Thursday, March 22, 2018

Stem Cell Treatment Centers Hold Great Promise

By Eric Davis


One can hardly comprehend the numerous advances that have been made in the field of medicine during the past few decades. Diseases and conditions that used to seen as a death sentence are now treated successfully. People live longer than before and there is no reason whatsoever to doubt that cures for many other diseases will eventually be found. One exciting development is stem cell treatment centers that may soon offer treatment for many dread diseases.

Bone marrow transplants have been in the news as a potential life saving breakthrough. However, these transplants have actually been performed for a number of years. Thus far the only beneficiaries were patients suffering from blood related cancers and that had to undergo chemo treatment. Bone marrow transplants are sometimes done in order to encourage the growth of new cells in the place of those destroyed by the chemo.

It is believed that bone marrow procedures play an important role in prolonging the lives of cancer patients, but they do not cure cancer. Researchers are hopeful that this situation will change and that transplants will be used to cure many types of cancer and many other diseases besides. Because of the dangers involved, progress in this field is painstakingly slow and human trials are still many years away.

Because the purpose of bone marrow transplants is to encourage the growth of new, healthy cells, scientists hope that this form of treatment will be effective in curing diseases and conditions that are caused by tissue or cell damage. They believe that it will become possible to reverse the damage caused to the brain by serious conditions such as Alzheimer and strokes. Other forms of brain damage may also one day be reversed.

The regeneration of tissue by growing new cells also raise high hopes that bone marrow transplants will one day be able to reverse damage done to the heart due to a variety of heart conditions. Heart diseases remains one of the major causes of death in developed countries. If bone marrow transplants truly succeed in treating some of these conditions, millions of patients will get a new lease on life.

All is not roses and sunshine, however. Research in this area has many enemies. There main concern is the fact that these transplants can use blood taken from the umbilical cords of babies yet to be born to substitute for real bone marrow. This, critics say, is an abomination that will lead to very serious abuse of human life, especially the lives of innocent infants not even born yet.

Critics also say that those involved in research into bone marrow transplants are creating false hopes among the general public. They point out that research is currently still in its infant shoes. Results of any value is still many years in the future. They accuse existing facilities of endangering the lives of their patients for the sake of profit.

Nobody can guarantee that bone marrow transplants will be the next medical breakthrough. The fact remains, however, that such a breakthrough would indeed have a significant effect upon the lives of many millions of people. One can but hope.




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