Can Stem Cell Therapy help Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients?

Stem Cell Therapy is gaining a lot of popularity these days. This is mainly because it has shown promising results in treating many health conditions like type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart conditions, osteoarthritis, etc. The therapy is known to promote the repair response of injured and dysfunctional tissues.

That being said, it is important to understand that it is not a full-blown treatment option. Studies are being carried out and researchers are still trying to find more.

Nevertheless, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients who have taken stem cell therapy report getting better.

It is believed that stem cell therapy can help RA patients because of the unique capacity of mesenchymal stem cells to modulate the immune system. To know the process of stem cell therapy, view here.

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition. The condition is seen to affect multiple body joints.

In some cases, it is even seen to harm a variety of body systems, including skin, eyes, heart, lungs, and blood vessels.

RA is an autoimmune disease that affects your body when your immune system wrongly targets your body tissues.

However, unlike osteoarthritis, which majorly affects your joints, RA typically affects the lining of the joints.

As a result, the patient experiences severe swelling, and the condition may eventually cause bone erosion and joint deformity. The swelling caused by RA is even known to harm other body sections.

Certainly, there are treatment options to control RA. However, RA can still cause physical limitations.

Is stem cell therapy a safe treatment option for RA patients?

Along with healing the damaged tissues, stem cells are known to modulate the body’s immunity. As a result, pathological responses are controlled and the ability to fight off diseases is enhanced.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to travel toward inflamed tissues and help in generating anti-inflammatory molecules.

In addition, MSCs are even known to stimulate the generation of T regulatory cells. This is a kind of immune cell that protects against immunological self-attack.

A new study conducted on MSCs for RA treatment concluded that MSCs helped in reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-, which are even targeted by most RA treatments.

All in all, administering umbilical cord tissues or MSCs improves the condition of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Why is there a need for new Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment?

Most of the traditional treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis include administering DMARDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs, and hormone drugs.

All these drugs have shown a high disease reoccurrence rate, as well as the side effects of long-term use, are severe.

Also, it is worth noting that treatments that use hormones for a long time usually result in reduced immunity and causes osteoporosis with sodium and water retention.

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This means every treatment option for RA causes some sort of complications, and above all cannot exactly prevent or reduce the progression of the disease.

Besides, the tissues and organs that RA damages cannot be repaired using traditional drug therapies.

Finally, if you are considering stem cell therapy for RA, it is important to understand that the therapy is still in its trial stages.

It has shown good results, but it will be better if you speak to your physician before trying any new treatment. Also, whenever you do, always consult a reputed clinic offering stem cell therapy.