Stem Cell Therapy and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases are a blight on modern society, creating financial and emotional burdens that, if left uncured, will continue to be a scourge on a large part of the ageing population. These diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are characterized by pathological events in the brain that cause neurons to die or not function properly. Finding a definitive cure that reverses the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases could eliminate a significant danger of the modern world's relatively recent increased life expectancy. Stem cell therapy, using stem cells as a treatment, poses a potential solution to neurodegenerative diseases. In this paper, we discuss Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's, current treatments, and each disease's potential to be cured by stem cell therapy.