In reality, stem cell therapy draws stem cells from your own body tissues — specifically from adipose, a fatty tissue found in your abdomen — and inserts these cells at the site of injury or diseased tissue to help facilitate regeneration and regrowth.
How can stem cells be used to repair damaged cells?
In stem cell transplants, stem cells replace cells damaged by chemotherapy or disease or serve as a way for the donor's immune system to fight some types of cancer and blood-related diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma. These transplants use adult stem cells or umbilical cord blood.
What are stem cells and how are they used to heal parts of the body?
Stem cells divide to form daughter cells, which become other stem cells or form other types of cells such as blood or bone cells. As a result of this flexibility, researchers have found that they can manipulate stem cells into different types of cells to heal, restore and renew damaged tissues and muscles in the body.
Should we use stem cells to cure diseases?
Stem cells may therefore be very useful as a therapy for diseases in which organs are damaged or where the immune system is too active. Some types of stem cells are already used for therapy, such as the hematopoietic (blood) stem cells, which are used for the treatment of bone marrow cancer.
What are the negative effects of stem cell therapy?
- Mouth and throat pain.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Infection.
- Bleeding and transfusions.
- Interstitial pneumonitis and other lung problems.
- Graft-versus-host disease.
- Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD)
- Graft failure.
Should we use stem cells?
Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.