The skeletal system provides structure to our human body, and although it is not its only function, it is the most important one. Other functions include helping in movement and locomotion, providing protection to internal organs, and also producing various blood cells and fat and even storage of calcium, all in the bone marrow. Taking into consideration all the important functions that are carried out by the skeletal system, it is indeed one of the most important organ systems of our body, although it is not quite acknowledged as so.
The skeletal system is primarily made up of bones, which are a total of two hundred and six in number, and also a network of ligaments, tendons, and cartilages, which are soft, flexible tissue which connects the different bones together. Although the bones are one of the toughest parts of the human body, a constant movement against each other and the resulting frictional force does wear off the skeletal tissue over a certain period of time. This gives rise to various kinds of diseases, primarily like osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a disease of the joints in the skeletal system, which is a result of the eventual breakdown of the cartilage tissue in the joints, and also of the bones in the joints. The primary symptoms of this disease in pain in the joints followed by swellings. Although the pain is initially felt only after strenuous activity or exercise, after some time it becomes constant.
Treatment and Cure
The primary way of treating osteoarthritis is changing the way the patient lives their day to day lives, and also via light physical exercise or physiotherapy and dietary changes. Osteoarthritis may be further compounded by extra pressure on the knees, which may be due to obesity. So, that should be kept in check and overweight patients have to change their diets and do appropriate weight-loss exercises. Even for people who do not have any weight issues, doing corrective physical exercises or physiotherapy is the primary way to counter the effects and growth of this disease. From a medicinal point of view, some pain medications may be taken to ease the pain. There are also some joint injections to help with the swellings. In some cases, surgery may also be an option. Recently, however, there has been an emergence of osteoarthritis stem cell therapy India and some other countries are developing.
Stem Cell Therapy for Treatment
Stem cells are those cells which can give rise to any other type of cell by differentiating and dividing accordingly. This makes them an incredibly important tool for the treatment of various degenerative diseases, including arthritis. In stem cell therapy for treatment of arthritis, stem cells are introduced into the joints by either surgical methods or via injections. Then, these cells differentiate to form new skeletal tissue and cartilaginous tissue, as or when required, thus replacing the damaged tissue with new, healthy tissue. In this way, stem cell therapy has been successfully introduced to counter the degenerative effects of arthritis.