Medicine Demystified

In this chapter, you will learn about the amazing work done with bone marrow transplants to treat leukaemia and blood disorders. This is not an easy process for either the patient or the healthcare professional, but it is a tried and tested treatment for otherwise deadly diseases. There is also a discussion about the nature and importance of clinical trials using bone marrow stem cells to treat a whole range of disease, which is followed by a note of caution to anyone considering such treatment provided by some private clinics outside of registered clinical trials and in areas of the World where regulation of such technology is either weak or non-existent.

This chapter provides an introduction to cord blood stem cells and how they can be used in the treatment of leukaemia and blood disorders. The pros and cons of using cord blood stem cells for transplantation are also discussed. It also explores the ground-breaking clinical trials on the use of cord blood to treat cerebral palsy and autism.

This chapter explores the subject of public and private cord blood collection and storage and tries to answer some of the frequently asked questions about these services. It provides specific advice for those people considering private cord blood banking and explains the pros, cons and practicalities of cord blood collection and storage. Private cord blood collection and storage has become an enormous business on a global scale, but it is extremely important that the clients of these private cord blood banks fully understand the exact uses and limitations of what is on offer. Ultimately private storage is a matter of personal choice and, of course, a matter of having sufficient money to pay for private cord blood storage.

This chapter considers the impact which has been made by the introduction of peripheral blood stem cell transplantation into routine clinical practice for the treatment of leukaemia and other blood disorders. The process helps in the collection of ‘blood-forming’ stem cells from bone marrow, and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation has now become the first-line treatment for most blood disorders.

This chapter examines the debates, and sometimes the hope versus hype, which surrounds embryonic stem cells and their potential use in clinical transplantation. The use of human embryos in stem cell technology creates many strong opinions from a surprisingly wide range of people. This chapter explores the pros and cons of embryonic stem cells and gives an overview of the possible future for embryonic stem cells.

This chapter summarises the amazing progress which has been made from the discovery that there are ‘tissue forming’ stem cells inside teeth which can be ‘extracted’ and potentially used as the basis of future therapies. The process of dental stem cell collection and storage is described along with an overview of the potential applications of dental pulp stem cells.

This chapter describes the progress which has been made in the identification, collection, processing, storage and clinical use of fat or adipose stem cells. The technology is developing very rapidly and the application of adipose stem cells in both routine therapy and clinical trial is increasing rapidly.

This chapter describes the development and potential applications of manmade stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). The technology involved and the possibilities for research and therapy are described.

This chapter reviews the stem cells, which have been discovered in the tissues related to pregnancy, such as the umbilical cord, placenta, and amniotic fluid and membranes, which surround the baby in the uterus. These stem cells are not in routine clinical use, but some clinical trials are underway, which may give us important safety and efficacy information in the future.

This is perhaps the most important chapter in this book because it offers guidance and advice to patients considering treatment at a private clinic using stem cells and related regenerative medicine technology. This chapter provides information which may help in preventing a lot of pain, suffering, disappointment, and losing a lot of money to rogue stem cell clinics for untested and unproven stem cell-based ‘treatments’.

This final chapter in this book provides an overview of what is happening at the cutting edge of stem cell and regenerative medicine technology. It describes the research currently underway and how these technologies may have an impact on future clinical practice for all of us. Some of the ideas mentioned here will not be in the public domain, but they are all valid research projects.