Stem Cell Therapy - Essay Example

Stem cells are capable of self regeneration and replicating itself, therefore giving birth to new generations with varying traits. The replication capabilities of these cells have the potential to replace the degraded areas of the body where diseases and injuries are located. The method of this new treatment is foreseen to be very effective due to the body’s tendencies to reject and experience side effects. One of the many forms of stem cell treatment is the Allogeneic Hematopietic Stem Cell Transplantation used as the main therapy practiced in hematologic malignancies.

One of the more specific forms is the Myeloablative Hematopietic Stem Cell Transplantation found to be cure children with sickle cell disease. However, the same method proves to be disproportionately toxic to adults. (Naganska, 2009)2 Stem cell therapies are also used to treat myotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is a neurodegenerative disease. The characteristics of this disease is the loss of motor neurons found in the spinal column, motor cortex as well as the brain stem which results to the dramatic reduction of a patient’s life span.

It usually leads to the death of the patient, caused ultimately by respiratory failure that can happen between two to five years into the disease. This is one of the major challenges in the field of medicine, despite the vast researches in neurobiological sciences, as well as molecular and genetic researches. The introduction of stem cell therapy was accepted with optimism to regenerate the cells of patients in order to not only prolong the lives of the patients, but also to cure the disease altogether.

One of the most common diseases known to us as a leading cause of death all over the world is heart failure. Though medicinal methods have been able to sustain and prolong the lives of the patients, no actual cure has been introduced to totally remove the cause of the problem. Researchers are optimistic with the results of some laboratory experiments together with some clinical tests that cellular intervention can possibly improve the cardiac functions, by regenerating the cardiac itself. (NIH, 2009)3 It has been found that progenitor cells derived from the bone marrow as well as other similar progenitor cells that may be found in various parts of the body can make the distinction into vascular types of cells that would result to restoration of the blood flows.

Recent findings proved that local cardiac stem cells exhibited differentiation, transforming into multiple cell types that are found in the heart. This recent finding is indicative that the heart is not that different. Stems cells are unique from the other cell found in the body. They have three common characteristics, and the source as to where the stem cells were harvested will not affect thes characteristics. Stems cells are capable of self renewal and dividing for over long periods of time.

Secondly, stem cells are not specialized and lastly, they are capable of yielding specialized cells types. (Naganska, 2009)4 Initially, when researchers conceptualized the experiments, they tried it with an adult mouse by injecting stems cells into the muscle of the left ventricular wall of the mouse’ heart. They also tried injecting a human adult’s bone marrow stem cells into the tail vasculature of the mouse. They discovered that stem cells aid in the