Stem Cell and Hair Loss
Stem Cell Treatment for Hair Loss
Stem cells are very special, powerful cells found in both humans and also in other animals. They have been called the center pieces of regenerative medicine. Medicine that involves growing new cells, tissues and organs to replace or repair those damaged by injury, disease or aging.
Stem cells are the precursors of all cells in the human body. What makes stem cells special is that they are regenerative and malleable. They have the ability to replicate themselves and to repair and replace other tissues in the human body. Some tissues, like skin, need constant renewal, which could not take place without skin stem cells. Other stem cells repair damage to the body’s tissues, for example, rebuilding damaged or degenerating muscle tissue. New research also indicates that stem cell malfunction or damage may be responsible for certain cancers and even muscular-degeneration diseases like Muscular Dystrophy. Research on stem cell functioning is therefore a critical avenue to finding treatments for these and other diseases.
Stem cells differ from other kinds of cells in the body. All stem cells have three general features that make them different from other body cells. These features are: they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. They are unspecialized and they can give rise to specialized cell types. Stem cells are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. Unlike muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells which do not normally replicate themselves, stem cells may replicate many times, or proliferate
Stem cell therapy is a strategy that is used in treating disease by introducing adult stem cells into damaged tissues in order to treat the disease, correct the damage and restore the functions of the tissues. There is optimism in medical research fields that the stem cells have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to subsequent generations with variable degrees of differentiation capacities, offers significant potential for generation of tissues that can potentially replace diseases and damaged areas in the body, with minimal risk of rejection and side effects.
Stem cells are known in two brad categories namely the embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocyst and the mesenchymal stem cells. Stem cells are found in three main points in the human body; the bone marrow, adipose tissues and from placenta after a successful birth.
Researchers Propose stem cell therapy as good treatment for hair loss
There is a group of researchers from California who have linked stem cell therapy to treatment of hair loss. The scientists, working at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. have shown that that stem cells derived from human skin can be used to grow hair. This group did these tests on in mice.
“The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another,” Said, Dr. Alexey Terskikh who is an associate professor at the institute. He is also a member of the team of researchers who demonstrated the experimental technique, said in a written statement. “Our stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and isn’t limited by the availability of existing hair follicles.”
This research having shown the possibility of utilizing stem cells to help in regrowing hair is now seen as a better alternative to conventional hair transplantation and other hair restoration treatments as it is able to grow hair on people’s heads that were initially bald, plus it is not limited by the availability of hair follicles.
This is a Breakthrough
The potential of stem cells in treating variety of diseases can never be underestimated as they have the ability to form different types of cells and healing damaged cells. However for this research it has only been tested on mice but there is greater probability that it can go through in treating humans.
“If this approach is proven to work in humans, it will change existing treatments radically,” Dr. Nicole Rogers, a dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon in New Orleans, told The Huffington Post in an email.
Another dermatologist, Dr. Marie Jhin who works in San Francisco and an adjunct clinical instructor at Stanford University, echoed that assessment. If the treatment pans out, she told Huffington Post Science in an email, it “absolutely would be a breakthrough.”
However, DR. Rogers said that the Sanford-Burnham researchers should replicate their research in large scale and test the outcome in order to reinforce these findings. They also need to do human tests.
This treatment is capitalizing on the ability of the stem cells to turn in any other cells of the body. In this study Terskikh and his collaborators turned the stem cells into the dermal papilla cells that regulate the formation and growth of hair follicles, and showed that the stem cells helped grow hair when injected into mice. According to these researchers, Human dermal papilla cells are unsuitable for conventional hair transplants because they cannot be obtained in necessary numbers and they quickly lose their hair-growing potency, according to the statement.
Finally, Beauty plays a great role not only in boosting our looks but also in giving us the feeling of self-worth. Loss of hair due to diseases or baldness should not rob you of your beauty. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD), founder of the AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center Located at Myrtle Beach, North Caroline has unequalled experienced in handling these issues, call on her for help.
Stem Cell Treatment for Hair Loss
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Stem cell transplant is a new intervention in the medical field. It works by replacing the damaged stem cells with healthy ones. The ability of the stem cells to multiply rapidly and give rise to millions of other healthy cells is an interesting phenomenon that the medical experts are taking full advantage of in treating diseases that have caused suffering to humans. In treating ADHD having the damaged stem cells replaced by healthy ones through stem cell transplant, the implanted stem cells with capability of giving rise to many other stem cells with higher degrees of differentiation helps in treating this disease.
