What is Cellular Regeneration?
As regenerative medicine grows, physicians and patients are beginning to understand how its capabilities fill in the gaps left by the limits of traditional medicine. Patients whose previous treatment options were limited to managing symptoms now have new hope for potentially targeting the root cause of their pain and illness progression.
Regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy, focuses on repairing and replacing damaged cells and tissues, so patients’ relief comes from healing instead of masking symptoms. Regenerative medicine encompasses all therapies that facilitate the body’s healing, including stem cell therapy, platelet-rich plasma, prolotherapy, and more.
Cellular regeneration is a natural process where the body replaces or repairs damaged, deceased, or missing cells. Since cells make up all body parts, all regeneration starts with the cells.
While humans don’t have the regeneration capabilities of certain animals, like salamanders, which can regrow a limb, we do have some solid regenerative capabilities. However, some areas regenerate very well, while others don’t have any regenerative capabilities.
For example, the skin, or epidermis, constantly creates new cells and sloughs off old cells. Additionally, our gut lining and even the liver have regenerative capabilities.
Scientists are studying human and animal cell regeneration to learn more about the aging process and the potential to use these capabilities to heal injury and disease.
What Are the Benefits of Focusing on Cell Regeneration?
Cell regeneration offers many benefits that traditional medicine cannot. One of the critical advantages of regenerative medicine is its use of the body’s natural resource – its ability to heal.
Since most “medicine” comes from the body’s cells, like platelets and stem cells, the treatments are safe and accessible. They harness the natural healing process and concentrate those efforts where they’re needed most.
In addition, cell regeneration is more comfortable and has fewer side effects, if any, than most medications and surgeries. Its benefits outweigh any drawbacks and provide a new path to treating illnesses long believed to be incurable.
What Do We Know About Cell Regeneration Now?
Since the first stem cells were discovered in 1961, scientists have worked to unlock the secrets of cell regeneration. At this point, stem cells are a promising therapy option in regenerative medicine and have shown success in helping patients with conditions varying from musculoskeletal injuries to autoimmune conditions.
While the benefits and potential of stem cell therapies and platelet-rich plasma injections are widely acknowledged, efforts to determine the most effective methodologies and set standard treatment practices still limit its widespread use in the U.S.
This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine, also known as Stem Cell Therapy in Tampa. Regenerative medicine seeks to replace tissue or organs that have been damaged by disease, trauma, or congenital issues.
