
Regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy, is becoming a more explored option to help discover a new alternative method to variety of issues. Stem cell therapy is most commonly associated with healing injuries or pain, but a lesser-known use of stem cell therapy is for asthma management.
Causes of Asthma
In order to understand how stem cells may be an effective therapy for asthma, it’s important to understand the initial causes of asthma. While the exact cause of asthma currently remains unknown, there are several known triggers that can produce asthmatic responses.
People who have asthma suffer from inflamed airways that both narrow and become clogged with mucus in response to triggers.
Asthma Triggers
Some triggers for asthma may include:
- Infections, like in the case of cold or flu
- Allergies, including allergies to pollen, animals, or dust mites
- Smoke and fumes
- Certain medicines like anti-inflammatory painkillers
- Weather
- Mold
- Exercise
- Emotional responses like stress or laughter
Knowing what triggers your asthma is an essential step in managing your asthma symptoms.
How People Get Asthma
There are many factors that may increase the likelihood a person will develop asthma.
These include:
- Allergy-related conditions
- Family history of asthma
- Exposure to tobacco smoke
- Being born prematurely
- Being born with a low birth weight
- Smoking during pregnancy
- Environmental exposure at your job
Patients who develop asthma because of their job develop what’s considered “occupational asthma.” This may be due to exposure to chemicals, dust, fumes, or latex.
How Regenerative Medicine May Help
Stem cell therapy is a regenerative therapy that can help improve a patient’s immune system function. Improvements to the immune system can have anti-inflammatory effects. Since inflammation contributes to asthmatic attacks, stem cell therapy may be able to help improve asthmatic conditions.
Mesenchymal stem cells may be derived from bone marrow aspirate tissue, adipose tissue, or umbilical cord tissue.
Who Is a Candidate?
Some patients manage their asthma just fine with medications. However, there are some patients for whom medications are either completely inadequate or the side effects are unbearable. In these cases, stem cell therapy may be an alternative option to explore.
Patients may start to see some improvements after a few weeks. This is because it can take time for the stem cells to work in your body and for your body to respond to their regenerative properties.
This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine for hair, also Stem cell treatment for COPD. Regenerative medicine has the natural potential to help improve symptoms sometimes lost from the progression of many conditions.