Adult Stem Cells Enable Bone Repair
Adult stem cell treatments have the ability to improve health and physical appearance, as these cells can repair and regenerate damaged skin tissue. The effectiveness of these types of treatments for cosmetic enhancement has been known for some time, but recent research is showing how adult stem cell treatments can even repair more serious damage inside of the body using a person’s own stem cells. A study just released by researchers at the University of Michigan indicates that stem cells can even rehabilitate damaged bone.
How the Study Looked at Adult Stem Cell Treatments in Mice
The study, which has been accepted by the journal Stem Cells for publication and peer review, was undertaken by a group of experienced professors, including Joerg Lahann, director of the Biointerfaces Institute. The researchers took stem cells from adult mice and encouraged these cells to grow into bone cells. This was possible because stem cells are ‘undifferentiated,’ meaning that they have the ability to become whatever type of cell the body needs. Once the bone cells were developed, the researchers implanted them into holes inside the mice skulls. These bone cells, derived from the mice’s own original stem cells, flourished, ultimately creating four hundred percent more new bone tissue to repair their damaged skulls than mice in a control group that did not receive the adult stem cell treatments.
Bone Repair May Be the Next Adult Stem Cell Treatment Available
This study has enormous potential for human adult stem cell treatments. Many common diseases that occur in humans affect bone tissue, and there are few comprehensive treatments available that are effective and do not have unwanted side effects. Adult stem cell treatments for bone repair could treat:
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Paget’s disease
- Metabolic bone disease
- Bone cancer
Why Adult Stem Cell Treatments Are Needed to Receive Benefits
Although the adult body has its own stem cells, stem cells usually will not divide and create new tissue on their own once a person reaches adulthood. The reasons for this are not yet fully understood. Through research on adult stem cell treatments, scientists have proven that stem cells do the work of creating, repairing, and regenerating tissues continually while we are young. Yet as we age, the stem cells go dormant – essentially retiring, at which point they accumulate in certain areas of the body, particularly in adipose tissue, or fat tissue. However, research like this study on bone repair has shown that these stem cells can be taken out of the body, ‘awakened’ through slight manipulation to form new tissue as needed, then replaced in the body to do the same work that they did earlier in life.
Since stem cells will not act on their own in adulthood, stem cell treatments are necessary to achieve the benefits of repair and regeneration offered by these special cells. This research on bone repair through adult stem cell treatments shows that we are only beginning to understand all of the things that stem cells from our own bodies can do. As our understanding grows, even more stem cell treatments to enhance our appearance and improve our bodies’ performance will become available.