Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Information
The truly differentiates regenerative medicine from many current therapies is that regenerative medicine has the potential to provide a cure to failing or impaired tissues.
What is regenerative medicine?
Regenerative medicine is an applied field of tissue engineering that holds the realistic promise of regenerating damaged tissues in vivo (in the living body) and externally creating �tissues for life� available for implantation. Through research and products developed from this field, previously untreatable diseases will become easily and routinely cured.
How regenerative medicine works
Regenerative medicine is the application of tissue science, tissue engineering, and related biological and engineering principles that restore the structure and function of damaged tissues and organs. This new field encompasses many novel approaches to treatment of disease and restoration of biological function through the following methods:
* Using therapies that prompt the body to autonomously regenerate damaged tissues
* Using tissue engineered implants to prompt regeneration
* Direct transplantation of healthy tissues into damaged environments
Collectively, these treatments allow for two substantial advances over current medicine. The first advance is the potential to in vivo (in the living body) regenerate currently irreparably damaged tissues so that they return to full functionality. The second advance is to be able to produce tissues in vitro (in the laboratory) to be used for transplantation purposes when regeneration is not possible. This technology has the potential to cure diseases ranging from diabetes (through regeneration of islets) to the repair of cancerous tissues (by replacing the removed cancerous tissue with externally grown healthy tissue). By creating these tissues for life, regenerative medicine treatments will undoubtedly lead to a tremendous improvement in quality of life and healthcare.
Regenerative medicine helps natural healing processes to work faster, or to repair missing or damaged tissue that would not ordinarily have regrown. Strategies include transplants of stem cells, the use of scaffold materials, and biochemical orders issued to cells. Regenerative therapies have been demonstrated (in trials or the laboratory) to heal broken bones, bad burns, blindness, deafness, heart damage, nerve damage, Parkinson's disease and other conditions. Work continues to bring these advances to patients.
Regenerative medicine will help to produce extended healthy longevity, as we will be able to repair some of the damage caused by aging, organ by organ. Aging damages every part of our bodies, however - including the stem cells required for regenerative therapies! Until we can address the root causes of age-related degeneration, we must learn how to regenerate every part of the human body. We must also become capable of reliably preventing and defeating cancer in all its forms and repairing age-related damage to the brain in situ - increasing risk of cancer with age cannot be prevented through regenerative medicine, and the brain cannot simply be replaced with new tissue.
These tasks will be a mammoth undertaking. Nonetheless, like all great advances in medicine, it is a worthy, noble cause. Today, hundreds of millions of people live in pain and suffering - and will eventually die - as a result of degenerative conditions of aging. Today, we stand within reach of alleviating all this death and anguish, preventing it from ever occuring again. We should rise to the challenge!
All of the most impressive demonstrations of regenerative medicine since the turn of the century have used varying forms of stem cells - embryonic, adult, and most recently induced pluripotent stem cells - to trigger healing in the patient. A great deal of press attention, for example, has been given to successes in alleviating life-threatening heart conditions. However, successes have been demonstrated in repairing damage in other organs - such as the liver, kidneys, and so forth.
Other articles and science reports on Adult Stem Cells.
Check, E., Cardiologists take heart from stem-cell treatment success, Nature 428(6986):880, 29 April 2004: "Adult stem cells have long been viewed as less flexible than embryonic stem cells, which can divide to produce any cell type in the body. But recent studies of human cells suggest that adult stem cells can also turn into many cell types, including heart, brain and liver cells."
Terada, N. et al., Bone marrow cells adopt the phenotype of other cells by spontaneous cells fusion, Nature (416(6880):542–545, 4 April 2002.
Cohen, P., Stem cells could save sight, New Scientist 175:(2354):18, 3 August 2002.
Stem cells do their stuff for Parkinson’s patient, New Scientist 174(2338):5, 13 April 2002.
Randerson, J., Stem cells fix the damage, New Scientist 177(2377):14, 11 January 2003.
Pluchino, S. et al., Injection of adult neurospheres induces recovery in a chronic model of multiple sclerosis, Nature 422(6933):688–694, 17 April 2003.
Jochen Ringe et al., Stem cells for regenerative medicine: advances in the engineering of tissues and organs, Naturwissenschaften 89(8), August 2002.
About the Formulator of StemEnhance - Christian Drapeau
Mr. Drapeau, a foremost scientist in the study of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, holds a Masters of Science degree in Neurology and Neurosurgery from the Montreal Neurological Institute, an affiliate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has been extensively involved in the study of nutrition, naturopathy, and various natural therapies.
Most significantly, Mr. Drapeau collaborated with many scientists affiliated with Harvard University, McGill University, the University of Illinois, Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Mississippi in the study of the effects of blue-green algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) on human health. Mr. Drapeau continues his involvement in the clinical study of AFA.
Circulating stem cells can reach various organs and become cells of that organ, helping such organ regain and maintain optimal health. Recent studies have suggested that the number of circulating stem cells is a key factor; the higher the number of circulating stem cells the greater is the ability of the body at healing itself. What happens to stem cells if they do not reach a tissue? Stem cells released from the bone marrow that do not reach a tissue simply return to the bone marrow after some timeCheck, E., Cardiologists take heart from stem-cell treatment success, Nature 428(6986):880, 29 April 2004: "Adult stem cells have long been viewed as less flexible than embryonic stem cells, which can divide to produce any cell type in the body. But recent studies of human cells suggest that adult stem cells can also turn into many cell types, including heart, brain and liver cells."
Terada, N. et al., Bone marrow cells adopt the phenotype of other cells by spontaneous cells fusion, Nature (416(6880):542–545, 4 April 2002.
Cohen, P., Stem cells could save sight, New Scientist 175:(2354):18, 3 August 2002.
Stem cells do their stuff for Parkinson’s patient, New Scientist 174(2338):5, 13 April 2002.
Randerson, J., Stem cells fix the damage, New Scientist 177(2377):14, 11 January 2003.
Pluchino, S. et al., Injection of adult neurospheres induces recovery in a chronic model of multiple sclerosis, Nature 422(6933):688–694, 17 April 2003.
Jochen Ringe et al., Stem cells for regenerative medicine: advances in the engineering of tissues and organs, Naturwissenschaften 89(8), August 2002.
About the Formulator of StemEnhance - Christian Drapeau
Mr. Drapeau, a foremost scientist in the study of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, holds a Masters of Science degree in Neurology and Neurosurgery from the Montreal Neurological Institute, an affiliate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has been extensively involved in the study of nutrition, naturopathy, and various natural therapies.
Most significantly, Mr. Drapeau collaborated with many scientists affiliated with Harvard University, McGill University, the University of Illinois, Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Mississippi in the study of the effects of blue-green algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) on human health. Mr. Drapeau continues his involvement in the clinical study of AFA.
United States Patent Patent No.: 6,814,961 B1 Date of Patent: November 9, 2004 Subj: METHOD FOR ENHANCING STEM CELL PHYSIOLOGY Inventors: Gitte S. Jensen and Christian Drapeau
