Stem cell therapy is gaining popularity in India to treat wide variety of medical conditions including Leukaemia, Thalassemia, damaged cornea and severe burns. Describe briefly what stem cell therapy is and what advantages it has over other treatments.

Stem-cell therapy is the process to use stem cells for the treatment or prevention of disease. This is like a type of bone marrow transplantation. The stem cell can also be derived from umbilical cord blood.

How it works

• Stem cells could be collected from the placenta of a newborn child.
• The ability of stem cells to develop any form of advanced cells such as blood cells, nerve cells, muscle cells helps in medical science to treat complicated diseases.
• The stem cell is stored in a laboratory for further development and making advanced cells.
• The developed cell can help during organ transplantation.

Applications

Stem cell therapy is currently used to treat acute leukemia through bone marrow transplants. The application has been extended to diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, backbone injuries, Parkinson’s disease, etc. It is widely used due to its nature of fewer side-effects and speedy recovery characteristics.

Comment

Stem therapy is widely used in India. It is proved to be a very successful treatment for multiple complicated diseases. One thing that should be taken care of is the cost. Due to the high cost of the therapy, it is unreachable to the common financially weaker people. It must be available to all.

Topics: GS-IV: Ethics and Human Interface