Patients with autoimmune diseases may find new hope through stem cell therapy. Unfortunately, autoimmune diseases have no official cure, and in the past, most patients could only find relief through managing their symptoms.
However, through new developments in stem cell therapy for those with autoimmune diseases, patients may finally find relief without suffering the side effects of long-term medications for only temporary improvements.
What Are Autoimmune Diseases?
Autoimmune diseases are conditions where a patient’s immune system generates an antibody response to substances and tissue normally occurring in the body. Autoimmune diseases may affect one organ or tissue or provoke a whole-body reaction.
As a result of an autoimmune disease’s antibody response, the body may cause damage to its own organs or tissues. Some examples of autoimmune disease include:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Celiac disease
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis
- Graves’ disease
- Type 1 diabetes
When an immune system functions normally, it protects the body against infections and invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Its response to possible attacks is to send defensive cells to the foreign bodies to kill them.
A healthy immune system can differentiate between “bad” and “good” cells, only attacking the cells that can cause damage. This is not the case when patients have an autoimmune disease.
What Is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cell therapy is a form of regenerative medicine. Stem cells are the building blocks of cells. All cells with specialized functions form from stem cells. Stem cells appear throughout the body, in the brain, blood, bone marrow, muscle, skin, and other tissues.
In some parts of the body, they lie dormant until they’re needed, and in others, they regularly divide to produce new tissues for cell maintenance and repair. When stem cells divide, they either become new stem cells or differentiate into specialized cells, such as blood cells or brain cells.
In stem cell therapy, stem cells are directly administered into the body for healing purposes.
How Can Stem Cell Therapy Treat Autoimmune Diseases?
Stem cells heal damaged tissues, but they also may have the unique ability to regulate the immune system. For example, upon injection into the body, stem cells may have the ability to target inflamed tissue and differentiate into anti-inflammatory cells.
The stem cell response only works locally, not suppressing the patient’s entire immune system and only targeting the attacked tissue. Additionally, mesenchymal stem cells may encourage the production of specific immune cells that function to protect the body from its own immunological response.
Treatments using stem cell therapy for autoimmune diseases already show promise, with stem cells producing extensive healing responses in patients. The potential of stem cells to treat previously incurable conditions offers hope to millions of patients.
This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine for ALS, also known as ALS Stem cell treatment. Regenerative medicine has the natural potential to help improve symptoms sometimes lost from the progression of many conditions.
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