What Are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are the body’s master cells. Stem cells can renew themselves and they can also make a variety of other kinds of cells.
Stem cells are either embryonic stem cells or adult stem cells. In the lab, embryonic stem cells keep reproducing themselves until they’re coaxed into creating 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 — although scientists can manipulate adult cells to become other types of cells.
Because stem cells can give rise to any tissue found in the body, they provide nearly limitless potential for medical applications.
Embryonic stem cells: Derived from three- to five-day-old embryos that are created for fertilization treatments but aren’t going to be used to try to start a pregnancy; in other words, these blastocysts have never been implanted in a woman’s uterus and will be discarded if they aren’t used for research. IVF doctors culture a fertilized IVF embryo in a culture dish until it develops to the blastocyst stage. Researchers extract the inner cell mass, which is then used to derive embryonic stem cells.
They can give rise to any type of cell in the fully developed body except the placenta or umbilical cord tissues.
Adult stem cells: Don’t seem to generate cell types outside their particular tissues. Liver stem cells, for example, don’t generate heart cells, and brain stem cells don’t generate kidney cells. These stem cells can act like a repair system, dividing regularly to provide new specialized cells to take the place of those that die or are lost.
Current studies are researching how stem cells may be used to prevent or cure diseases and injuries such as Parkinson’s disease, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, spinal cord injury, Duchene’s muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, burns, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, vision, and hearing loss. Stem cells could also be used someday to replace or repair tissue damaged by disease or injury, although the use of embryonic stem cells for this purpose is controversial.
How are stem cells being used today?
Stem cell procedures currently provide life-saving treatments for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, other blood disorders, and some solid tumors.
Where do scientists get stem cells?
This is the main area of debate that surrounds this technology. Adult stem cells can be removed from adult tissues with little harmful effect on the individual while embryonic stem cells are derived from multicellular embryos that have been cultured in the laboratory.
Numerous regulatory and ethical constraints exist for the use of embryos in research. There is also a limited number of human embryonic cell lines available for research that meet all criteria for federal funding, but many scientists remain skeptical over the quality of these cells.
How Does the Lung Institute use Stem Cells?
The Lung Institute offers stem cell treatments for many of the major pulmonary conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), emphysema, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial lung disease.
The stem cells used by the Lung Institute are autologous, which means they come from the patient’s own body. The stem cells are extracted from adipose (fat) tissue, bone marrow or the patient’s own blood (venous) depending on the patient’s current condition and health history.
Adult stem cells have the capacity to form many types of differentiated cells, so when the stem cells are returned to the patient, they will target the damaged tissue, which leads to improved lung function in patients with a chronic lung disease. Our minimally invasive, outpatient stem cell procedures are changing lives by helping patients breathe easier.
The Stem Cell Treatment Process
In treatment of pulmonary conditions, autologous stem cells are stimulated to increase in numbers by natural growth factors. Once the desired volume of stem cells are available, they are extracted from the patient’s own blood, adipose tissue or bone marrow. The stem cells are then washed, isolated and returned to the patient intravenously or through the use of a nebulizer. Once the cells are returned to the patient, they will begin to regenerate new lung tissue. Since stem cells can continually replicate, the lungs will progressively grow stronger, and patients will be able to breathe easier.
Please read the Statement on Stem Cells and Cell Therapies for Lung Diseases from the American Lung Association HERE.
One reliable source of information, endorsed by the American Lung Association, is the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). The ISSCR has developed an excellent web-based resource, ‘A Closer Look at Stem Cell Treatments’, to educate individuals on evaluating claims made by various organizations offering stem cell therapies. We strongly recommend reviewing the ISSCR website at www.closerlookatstemcells.org.