Stem Cells to Treat Heart Diseases| R3 Stem Cells
A set of conditions that affect the heart are referred to as heart disease. Of these, coronary artery disease is the most prevalent. If it is not treated, heart disease can have severe side effects, including heart failure or heart attacks.
The main cause of death for men, women and the majority of racial and ethnic groups is heart disease, according to specialists like Dr. David Geene R3 Stem Cell for Disease.
Medication and lifestyle modifications are usually the first things that come to mind when you think of heart disease treatments. But what if stem cells could be utilized to heal the damage created by heart disease?
Could this be a further step in the fight against heart disease? For more information, keep reading.
What are Stem Cells?
Numerous cell types with distinct shapes and functions comprise our bodies. A muscle cell & a nerve cell, for instance, have significantly distinct properties and functions.
All of these distinct cell types can develop into other, more specialized cell types from stem cells, which are a type of cell. Additionally, stem cells can replenish themselves by dividing to create new stem cells.
In general, there are two categories of stem cells. Now, let’s look at these.
Adult Stem Cells
Our body currently contains adult stem cells, but only in a few tissue types, such as the bone marrow, brain, and skin. In addition, adult stem cells can replenish cells lost due to damage or everyday wear and tear.
For instance, hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow can give rise to many blood cell types throughout the body. The bone marrow also contains mesenchymal stem cells, which can develop into muscle, bone, or fat cells.
Pluripotent Stem Cells
Every cell type in the human body can be developed from pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells are present in human embryonic development in nature. We refer to these as embryonic stem cells.
The ability to convert some adult stem cell types into pluripotent stem cells has now been discovered by researchers like Dr. David Greene R3 Stem Cell. Induced pluripotent stem cells are the name provided for these stem cells.
How can stem cell therapy treat heart disease ?
The heart’s tissue is damaged by heart disease. After this damage has been done, the heart frequently has a difficult time healing.
To help recover heart function, researchers have started to look into using stem cells to repair damage caused by heart disease. Unfortunately, though, this research is still in its primary stages.
Pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells have been used in studies for this therapy. However, mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell, have produced some of the most encouraging results.
Stem cells can be delivered by doctors using a variety of techniques. These consist of:
- Direct injection into the heart
- Introduction to the coronary arteries
- Intravenous (IV) infusion
What are the threats of stem cell therapy?
Researchers are still assessing the safety of stem cell therapy for cardiac disease. However, the following are some potential safety issues with this kind of therapy:
- Different types of cardiac muscle cells produced from stem cells react differently to the electrical signals that cause the heartbeat. Therefore, several different cell types in one area may affect treatment efficacy or lead to arrhythmia.
- Some stem cell varieties can develop teratomas, a specific kind of tumor.
- In addition, a person’s immune system could reject the stem cells.
More studies in the lab and clinical trials will be required to completely comprehend the risks related to stem cell therapy for heart disease.
Takeaway
Heart disease is one of several diseases that stem cell treatment has a lot of potentials to address. These treatments seek to repair the harm brought on by heart disease and help regain cardiac function.
Experts like Dr. David Greene R3 Stem Cell have discovered in recent studies that stem cell therapy may lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in some heart failure patients. In addition, animal studies have indicated that it might help undo some of the damage caused by a heart attack.
These findings are encouraging. Before these interventions can be applied more widely, there is still much research on their efficacy and safety.
