Stem cell researchers target to cure diabetes, heal injuries and even redevelop body parts. Recently, the FDA approved clinical trials at Sanford to use stem cells to heal non-healing leg wounds.
Futuristic healing
Using stem cells to heal wounds is not a new notion, but up until recently, testing has been fundamental lyinvestigational. Stem cells have been verified for skin tissue engineering and wound healing, regenerative wound healing, and at Samford Health as a treatment for shoulder injuries. The FDA has sanctioned the institution’s second-ever adipose-derived stem cell clinical trial which is premeditated to treat non-healing leg ulcers. The trial initiated back in September of this year. Participants in the study are above the age of 18 with a leg wound 3-25 centimeters aligned (about 1 to 9 inches) and an A1C less than nine. Moreover, to take part in the study, the leg wound must have been existent for at least 3 months and non-healing. This clinical experiment can help reconnoiter treatments for individuals with non-healing wounds, including individuals who have diabetes and others with conditions that affect their quality of life; as per David Pearce, Ph.D., executive vice president of innovation and research at Sanford Health.
Stem cell research
In 2014, the WHO assessed there were 422 million individuals living with diabetes universally. Non-healing wounds can be an impediment of diabetes, as can several types of vascular disease. In the United States, 2.4 to 4.5 million folks live with chronic wounds on some portion of their body. Particularly for those already combating a disease, the supplementary stress of caring for a non-healing wound can lead to infection, pain and ongoing chronic health problems. Stem cells are being investigated to cure diabetes, regenerate body portions, and so much more. The study at Sanford Health has yet to be completed, but the FDA’s support of the clinical trial shows that there is upward interest and investment in this avenue of research. Stem cell research began in 1981 and has been observed at both ends of an extensive spectrum of possibility: as potential cure-all answer for some of our most long-term medical mysteries, or as an intrinsically immoral practice adept of great harm should it get into the wrong hands. In recent years, it would seem that stem cell research has become more extensively understood and accepted by the general public, and it continues to grow as a body of research with outwardly countless applications.
