Diseases and Injuries

 

Diseases and Injuries That Could Potentially Benefit From Stem Cell Research

In theory, there is no disease that is exempt from a possible treatment that comes out of stem cell research.

Studying stem cells help us understand how cells transform into specialized cells that make us what we are.  A better understanding of normal cell development allows us to understand and perhaps even correct errors that cause medical conditions.

A potential application of stem cells is making cells and tissues for medical therapies.  However, the most common way of thinking about stem cells treating disease is through a stem cell transplant.  Transplants of blood-forming stem cells have been used successfully in cancer treatments, and research suggests that they will be useful in treating autoimmune diseases and in helping people tolerate transplanted organs.

Stem cells can also be used to study disease, identify new drugs, or screen drugs for toxic side effects.  All of these uses can have significant impact on human health without transplanting a single cell.

An overwhelming majority of medical experts, medical organizations and patient advocacy groups agree that all types of stem cell research should be pursued.  Dozens of diseases and injuries could benefit from this basic policy and medical researchers believe that stem cells could potentially lead to cures for more than 70 diseases and injuries to include:

 

Autoimmune Diseases/ Musculoskeletal/ Connective Tissue Disorders
•    Arthritis
•    Crohn’s Disease
•    Devic’s Syndrome
•    Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
•    Multiple Sclerosis
•    Osteoporosis
•    Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus)
•    Systemic Sclerosis
•    Type 1 Diabetes



Cancers
•    Bladder/Kidney
•    Brain/Central Nervous System
•    Breast
•    Colon/Lower Bowel
•    Endometrium/Cervix/Ovary
•    Esophagus
•    Leukemia
•    Liver
•    Lungs/Respiratory System
•    Lymphoma
•    Myeloma
•    Pancreas
•    Prostate
•    Skin
•    Stomach



Cardiovascular Diseases
•    Acute Ischemic Heart Disease (angina)
•    Myocardial Infarction (heart attack)
•    Chronic Ischemic Heart Disease (athersclerotic heart disease)
•    Cardiomyopathy Cerebrovascular Disease (stroke)
•    Sudden Cardiac Death

 

Circulatory/Respiratory Diseases
•    Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
•    Pulmonary Fibrosis

 

Injuries
•    Severe Burns
•    Shaken Baby Syndrome
•    Spinal Cord Injury

 

Eye Disorders
•    Macular Degeneration
•    Retinitis Pigmentosa

 

Infectious Diseases
•    HIV/AIDS

 

Inherited Peripheral Neuropathy 
•    Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)

Metabolic Diseases
•    Adrenoleukodystrophy
•    Aspartylglycosaminuria
•    Canavan’s Disease
•    Cystic Fibrosis
•    Fabry Disease
•    Fucosidosis
•    Gaucher Disease
•    Leukodystrophy
•    Mucopolysaccharidoses
•    Niemann-Pick Disease
•    Pompe Disease
•    Porphyria
•    Sickle Cell Disease
•    Tay-Sachs Disease
•    Type 2 Diabetes

 

Muscular Dystrophies
•    Becker
•    Duchenne
•    Emery Dreifuss
•    Facioscapulohumeral
•    Fukuyama
•    Limb Girdle
•    Myasthenia Gravis
•    Myotonic Dystrophy

 


Neurological Diseases of Adulthood
•    Alzheimer’s Disease
•    Huntington’s Disease
•    Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS)
•    Parkinson’s Disease

 


Neurological Diseases of Childhood
•    Asperger Syndrome
•    Autism
•    Cerebral Palsy
•    Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
•    Down Syndrome
•    Epilepsy
•    Hydrocephalus
•    Rett Syndrome