You should know what stem cells are used for

Today's medical world has turned their focus to stem cells treatment, which is believed to be the answer of many complicate diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson, Alzheimer, heart diseases, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, burns, spinal cord injury, or even cancers.

The stem cells magnificent treatment has made it so popular amongst the newspapers, magazines, televisions, radios, internet and governments worldwide. But for common citizens, this treatment may be confusing for there are too many information about it. The stem cells research itself is complicated and invites many controversial responses. Therefore, this discussion is made for you to understand what stem cells are used for.

What are stem cells ?

To understand what stem cells are, let's check out first where they come from. The smallest unit that makes up a human is a cell. Human is a multicellular being because there are trillions of cells in human body. Cells are supporting the whole activities of a human by taking in nutrients, providing energy and replacing the damaged cells.

There are various type of cells, such as heart cells, lung cells, pancreas cells, etc.. Different types of cells have different functions. All the various cells in human body come from simpler cells named stem cells. Stem cell is the earliest stage of a cell which has the ability to remain being itself (stem cells) or turn into another type of cell (specialized cells).

Stem cells are so special because they can duplicate themselves by dividing (one into two, two into four, etc.) and can be specialized into various types of cells. Stem cells, however, have played a very important role in the history of humankind.
When an embryo is fertilized in a woman's womb, it has about 30 stem cells which are miraculously developed into hundreds of specialized cells to create tissues and replace damaged cells. Therefore, the experts believe stem cells have the ability to cure many diseases since they have those abilities.

The study of what stem cells are used for

Stem Cells and Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the major complicated diseases to be treated because it leads to blood circulation problem, nerve problem, heart diseases and blindness. There are two types of diabetes, the type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

1. Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the body immune system attacks the beta cells in pancreas which are to produce insulin for taking care of the blood sugar. Therefore the insulin in the body is not sufficient to process the blood sugar enters the cells for energy supply.
2. Type 2 diabetes is the next chapter of type 1 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the body really can't produce insulin anymore, this condition is called 'insulin resistance'.

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients need insulin injections to support their daily life. They may not stand this condition for the long term injection can cause skin discoloration. Beside the insulin injection, they must also change their eating and exercise lifestyle - eat healthier food, diet program and exercise for weight loss, which is of course not comfortable at all.
Overall, both type 1 and type 2 diabetes treatments will cause physical and mental exhaustion to the patients.