, and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. These stem cells all have various purposes [1].
The Adult Stem cell found in both adults and children come from developed organs and tissue. These cells can self-renew without end to replenish dying cells. They also help to regenerate damaged tissue in the process.
The Embryonic Stem cell comes from early-stage pre-implantation embryos. They divide into more stem cells and can become other types of cells in the body.
Doctors harvest the Cord Blood Stem Cells from the umbilical cord after childbirth. They then freeze it for future purposes.
The Pluripotent Stem cell can produce new cells for any organ or tissue in the body. And can be made from someone’s skin.
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2. Useful for Treating Any Diseases
Stem cells can differentiate themselves. This allows them to treat the disease that causes the destruction of cells. These cells treat Parkinson’s disease, Diabetes, Leukaemia, and even menopause.
Stem cells replace damaged cells and empower the immune system to fight diseases. Patients with diseases receive stem cell treatment to help them.
3. The Stem Cell Treatment Lasts For Years
Stem cell treatment does not last for a few months, and then your condition returns. It can last for years and bring patients so much good health and happiness.
People who have undergone stem cell treatment have positive testimonies about their efficiency. Many patients also like stem cell therapy because it is less painful and has a high success rate. You can check with your doctor to see if you’re a suitable candidate for this kind of treatment.
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4. It’s Not Available in Some Parts of the World
Although stem cell treatment is a reliable treatment, not all countries allow it. There are places in the world that do not allow stem cell treatment for some reason.
Although some people travel to other countries to get this treatment and this is not illegal. Countries like the UK, the US, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, and South Korea allow it. Others like Germany, Italy, and Austria do not allow stem cell treatment.
5. Stem Cell Treatment is Very Expensive
Yes, stem cell treatment is, without a doubt, effective but very expensive. Stem cell treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars. In many countries, they are still not covered by insurance. Due to the high treatment cost, many people refuse to try it as they do not have enough money.
If you plan to try out stem cell therapy, then you must be ready to pay for it. You can get sponsorship or save for some time so you can do it.
6. You Can Keep Your Child’s Stem Cell
Every human has a stem cell. One of the types of stem cells is the Cord Blood Stem cell found in a newborn baby’s umbilical cord.
Parents can keep their newborn baby’s stem cells for future purposes.
To store this stem cell, you have to keep it frozen or put it in the hospital. When your child experiences cell damage in the future, those stem cells in the freezer will come in handy. Storing up children’s stem cells will save you plenty of money in the future.
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7. An Unproven Stem Cell Treatment Can Be Dangerous
Stem cell treatment help treats and prevents diseases. But, you mustn’t undergo an unproven stem cell treatment as it can be harmful. Going through an unproven stem cell treatment can cause complications.
Some people have even suffered new severe health problems. An unproven stem cell treatment also increases your treatment cost. Government and insurance companies don’t pay for experimental medical procedure costs. The treatment might be successful, but it is not advisable to risk it.
8. Not All Stem Cell Are Safe
Stem cells that come from your body are not always safe. There are various possibilities of contamination in stem cell procedures.
The use of a patient’s cells in a stem cell therapy or treatment is called an autologous transplant.
Contamination is possible after removal from the body. Some may carry viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens that could cause disease.
The location of a replaced cell is also important. For the best medical practices, doctors will inject the cells into the place they belong to.
9. Stem Cell Treatment Has Its Side Effects
Although stem cell treatment is effective and cures diseases, there are side effects. Nausea and vomiting, bleeding, Mucositis, Diarrhoea, and Pneumonitis are common.
Some patients have also complained of graft-versus-host disease, weight loss, and many more. Some of these side effects occur when the functions of the new cells are faulty [2]. The doctors can recommend antibiotics and other medicines to reduce the pain.
10. Embryonic Stem Cell Was Discovered Less Than Forty Years Ago
The Embryonic Stem Cell is one of the four types of stem cells. This stem cell was discovered in 1981 in mice. [3] Seventeen years after, scientists created a method to do the same with human embryos. They grew embryonic cells in laboratories.
An embryonic stem cell is an important part of stem cell therapy treatment all over the world. There is still more research going on to establish stem cell therapy in the mainstream.
