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RE: What Are Stem Cells ? - (A Prelude To My Stem Cell Surgery Success)
That is a really cool series. I didn't know all stem cells were not equal. I am looking forward to read the rest.
PS: are you sure one is really talking about your knee? :D
Glad you enjoyed it. I'll try my best, there is plenty of interesting stuff to actually write about stem cells especially in the last 5 years that the research has really boomed. Despite their still "experimental" status they have have changed (to the better) the lives of so many people, with all kinds of conditions for which there are no currently other viable options. I am just one of so many. I am sure that after 2030 when they will be more mainstream, stem cells in combination with some other things (e.g. scaffolds) will have literally changed the field of regenerative medicine!
I just learned what word scaffold was in English. If I understand correctly, this can be seen as a kind of seed for tissue regeneration. Is that correct?
well scaffolds are materials (made from all kinds of stuff like hydrogels) that are usually used as a "bridge" in places where tissue is missing due to trauma or whatever. For example, if there is a bone or cartilage "hole" there are many scaffolds to patch them up, with varying results. Cells then migrate from the surrounding tissue and the scaffold is gradually absorbed and replaced with new tissue. Scaffolds can also be seeded with stem cells and other stuff (like hormones) for even better results.
Depending on the surrounding tissue and the scaffold, success can be anything from excellent (e.g. when dealing with bone loss) to mediocre/poor (cartilage). Scaffolds are another great field of regenerative medicine heavily researched (which often doesn't reach headline status like stem cells).
All in all, I think the future of regenerative medicine lies in therapies that combine stem cells, scaffolds and "ingredients" (like human growth hormone) that guideline stem cells (both the native and the introduced ones) to repair the damage. Unfortunately, all these three methods are still experimental, so we still have a long way to go until mainstream practise. Having said that, there are many clinical trials that have achieved "miracles" for which I will talk in future posts :D
Oh, I didn't want to force you writing half a full post as a comment :) Thanks a lot for these clear pieces of information! I don't know what to ask next, as this is very complete (and better to what I found quickly on the net the other day).
This is a topic I have actually grown huge interest and I always keep myself up to date. Writting that comment came naturally and took me about a minute :)
Okay, I am a little bit reinsured. Don't want to be the one eating all your precious time ;)
nah don't worry. And actually you are probably one of the few people that actually reads the posts or at least part of them XD
This depends on the topic. This one I read entirely :p