Stem Cells The Next Frontier

From diabetes to spinal cord injuries, stem cells have the potential to treat diseases and ailments of all types. And the list continues to grow. Regenerative medicine has become a beneficial option for patients with back problems. Stem cells could be the next frontier in pain management Advances have enabled spinal surgeons to use stem cells to treat patients helping in the regeneration of degenerated discs, healing spinal cord injuries, and helping bone growth in spinal fusions – according to a study in the World Journal of Stem Cells. Regenerative cell injections are also a viable option for patients suffering…
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Stem Cells for Spine Surgery

Stem cell therapy is increasingly becoming a more common option in the medical field. Physicians suggesting it as an alternative treatment as well as an additional tool in surgeries for chronic problems like degenerative disc disease or spine injuries. In the below article originally from Chicago Health, a patient with a spinal injury was treated using a spinal fusion procedure which included an innovative use of stem cell therapy to promote new bone tissue growth. This procedure was part of a stem cell therapy study, where the physician thought the success rate of the innovative procedure would be similar to…
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3D-printed Nerve Stem Cells

Spinal cord injuries can have an effect on other functional areas of the body. Researchers have designed a device which could combine treatment techniques that could restore function to uninjured areas of the body. Combining neuronal stem cells and 3d printing to create an implantable device that would be able to grow new nerve cells re-establishing connection between damaged cells on either side of the injury.  3D Printed Cell Research from University of Minnesota Spinal injuries can be like downed power lines – even if everything on either side of the injury is perfectly functional, the break can effectively shut…
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Regenerative Medicine can Reduce Need for Surgery


Regenerative Medicine is a relatively new branch of medicine that seeks to promote healing and repair of native tissues that are damaged. Using various chemicals, growth factors, and cell transplants, the goal of the treatment is to heal a variety of organs within the body. Currently there are thousands of studies into regeneration and repair. These studies address a wide range of medical problems such as arthritis, tendon tears, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, COPD, heart damage, and even cancer. The cornerstone of Regenerative Medicine is stem cell therapy. Stem cells are immature cells that can differentiate into any…
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Stem Cell-Rich Prolotherapy and Platelet-Rich Plasma for Musculoskeletal Pain

Many people have heard the term “platelet-rich plasma” in news stories in connection with athletic injuries, however, not all may realize that when platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is injected into and around a joint, it is actually a type of prolotherapy. In fact, PRP has been used as a formula in prolotherapy since around 2005. The approach has been shown to be effective not only for older injuries but also for recent ones, making it ideal for athletic injuries. It has also successfully been used in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) and helpful for cartilage repair. Not All Platelet-Rich Plasma Is…
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Skin Cells may help repair MS damage

A personalized treatment for multiple sclerosis may be one step closer, thanks to a new study that reveals how a person's own skin cells could be used to repair the nerve damage that the disease causes. Led by scientists at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, the study took skin cells from adult mice with multiple sclerosis (MS) and then reprogramed them into neural stem cells (NSCs). These "induced neural stem cells" (iNSCs) were transplanted into the rodents' cerebrospinal fluid. There, they reduced inflammation and repaired damage to the central nervous system (CNS). Lead study author Dr. Stefano Pluchino, of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at…
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Muscle Stem Cells could Address Circulation Problems

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Stem cells taken from muscle tissue could promote better blood flow in patients with diabetes who develop peripheral artery disease, a painful complication that can require surgery or lead to amputation. A new study in mice at the University of Illinois found that an injection of the stem cells prompted new blood vessels to grow, improving circulation in the affected tissues and function in the affected limbs. The stem cells also induced changes in gene expression in the surrounding tissues, prompting the release of factors to reduce inflammation and increase circulation. The study was published in the…
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Integrating Stem Cells into Functional Neural Networks

The inherent potential of stem cells to engender any cellular form and function drives the field of regenerative medicine. In recent years, stem cell research has witnessed prolific growth particularly in disease-modeling, drug discovery and patient-specific cell therapy. A major challenge in stem cell-mediated therapy is to understand and promote integration of transplanted stem cells into the host tissue. Fundamental to success of such therapies is development of robust methods to engraft stem cells and monitor their integration into the host network. Central to this theme, David Forsberg, Eric Herlenius and co-workers at Karolinska Institute (Stockholm) and Mahidol University (Bangkok) have recently published…
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Regenerative Stem Cell Therapy for Knees & Shoulders

The power of the body to heal itself is amazingly evident in a promising newer treatment known as regenerative stem cell therapy. Which orthopedic surgeon Kevin D. Plancher, MD, founder of Plancher Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, is tapping more frequently to help restore pain-free movement in patients with stubborn knee or shoulder problems. A branch of healthcare known as regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy uses immature, self-renewing cells found in the bone marrow to rejuvenate a wide variety of tissues. This rapidly evolving field, the focus of mounting research, is helping people heal faster and more naturally. As well as…
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Stem Cells for Personalized Pain Therapy Testing

Using patient-derived stem cells, researchers create laboratory neuron models that reflect a patient’s response to a pain drug. Pain can be tough to take, and it’s also difficult to study: rodent models for pain do not necessarily translate to human pain conditions and expression of disease-causing mutations in cell lines may not precisely mimic the physiology of human pain disorders. Now, researchers have developed a new way to test pain—and, potentially, other sensory-targeting medications. Edward Stevens and James Bilsland of the Pfizer’s U.K.-based neuroscience and pain research units and their colleagues have shown that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived…
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