Regenerative medicine is a stream of quickly advancing medicine. It’s molecular biology that deals with the action of restoring normal health by replacing or regenerating damaged cells, dead tissues, and organs. This is done through tissue engineering techniques using therapeutic Mesenchymal stem cells. These are blank cells and can adapt to any other types of cells in our body. Their bodily function is to track the damaged or dead cells and tissues in the body and repair or replace them. 

Our body supplies stem cells when we are born and their supply and performance decrease with age. They have a strong anti-inflammatory property and the neurons are protected and regenerated and prevent cell death.  Let us understand the difference between regenerative medicine and traditional medicine first:

How does Regenerative Medicine differ from Traditional Medicine?

Traditional medicine treats the symptoms of a condition whereas regenerative medicine restores the functionality and structure of damaged tissue or organ permanently. Our body has a natural defense mechanism. Our body can heal and protect against illness and injuries and regenerative medicine triggers this ability of our body in the most powerful and effective way. The specific concentrations in this field are as follows:

Cellular Therapy

This is a natural method of healing damaged and destroyed tissues. Every one of us is blessed with stem cells that have a natural ability to repair several body parts. There is a banking facility available to store the umbilical cord of a newborn baby that has blood with numerous stem cells for future treatment or to donate to others. In adults, these stem cells are distributed throughout the body and specifically in the adipose tissue.

Tissue Engineering

It plays a major role in organ transplantation where the patient doesn’t require the whole new organ to be implanted. However, there is no guarantee that the donor’s organ will match with the recipient’s. For example, let’s imagine a patient who has to undergo heart transplantation, using tissue engineering technology. In this case, creating a new heart valve through regenerative medicine can be an effective treatment rather than transplantation. 

Artificial Organ

The advancement in this field has facilitated the growth of a new organ from the patient’s cells. This has been done in a laboratory set up by manipulating the cells and has been a blessing in situations where there is a shortage of donor organs.

Clinical Translation

This is yet to become popular. This can treat several conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other serious health conditions that otherwise were considered non-treatable. 

Regenerative Medicine and its Benefits

Regenerative medicine is widely used to treat the conditions that were considered untreatable in ancient days. Since it involves the use of the patient’s own cells, the healing process is more effective without causing any side effects and infections. The uses of regenerative medicine are wide because of its ability to heal conditions that were once considered untreatable. Conditions like spinal cord injury, orthopedic injuries, wounds and incisions, musculoskeletal problems, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s can be treated effectively. Some of the benefits are listed below:

• Speedy recovery helps the patient to come back to a normal routine as soon as possible 
• Reduced nerve damage
• Decreased hair loss
• Less pain in chronic conditions
• Decreased muscle damage and risk of injuries in future
• Increased functionality, sleep quality and motion
• Increased formation of collagen
• Blood vessel tissues are regenerated at high speed
• Damaged skin is improved faster
• No adverse effects

Several orthopedic problems, like stiff joints, knee, elbow, hip, or shoulder pain can be treated through regenerative medicine.

Effective Regenerative Treatments

The four main treatment lines involved in regenerative medicine is as follows:

            Amniotic Membrane Injections

During delivery, with the consent of the mother, the amniotic membrane tissue of the placenta is collected and stored for future treatments in the same patient or to donate to other patients. The powerful properties of this tissue which otherwise discarded with the placenta has many applications in regenerative medicine. Amniotic membrane injection not only cures joint pain but also other orthopedic conditions. This injection releases several components like cytokines, hyaluronic acid, collagen, growth factors, and fibrinogens that have been helpful in healing wounds and surgical sites.

           Platelet-rich Plasma Therapy

This therapy has been popular for its efficacy in treating arthritis, especially knee osteoarthritis. In this treatment line, a blood sample is drawn from the arms in a similar way how it has been done for a regular blood test. This is then placed in a centrifuge and spins at high speed to isolate platelets from other blood components. Later a concentrated solution of this is injected into the painful joint. These platelets secrete growth factors that boost up cell division leading to regeneration of the tissue and healing process. This effectively stops the progression of the condition and subsides pain.

          Prolotherapy

This method does not involve the drawing of the blood or harvesting of stem cells. The principle of this method is that our body naturally sends resources to the sites of healing. Here, a safe solution of glucose is injected into the joint, where it triggers your body’s defense mechanism thereby effectively healing the wound. Prolotherapy aims to reduce inflammation and pain thereby promoting the regeneration of damaged tissues like tendons and ligaments. Thus patients experience better mobility and reduced pain.

          Stem Cell Therapy

This is the best type of treatment line in regenerative medicine. It is successful in treating joint and tissue damage and remains effective even five years after the treatment has been done. The success of this method accounts for the unique ability of the stem cells to transform into any damaged cartilage or ligament in your joints. This procedure involves extracting stem cells from another part of the patient’s body, namely bone marrow or iliac crest, and then injecting into their joint stimulating their body’s healing process. 

Stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma therapy is popularly used in regenerative medicine. Here is a list of treatable conditions with regenerative medicine listed below.

• Cuts and wounds
• Orthopedic injuries like bone, muscle, cartilage, and tendon repair
• Spinal cord injuries
• Musculoskeletal injuries
• Trauma and brain problems
• Cardiovascular problems like congestive heart failure, and coronary heart disease
• Neuronal disorders like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s
• Lung diseases like COPD, and other respiratory issues
• Liver disease
• Skin related and other longevity therapies
• Hair strengthening

If traditional medicine no longer provides you the expected results, it is time to explore the cutting-edge protocol of regenerative medicine. This helps you find the root cause and cure to restore your body in optimum health while using a non-surgical method. Doctors who are practicing regenerative medicine are hoping to cure the dangerous and widespread conditions like diabetes and cancer in the future. Let us hope and pray that they are successful.