Stem Cells: The New Medicine Medical Research Has Provided

June 8, 2015

Stem Cells: The New Medicine

Stem cell research has been conducted for many years. With stem cells we can now have a better understanding of how organisms that are complex develop from something simple as a fertilized egg. In a laboratory setting, researchers are able to follow up the process of stem cells division into specialized cells that make up the brain, bone and skin as well as other types of cells.

The process involves identifying mechanisms and signals that determine whether or not a stem cell will differentiate into something complex. Understanding will help us understand which processes control the normal cell and organ development.

The stem cell research has been triggered for years by development of serious medical conditions such as birth defects and cancer which often are as a result of abnormal growth and development of cells. Wen cells do not mature, divide and differentiate as they should then conditions such as cancer are likely to develop. A better understanding of molecular and genetic controls of the process of cell division and differentiation will yield more information as to why these conditions come to be and in the process new approaches can be sort. This is an important goal in research on stem cells.

What is a stem cell?

A stem cell is basically a cell that has not reached maturity and one that can potentially become specialized into different cells types in the boy for the formation of different body organs. Stem cells exist in two types: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells come to be during division of a newly fertilized cell. When these stem cells divide, they are differentiated to become any type of cell in the body that is required for the formation of different body organs as the foetus develop in the womb.

Adult stem cells on the other hand are very different from embryonic stem cells. These types if stem cells are found I already developed tissues. They are therefore found in both children and infants. These stem cells are not developed or a fertilized egg but are found later when different tissues have already developed. These types of stem cells act like replacement cells. This means that they undergo division regularly in order to replace worn out, dead or lost cells. They are specialized to take the place of cells that have been lost or those that have died. Adult stem cells can be found in tissues of the body such as blood, brain, bone, skin and muscle. N as much as research on stem cells has been going on for long, the research has not been able to yield much result due to the inability to develop and differentiate these cells in a laboratory setting.

The medical breakthrough in stem cells research

As seen much earlier, stem cells are immature cells that have the tendency to develop and specialize into any type of cells. This being the case, researchers have tried to use stem cells in understanding and dealing with medical conditions such as birth defects and different types of cancers like leukemia. Because stem cells can be specialized into any type of cells they have the potential of treating disease and other disorders.

Today stem cells research procedures are used life-saving options for patients suffering from lymphoma, leukemia, some types of tumors and other disorders of the blood.

stem cells

Bone marrow transplant: For many years bone marrow transplant has been used tin treatment of diseases like leukemia. Bone marrow transplant involves removal of a donors bone marrow stem cells and replacing them with those of a sick patient. If the procedure proves successful, the bone marrow form a healthy donor migrates into the bone marrow of the patient. The healthy bone marrow will then begin producing healthy white blood cells which will end up replacing the abnormal cells in the patient. His s one of the major breakthroughs in stem cells transplant hat has seen many leukemia patients get a second chance.

Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs): naturally may of the blood stem cells are fund n he bone marrow, however a small number of these can be found n he blood stream. The process of obtaining stem cells from the bone marrow is usually a difficult process. Since stem cells are also resent in the blood, they can be obtained with ease form drawn blood making the process of obtaining stem cells easier. The only problem is that, stem cells in the blood stream exist sparsely in the blood stream which can prove difficulty while trying to extract enough of them for a transplant.

Umbilical cord stem cells transplant: the umbilical code s normally discarded as a waste product of the process of birth. However research shows that the blood found in the umbilical cord is rich in stem cells. These can be harvested and used to treat patients of cancer and other conditions of cell defects. These stems cells have been used to treating the same conditions as those treated by stem cells of the bone marrow and PBSCs.

Stem cells transplant is proving to be a promising approach to health conditions such as lymphoma and leukemia. You can tap into these benefits. Dr. Dalal Okoury is an expert in integrative medicine. Don’t also forget to attend the Integrative Addiction Conference 2015. The conference will provide a once in a lifetime opportunity of approaches to identifying and treating patients of addiction. Visit http://www.integrativeaddiction2015.com for more information about the addiction conference.

