Can Stem Cell Therapy For Alzheimer’s Reduce The Progression Of This Disease?
Stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s may possibly reduce the progression of this disease and more studies are being done to determine just how beneficial they can be. Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that causes senile dementia. It’s one of the most common forms of dementia affecting people today and it can affect anyone although, some people are more susceptible than others. It’s associated with a progressive loss of nerve cells but the cause is unknown at this time.
People with this disease eventually lose their personality and touch with reality. They can’t remember how to do everyday task and when the disease progresses, they can’t recognize friends or even family members. This can be very upsetting for everyone involved but Alzheimer’s stem cell treatments may be able to help. Doctors are using certain types of stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s already with excellent results that’s paving the way for a brighter future. Adult stem cell research have revealed some possible cures for this condition. This process involves collecting bone marrow from the patient that will be taken from the hipbone. This bone marrow will be processed and then the cells will be re-implanted back into the patient a few days later. The cells that are placed back into the body have the ability to transform into new cells that can replace or rejuvenate the damaged nerves and tissues that cause this disease. As a result, Alzheimer’s is slowed down considerably and in some cases, it may stop the progression all together.
Still, with more research and studies scientists may be able to use stem cells to cure this condition sometime in the future. This is why continuing the research is so important even though it’s the center of much controversy. In order for researches to find new treatments and possibly even cheap stem cell treatment in some cases, scientists need to understand more about the development of normal cells and the ability to understand how stem cells can change into other cell types.
The more information they have, the more opportunities will be made available. It’s vital that using stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s is safe for the patient. Doctors and patients both need to know that using this type of therapy won’t cause serious side effects. More needs to be discovered about the disease itself and more studies on stem cells need to be conducted in order for this to happen.
Now that the ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research has been lifted, scientists have the ability to conduct the studies they need to do more extensive research to try and discover the full potential of stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s. A cure for this disease is a long ways off but the treatments being used now already have excellent results that seem to indicate it is a possibility.
It’s important to realize that, at this time, there is no way to know for sure if stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s can really be the “miracle cure” that so many people hope for. There is simply not enough information at this time to determine what the outcome will be. Scientists believe that the embryonic stem cells have the most potential because they are basically a “blank slate” but they are also the type of stem cells that are surrounded by the most controversy.
