Sunday, December 16, 2018

Stem Cell Research Facilities Claim Breakthroughs Are Just Around The Corner

By Martha Ward


Nobody will argue the fact that progress in the medical filed over the past few decades have been nothing but astonishing. Diseases that used to be a certain death sentence can now be managed and new medication can add years to the lives of very ill patients. And still research continue and there is no reason to doubt that scientists will conquer many more diseases in times to come. One such field of research that shows much promise is performed in stem cell research facilities.

Bone marrow transplants is not a recent discovery. It has been used for some years to treat patients suffering from various forms of blood cancer and other blood related diseases. In the past, however, marrow transplants were done to encourage the growth of new blood cells to replace those that were destroyed by the drastic intervention of chemo therapy. So far, results are mixed but specialists remain hopeful.

Bone marrow transplants are not curing any condition yet, least of all cancer. There are some indications, however, that they can add a significant number of years to the lives of seriously ill cancer patients. Researchers believe that further improvements are round the corner and that this technology will eventually be used to cure some forms of cancer. Progress is slow and actual testing of new theories on humans are still a few years away.

Researchers do not focus on the use of bone marrow transplants for curing cancer exclusively. An entire separate avenue of research are looking at the potential of this therapy to replace damaged brain cells. If this research ever bear fruit, damaged brain cells will be replaced with healthy ones after a transplant. In this way the debilitating effects of Alzheimers and physical injuries to the brain will be reversed.

Researchers have also got high hopes that these transplants will prove to be the answer to may different types of heart disease, also because it promotes the growth of new cells. This will be a major breakthrough, because heart disease remains one of the main causes of death everywhere in the world. It is hoped that damaged cells inside the hear will be replaced by new, healthy cells and blood vessels.

Bone marrow transplants remain a controversial topic. It has many enemies that say that this type of transplant is simply too dangerous to even contemplate. They say that there is no clinical evidence that it makes a difference. They also point out that the cells to be transplanted are routinely harvested from the umbilical cords of babies not yet born. This, they say, will open the doors to very serious human rights abuses.

Critics also say that researchers in this field are creating false expectations. They say that real results are still decades away but that researchers are raising funds for their work by making sponsors think that major breakthroughs are just around the corner. Then there is the fact that this type of therapy is extremely dangerous. It can actually kill patients rather than help them.

Everyone would welcome drastic new solutions to old problems. Every time that a single disease is defeated, it is a triumph for the medical field. Whether bone marrow transplants will be the next miracle cure or not remains to be seen. One can hope, however.




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