Category Archives: Maryland Stem Cells

What Are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are your bodys repair team. They divide limitlessly and go around your body providing nourishment to all your other cells. As long as youre alive, stem cell ensure all the cells in your body are healthy, happy, and serving you well. There are two types of stem cells embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.

As the name suggest, these stem cells come from the embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro. In vitro fertilization clinics donate these stem cells for research purposes with the informed consent of the donors. Its important to note that these eggs are not derived from eggs fertilized in a womans body. These particular cells are isolated from the inner mast of a blastocyst. These pluripotent stem cells can give rise to any type of cell in the fully developed body. In the lab, embryonic stem cells keep reproducing themselves until they are turned into specific types of cells. In the body, these cells eventually disappear, so a human adult body no longer contains cells that can generate any kind of cell. A problem often encountered with embryonic stem cells is tissue rejection, which is similar to the rejection in a liver or blood transplant. This can limit the therapeutic usefulness of these particular stem cells.

Adult stem cells are found in small numbers within most adult tissues like bone marrow or fat. They are the maintenance crew of your body they make sure everything is in tip-top shape by being multipotent in that they give rise to several kinds of cells in their home tissues. They regenerate cells damaged by disease, injury, and everyday wear and tear. By dividing, they become specialized to repair or replace surrounding differentiated cells. Just like embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have the ability to differentiate into more than one cell type, but unlike embryonic stem cells, they are often restricted to certain lineages. There are three types of adult stem cells. Two types are located within the bone marrow, and the other type is known as a fat stem cell.

Stem cells are removed from the bone marrow at the back of the patients pelvis via suction. The substance is then removed using a syringe. The process is only slightly uncomfortable with local anesthetic. Typically, only 2 oz. of bone marrow aspirate is required. This aspirate contains platelets, mesenchymal stem cells, and other kinds of stem cells that are used in adult stem cell therapy. After its taken, it is placed inside a special container, which is then placed into a machine known as a centrifuge. This begins spinning at a high speed until the platelets and stem cells separate from the other blood products. This particular concentration of bone marrow is called BMAC or Bone Marrow Aspiration Concentrate. This is then re-introduced into the injured area during stem cell therapy.

Once the BMAC is reintroduced into the injured area, the platelets are released and start to go to work repairing the area. They signal proteins and growth factors that activate the stem cells. These signal proteins and growth factors are called cytokines, which are sort of the traffic directors of the operation, telling the stem cells where to go to repair your body.

The typical repair process is two to three months. However, in most cases, great improvement can be seen before then. About four to six weeks after the stem cell injection, the patient will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection on the afflicted area followed by another injection four to six weeks after that. Patients are advised to minimize alcohol consumption as it can deter healing. To boost healing, patients are advised to take a compound called StemXcell, which contains supplements such as carnosine, blueberry extract, vitamin D3, and green tea extract.

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