The stem cells found in bone marrow are what are called resting stem cells and do not reproduce or regenerate until “programmed” to. This flexible function of it is what allows it to be an effective treatment when it comes to combating illness. Even though they do not reproduce on their own, they are capable of responding to stress signals like loss of blood, oxygen depravity etc. This hematopoietic cell is a parent to most of the blood cells found in the human body. These cells, in turn, make way for the mature blood cells that are found in the human body. Circulating blood consists of cells, which are further divided into polymorphonuclear cells (cells which survive for a day or two), erythrocytes (which survive for months), lymphocytes (which survive from days to years).
The majority of the blood cells cannot reproduce themselves through mitosis. For instance, the erythrocytes have excluded their nuclei and polymorphonuclear cells have inactive nuclei, which are condensed into clumps at the center. Since the quantity of polymorphonuclear blood cells is more compared to other blood cells, it requires a great number of precursor blood cells to reproduce rapidly according to the body’s requirement. These precursor blood cells are present in the bone marrow, which allows such rapid multiplication, and thus, maintaining the required amount of blood cells in the body present at all times. The multipotent stem cell found in the bone marrow does not proliferate often. Hence, it is apt for procedures involving transplant of these stem cells to combat the disease.
After the bone marrow transplant, the stem cells have the potential to differentiate into almost any kind of cell including endothelium, muscle, liver, pancreatic cells, heart, brain, type 1 & type 2 pneumocytes, kidney, skin, ocular retina etc. Serial transplantation suggested that there may exist not one, but more than one type of stem cells. This lead to the discovery of pluripotent stem cells, which ignited interest in many people’s, mind about adult stem cells and amniotic stem cells.
Stem cell injections are being used by many facilities to relieve people from their back injury, knee osteoarthritis, hip related disorders, joint pains etc. This became possible due to the research conducted previously by various groups of people who discovered this method. Injections developed from adult stem cells, which are most of the times extracted from a patient’s bone marrow or amniotic stem cells are a major contributor to the development in this field.
Developing stem cell therapy to perfection would mean that there would be no need for any pharmaceutical drugs anymore and the human body would be able to heal itself using the cells found in the patient’s body. Various governments also see potential in this therapy and are funding various research projects in the field.
This would mean that there is no fear of side effects arising due to various drug medications. There is no risk factor involved since the body will accept stem cells from one’s own body or adapt to the amniotic stem cells. Therefore, the future of stem cell therapy seems to be bright and this mainly stems from the fact that both physicians and patients believe in its potential as an effective regenerative treatment.
If you are suffering from pain, please contact our office at (516) 419-4480 or (718) 215-1888 to arrange an appointment with our Interventional Pain Management Specialist, Dr. Jeffrey Chacko.
