The future is here ! Treating a variety of conditions with stem cells is a subject of intense investigation with hundreds of research studies being conducting all around the world. The hope is that stem cell therapy can help autoimmune diseases, neurologic disorders, diabetes, heart disease, the ravages of aging, and many other medical conditions.
A new study from the Departments of Biology and Physics at York, which was funded by Arthritis Research UK , has been published in the the journal Stem Cell Reports. They report having identified individual stem cells that can regenerate tissue, cartilage and bone. This knowledge opens the way to having better treatment for arthritis. Many clinical practitioners utilizing these therapies in advance of their general approval by the medical community report that they have helped many people avoid joint replacement surgery.
Lead researcher Dr Paul Genever says, “While stem cell therapy is an exciting new development for the treatment for osteoarthritis, up to now it has been something of a lottery because we did not know the precise properties of each of the cells. This project has helped us to establish which cells are good at regenerating tissue, cartilage and bone respectively. It will help in the search to develop more targeted therapies for arthritis patients.”
Dr James Fox one of the co-authors says, “Working with colleagues across the Arthritis Research UK Tissue Engineering Centre will help to bring our discovery closer to patient treatment.”
Director of Research at Arthritis Research UK Dr Stephen Simpson tells us that “There are 8 million people in the UK living with the pain and disability caused by osteoarthritis. We are fighting to find better treatments and one day, a cure. This research is exciting and promising. Identifying specific stem cells that could help the damaged joint to repair itself, takes us a step closer to our aim of developing an injectable, safe, stem cell therapy for people with osteoarthritis.”
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