Why Stem Cell Treatment Centers May Be The Future Of Modern Medicine

By Patrick Mitchell


Advances in medical science sometimes seem to be so rapid that it is hard to keep track of the latest breakthroughs. New instruments, medication, procedures and tools are made available all the time. Many diseases that were seen as a certain death sentences can now be treated very successfully. With no slack in the pace of research, one can just wonder what the next miracle will be. One such field is bone marrow transplants. Stem cell treatment centers offers many patients hope for treatment.

Bone marrow transplants have been available for a number of years. Thus far, however, they were only considered for patients with certain types of cancer, especially leukaemia patients. These patients routinely receive chemo therapy and in the process very large numbers of blood cells are destroyed. Bone marrow transplants are used to encourage the growth of new, hopefully healthy cells. Very few transplants are done because they are deemed to be dangerous.

It is a common misconception that bone marrow transplants can cure cancer in certain types of patients. This is not true, but it is true that the transplants can add a few years to their life expectancy. Researchers are hopeful that this treatment method will indeed eventually be a cure, not just for some types of cancer but for many other diseases as well. Unfortunately, progress is slow because the research is expensive, time consuming and often even dangerous.

The main characteristic of these transplants are that it promotes the growth of new cells. Once this can be done successfully, diseases like Parkinson and Alzheimer will be conquered because the damaged brain cells will simply be replaced with healthy ones. Transplants will also be used to treat physical brain injuries and many different types of spine injury.

Researchers also have high hopes of devising ways in which to use marrow transplants to treat heart diseases. At present, heart disease is one of the most prolific killers all over the world. If marrow transplants can result in the growth of new cells to replace the damaged ones, many types of heart disease will be curable and many millions of patients will get a new lease on life.

There are many people that seriously resist any further research in bone marrow transplants. Their main argument is an ethical one. Bone marrow is harvested for humans and this fact alone opens an entire field of possibility for unethical medical practices. Even worse, the easiest way is use the blood drawn from the umbilical cords of babies still unborn. What if people start trading the lives of unborn babies for money, critics demand to know.

Opponents also accuse researchers in this field of creating expectations that are simply not realistic. They say that it is a known fact that any truly practical use for bone marrow transplants is still many years ago. Major breakthroughs simply will not happen within the next few decades. Critics say researchers create expectations simply for the purpose of obtaining more and more funding for their work.

Bone marrow transplants may well become one of the biggest medical breakthroughs ever. If this happens, many millions of lives will be saved and many types of disease will be conquered. It is important to remember, however, that the road ahead is still long and that a lot of work will have to be done before the research will bear fruit.




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