Know About Regenerative Stem Cell Therapy
The scope of diseases and injuries that regenerative stem cells could treat in the future is extremely wide. For now, bone and skin related injuries and diseases are being cured using stem cells.
There are 3 major sources from where stem cells are collected:
- Bone Marrow
The donor is put under general anesthesia or given a local anesthetic while they lay on their stomach. The bone marrow is collected from the back and/or pelvic bone. A specialized needle is inserted into the bone. The marrow is a thick liquid which is carefully extracted. The amount of marrow that is harvested depends on the patients’ weight, but generally 10% is collected. The procedure takes about 2 hours to complete and the body takes about 6 weeks to regenerate these cells.
Once the marrow has been harvested, they are filtered through a fine mesh screens to prevent fat or bone being given to the recipient. In cases where the donor and recipient live far away, the bone marrow may be frozen.
2. Peripheral Stem Cells
The donor is given an injection regularly for several days before the blood is collected. The injection contains a drug that causes the bone marrow to produce and release more stem cells into the bloodstream. Donors have complained of side effects like bone pain and headaches because of the drug. An anti-inflammatory pill can be taken to cure these pains.
After this, a catheter is inserted into the large vein of the arm. A machine processes the blood separating the regenerative stem cells from other blood cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor via the same catheter.
Unlike the bone marrow harvest, the process needs to be repeated for a few days to collect enough stem cells. Each session is about 2 to 4 hours long.
3. Umbilical Cord Blood
Considering it is the umbilical cord, this can only be done when a baby is born. Cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord and does not put the baby in any kind of risk. After the umbilical cord is cut off, the placenta and cord are cleaned. The cord blood is frozen stored in a sterile container until it needs to be used.
Different types of stem cells are used to treat different types of injuries. A single cell type might not be used to treat multiple unrelated diseases. So it would be best to contact an expert and talk to them in detail about regenerative stem cells. Knee pain and shoulder pain may not be cured by the cells collected from one area.
Knee and hip pain caused by disease or injury can be best treated with Regenerative Stem Cell Therapy at Physical Healthcare of Jacksonville. Contact us now for more details.
