Stem Cells Brain Damage
Traumatic brain injury (commonly known as TBI) is a primary candidate for stem cell study and treatment due primarily to two factors. First, the current conventional treatment methods used in TBI cases focus primarily on pharmacological supplements to bring about balances in brain chemistry that may have been imbalanced due to trauma as well as rehabilitation treatments to allow an individual to better cope with lost functionality that may have come about due to the initial brain injury or, more likely, the subsequent swelling that results from the body’s natural defense mechanism to deal with traumas. While this has proven effective in coping with brain damage in the past it is inherently limited in its actual scope of application due to the fact that it does not ever treat the actual damage that exists. Secondly, TBI has proven as a prime candidate for stem cell research and development due to the fact that various stem cells were recently discovered in adult brains that, when activated, could effectively be used to repair damaged brain tissue and return lost functionality to otherwise unusable brain regions. Additionally some bone marrow stem cells have proven effective in generating the necessary cells to repair damage to areas that have recently suffered from some sort of trauma based on laboratory studies. In fact, if modified adult stem cells from bone marrow is injected into damaged regions of the brain within 48 hours of an injury occurring significant recovery of damaged tissue has been able to be observed in laboratory animal tests. Because of the high potential nature of adult stem cells in the treatment of traumatic brain injury tests are currently being planned on the first human subjects, with the intention of treating children suffering from TBI at first with bone marrow extracted from their pelvis. These stem cells will be activated to restore both neurological tissue and blood flow to damaged regions in order to stem off any cumulative damage that may result from otherwise untreatable areas. Due to the fact that TBI is currently the leading cause of death for individuals under the age of 45 within the United States as well as a highly debilitating condition with little to no current effective treatment in place these initial tests are being highly anticipated by a number of parties and could help pave the way for future breakthroughs in stem cell usage for brain trauma treatment in the coming years.
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