Stem Cells Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease is an unfortunately relatively common disorder developed by individuals, with over one million reported cases existing within the United States alone. This highly debilitating disease starts as a small tremor in the hands or feet and eventually spreads throughout the entire body, causing many afflicted to lose the ability to walk or use their arms and hands effectively. Though there are a number of different treatments currently available there is no known cure for Parkinson’s Disease at this time.
Caused by neurological degeneration where dopamine generating cells in the sector of the brain known as the thalamus stop functioning the resulting dopamine deficiency causes the electrical synapses that drive all motor functions to miss-fire. In short this effectively means that an individual will slowly lose conscious control of their body’s motor functions, and while they may be able to maintain some semblance of muscle usage over time the progressive nature of the disease generally means that the conscious ability to control movement will become less and less over the course of a few years (or decades at most).
Because researchers known the cause of the disease as well as various hypothetical ways to treat the condition they feel that Parkinson’s Disease is a prime candidate for stem cell research that may one day lead to the actual curing of the condition. For instance, it is believed that by cultivating dopamine-generating brain cells and injecting into the thalamus would allow the stem cells to replace the currently defective cells causing the disease’s progression and potentially result in a quick, effective treatment and possible outright cure for the condition.
Unfortunately due to the limited research that has been done into stem cells as of this time because of various government regulations and other restrictions facing their exploration around the world stem cells are still far from being effectively used in actual human application and many believe that it will still be years before scientists will reach the stage where actual human trials will be viable. While this may be terrible news for many sufferers at the same time it is an unfortunate necessity due to the potential for stem cells to do more damage than good if injected into the brain without proper cellular preparation as well as a comprehensive understanding of how they will react both in the short- and long-term after being injected.
One of the primary concerns involved with stem cells is their potential to continue to develop unchecked into various forms of cancer. While this likelihood is still theoretical due to the limited amount of practical application that has been done in the past it is still a possibility and if any human applications are attempted before research has reached the appropriate level it could easily trade one disease for another. Still, most researchers anticipate that within the decade they will see some positive results from their studies, and if so then Parkinson’s along with a number of other ailments such as multiple sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimer’s or even spinal cord injuries.
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