One can hardly comprehend the numerous advances that have been made in the field of medicine during the past few decades. Diseases and conditions that used to seen as a death sentence are now treated successfully. People live longer than before and there is no reason whatsoever to doubt that cures for many other diseases will eventually be found. One exciting development is stem cell treatment centers that may soon offer treatment for many dread diseases.
There is a lot of attention focused on marrow transplants at the moment but these transplants have been done for some time. Thus far, however, only patients with blood related cancer were treated. These patients undergo chemo therapy that destroys all cells, both healthy and diseased. This causes their immune systems to weaken and to make them more susceptible to infection. Bone marrow transplants are done to encourage the regeneration of healthy cells.
Marrow transplants certainly increase the life expectancy of cancer patients, but they do not yet offer a cure. Scientists hope that this situation will change and that bone marrow transplants will be able to cure many different types of cancer and other dread diseases. The process is riddled with danger, however, and progress is very slow. The common use of these transplants in fighting disease is still a number of years away.
The excitement behind research into these transplants is anchored in the fact that they cause the growth of new and healthy cells. Researchers believe that they will eventually be able to encourage the growth of any kind of cell in the body. They are particularly positive about the possibility of reversing the effects of serious conditions such as Parkinson and Alzheimer by repairing the damage caused to the brain.
The regeneration of tissue by growing new cells also raise high hopes that bone marrow transplants will one day be able to reverse damage done to the heart due to a variety of heart conditions. Heart diseases remains one of the major causes of death in developed countries. If bone marrow transplants truly succeed in treating some of these conditions, millions of patients will get a new lease on life.
Bone marrow transplants and related research fields have been heavily criticized. Vehement opposers of this form of treatment have pointed out that these transplants often use blood extracted from unborn babies instead of actual bone marrow. They argue that this practice will lead to very serious ethical abuses and that women will deliberately fall pregnant in order to sell umbilical cord blood to unscrupulous operators.
Critics are also accusing researchers of jumping the gun. They say that any practical and useful results from this field of research are still many years away. Critics have accused scientists of deliberately creating expectations in order to secure more research funding. Centres currently offering transplants are gambling with the lives of their patients, critics also say. The procedure is simply too dangerous and the results are most certainly not guaranteed.
Nobody can guarantee that bone marrow transplants will be the next medical breakthrough. The fact remains, however, that such a breakthrough would indeed have a significant effect upon the lives of many millions of people. One can but hope.
There is a lot of attention focused on marrow transplants at the moment but these transplants have been done for some time. Thus far, however, only patients with blood related cancer were treated. These patients undergo chemo therapy that destroys all cells, both healthy and diseased. This causes their immune systems to weaken and to make them more susceptible to infection. Bone marrow transplants are done to encourage the regeneration of healthy cells.
Marrow transplants certainly increase the life expectancy of cancer patients, but they do not yet offer a cure. Scientists hope that this situation will change and that bone marrow transplants will be able to cure many different types of cancer and other dread diseases. The process is riddled with danger, however, and progress is very slow. The common use of these transplants in fighting disease is still a number of years away.
The excitement behind research into these transplants is anchored in the fact that they cause the growth of new and healthy cells. Researchers believe that they will eventually be able to encourage the growth of any kind of cell in the body. They are particularly positive about the possibility of reversing the effects of serious conditions such as Parkinson and Alzheimer by repairing the damage caused to the brain.
The regeneration of tissue by growing new cells also raise high hopes that bone marrow transplants will one day be able to reverse damage done to the heart due to a variety of heart conditions. Heart diseases remains one of the major causes of death in developed countries. If bone marrow transplants truly succeed in treating some of these conditions, millions of patients will get a new lease on life.
Bone marrow transplants and related research fields have been heavily criticized. Vehement opposers of this form of treatment have pointed out that these transplants often use blood extracted from unborn babies instead of actual bone marrow. They argue that this practice will lead to very serious ethical abuses and that women will deliberately fall pregnant in order to sell umbilical cord blood to unscrupulous operators.
Critics are also accusing researchers of jumping the gun. They say that any practical and useful results from this field of research are still many years away. Critics have accused scientists of deliberately creating expectations in order to secure more research funding. Centres currently offering transplants are gambling with the lives of their patients, critics also say. The procedure is simply too dangerous and the results are most certainly not guaranteed.
Nobody can guarantee that bone marrow transplants will be the next medical breakthrough. The fact remains, however, that such a breakthrough would indeed have a significant effect upon the lives of many millions of people. One can but hope.
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