STEM CELL THERAPY

MESENCHYMAL STEM CELL

Stem cells are the cells from which all other cells are born. They are assigned to certain cell types (maybe muscle cells, or bone cells, or blood cells, for example), and create the “specialized” cells within those cell types. However, these specialized cells cannot divide and replicate, meaning they need the stem cells to create more of those blood cells, organ cells, brain cells, etc, as they die. This means stem cells are infinitely valuable and necessary to your health as the only cells that can create new cells.

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On a daily basis, your cells are constantly dying and being replaced. Even as you sleep, stem cells are working to replace old and dying cells. When you suffer an injury, many cells die at once. In an ideal world, stem cells would regenerate those specific cells lost in an injury until everything was the same as before. Unfortunately, this isn’t what usually happens.

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If you were to get a deep cut or a burn, your body has specialized cells called fibroblasts that begin to try to heal the wound as quickly as possible. For reasons we don’t completely understand, the fibroblasts create an unusual formation of the collagen in a way that lacks elasticity and is weaker than normal collagen formation in many regards. This is true for scarring that takes place inside the body as well.

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When scarring happens, stem cells struggle to access the place of injury and cannot heal the way they would like. However, in cases where stem cells can be injected into the injury site before scarring takes place, true healing can happen. Because our bodies cannot make an endless number of stem cells, injecting them from the outside can provide the extra boost the immune system needs before the body is able to finish the scarring process.

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A stem cell treatment, or stem cell transplant, is a procedure in which stem cells are injected (intravenously, through a lumbar puncture, etc) into the body to encourage healing that the body is incapable of performing on its own. While stem cells can be harvested from many places, including bone marrow, fat, and blood, we use umbilical cord Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells (WJ-MSCs). There are a number of important reasons why we use these stem cells.

Firstly, as the connection between mother and baby, this cord is often thrown away as medical waste after a child is born. However, stem cell research shows that these cells are highly potent, making them more effective and therefore highly valuable. Their potency is likely because they are new cells left over after the birth of healthy babies. Another strong draw for umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells is that they have multiple types of stem cells that can create many different kinds of cells needed by the body. This variation can treat a wide variety of problems in the body.

In terms of safety, umbilical cord blood and tissue-derived stem cells are adult somatic stem cells, which are safe for use and do not cause cancerous growth. Embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, are stem cells that exist during pregnancy and prenatal growth. Embryonic stem cells can easily grow out of control and cause tumors. It is important not to receive embryonic stem cell-derived treatment until further stem cell research is done to learn how to control them.

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Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells are also an excellent option because they have very low immunogenicity. This means that when they are injected into the body, the body does not immediately recognize them as foreign enemies. Umbilical cord-derived stem cells do not contain the mature immune cells that could trigger the potentially deadly graft versus host disease (GVHD), which can often be a problem in bone marrow transplants. Our patients have never had strong immune reactions as a result of treatment.

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Feel free to contact us for more information regarding stem cell-based treatment, your condition’s eligibility for stem cell therapy, or anything about treatment program and facilities.