What is stem cell therapy? Five Things to Know About Stem Cell Therapy ?

Stem cell therapy is a way of using stem cells to treat diseases. Stem cells are used as they carry regenerative function and ability to differentiate into other cells and later multiply as the same type. Stem cells are found primarily in three places, namely umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, and bloodstream. Among these, their extraction is done only from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood. The former needs a painful medical surgery while the latter is done easily and has no harm either to the mother or to the child. After extraction the stem cells are stored in cryopreservation chambers for preservation and harvesting for its future use, the technique of preservation is not universal and varies from center to center. The preserved stem cells are used in the treatment of many diseases including some of the deadly ones like leukemia and other forms of blood cancers and metabolic disorders. They also have a regenerative function which helps in regeneration of worn out tissues owing to disease or an accident. Stem cell therapies are not the same as other medical therapies, it has its own complexities and processes, among which we will highlight some of the important points related to stem cell therapy.

●       Stem cells are an undifferentiated form of cells which later morph into other types of cells and then forming different tissues. They are found in bone marrow, bloodstream, and umbilical cord blood. A stem cell is actually an umbrella term for all those types of immature cells which carry the ability to differentiate into various forms. They are used in reproduction where a single type of cells differentiates to form all other types, the one found in bone marrow of individual morphs into RBCs, WBCs and blood platelets.

●       Stem cells are needed to be preserved and harvested before their usage in any therapy. There has been no universal and standard way of treating any disease using stem cells, which means the therapies have such a level of flexibility that the process varies from hospital to hospital and clinic to clinic.

●       Stem cells are preserved using special types of cryopreservatives under a special condition for long-term preservation. Just like their use in different therapies, the method of preservation is flexible to a great extent and depends solely upon the convenience of the bank in which it is to be preserved. Though there are a few things which are standard and compulsory, which is followed by every stem cell bank, this includes temperature stringent which should be below -90-degree Celsius and nitrogen phase so that the cells remain inert and isolated to anything which can damage its sterility.

●       Stem cells therapies require cells which are obtained either from public banks or from private banks, both having their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Stem cells are easily available from public banks but the chances of the genetic match are quite low, whereas they are exclusively available for the banker and his/her family on demand and stand a high chance of genetic coherence. For this, the private banks do levy a charge which includes a one-time payment and annual maintenance charge for preservation.

●       The first and most important part of stem cell therapy is genetic matching. If the incoming stem cell has different genetic building from the genetics of the patient, then the patient’s body will develop immunity against the incoming cells resulting in complete wastage and even serious consequences in some cases. It is true that individual’s own stem cell stand 100% chance of the match but the chance that his/her sibling’s stem cells will match with him/her is also 25%-75%, the probability thereby increases in all the siblings have their stem cells banked.