Stem cell transplants can be used to treat leukemia and lymphoma, replacing cells that have been damaged by the disease. The body contains trillions of cells. Stem cells stand out among cell cells because they are the only type of cell that replicates indefinitely and creates specialized cells that can repair damaged cells. Today, healthcare providers use stem cell treatments to control and sometimes cure blood cancers and blood disorders.
Medical researchers believe that stem cells have the potential to treat and possibly cure many other serious diseases. Stem cells hold great promise in helping us understand and treat a variety of diseases, injuries and other health-related conditions. Its potential is evident in the use of blood stem cells to treat blood diseases, a therapy that has saved the lives of thousands of children with leukemia, and can be seen in the use of stem cells for tissue grafting to treat diseases or injuries to bones, skin and the surface of the eye. Significant clinical trials are underway with stem cells to treat many other diseases, and researchers continue to explore new ways to use stem cells in medicine.
Explore our nine essential things to know about stem cell treatments. Currently, the only stem cell-based treatment routinely reviewed and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is hematopoietic (or blood) stem cell transplantation. It is used to treat patients with cancers and disorders that affect the blood and the immune system.
A stem cell or bone marrow transplant replaces damaged blood cells with healthy ones. It can be used to treat conditions that affect blood cells, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Scientists have learned to create certain types of specialized cells through a multi-step process using pluripotent stem cells, that is, embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells. When you need an allogeneic stem cell transplant, you'll need to go to a hospital that has a center specialized in transplants. Stem cell transplants for other types of cancer are being studied in clinical trials, which are research studies involving people.
Stem cells can be used to repair nerve damage that occurs in Parkinson's disease, and more recent research shows that therapy can help replace dopamine-producing brain cells destroyed by the disease. Then, after several weeks or months, you receive another round of high-dose chemotherapy followed by another stem cell transplant. This website offers many resources for patients and those looking for more information on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. The list of diseases for which stem cell treatments have proven to be beneficial is still very short.
The information on this page is intended to help you understand both the potential and limitations of stem cells right now, and to help you detect some of the misinformation widely disseminated by clinics offering unproven treatments. However, the health implications of the benefits of stem cell capsules are not well supported by scientific data. Some bone, skin, and corneal (eye) injuries and diseases can be treated with grafts or tissue implants, and the healing process depends on the stem cells contained in this implanted tissue. Stem cells can help replace missing or damaged beta cells, special cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
Once they enter the bloodstream, stem cells travel to the bone marrow, where they replace cells that were destroyed during treatment. Overall, stem cells have remarkable potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine and, therefore, pave the way for more effective treatment options. Stem cells are the only cells in the body that produce different types of cells, such as blood, bone, and muscle cells. Without manipulation in the laboratory, tissue-specific stem cells can only generate the other types of cells found in the tissues in which they live.
