Medical science has advanced over the past few years at an astounding pace. Diseases that used to be virtual death sentences are now routinely treated successfully. Millions of people enjoy longer lives thanks to advanced medical treatment. Organ transplants have become routine and serious physical disabilities can be corrected. New techniques and drugs are developed almost daily. Stem cell research facilities, for example, believe that they are on the verge of revolutionizing medicine as it is known today.
Patients suffering from cancers related to the blood, such as leukemia, have been given bone marrow transplants for some years, so the technique is not new. The chemo therapy that these patients receive kills all cells, mutated as well as healthy ones. Bone marrow transplants are given to encourage the growth of new blood cells to replace the ones destroyed by therapy. These transplants are still rare, however.
There is still no cure for cancer and bone marrow transplants are merely done to prolong the life of the patient. Scientists hope that this will change. They say that these transplants will eventually becoming a cure for many different types of cancer. Studies in this area have not showed positive results yet because progress is extremely slow. A real cure for cancer by means of bone marrow transplants is still in the future.
It is not only cancer that scientists hope to cure with bone marrow transplants. Many studies focus on the brain. It is believed that it would eventually be possible to use bone marrow transplants to grow new brain cells. This will make it possible to reverse the effects of brain injuries, strokes and dread conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer. Studies in this area are still in their infancy, however.
Finding a cure for many heart conditions is another field of study into the possible uses of bone marrow transplants. Again, the hope is that it would become possible to stimulate the growth of healthy cells inside the heart in order to replace damaged ones. In effect, the heart defects will be repaired from within. Millions of people die from heart disease and progress in this area will definitely save numerous lives.
Efforts in this field have many enemies. Critics, many of them highly regarded scientists themselves, are of the opinion that bone marrow transplants are extremely dangerous and that there are absolutely no proof that they benefit the patient in any way. There is also a very big ethical issue involve, critics say. This is because the cells that are transplanted are often harvested from the umbilical cords of unborn babies.
Critics also accuse researchers in this field of misleading the public, the medical fraternity and they authorities. Promises of imminent breakthroughs are vastly exaggerated. Results are still many years in the future and there is not a scrap of evidence that bone marrow transplants will become a cure for various diseases. In the process, critics say, these researchers receive vast amounts of money that could have been used more productively elsewhere.
The jury is still out on the potential of bone marrow transplants. The fact remains, however, that if the predictions and hopes of researchers in this field become fact, many millions of lives will be saved and the field of medicine will be turned on its head. Mankind will have to wait and see.
Patients suffering from cancers related to the blood, such as leukemia, have been given bone marrow transplants for some years, so the technique is not new. The chemo therapy that these patients receive kills all cells, mutated as well as healthy ones. Bone marrow transplants are given to encourage the growth of new blood cells to replace the ones destroyed by therapy. These transplants are still rare, however.
There is still no cure for cancer and bone marrow transplants are merely done to prolong the life of the patient. Scientists hope that this will change. They say that these transplants will eventually becoming a cure for many different types of cancer. Studies in this area have not showed positive results yet because progress is extremely slow. A real cure for cancer by means of bone marrow transplants is still in the future.
It is not only cancer that scientists hope to cure with bone marrow transplants. Many studies focus on the brain. It is believed that it would eventually be possible to use bone marrow transplants to grow new brain cells. This will make it possible to reverse the effects of brain injuries, strokes and dread conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer. Studies in this area are still in their infancy, however.
Finding a cure for many heart conditions is another field of study into the possible uses of bone marrow transplants. Again, the hope is that it would become possible to stimulate the growth of healthy cells inside the heart in order to replace damaged ones. In effect, the heart defects will be repaired from within. Millions of people die from heart disease and progress in this area will definitely save numerous lives.
Efforts in this field have many enemies. Critics, many of them highly regarded scientists themselves, are of the opinion that bone marrow transplants are extremely dangerous and that there are absolutely no proof that they benefit the patient in any way. There is also a very big ethical issue involve, critics say. This is because the cells that are transplanted are often harvested from the umbilical cords of unborn babies.
Critics also accuse researchers in this field of misleading the public, the medical fraternity and they authorities. Promises of imminent breakthroughs are vastly exaggerated. Results are still many years in the future and there is not a scrap of evidence that bone marrow transplants will become a cure for various diseases. In the process, critics say, these researchers receive vast amounts of money that could have been used more productively elsewhere.
The jury is still out on the potential of bone marrow transplants. The fact remains, however, that if the predictions and hopes of researchers in this field become fact, many millions of lives will be saved and the field of medicine will be turned on its head. Mankind will have to wait and see.
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