Stem Cells: The New Medicine Medical Research Has Provided

Hematopoietic Cells to Treat TBI

June 2, 2015

Fetal Neural and Liver-Derived Hematopoietic Cells to Treat TBI

The stem cells have been in the media for all the good reasons, scientists have been involved in research and trials on the viability of stem cells to be used in treatment of various conditions. The stem cells transplant has been seen as a potential therapeutic approach in treatment of traumatic brain injury as it helps in replacing the cells and tissues that are damaged as a result of a traumatic brain injury. Various types of stem cells such as the liver derived haemopoietic cells, embryonic rodent, immortalized progenitor cells and human stem cells and bone marrow-derived cells have been successfully transplanted in experimental models of traumatic brain injury resulting in reduced neurobehavioral deficits and attenuation of histological damage. However, till now there is still scarcity of literature on this issue and so it is rather unclear whether the stem cells can be transplanted and help in treatment of traumatic brain injury. the various ways through which the stem cells can be used in treating of traumatic brain injury include; cell replacement, trophic support, or manipulation of the local environment to stimulate endogenous regeneration but there is still a lot to be done to avail reliable information on this subject especially on the use of fetal neural stem cells which has been clouded with lots of controversy. there ought to be a sound understanding of the interaction between the recipient and the transplanted stem cells, the mechanism with which the stem cells work to restore the damaged cells ought to be understood especially how the immature fetal neural derived stem cells differentiate into mature neurons and help in treatment of traumatic brain injury, this can be achieved by further research on this issue.

Restorative approach to TBI treatment

In the past years, the approach toward the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has changed and taken a more restorative approach aiming at replacing and repairing the damaged tissues, cells and neurons damaged as a result of TBI. It is opined that the stem cell transplant is the best method for TBI treatment since the brain has a limited capacity to renew itself. The effectiveness of cell transplant in treating TBI has been seen in earlier experiments that involved transplantation of fetal neural tissues with or without nerve growth factor (NGF). In spite the effectiveness that was seen with the transplantation of fetal neural cells, a lot of controversy got sparked especially in concern of its practicality and ethics of its application.

On the other hand NT2N cells showed promise in graft survival, NGF gene therapy was also found to improve the cognitive deficits as a result of cortical contusion injury (CCI) in rodents. In most researches both rodent and human embryonic stem cells have shown encouraging results in survival, integration and attenuation of post-traumatic sequellae. The stem cells are flexible in treatment of disease as they possess the rare ability to differentiate into other cells and tissues hence can be used to replace the damaged cells in TBI. Particularly, the neural stem cells have the capacity to divide unlimitedly and differentiate into neurons as well as glial cells.

In a research done by Mahasweta Das, Subhra Mohapatra and Shyam S Mohapatra, It was found that mouse embryonic stem cells transplanted with or without a fibronectin scaffold following CCI improved behavioral symptoms . Xenotransplanted human neural stem cells have also been observed to survive in injured rodent brains and to express astrocytic and neuronal antigens. The transplanted cells migrated to the hippocampus, corpus callosum and ipsilateral sub-ependymal zone and reduced the number of degenerating neurons.

Hematopoietic or mesenchymal are advantageous

Of these stem cell types the bone marrow derived stem cells; hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells have been found to be advantageous when used as they can be harvested from the same patient and be transplanted in the brain of the same TBI patient hence limit the chances of donor unavailability or immune rejection. These cells have successfully been transplanted into injured rats by different routes where they express neural and glial cell markers and migrate to the subventricular zone, hippocampus and pericontusional areas showing neurogenesis and improved neurobehavioral outcome. The transplanted neural stem cells also modified to encode brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in rats after TBI and found significant improvement in graft survival, neurogenesis and behavioral outcome.

Another study in winster rats, that the functional improvement and colonization of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were observed after TBI and the recovery was found to be facilitated by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). Human fetal neural stem cells (hfNPCs) transplanted after CCI in rats increased angiogenesis and reduced astrogliosis. In these experiments it can be seen that stem cell transplant might have positive input in the treatment of TBI in humans. However, it is good to note that there are few trials that have been done on humans and so the use of fetal neural stem cell implantation in treatment of TBI should still be approached with caution until there would be enough wok to prove not only their safety but also their effectiveness.

Finally, for more information about bone marrow transplant and stem cell transplantation, visit www.awaremednetwork.com Dr. Dalal Akoury has garnered years of experience in integrative medicine and will be able to help. Feel free to visit http://www.integrativeaddiction2015.com and know more about the upcoming Integrative Addiction Conference 2015. The conference will equip you with unique approaches of telling symptoms of addiction and how to help patients battling addiction.

