Stem Cells And Spinal Injuries


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An accident caused an individual to not be able to move throughout his life. This was the news that was given to the person who had gone through an accident and that person was living a very happy life having a wonderful family but now every dream of that person was broken into pieces and that the only thing that he is able to see now is that he is going to live the life of a crippled person and his every single dream is going to go down the drain. What can someone give to that person to comfort? What is the motivation level of that person to live? What are the feelings that he is going through every single day? Those of you who can feel that can feel but honestly speaking it is that person who is going through all that. He is the one who is suffering so no one can understand the agony and pain better than him. For example if I burn your finger with a match stick, it is you who is going to feel the burn and not me. If we just talk with these people who are going through this pain and ask them about their feelings, they might ask as to whether they have any hope where they can get their life back or not.

Well there is hope and there is light in the times of darkness and something to look up to. The scientists have recently conducted experiments where they have been successfully able to regenerate the damaged spinal cord tissue in the mice. This is not a dream, this is a reality. This experiment has been conducted and it has been successful. The researchers said that this is just the beginning and that a lot of people can find their lives back and they can find a cure for their problem with the spinal injuries. The approach of the scientists is a little different in this experiment where they did not let the stem cells mature into the neural cells but the scientists have used the adult neural cells before they were transplanted into the spinal cord. These adult neural stem cells that were injected into the spinal cord of the mice who were suffering from spinal cord injuries then transformed into the oligodendrocyte cells. Once the cells transformed into the oligodendrocyte, they then were able to restore the myelin around the damaged axons of the nerve cells. Myelin is a substance, which acts as a biological insulation for the nerve fibers and are required as a must to provide insulation for the nerve cell. If for any reason the myelin is being stripped off of the nerves then this can result in the sensory as well as motor deficiencies and in certain cases can also result in paralysis.

The most amazing thing in this experiment was that these adult neural cells did not only transform into the oligodendrocyte and restoring the myelin around the nerves but they also differentiated into the new neurons that are responsible to make the new synaptic connections with the neurons of the mouse. The researchers were really amazed to see that the experiment that they have conducted was something that turned out into a big success. The researchers said that they were really happy when they saw that the cells that were damaged responded to this therapy and not only this they were able to make new cells that would definitely help restore the connections as well as assist in repair.

At the end of the experiment, the scientists found out that the mice who got human neural stem cells after the spinal cord injury showed a remarkable improvement in the walking ability as compared to the mice that received control transplant of human fibroblast cells or no treatment at all. The mice who got the controlled transplant were the ones who were able to walk but their walk was uncoordinated but the mice who got the human neural stem cells were able to walk in a coordinated way. The scientists said that the cells that were transplanted were able to survive for about four months and shown extremely positive results. The scientists have said that this is just the first step that they have taken in the direction where the people who are suffering from the spinal cord injuries are going to get their life back in which they will be able to walk back again.

So those people who are suffering from the spinal injuries must not lose their heart, there are people who are working on finding the remedy and have found the remedy but more advances are needed as well as more experiments to make these advancements work for humans so that they are able to get their dreams back and live a full and a happy life. So as a last word for all those people who are suffering, I would just say that do not lose hope and the life is not going to be as dark as you think it is going to be. Just feel alive and be strong, just know that things are going on in the direction where the remedy is being sought out and a little more work is needed to get promising results in humans.


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