If you are experiencing chronic and extreme back and neck pain, this is mostly likely caused by changes to the discs in your spine. If you are a victim of degenerative disc disease in cervical and lumbar discs, you could be a prime candidate for adult stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy used in the area of the affected disc may help the disc to heal itself. This would reduce the inflammation, thus reducing the pressure on the nerves that cause the pain or numbness.
Are you a candidate?
Degenerative disc disease in your spine isn’t really a disease, but the term used to describe common age- or injury-related changes to the discs in your spine. These include the loss of fluid/hydration in the discs, which can result in reduced flexibility, and tears or cracks in the outer layer of the disc that can cause it to bulge, rupture, or break apart. Depending on the location of the disc, those with degenerative disc disease may suffer from mild to debilitating neck or back pain, numbness, or a combination of both, that can also affect the arms and legs. If traditional non-surgical methods don’t take care of the pain, surgery involving removing the disc and replacing it with an artificial one or fusing the surrounding vertebrae is often the last-resort treatment.
Are there ethical issues associated with harvesting adult stem cells?
No, adult stem cells do not raise ethical questions as they are harvested from the patient’s body and simply returned, or relocated, to that same patient during the same procedure.
Are there cancer-causing risks associated with adult stem cell therapy?
No. Where embryonic stem cells have been shown to form teratomas (germ cell tumors), there is no data that suggests adult stem cells have the same potential to promote the development of tumors.
