I find the whole aspect of stem cell research fascinating. While cord blood and menstrual blood are the most highly publicized and known means of collecting stem cells, further research (on my part) has uncovered several other sources of stem cells. Skin, teeth, bone marrow and blood round out the avenues of collecting what are considered adult stem cells.
We've often heard about the benefits of cord blood banking and the impact it can make on immediate family members in the event of a life threatening diseases. This technology is remarkable to me and I wanted to know more about the current research and the lives that have been saved as well as the different studies that have been done to prove that stem cells are a viable solution to treat diseases that have otherwise been untreatable.
Here are a few enlightening facts that I came across:
Texas legislature is currently working on a bill that could put them at the top of the field in adult stem cell research. The bill will promote and enhance adult stem cell treatments and cures that have already proven effective in that state.
In China, Children are being treated with stem cells to give them vision they were born without. The process takes several stem cell injections over a four week period and three such "rounds" of treatments per child has produced an 80% success rate among the 20 children who have had the procedure done.
The American Heart Association estimates that the 58 million sufferers of cardiovascular disease may someday be treated or cured from the adult stem cells ability to replace damaged heart muscles, heart tissue and valves and establish new blood vessels to supply them.
source: Stemcellresearchnews.net
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