Information About Stem Cell Therapy For Cerebral Palsy
There is a lot of research being done on stem cell therapy for cerebral palsy and other disorders that are similar in nature. In order to understand how this type of therapy could be beneficial, you need to know a little something about stem cells.
So, what are stem cells and how can they make a difference?
Here are a few stem cell facts that can help you understand why this type treatment is so important. First of all, stem cells are the basic building blocks that make up the body. They are found in just about all multi-cellular organism and they are distinguished from other cells by the two qualities that make them unique. They have the ability to renew themselves or in other words, they can grow into different cell types found in the body and they have the ability to copy themselves continuously.
When they copy themselves, they can either stay a stem cell or they can change and become a different type of cell such as a brain, muscle or blood cell. It’s even possible for them to grow into the tissues of the body, bones and organs. Some stem cells help to repair damage done to a person’s system when they have been injured or when they have some type of disease. They can do this because they work with the immune system. This is why many scientists believe that stem cell therapy could be a huge help for cerebral palsy sufferers.
It’s believed that the “embryonic stem cells” have a higher potential to treat and cure illnesses. They are plain, unspecialized cells that will first develop between five to fourteen days after an egg become fertilized. They are referred to as “pluripotent” and they can turn into other cells of the body except for the sperm and egg cells but more studies need to be conducted on these.
Adult stem cells are used for research and treating patients and they are referred to as “multipotent” because they can change into all types of cells found within the basic cell type of the body. As technology continues to improve and more studies are being conducted, stem cell therapy for cerebral palsy and many other diseases could be the answer scientists have been seeking out for many years.
This makes stem cell therapy some of the most exciting research being doing today. It has the potential to possibly “re-wire” a defective nervous system. That’s why this particular type of therapy is a promising treatment for CP and similar diseases. This type of cerebral palsy treatment is different from other types because it’s designed to treat the actual cause of CP in the brain.
Another advantage to using stem cell therapy for cerebral palsy is that it’s all drug free. It focuses on creating physical changes within the brain, which will help to improve the quality of life for that child. About seventy percent of the patients being treated at the XCell-Center (the German Center for Living Cell Therapy) for CP have shown improvements. It’s believed that with further study, there may be even more improvements for patients with this disease and similar illnesses in the near future.
