WHAT ARE STEM CELLS?
Stem cells are the main cells that make up all the tissues and organs in our body. They play a role in the development and regeneration of all kinds of tissues and organs throughout life, starting from the embryo period, which begins with the fertilization of the egg and sperm cells of a living thing. They provide this with the following features:
1. They are undifferentiated cells.
2. They can create new stem cells like themselves with their unlimited ability to divide
3. They have the ability to transform into organs and tissues.
To summarise, we can say that "all living things develop and survive through stem cells".
As the organism grows, the differentiation capacity of stem cells begins to gradually decrease. We can make a definition according to the ability of stem cells to change.
Totipotent (Whole): The cells in the embryo within the first 4 days are the cells with the highest ability to change. For this reason, they are characterized as Totipotent. It can form its entire living body, that is, it has the ability to transform into all kinds of tissues and organs.
Pluripotent (Plural): 5-6 in the embryo. From day one, the development of the systems that will form the body begins. For example: nervous tissue and brain, internal organs, bone and cartilage, blood-forming system, skin and connective tissue, adipose tissue. In this period, stem cells are pluripotent. They play a role in the development of many tissues and organs. But they cannot completely form a living thing
Multipotent (Multiple/Many): The baby growing in the womb is prepared for the postnatal period with the rapid growth of tissues and organs throughout pregnancy. Stem cells in this period partially lose their ability to change. These cells are characterized as Multipotent.
Adult Stem Cells: After the adolescence transition period, which we call the age of puberty, stem cells play a role in the regeneration of the tissues and organs they belong to throughout the adulthood. These cells are limited multipotent. For example: blood-forming stem cells only support the blood and immune system.
These definitions actually refer to the successive transition periods of stem cells. In the early pregnancy period after embryo development, stem cells with Pluripotent and Multipotent properties can coexist at different rates. But in a person who grows rapidly after birth and passes into adulthood, stem cells become limited Multipotent.
At this point, the moment of birth becomes very important. Stem cells obtained at this time are multipotent. They are both young cells and have not yet been exposed to environmental factors.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Mesenchymal Stem Cells are found in the umbilical cord. They are multipotent cells that form the basis of tissues such as bone, muscle, cartilage, connective tissue, adipose tissue.
Where are stem cells found?
Stem cells are found in many tissues and organs in our body.
Bone marrow, Nervous system, Brain, Digestive system, Heart, Lung, Skin, Fat tissue and especially Baby Cord Blood and Umbilical Cord contain stem cell foci
What are the advantages of stem cells found in cord blood?
Cord blood stem cells are very valuable because they are collected only during birth. For this reason, the collection process should be done by specialist physicians and processed/stored by experts under the correct conditions. Cord blood collection is a very simple and painless procedure and there is absolutely no harm to the mother or the baby.
Cord blood stem cells are very young compared to other stem cell sources, and aging and wear processes are stopped when stored. Reproduction rates are higher than other sources.
Even if there is no full tissue compatibility (HLA) between the donor and the recipient during cord blood transplantation, the success rate is high.
Cord blood collected from the baby is not only autologous, but also has a field of use for other members of the family if tissue compatibility is achieved. This feature also allows cord blood transplantation to be performed between family members.
The stored cord blood stem cells can be used if desired without any further processing and without allowing the disease to progress.
At what stage is stem cell research?
The first stem cell separation and clinical use, which took place in 1998, thus it is still relatively new. In animal experiments on many diseases, mostly successful results and very important information has been obtained. It's time to investigate its effects on human trials. Studies on stem cells show a very rapid development. Traditional medical treatments are performed with drugs and surgical means, but the success rate is still low in some diseases. Even if some diseases do not kill the person, they can negatively affect their quality of life.
Today, clinical research and application studies are carried out on stem cells in hundreds of diseases. Among these, diseases such as Type 1 Diabetes in childhood, heart diseases, hearing loss, blindness, brain damage, burns, jawbone reconstruction. In adults; parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, rheumatic diseases and cancer can be counted as those that receive the most attention. These studies need to be done with scientific methods. Especially in the United States, the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) regulation, which imposes strict rules, is also accepted in developed countries as a reference.
Some countries do not sufficiently comply with the strict control rules in developed countries. Stem cell treatments are very common in these countries and there are intense health tourism activities in these countries. Most of these treatment services lack scientific control and doubts about their reliability. We do not recommend stem cell therapy in centers whose reliability has not been proven. Based on the internationally accepted FDA (Food & Drug Administration) regulations and guidelines, we conduct our studies on a scientific basis and provide information accordingly.
You can find detailed lists of diseases that have undergone stem cell therapy and research on this subject, from the links below:
http://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/diseases
http://stemcellfoundation.ca/en/toward-treatments
https://clinicaltrials.gov/
What are Stem Cells Affected by?
The moment of birth is when the stem cells have not yet encountered environmental factors, that is, when they are the purest. Right after birth, our body, and therefore every kind of cell, begins to encounter environmental factors and the encounters continue throughout our adult life. The most common among these factors are:
• Chemical additives from food
• Substances taken from environmental air, water and food pollution
• Substances transmitted by the drugs used
• Radioactive rays
• Bacteria, viruses, etc. that cause infectious diseases can be counted as living factors.
Especially some viruses are very important in this aspect. Most of these viruses enter the body and do not cause significant diseases. But they stay in our cells for life. However, in some cases where the immune system is weakened, they are actived by getting rid of the pressure and can cause serious diseases. For example, Herpes viruses (warts, herpes), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C etc.
Many factors such as; pesticide residues used against insects and pests, artificial fertilizer residues used in agriculture, soil contaminated with industrial waste materials, heavy metal vapors in motor vehicle exhaust gases, protective chemicals used in food production and antibiotics in some of the vegetables and fruits that come to our table are environmental pollution forms the framework.
These and many similar factors can lead to serious diseases that we encounter throughout life or chronic diseases that reduce the quality of life. Such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Diabetes, Lupus, ALS, Multiple sclerosis (MS), some metabolic diseases, diseases related to the immune system, some types of cancer.
While the cells in our body are multiplying or regenerating, with the trigger of any environmental factors, the genetic structure of some cells are affected and changes. These changes are called Mutations, and most are repaired or inactivated by control mechanisms within the cell. However, in some cases, control mechanisms may not be sufficient and uncontrolled cell proliferation occurs, and cells and tissues cannot perform their normal functions. Many diseases are believed to be caused by these effects.