What are adult stem cells and what do they do?
Adult stem cells are the foundation for every organ, tissue and cell in the human body. The adult stem cell's job is to regenerate and repair tissue. Every time your body heals itself from a cut or injury that is the healing power of adult stem cells working inside you. It's the self-healing power of the adult stem cell, which offers scientists the possibility of a creating new therapies and cures for a wide variety of diseases.
What's the Difference?
They are inside of all of us. Adult stem cells exist within every human body and are collected from excess fat, bone marrow, umbilical cords, hair follicles, dental pulp, skeletal muscle, and other sources.
Where can you find adult stem cells?
The term “stem cells” can refer to many different types of cells. Two very distinct types of stem cells are adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells come from within you – from your fat, bone marrow, hair follicles, dental pulp, muscles - and other sources. Embryonic stem cells come only from embryos. The creation and use of embryos for medical science is a highly debated ethical issue.
Adult stem cell research is free of ethical controversy because these cells come from within each of us. Research with adult stem cells began more than 50 years ago and you may be familiar with the common adult stem cell therapies used today:
- Adult stem cells from bone marrow are used in bone marrow transplants for cancer treatment.
- Adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood are used to treat more than numerous life-threatening diseases including a wide range of cancers, blood disorders, immune system deficiencies and genetic diseases.
Putting adult stem cells to work in new ways
Scientists and Researchers are exploring new ways to use adult stem cells to address many diseases today. Adult Stem Cells can be harvested from many areas of the body today to treat numerous diseases. Without critical awareness and funding, this work is not possible.
Get involved and help push adult stem cell research forward!
We need your help. With your support, we can unleash the healing power of adult stem cells and provide hope for the future treatment of such debilitating diseases as cancer, heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, diabetes, stroke, neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, and numerous others.
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