Incase you haven’t known (which you might have, unless it was buried under a big pile of letters), stem cells are the new medical “it thing”. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate/change into specialized cells and can divide to produce more stem cells. Even though they are unspecialized, stem cells can develop into specialized cells. Stem cells can make up to 220 different cells in the human body, they also have the capability to self renew. Scientists are intruiged by these cells because out of most of the 300 trillion cells in our bodies are fully specialized for specific parts in organs like our heart, brain etc…. Quote: "Stem cells are like little kids who, when they grow up, can enter a variety of professions," Dr. Marc Hedrick of the UCLA School of Medicine says. "A child might become a fireman, a doctor or a plumber, depending on the influences in their life -- or …show more content…
2.Bone marrow stem cells are harvested from the donors hip bone through a surgery.
3.Cord blood stem cells are collected from the umbilical cord right after the baby is born.
While each of these cells have it’s advantages there are also disadvantages and your doctor will tell you which one is the best for you.
The next step in the transplantation process is conditioning therapy , which kills all unhealthy cells in your body to make room for the new stem cells. Usually the therapy given delivers high doses of chemo-therapy and/or radiation to kill all dangerous cells. Another type delivers lower doses of chemo therapy. Again the doctor will tell you which type of conditioning you should do.
After the conditioning phase, the transplant will be done. There are 2 different kinds of transplants and it will depend on the persons specific condition. The new stem cells are put into the body by a intravenous (IV) line. (A medical device that is used to get liquid right into a patients