Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Stem cell treatment.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide. COPD is the result of chronic inflammation of the lungs. Current treatments, including physical and chemical therapies, provide limited results. 

Novastem has treatments to treat COPD with good results, for more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.

What does COPD stand for?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, describes a group of lung conditions that make it difficult to move air out of the lungs because the airways have narrowed.

Two of these lung conditions are long-term (or chronic) bronchitis and emphysema, which can often occur together.

These conditions narrow the airways. This makes it harder to get air in and out as you breathe, and your lungs are less able to take in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.

The airways are lined by muscular and elastic tissue. In a healthy lung, the elastic tissue between the airways acts like packing and pulls on the airways to keep them open.

Symptoms that patients with COPD may have

Symptoms of COPD usually do not appear until significant lung damage occurs and often worsen over time, especially if the patient has had continued exposure to tobacco.

Signs to look for or symptoms may include the following:

People are also likely to experience episodes called exacerbations, during which their symptoms worsen relative to the usual daily variation and persist for at least several days.

For more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.

Causes of COPD

COPD usually develops due to long-term damage to the lungs from inhaling a harmful substance, usually cigarette smoke, as well as smoke from other sources and air pollution. Jobs where people are exposed to dust, fumes and chemicals can also contribute to the development of COPD.

You are more likely to develop COPD if you are over 35 and are, or have been, a smoker or had chest problems as a child.

Some people are more affected than others by breathing in harmful materials. COPD appears to run in families, so if your parents had chest problems, your own risk is higher.

A rare genetic condition called alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency makes people very susceptible to developing COPD at a young age.

Conventional treatments for COPD

There is no cure for COPD, but early treatment can help with symptoms, slow the progression of the disease and improve your ability to stay active. There are also treatments to prevent or treat complications of the disease. Treatments include:

Lifestyle changes, such as:

Medications, such as:

Oxygen therapy: Used if you have severe COPD and low blood oxygen levels. Oxygen therapy can help you breathe better. You may need extra oxygen all the time or only at certain times

Pulmonary rehabilitation: A program that helps improve the well-being of people who have chronic breathing problems. May include:

Surgery: generally used as a last resort for people who have severe symptoms that have not improved with medication

Have a lung transplant: This may be an option if you have very severe COPD.

If you have COPD, it is important to know when and where to get help for your symptoms. You should get emergency care if you have severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing or speaking. See your doctor if your symptoms get worse or if you have signs of infection, such as fever.

How is COPD diagnosed?

To make a diagnosis, your health care professional may use:

Your doctor will diagnose COPD based on your signs and symptoms, your medical and family history, and your test results.

Use of stem cells in lung disease?

Stem cells are considered to be capable of self-renewal and differentiation into various cell subtypes. Depending on their origin and the microenvironment in which they reside. In humans stem cells can be divided into two broad categories: embryonic cells and adult cells.

Adult cells are located in tissues such as peripheral blood, bone marrow, adipose tissue, kidney, liver, heart and lungs and can be subdivided into multipotent (e.g. mesenchymal cells or MSCs) or unipotent (epithelial and endothelial cells), whose typing is based on their differentiation capacity.

Current evidence indicates that in the lung these cells can participate in tissue homeostasis and regeneration after damage and are located within the lung in the distal airways, or at distant sites such as blood, bone marrow and other sites. The lung can respond to injury and stress by activation of cell populations or by replacement of lost cells.

Endothelial stem cells were initially evaluated and proposed in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Subsequently, due to the great need to find effective therapies to treat these patients affected by chronic lung diseases. There are a large number of stem cell studies and cell therapies aimed at understanding the biology of the lung and its diseases.

Because it is not difficult to inject exogenous cells into the lung via the airway or peripheral circulation, the efficacy of the therapy is expected to be naturally high. Currently, this treatment offers a real and interesting approach to a therapeutic possibility that, with the exception of surgical lung transplantation, all other therapies do not modify the course of the disease.

In genetically predisposed individuals or in patients with chronic lung diseases, these cells lose in part or completely their regenerative capacity and active difference and do not cause healing and restitution of damaged tissues in a normal way. Therefore, alveologenesis (creation of new alveoli) can be induced by reactivation of dormant airways.

Stem cell therapy can help improve the signs and symptoms of COPD, such as:

How do we do it at Novastem?

Over the years, numerous attempts have been made to discover medical and non-medical treatment options for this condition. In some cases, medical treatments have led to increased survival and improved quality of life, in addition to emerging options towards non-medical therapeutics.

Novastem’s goal with our treatments is to reverse the lack of functionality, eliminating pain and allowing you to enjoy 100% of daily activities and life again.

At Novastem we use mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow, mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton’s jelly and also platelet lysate. The application of the treatment is intravenous and inhalation of the cellular concentrate is also possible.

References:

Last reviewed by a Novastem Medical Professional on 10/31/2022.

For more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists

Learn more about the scientific basis of our work at Novastem here.

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