26 || health & wellness | SCIENCE AND MEDICINE by Nellie Vingardt
SOLO FOR CELL WITH ORCHESTRA
Stem cells are the progenitors of all the body ’ s cells . They are capable of differentiating to generate our blood components , muscle , cartilage , bone , and fat cells , and neurons ; they also replace cells that have been sidelined due to age , disease or trauma .
Scientists have learned how to extract stem cells from blood . The most suitable blood for that purpose turned out to be umbilical cord blood that is collected after the baby is born and the cord is cut : it ’ s used to treat more than eighty-five maladies , including leukemia and immune disorders . The biomaterial preserved after babies are born will be usable not only for the children themselves , but for their biological siblings . However , a decision to keep a child ’ s stem cells must be made before the birth , since cord blood can be collected only immediately after ; there won ’ t be another chance . Separated stem cells are frozen and sent for storage at a cord blood bank , where they are cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen . Not for free , naturally . However , once it ’ s paid , you have lifetime bioinsurance — a policy you can use if you become seriously ill .
At the immunity level
The possibilities of cell therapy don ’ t end there . Stem cells are used to treat lymphoma , to restore blood formation after knock-out doses of chemotherapy , and to treat patients with serious damage to spinal medulla .
And there ’ s a vaccine for prostate cancer that is made by extracting immune cells from the patient ’ s blood , activating them against prostate cancer cells , and then returning them to the patient intravenously several times , inducing an immune reaction to the tumor . This vaccine has been registered successfully at the FDA and is already being used .
To deliver it to the heart
Cell therapy is used in treating myocardial infarction — heart attack — and its consequences . Stem cells are capable of becoming new myocardial cells and participating in the formation of new blood vessels . To deliver cells to their destination , they may be introduced into the arteries feeding the heart , injected directly into the myocardium , or infused by catheter through the femoral artery .
One of the newest developments by cardiac surgeons involves both laser surgery and stem cells , performed on people with severe ischaemic heart disease when neither stenting nor сoronary artery bypass surgery helps .
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