From all diseases: Who needs stem cells and why?
We have heard about stem cells in recent years in very different contexts: they are suggested to be used in cosmetic procedures and even added to creams, they learn to extract from milk teeth and umbilical cords, they are used in the treatment of various diseases. Often in the news they report about new opportunities for their use, which have yet to be studied in the laboratory; as a result, one stem cells seem to be something of the future, while others think that they have already become commonplace and are used in any beauty salon. We understand what stem cells are all about, for which they are often used now and what benefits are possible so far only in theory.
Where do stem cells come from
Stem cells are the so-called undifferentiated cells, which can turn into different cells of the body - and in humans there are more than two hundred - with different inherent functions. For example, nerve cells or blood cells have narrow, specific tasks — and they spend all their energy on performing these tasks, not wasting reproduction. And new red blood cells or neurons arise from stem cells that every person has at any age. They are of different types: some are able to differentiate only into one type of cells, others - into several; embryo stem cells in early pregnancy can transform into any type of body cells.
Among scholars, there are terminological debates about whether all these cells can be called stem and whether the terms stem cell and progenitor cell are synonymous, but in general both terms can be used equally. We are talking about base cells that can turn into any other cells, which means that if we learn how to handle them correctly, we can potentially allow us to grow new skin at the site of a burn or replace liver tissue damaged by hepatitis. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to use stem cells for such purposes - but there are still a number of serious problems that they help to solve. Stem cells can be obtained from embryos (for example, abortion materials can be used for research purposes), and in adults, their main source is the bone marrow. Stem cells are also actively secreted from the pulp of the teeth and from the umbilical cord of newborns.
What are they used for?
Stem cells have been used for decades in the treatment of severe diseases of the blood and bone marrow, such as leukemia. The bone marrow is the organ of blood formation; in fact, it consists of stem cells. When it does not function or produces "defective" blood cells, one of the treatment options is transplantation, that is, the "replacement" of bone marrow stem cells with healthy ones. Both donor cells and their own can be used for this, if they have undergone certain processing.
The bone marrow transplantation procedure itself is not a classic transplantation - the doctor does not cut the bone and does not replace their contents with a new one. Bone marrow transplantation looks like a blood transfusion - by the way, bone marrow donation can be done as a blood donation. While with other tissues, the situation is more complicated: for the transplantation of skin or cornea, tissue from stem cells must first be grown in a nutrient medium, and these are expensive processes for which ideal conditions are needed. According to the researchers, the states are not yet ready to finance such methods, and for commercial structures this is not very profitable due to relatively low demand.
Are test tube teeth possible?
When it became clear that the nerve cells were still restored thanks to stem cells, an active study began of how to treat patients with diseases of the nervous system with their help. These are Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis. Given that the embryonic stem cell can turn into any other, they can theoretically be used in patients with heart, liver or bone disease.
For the treatment of some of these diseases, stem cells have already been used in humans as an experiment, while for others there is only research data from animals or only theoretical calculations. As for news like "scientists have grown teeth from stem cells" - you should not flatter yourself. Perhaps, in the future, dental implants can really be abandoned, but so far it has turned out to stimulate the growth of human tooth tissue only in a test tube.
Do I need to store cells in reserve
As well as around any potential medicine "from everything" or a means of rejuvenation, an expensive business has developed around stem cells: more and more often, services are offered for the isolation and storage of stem cells "just in case." Indeed, the same dental stem cells have great potential - but no one knows when they can be put into practice for treating, for example, heart diseases. And the service of freezing them is already offered by dentists. Such services are usually sold with the wording "if you develop a rare disease, stem cells will save your life" - but not the fact that in this case they will already be used to treat a particular disease.
Another common option is a cord blood bank; in order to preserve stem cells in it, the umbilical cord should be cut as soon as possible after the birth of the child, literally within a couple of seconds. These banks are of two types: private and public (most often with government funding). Blood is given to a public bank for free - but a specific child can no longer use it. The sample is anonymized for storage, having fully described its characteristics, and may, after some time, issue, upon request, this or that hospital to carry out transplantation. Cord blood and stem cells from public banks can also be used for research purposes.
In a private bank, you have to pay for the storage of blood, but if necessary — for example, if a child has been diagnosed with leukemia — their own stem cells can really save lives. However, so far, according to the researchers, the probability that a person will develop a disease in up to twenty-one years, which can be cured by his own stem cells, ranges from 0.005% to 0.04% - that is, tends to zero. The likelihood that stem cells will be useful for treating someone from blood relatives is even lower. Probably, these figures will increase when the stem cells really start to be used in the treatment of frequent diseases - stroke or diabetes. But today the services of a private cord blood bank are only a way to spend a lot of money.
Why are stem cells added to creams
Stem cells are indeed added to cosmetics - but not human or animal, but vegetable; One of the most popular sources of cells for this is the apple tree. It is clear that in the composition of the cream, neither cells can multiply nor differentiate - but this is not necessary. No one is trying to replace human cells with these plant cells: even if it could preserve the ability to reproduce, it would not have been possible to create new human skin cells from the stem cells of the apple tree.
Cosmetics developers have completely different tasks: plant stem cells contain active substances that support the sensitivity of skin cells to hormones and neurotransmitters - substances that transmit the most diverse signals in the body. Experiments show that compositions with plant stem cells make reversible age-related skin changes and slow down the aging of hair follicles - but you need to understand that in this case, the effect of stem cells is not direct, as in the treatment of leukemia, but indirectly.
Photo: Kateryna_Kon - stock.adobe.com
