Diseases are evolving, and traditional treatment solutions aren’t as effective as before. For this reason, healthcare professionals and scientists continuously find ways to innovate treatment therapies using technology.
They also take due diligence to explore newly discovered body compounds and components, such as exosomes.
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What Are Exosomes?
Exosomes are cellular components found outside a cell with an endomembrane system. Hence, they’re also called extracellular vesicles.
They were discovered 50 years ago. Many experts believe exosomes serve as a communication channel between cells and molecular transmission, including lipid, protein, and nucleic acid movement. Hence, exosome manufacturing came into existence.
Exosomes are thought to carry disease-causing elements and compounds. For instance, exosomes carry tau or a protein associated with neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, exosomes can serve as drug vectors. Hosts can tolerate exosomes because they’re made of natural cell membranes, making them suitable for therapy.
Learn how exosomes can be used in therapy below.
Cancer Treatment
Stem cell therapy is different from exosome therapy. In stem cell therapy, doctors use donor cells in the body, unlike exosomes. Exosome therapy involves extracting exosomes from donated mesenchymal stem cells or human cells that can produce two or more specialized cells. Hence, they make excellent molecule carriers.
According to a study, exosomes can help with cancer treatment. While scientists are still testing this capability, they believe that exosomes can therapeutically deliver small molecules and proteins to cancer cells. Furthermore, exosome-carried nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins are excellent biomarkers for diagnosing and knowing the prognosis of cancer.
Regenerative Medicine
Exosomes can be used in regenerative medicine. This field of medicine involves regenerating or replacing diseased or damaged organs, tissues, or cells with new ones or de novo generated cells. Many patients, such as athletes and the elderly suffering from cardiac disease, can benefit from regenerative medicine.
Instead of using synthetic or non-human compounds, exosomes are naturally found in the human body. They make regenerative medicine more successful. Therefore, exosomes are a new tool in regenerative medicine. Regenerative researchers use it with varying applications, such as faster wound healing and tendon and heart tissue regeneration.
Exosomes play a vital role in modern-age hair regeneration. Licensed practitioners inject growth factors and exosomes to regrow hair and treat the early stages of alopecia in men and women. Patients observe noticeable results within six months after exosome therapy.
Joint Pain Management
Exosome therapy is a non-invasive treatment that can be used in interventional joint pain management. It means that exosomes can help reduce inflammation and reverse joint damage. Hence, exosomes help reduce joint pain and promote quicker joint repair.
The average exosome treatment session lasts about 30 to 60 minutes. The licensed and certified healthcare professional injects the exosomes into the affected area. Some patients, like those who get fatigued quickly and have a weak immune system, can take exosomes via an IV line in the hand or arm.
After exosome therapy, patients shouldn’t smoke or drink alcohol for the next 24 hours. A warm or cold compress is advisable after the treatment to help reduce injection pain and swelling. Moreover, patients must avoid strenuous activities for at least 72 hours. They also need to minimize their intake of sugar and sodium.
COPD Treatment
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) involves airflow restriction and airway inflammation. Treating COPD usually involves medications, oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and palliative care. But exosome therapy brings high hopes to patients with COPD.
COPD treatment can use exosomes to reverse inflammation in the lungs. However, further conclusive studies are necessary to confirm the use of exosomes in COPD and lung injury management.
Exosomes For Treating Coronary Artery Diseases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC reported that coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of cardiovascular disease. About 382,820 people died in 2020 because of CAD, and about two in 10 deaths happen in adults aged less than 65 years old. CAD treatment interventions are multiple, and exosome therapy brings promising benefits for patients.
Exosome therapy can be used in diagnosing and treating coronary artery diseases. It can be used in treating atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Exosomes also help in in-stent restenosis and optimizing treatment strategies for cardiovascular diseases.
Conclusion
Exosomes play a critical role in next-generation treatments, especially for cancer. Because of the promising benefits of exosomes in regenerative medicine and other treatments, they make an excellent tool for healthcare professionals to provide quality patient care.
Also, exosomes play a critical role in diagnosis, prognosis, and providing tailor-fit therapies for patients, especially those suffering from chronic and life-threatening diseases.
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