What Are Stem Cells And What Do They Do?

By September 19, 2019 Cell Therapy No Comments
Stem Cells

Stem cells offer great promise for treating individuals with untreatable conditions. After visiting Neurogen hospital people have many queries for which they expect apt replies. They often wonder wondered if a therapy involving stem cells can help their children regain their lost skills.  

Stem Cells

Stem cells are mother cells of the body that are capable of generating specialized functions under the right conditions. They unlimitedly divide into numerous daughter cells having the self-renewal capacity. These daughter cells differentiate into specific brain cells, muscle cells, tissue cells, nerve cells, etc. Apart from stem cells, no other body cells have the capacity to generate new cell types.

As the stem cells have the potential to grow into new tissue, cell transplant is done at the best neurogen hospital as an advanced regenerative medicine. People who benefit from cell therapies include those with autism, muscular dystrophy, stroke, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries.  

Types of Stem Cells

All types of stem cells can self renew and differentiate, but still they vary in their potentials in specific tissue that can treat and also those which they cannot. 

  • Embryonic stem cells 
  • Tissue specific stem cells 
  • Mesenchymal stem cells 
  • Induced pluripotent stem cells 

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem cells are obtained from the cell mass of the blastocyst that is three to five days old. These are pluripotent cells that can give rise to various cell types of a human body and is a source of treating developmental diseases.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells are formed in the lab with tissue-specific cells, like skin cells, into cells that are similar to embryonic stem cells.

Tissue-Specific Stem Cells

Tissue-specific stem cells or somatic stem cells are more proficient than embryonic stem cells. They can generate into different tissue only for the organs in which they live. 

Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) are isolated from connective tissue (stroma). These cells are found in the bone marrow and have the potential of differentiating into bone, nerve, tissue and fat cell types. These stem cells have immunomodulatory and reparative benefits that help neurosurgeons to treat many neuro-muscular disorders. With the use of MSCs, doctors are able to treat issues related to tissue regeneration for neuronal cells along with cartilage, bone, muscle, tendon cells too. 

Conventional treatment for neuro-muscular disorders is not very effective. But with the amazing and unique features of mesenchymal stem cells, clinical cell treatment has shown promising results in patients all over the world. Cell therapy is safe and often completed within a day or two. The results are far more encouraging than the stretchy and ineffective conventional treatment. It is surprising to know that therapy using stem cells from the bone marrow is successfully used to treat life threatening diseases.