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  • Essay / Stem Cells – The Ideal of Medicine

    The famous scientist William J. Mayo (1928) once said: “The goal of medicine is to prevent disease and prolong life, the ideal of medicine is about eliminating the need for a doctor. “With the help of technologies available and being developed today, we are closer than ever to achieving this goal. Stem cells are mainly of two types, adult stem cells, which are present in small amounts in many organs such as bone marrow, fat and skin. A problem with this type of stem cells is that they do not have as much ability to become different specialized cells, for example bone marrow cells cannot create nerve cells (Westphal, 2003). The other most widely used source of stem cells today is embryonic stem cells from five-day-old blastocysts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay These stem cells, although much more controversial for many people, because they are derived from an embryo that eventually becomes a human are more useful in many more circumstances due to their ability to become any specialized cell (Westphal, 2003; Callahan, 2005; New scientist, 2017; Thompson, 2017). Stem cells can be used to conduct developmental research, find cures to prevent disease, regrow organs, and treat existing illnesses. Approximately one million people in the United States suffer from Parkinson's, a disease that kills brain cells, making movement difficult for many patients (Florida Hospital, nd.). A study was done on monkeys with Parkinson's disease, where silver was injected with dopamine-producing brain cells, derived from stem cells. The result of the experiment was that 40-55% of the monkeys moved more efficiently and the effects of the injection lasted for two months. (Thompson, 2017) T cells attack cells in the pancreas, leading to a decrease in insulin, which is responsible for controlling blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetic patients usually have to rely on insulin for their entire lives. A study in Brazil gave fifteen people infusions of stem cells, which caused the cells to produce new immune cells that did not lower insulin levels by attacking the pancreas (Aldhous, 2007). In conclusion, stem cell research, although controversial, has many positive benefits for our society and is ultimately necessary to treat and reduce suffering from diseases that may become preventable in our lifetime..