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Essay / Alzheimer - 679
Stem cells are a type of unspecialized cell that can regenerate through the process of cell division (Abdel-Salam and Oma, 2011). They have phenomenal potential to differentiate into other specific cell types in a living organism. These cells can also be activated to transform into organ-specific cells or tissues with defined activity, but only in a specific experimental setting. Stem cells have the ability to remain as they are or divide further to renew deteriorated and damaged tissue cells. Recently, it was discovered that stem cells could be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, but many clinical trials are still underway to find a specific government-approved treatment. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. The very early stages of Alzheimer's disease include symptoms such as confusion and using the right words when speaking. As the disease progresses, symptoms such as memory loss and mood swings begin to appear (Begley et al., 2001). No type of stem cell treatment is yet available for Alzheimer's patients because researchers are still conducting new experiments. Multiple neurons are damaged by Alzheimer's disease, making the problem even more complex and a different approach must be followed each time a clinical trial is conducted. One approach researchers are following is to transplant a few neural stem cells from a normal patient's brain. person in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's disease (Abdel-Salam and Omar, 2011). With this, researchers hope that the patient's brain will begin to make healthy neurons, but even if the transplantation is successful, there is no guarantee that the symptoms will decrease because during Alzheimer's disease, many areas of the brain are damaged (euros...... middle of paper ......the fact that scientists can use it to understand the causes of tangles and plaques in the patient's brain and to discover new drugs (Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2005). This approach can be very useful for doctors and clinicians to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, but this disease varies greatly from patient to patient and each may have a different cause. (Begley et al., 2001). However, many companies have begun to offer stem cell treatment for this disease; there is no evidence that it is an effective and safe treatment. Scientists envision that one day, stem cells will help cure and treat Alzheimer's disease in other ways, sooner than advances in potential stem cell transplant therapy. Using stem cells taken from Alzheimer's patients, new treatments can be developed and this is a growing area of research..