A healthy brain plays a critical role in our total health and wellness. Discovering that we have deficiencies in brain function or other neurological disorders can be a devastating diagnosis, and it leads many of us on a desperate search for answers to our health crisis.
Recent studies on stem cells and their effect on our health are leaving us hopeful and optimistic, given the outcome of several studies on stem cell administration and brain health. There is a lot of buzz going on in the medical community right now about stem cells; just what are they and what can they do to improve our health?
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are "blank cells" found in different areas of the body such as skin, muscle, bone, and even our brains. These blank cells are capable of recognizing when tissues need regeneration and repair, and they respond by emulating healthy cells of that same sort and strengthening surrounding cells with their ability to repair and restore tissues. Hundreds of thousands of restorative functions are performed by stem cells each day, helping to repair our bodies when we may not even know we need it.
The mysterious functions of stem cells are not fully understood by doctors or scientists; in studying them, we seek to understand this miracle process by which the body seems to heal itself.
Clinical trials on brain dysfunction
Several clinical trials have been conducted on the impact that stem cells have when it comes to the ability to repair brain tissue. This information is by far some of the most exciting news medicine has seen in quite a while, as healthy brain function has the ability to govern literally every other system of the body. The structure and integrity of the brain must be intact in order for the body to function well, and stem cell therapies have been used in several different ways to help facilitate this.
Stem cells and traumatic brain injury
Each year, an estimated 2.5 million people suffer from a traumatic event that negatively impacts the function of the brain. Concussions, blows to the head, and penetration injuries can all cause trauma to the brain, impairing its function and impacting the health of the rest of the body. Stem cell therapy has proven effective at reducing inflammation, repairing cognitive function, and even restoring physical processes that were once thought gone as a result of injury due to the ability of stem cells to replicate and generate new growth in areas that are deficient.
Stem cells and Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder affecting the brain's signals to the rest of the central nervous system, affects over 1 million people per year, with numbers rising steadily. The degenerative disease causes loss of muscle control, paralysis, and eventually death as the central nervous system fails to receive operative signals from the brain. In stem cell therapies involving Parkinson's patients, it was discovered that transplanting stem cells into the areas of the brain responsible for sending central nervous system signals resulted in an increased ability of the body to repair nervous system response, thus affecting all other areas of the body. This is certainly good news for patients wishing to maintain quality of life while looking for permanent relief from symptoms.
Stem cells and Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia in the world; its effects are tragic on mind, body, and spirit as one is gradually robbed of the basic dignities of life, having been betrayed by the body. The disorder starts in the brain when tissue death occurs that prohibits communication with the rest of the body via the central nervous system.
While there are not yet any approved clinical trials for stem cell research in humans with Alzheimer's, several promising studies have been conducted with mice that affirm that transplantation of stem cells into the brain stem aid in the development of new cell growth in the brain, thus having a positive effect on being able to offset symptoms of Alzheimer's. Several studies are being planned for humans in the near future, and doctors are hopeful that they will achieve similar results.
Stem cell therapy offers exciting and innovative approaches to healthcare, giving patients with little hope a chance to be part of the creation of better treatment. with diligence and time, we might soon have the answers for restorative brain health that we are all searching for.
