Is Stem Cell Therapy Ethical?
Stem cells are an important part of the increasingly widespread field of regenerative medicine. Instead of treatments based on medications that cover symptoms or force the body into certain patterns, regenerative medical techniques seek to aid the body’s natural healing mechanisms.
Stem cells serve as the raw materials for this healing. They have the ability to transform into the cells your body needs for repair. For instance, if you have a cut, stem cells convert into the necessary tissue to repair skin, blood vessels, nerves, and any other damaged component.
There’s nothing inherently controversial about stem cells. When you hear about ethical dilemmas surrounding stem cells in the news, it’s likely to do with questionable research done with stem cells obtained from embryonic sources.
Choosing Dr. Kochert Pain & Health for stem cell therapy assures that your treatment avoids any ethical concerns. In fact, Dr. Kochert prefers to use stem cells taken from your own body. Useful for a wide range of soft tissue healing, because your stem cell therapy uses your own cells, relocating them to the locations you need, your body accepts the treatment more readily.
Origins of stem cells
It’s estimated that your body is composed of trillions of individual cells. These cells group into different types of tissues and organs, and your body does an amazing job in most cases when damaged tissue needs repair.
It’s not practical to store spare cells of every type in your body, so nature developed an elegant way to manage its resources. Your body has a variety of stem cells. You can think of stem cells as a raw material, a basic building block for healing.
Just as a carpenter can take lumber and create a wide range of structures, your body takes stem cells and converts these into bone, cartilage, skin, or any of the other specialty cells it needs to sustain and heal.
Stem cells and regenerative medicine
You’re likely familiar with bone marrow transplants as a treatment for leukemia. What many people don’t know is that these transplants are a form of stem cell therapy that’s been in use since 1968. It’s one of the earliest and most successful contemporary regenerative medicine techniques.
Bone marrow serves as a storage space for some types of stem cells in your body. Just as they can be harvested for transplant, stem cells can be gathered in smaller quantities for redistribution, to be used at the sites of healing, where you can benefit from an increased supply of these building blocks.
The ethics of stem cells
There’s no ethical problem with a doctor harvesting your own stem cells to treat you. Issues arise in research using embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells have certain powerful capabilities beyond the stem cells found in your body, but harvesting these cells involves killing the host embryo.
Embryonic stem cells aren’t used for regenerative medicine treatments. Choosing Dr. Kochert Pain & Health for stem cell therapy assures that you’re treated with your body’s own cells. There are no ethical questions regarding your care.
Contact Dr. Kochert Pain & Health to discuss the use of stem cells to treat arthritis, cartilage and tendon damage, and a range of other soft tissue issues. You can make an appointment by calling the office at 765-274-0723 or requesting a time using the online link. Find out more about stem cells and the power of regenerative medicine by booking a consultation today.
