The definition of a stem cell is very simple; it is an immature cell that can be a specialist cell for use in different parts of the body. Stem cell technology has come a long way since the scientific breakthroughs of the late 90s, but it all circles around the types of stem cells that exist; adult and embryonic. Embryonic stem cells form during the early division of newly fertilized egg and they can be made to change into any type of cell. The use of embryonic stem cells is quite controversial.
The use of the term adult stem cell is a
misnomer because they are nothing but cells which are already in use in
developed tissue, so they are found in infants and children as well. Adult stem
cells may best be thought of as mature stem cells and they act as the body’s
repair kit – dividing on a regular basis to take the place of cells that die or
are lost. Adult stem cells have been found in blood, skin, muscle and bone.
Adult stem cells are hard to harvest but recent developments make it easier and
easier to get them from bone marrow and use them for stem
cell therapy in the battle against leukemia, lymphoma and other diseases
of the blood, as well as some tumors.
Because stem cells are found in all the
different tissues in the body, they have the potential of being utilized for anti aging
therapy as well as having applications in treating many health related
problems. Studies are ongoing and new breakthroughs are happening in the
treatment of Parkinson's disease, heart disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis and
many ailments often associated with aging.
One of the original success stories was a
bone marrow transplant, where the stem cells of the patient's bone marrow were
replaced with healthy stem cells from a matching donor. Once treatment begins
the stem cells’ migrate into the bone marrow of the cancer sufferer and the
production of healthy new replacement cells begins. Stem cells are in the blood
as well, but they are far more difficult to process because, although they are
easier to harvest, there is far less of them.
A byproduct of giving birth is the
umbilical cord which was at one time simply discarded. It has been found in the
research labs that the umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells and treatment
with umbilical cord stem cells shows great promise.