Unauthorized stem cell treatments & clinical trial risks

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Unauthorized Stem Cell Treatments & Clinical Trial Risks

Š Denver Spine And Posture Center. All Rights Reserved.


Stem cells are often referred to as body's building blocks. Stem cell therapy has emerged in recent times as a potential medical treatment for numerous diseases. Of all the cells present in the human body, only stem cells possess the ability to regenerate tissues and organs. Each time a stem cell divides, it replicates itself and can easily assume the function of a required organ or tissue within a stipulated period of time. It is this unique characteristic of a stem cell to create specialized cells and to also create exact duplicates of those cells that make them special. There are several types of stem cells and some stem cells are powerful than the others. Stem cells that are found in a particular organ or tissue can only replicate themselves into those organ's tissues and are called adult stem cells or multipotent stem cells. For instance, a blood stem cell is found in the bone marrow of an individual and has the ability to replicate into blood cells. Pluripotent stem cells are more powerful than adult stem cells and are often found in the newly formed embryos. It is called embryonic stem cell and has given rise to various ethical concerns over the years.

Š Denver Spine And Posture Center. All Rights Reserved.


A clinical trial is a test designed to find out whether a treatment is as effective as it claims to be. It also explores the safety and precautions that has to be taken to make the treatment effective. There are four phases to a standard clinical trial and a treatment has to pass all the four phases to be introduced commercially. A stem cell therapy is defined as any form of treatment, which uses stem cells to combat a pre-existing condition in the body. There are two ways a stem cell can be used to treat patients: 1. As a transplant, where the stem cells are extracted from a patient's body and then re-injected to heal a particular area or 2. As a target for a drug or some other biologic. An unapproved therapy is a form of treatment that has not gone through proper channels to establish itself as a safe and secure treatment. More often than not, unapproved therapies do not have any published research to support their claims. Stem cell therapies used today has been approved for certain conditions only. This involves any condition pertaining to blood, bone, skin and some eye illnesses. It is advised to ask questions before enrolling in any kind of clinical trials of an unapproved therapy. You have the right to get the full explanation including any side-effects, the risks involved in undergoing the procedure, expected outcomes etc. Many unapproved therapies involve little to no follow up.

Š Denver Spine And Posture Center. All Rights Reserved.


Therefore, it is important to do proper research about the clinic or the treatment you're about to undergo beforehand. Many clinics in Denver provide stem cell therapy as a standard treatment for various conditions. If you want to find out more about such treatments, and the conditions that can be treated, visit denverspineandposture.com.

Š Denver Spine And Posture Center. All Rights Reserved.


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