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Top 10 questions about Stem Cells

 

What are stem cells?

  • Stem Cells are unspecialized cells that can transform into any type of cell (muscle, brain, blood, nerve, and more), then divide into additional cells of that type.

 

Are there different types of stem cells?

  • Adult or somatic: stem cells drawn from bone marrow, and muscle, used in regenerative medicine to replace cells lost because of normal wear and tear.
  • Embryonic: stem cells drawn from human embryos and grown in a laboratory.

 

What characteristics make a stem cell so special?

  • Stem Cells are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can transform into specialized cells.

 

Do clinical research articles to support the use of adult stem cells?

  • Research on adult stem cells has generated a great deal of excitement. Scientists have found adult stem cells in many more tissues than they once thought possible. This finding has led researchers and clinicians to ask whether adult stem cells could be used for transplants. You can find links to research articles on our website.

 

Where are stem cells found in the body?

  • Adult stem cells have been identified in many organs and tissues, including brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heart, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium, and testis. They are thought to reside in a specific area of each tissue (called a “stem cell niche”).

 

What is stem cell differentiation?

  • Differentiation is the division of stem cells to fulfill a specific purpose. In a living animal, adult stem cells are available to divide for a long period, when needed, and can transform to mature cell types that have characteristic shapes, specialized structures, and functions of a particular tissue.

 

What is stem cell transdifferentiation?

  • Some experiments have reported that certain adult stem cell types can differentiate into cell types seen in organs or tissues other than those expected from the cells’ predicted lineage (i.e., brain stem cells that differentiate into blood cells or blood-forming cells that differentiate into cardiac muscle cells, and so forth).

 

Will my body accept or reject the stem cell injections?

  • No, adult stem cells are autologous and non-immunogenic.

 

How long after a stem cell injection will I feel the difference?

 

Are stem cell treatments covered by my insurance?

By |2022-10-07T23:36:18+00:00January 13th, 2016|Stem Cell Therapy|Comments Off on Top 10 questions about Stem Cells