Fetal Neural and Liver-Derived Hematopoietic Cells to Treat TBI

Dendritic Cell Therapy

August 9, 2014

Dendritic Cell Therapy, Virotherapy and PDT As Used In Cancer Treatment

Dendritic Cancer treatments has evolved over a time and today there are very alternative cancer treatment methods all these geared towards providing a better cancer treatment to the patients. Cancer patients have always undergone pain and suffering that most conventional cancer treatments expose them to. This is not to say that the conventional cancer treatment methods are ineffective, no they are effective but are always accompanied by some life threatening side effects that doctors have done lots of research to mitigate. Some of the cancer therapies aim at sensitizing the immune system to act against the cancer causing agents. These treatments are good because they initiate or other ‘ignite’ the body’s natural healing ability thereby fighting cancer the natural without exposing the cancer patient myriads of life threatening side effects. Immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment has gained popularity and is now widely used all over the world in cancer treatment. Here are some of the therapies that are used widely in the fight against cancer.

Dendritic Cell Therapy

The dendritic therapy works as a form of vaccine. The dendritic cells produce antigens that are able to sensitize the T cells to both new and recall antigens. The dendritic cells have been said to be most powerful antigen producing cells. The dendritic therapy works by triggering the antitumor activity of the immune system by generating the effector cells that work by attacking the tumors. This is an immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment.

Researchers have done lots of work on the effectiveness of the dendritic therapy in cancer treatment and the research findings have shown that dendritic cells can be injected into the body in the form of a vaccine and help in fighting cancer. If cancer is present in the body, inoculation with new dendritic cells notifies the immune system of the presence of cancer and which then begin vital immune function against the cancer. The dendritic cells help to mobilize the great power of the immune system to identify cancer and fight the cancer cells. These dendritic cells are cultured from the patient’s own white blood cells so they are referred to as autologous.

As always a known role of vaccination; it improves the specific immune function. When an antigen is introduced in the body, the antibodies and the entire immune system is triggered to fight the antigen. This however should be perfected by repeated exposure to the antigen. For this reason the dendritic therapy is done repeatedly to train the immune system to rise against the cancer causing antigens. Patients will be vaccinated with dendritic cells six times at monthly intervals at the beginning of the therapy after which they will be vaccinated once after every six months for duration of three years. These injections help to boost the potency of the vaccine. After the six month interval of injections the patient will begin receiving these injections yearly.

The immune system should be strong enough to spot the cancer cells as they begin to grow. This is because in every human being there are cancer cells that are produced every day. However exposure to carcinogens such as tobacco smoke, radiation, heavy metals, pesticides and food preservatives will make these cells malignant. When the immune system is strong then the cancer cells will be spotted and destroyed early before a person develops clinical cancer and this is the role played by the dendritic therapy as it sensitizes the immune system to rise against the cancer cells.

The dendritic cells improve the immune response to cancer as they move throughout the body scavenging for abnormal cells. They also help as they target cells that might become malignant as a result of virus infections and sensitizing the immune system to destroy them earlier.

Virotherapy

This is a form of cancer treatment that involves the use of biotechnology to convert the viruses into cancer fighting agents. The viruses are programmed by use of biotechnology to attack cancerous cells but the healthy cells are not interfered with/. Such viruses as herpes simplex virus and adenoviruses are used. These treatments target the cells and the DNA.

The idea of using viruses in cancer treatment began as early as 1950s when doctors that cancer patients who suffered a non-related viral infection, or who had been vaccinated recently, improved greatly. This improvement is attributed to the production of interferon and tumor necrosis factors in response to viral infection. Virotherapy targets only cancer cells and so the healthy cells are not affected.

Before being used in some hospitals the Virotherapy was tested on animal models for its effectiveness in fighting cancer. By 1956 some clinics had began using Virotherapy in treatment of cancer patients. However the adoption of this treatment as a main stream cancer treatment was delayed due to inadequate technology by that time.

PDT

In Photodynamic therapy or PDT special drugs called photosensitizing agents are used along with light to kill cancer cells. These drugs work only after getting activated by a special light. This treatment is often called the phototherapy or photochemotherapy.

Dendritic The treatment introduces the photosensitizing agents in the body. The photosensitizing agents can be put through veins into the blood stream or can just be put on the skin. Several minutes pass by for the drug to be absorbed by the cancer cells. A light is then applied on the affected area to induce a reaction between the drug and the oxygen which forms a chemical that destroys the cancer cells. It also works by destroying the blood vessels that supply the cancer cells with nutrients hence they are starved and killed.

Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an experienced integrative cancer doctor that has helped many cancer patients in their fight against the disease. She has worked hard not only in treating the disease but also in availing informational support to cancer patients at Awaremed which has become a place called home for many cancer patients. Call on her now and get help on cancer.

Dendritic Cell Therapy, Virotherapy and PDT As Used In Cancer Treatment

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