2 answers
2 answers
Updated
Mark’s Answer
Because stem cells have the ability to grow and develop into nearly any other kind of cell, they have great potential to help address many problems—from helping people who are injured like Angie's husband in the other reply here to helping folks with Type 1 juvenile diabetes make their own insulin again, and on, and on. A field like this has so much promise that there will be a lot of need for people to learn the science and the art of dealing with stem cells and coaxing them to make lives better without causing other problems. The exciting thing about this field is that it may allow a person's body to heal itself with its own ways, instead of by using a pharmaceutical approach.
Updated
angie’s Answer
Your ?: How do stem cells work as any type of cell in your body? How does your body change the cells into whatever it wants, and for stem cells, do you need an immunosuppressant, so your body doesn’t attack the cells? What are the future advancements to be made with stem cells?
_______________________
Hello, Aedan,
Interesting question, and I hope you get some great answers. I had to reply because my husband just had stem cells removed from his back - his hip bone, and put into his elbow to heal the tendons there from a tear he got from overworking it with weight training. I learned this week that humans have stem cells in their bones, which are in liquid form. He got to see the liquid they took from his bone. Then they spun this liquid and injected it into his elbow a few hours later. It's like magic. 24 hours after, his arm is already much better. It no longer hurts but just feels tight. It will continue to heal for 6 weeks, and then he will start to use it again through physical therapy.
He did not need an immunosuppressant. It's his body, and his body will not reject his own cells. What they told us is that the cells are programmable, and when they are injected into an area that needs healing, they morph into what is needed. I wonder if they have little brains - like an octopus does in its legs and head....and the brains know what to do. But that's just my curiosity talking.
The future is WIDE open here --- there are so many possibilities. If you are interested in this type of science, you will be happy about what is coming in the future. The nurses and doctors were all very excited about what is being tested and used with stem cells.
I hope this little bit of information is helpful.
Good luck on your journey!
Angie
_______________________
Hello, Aedan,
Interesting question, and I hope you get some great answers. I had to reply because my husband just had stem cells removed from his back - his hip bone, and put into his elbow to heal the tendons there from a tear he got from overworking it with weight training. I learned this week that humans have stem cells in their bones, which are in liquid form. He got to see the liquid they took from his bone. Then they spun this liquid and injected it into his elbow a few hours later. It's like magic. 24 hours after, his arm is already much better. It no longer hurts but just feels tight. It will continue to heal for 6 weeks, and then he will start to use it again through physical therapy.
He did not need an immunosuppressant. It's his body, and his body will not reject his own cells. What they told us is that the cells are programmable, and when they are injected into an area that needs healing, they morph into what is needed. I wonder if they have little brains - like an octopus does in its legs and head....and the brains know what to do. But that's just my curiosity talking.
The future is WIDE open here --- there are so many possibilities. If you are interested in this type of science, you will be happy about what is coming in the future. The nurses and doctors were all very excited about what is being tested and used with stem cells.
I hope this little bit of information is helpful.
Good luck on your journey!
Angie
Delete Comment
Flag Comment