04 Jul The Benefits of Amniotic Fluid
When you hear amniotic fluid, there is a good chance that you immediately think of a pregnant person. However, there is a rapidly advancing field of medicine that also uses amniotic fluid, and it is known as regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is focused on repairing or regenerating tissues, organs, and cells within the human body that have been severely damaged. This is done with the use of stem cells that reside within the tissues.
Essentially, regenerative medicine harnesses the power of stem cells and pairs it with the human body’s ability to regenerate and restore function to the tissue that has been heavily damaged. This means that tissues that would normally be considered dead can now be regrown to potentially help prevent any type of further decline in health.
What Exactly Is Amniotic Fluid?
Amniotic fluid is a nourishing, protective fluid that helps protect the embryo during the length of pregnancy. As soon as the amniotic cavity is formed, amniotic fluid will begin gathering. It is a slightly yellowish, clear liquid that is collected in the amniotic sac.
During the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, the amniotic fluid is going to be secreted from the byproduct of chloride and sodium, which will be absorbed by the embryo. During the last 20 weeks of pregnancy, the amniotic fluid will be composed of a mainly respiratory fluid and urine. Amniotic fluid is an essential part of the embryo’s development into a human because it contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats, enzymes, amino acids, pigments, cells, and hormones. It is also one of the best natural and richest sources of stem cells.
Benefits of Amniotic Fluid
There are three very significant benefits when it comes to amniotic fluid.
- Amniotic fluid contains mesenchymal stem cells. These stem cells are what is known as pluripotent, meaning that they have the unique ability to grow into several different tissues, which can then be used to treat a variety of medical conditions. Some of these conditions include regenerating different tissue and organs that include bone, cartilage, kidneys, skin, the liver, and the heart.
- The stem cells that are found in amniotic fluid are a perfect match to the baby the fluid came from. This means that any tissue or organs that end up being grown from the cells are always going to be a perfect match, and accepted without any type of rejection risk. In fact, the processing at the FDA certified labs removes ANY DNA, so no one rejects the amniotic tissue.
- Amniotic fluid stem cells are also going to be a perfect match for all the immediate family members. This means that the amniotic fluid can potentially provide medical help for parents and siblings as well.
Why Stem Cells?
Stem cells are considered to be the basic building block of the human organism. They are essentially where all other types of cells are going to originate. The amount of potential that stem cells have in medicine is remarkable, as they can be used to grow different types of body cells, such as heart cells, muscle cells, brain cells, or skin cells.
The study of stem cells is considered to be one of the more important scientific and medical subjects today, and every new discovery involving stem cells moves the entire medical world closer to finding the treatments to some of the more life-threatening diseases and conditions.
There are several different types of stem cells, but only four sources for collecting them. Those are cord blood cells, embryonic cells, adult cells, and amniotic fluid cells. With regard to potential ethical concerns, the collecting of stem cells from the amniotic fluid avoids these as it is harvested without any type of harm coming to the embryo.
When it comes to mesenchymal stem cells, the extent of their ability to regenerate tissues of the human body is second to none. With the ability to help repair any seriously damaged tissues, partnered with the fact that there are essentially no concerns about the body rejecting the cells, there is no telling how helpful mesenchymal stem cells from the amniotic fluid will ultimately be. As the understanding of regenerative cell therapy continues to advance and move forward, so too will the understanding of exactly how powerful stem cells can be in regards to helping diseases and other harmful conditions.