Health Care

By: Wayne Channon

Achieving normal glycaemia is the goal of all diabetes therapy. Potentially, there are many ways to achieve this goal, including transplantation of cells exhibiting glucose-responsive insulin secretion. However, to be applicable to the large number of people who might benefit from stem cells replacement, an unlimited supply of stem cells must be found. Those cells can then be stored by using a cord blood bank or stem cells bank. To address this problem, cell lines from human endocrine pancreas have been developed.

In one case, a cell line has been developed from human islets that can be induced under some circumstances to differentiate into functional stem cells exhibiting appropriate glucose-responsive insulin secretion. Inducing differentiation is complex, requiring the activation of multiple signalling pathways, including those downstream of those involved in cell-cell contact and the glucagon-like peptide receptor. In addition, transfer of the PDX gene is also necessary to render the cells competent for differentiation. However, it is clear that many other genes are involved in maintaining the commitment of stem cells towards the cell lineage. Understanding the complement of genes required to establish and maintain a stem cell lineage commitment would be enormously helpful in efforts to develop a cell line that can be used for stem cells replacement therapies.

Here, we provide further information on the characteristics of cell lines that we have developed from the human pancreas that are relevant to the development of a stem cell replacement therapy for diabetes.

The recent explosion of interest in cell replacement therapies for diabetes has been driven primarily by the dramatic progress in allogeneic islet cell transplantation. For the first time, the Edmonton group demonstrated that islet transplantation is a viable therapy for diabetes. This advance was dependent largely on progress in immunosuppressive drug therapy that allowed for a steroid-free regimen. Further advances in this area are likely to result in even better long term results as there is evidence that even the current improved drug regimens are toxic to stem cells, albeit to a lesser extent than the previous steroid containing regimens. While the success of the Edmonton trial was an important proof of principle, it did not address the major problem with islet transplantation, that is, the grossly inadequate supply of cadaveric pancreas as a source of islets. Solving this problem has been a major focus of research in stem cells biology. Many different potential sources of cells for stem cells replacement, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, are being studied.

The author works for a stem cells banks and cord blood banks. They specialize in umbilical cord blood collection.

By: Jim Pretin

One day in the not too distant future, modern medicine will change completely, and stem cells will be used to treat and cure serious conditions that as of right now are still considered untreatable and irreversible. We will not even need doctors anymore. Every time something goes wrong, you will just pop offer to your local gene therapy clinic to get a tune-up with some freshly grown injectable stem cells engineered to cure your latest malady.

What are stem cells? They are cells that have not decided what they want to be yet. They are undifferentiated, non-specific human cells with a full complement of DNA that have not yet transformed into anything specific, such as the cells in your hand, or the cells in your hair follicles. These cells are capable of being a mechanic for your body; they can repair you by undergoing cell division to manufacture whatever cells are needed in order to replace old, damaged, or diseased cells that are no longer viable and need to be replenished.

Stem cell lines, once isolated, are very easy for scientists to work with because they can continue to make these cells for testing from the original line, due to the fact that those original lines are basically immortal, providing scientists with an unlimited supply that they can use for experimentation.

Currently, stem cell treatments are not available for most conditions and are usually only utilized in bone marrow transplants and not much else. The primary challenge that researchers face, as they attempt to perfect the usage of these treatments, is to prevent the immune system of the patient from rejecting the injected cells. A similar dilemma occurs with organ transplants, as the immune system of the recipient can reject the donation.

There have been a few successful, high risk experiments that utilized stem cells to reverse a debilitating condition. One of the most noteworthy examples occurred within the past 2 years, as scientists injected cells into the area where a test patient had been suffering from acute arthritis, and the results were astonishing. The cells divided into healthy joint cells that integrated themselves into the inflamed area and reversed the arthritic condition.

Stem cells will ultimately be the final frontier of medicine, providing cures for diseases that scientists have struggled with for years, such as Alzheimers, heart disease, and organic brain disease. However, there is much opposition to the research. Prominent religious leaders and idealogues are opposed to the research.

The religious right feels that creating an embryo to do research is tantamount to abortion. However, if the research is to reach its full potential, the creation of further embryos will be a necessity in order to support adequate research.

In the end, science will likely win, as some states have already funded the research that uses both existing cell lines and embryos. It may take some time, but the cures that will result from the usage of these treatments are far too important too dismiss simply because of religious beliefs.

Jim Pretin is the owner of www.healthpalace.net/penis-enlargement, an online directory for herbal products

Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

By: Brian Fong

Age spots are mainly caused by long-term sun exposure. Although sun is the number one reason for developing age spots, smoking, a poor diet, poor liver function, and a diet rich in oxidized oils are also contributing factors.

These age spots are a result of the overproduction of lipofuscin, a dark substance produced by our cells. Age spots usually begin appearing when we are in our 30’s and, besides being unsightly, increase our risk of skin cancer. As is the case with most skin conditions, age spots are easier to prevent than to treat. Eating a diet rich in green leafy vegetables, carrots, yams, and other foods that are high in carotene will help reduce your chances of getting age spots in the first place. If you are already are suffering from age spots, don‘t loose hope. There are options available to you to reduce the appearance of age spots, as well as improve the overall health of your skin.

There are several products on the market today that will help in diminishing the look of age spots. Fade creams are a popular choice among consumers. These over-the-counter creams contain moisturizers with a two percent hydroquinone content which is a bleaching agent that will aid in the fading process. Best results are obtained with the cream is used in conjunction with glycolic acid moisturizer. Prescription creams that contain vitamin A, such as Retin-A or Retinova, work more effectively than the over-the-counter fade creams.

There are more invasive options available to you for those suffering from a more serious case of age spots. Chemical peels are one of these options. Using 30%-70% glycolic acid, the fading factor is much more pronounced than in either of the creams mentioned above. The treatment is simple and can be done in a short session, even on your lunch break if need be. You will need more than one treatment to reach the full effects of the procedure.

Laser resurfacing is another option similar to the chemical peel. In this procedure, the age spots are literally burned off the skin’s surface with a laser and can be accomplished in one treatment. It does, however, have a recovery time of about one week and can be quite expensive.

For a more natural and cost-effective way to help prevent age spots simply limit your exposure to the sun and, when you are in the sun, wear sunscreen. Limit your alcohol intake and eat a well balance diet.

Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com