Conditions Treated by Stem Cells

The use of stem cells in treating various medical conditions has increased rapidly in just a few years but can actually be traced back to research by E.A. McCulloch and J.E. Till at the University of Toronto in the 1960s where they discovered the presence of self-renewing cells in the bone marrow of mice.  The first documented use of stem cell treatment occurred in 1968 when the first bone marrow transplant was performed, between siblings, in order to treat severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID).   In 2005 the UC Irvine’s Reeve-Irvine Research Center successfully used injected stem cells from human neural tissue to partially restore the ability of paralyzed mice to walk.


Innovations in Medicine

The application of stem cell treatments has now spread to almost every conceivable chronic disease, with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s Disease just some of the conditions either being treated, researched, or targeted for future research in the use of this pioneering technology.  Cosmetic use of stem cells is acting as a driver for innovation as well, as revitalizing the skin and hair with self-renewing cells offers incredible opportunities to make money now that legal restrictions on stem cell treatments are changing and the ethical debate is being sidestepped by alterations in stem cell sourcing.  Just recently, scientists in the UK revealed that they had ‘grown’ several small, functional, livers using stem cells taken from human skin (Rashid, et al, 2010).

Bone Marrow Therapy

Stem Cell Image

Stem Cell Image

Bone marrow transplants are the most widely used application of stem cell therapy today and have been successful in treating immunodeficiency diseases, lymphoma, and leukaemia, for several decades, particularly after chemotherapy treatment (Department of Health, 2010).  Other currently available applications using stem cells include treatment of type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, muscular dystrophy, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal injury, degenerative joint disease, cerebral palsy, and critical limb ischaemia amongst others.  Several private clinics offer these treatments, although they function outside of North America due to legal restrictions, with locations in places like Panama, China, Europe, South Africa, and Costa Rica.  Many more private clinics and companies are funding research into other chronic diseases previously thought incurable.  The evidence justifying the use of stem cells for such conditions is still under fierce debate and patients considering stem cell treatment should thoroughly research both the evidence and the clinic before committing to any treatment plan.

Stem Cell Therapy in Animals

The use of stem cell therapy is actually fairly common in some fields of medicine however, even within the US and Canada.  Veterinarians make use of stem cells on a regular basis to treat cartilage, bone, and soft tissue injuries in both companion animals and racehorses and have been doing since 2003 as the laws dictating treatment guidelines are considerably more relaxed for animals than for humans.  With hundreds of clinical trials registered every year for stem cell treatments in the US and Canada, it may be that more treatments are made available to US citizens in the next few years, removing the need for patients to travel to other countries to receive the purported benefits.  The current lack of available treatments in the US stems not from stem cell treatment being illegal, but from the lack of an FDA approved source of stem cells able to be imported for clinical use in humans.

The broad categories of use for stem cells in the treatment of human diseases include cardiovascular, autoimmune, and neurological.  Below is a list of conditions currently being treated with stem cells in clinics around the world.  This list is by no means exhaustive but should give an idea of the widespread application of stem cell treatments.

Neurological Conditions

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Autism
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Spinal Cord Injury
  • Ataxia
  • Rett Syndrome
  • Epilepsy
  • Guillain-Barr Syndrome
  • Huntington’s Disease
  • Meningitis
  • Motor Neuron Disease
  • Neurotoxicity
  • Optic Nerve Damage
  • Spina Bifida
  • Spinal Cord Injury
  • West Nile Meningitis or Encephalitis

Heart and Circulatory Conditions

  • Peripheral Vascular Disease
  • Stroke
  • Ischaemic Heart Disease
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Atherosclerosis
  • Arteriosclerosis
  • Congestive Heart Failure

Autoimmune Diseases

Other

  • Erectile Dysfunction
  • Deafness
  • Blindness
  • Liver Disease
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
  • Critical Limb Ischaemia
  • Macular Degeneration
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Femoral Head Necrosis
  • Muscular Dystrophy
  • Hepatic Cirrhosis
  • Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy
  • Progressive Muscular Dystrophy
  • Alopecia
  • Male Pattern Baldness
  • Scarring and Wound Healing
  • Crohn’s Disease


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