Stem Cell Treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) In Dogs and Cats
Stem cells are categorized as harbinger cells that have the ability to self-restore and to produce multiple cell types.
They have two interesting properties that empower them to do this: First and foremost, they can divide again and again to create new cells. Also, as they break, they can change into different types of cells that make up the body.
Inflammatory bowel disease in dogs and inflammatory bowel disease in cats are both thought to be related to an over-active immune system and can affect both the small and large intestine. In essence, the wall of the intestine is intruded by inflammatory cells, which reduce the capability of the intestines to carry out their usual roles in digestion, retention, and absorption of nutrients from the food.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are known to most frequent cause of severe vomiting and stooling in dogs and cats, and refer to a group of poorly understood intestinal diseases characterized by the intrusion of the gastrointestinal mucosa by inflammatory cells. The cellular infiltrate is composed of variable populations of plasma cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils, or successions of these cells.
Although the morphology of IBD in dogs is poorly understood, there is suggestive evidence from clinical observations to incriminate bacterial products in the initiation and perpetuation of canine and feline IBD.
Inflammatory bowel disease in cats and dogs can be associated with weight loss or inability to gain weight despite good nutrition.
Since IBD in dogs and cats is essentially a diagnosis of exclusion, it is important that the attending veterinarian do a comprehensive workup of the other potential causes of gastrointestinal disease (parasites, bacterial, viral, food-related, neoplasia). IBD in dogs and cats is definitively diagnosed after biopsy of the intestinal tract, although ultrasound and X-ray can give us a huge amount of information even without running a full biopsy.
Stem Cell Therapy has been proven to induce great healing activity. Apart from healing damaged tissues and promoting the rejuvenation of damaged areas, stem cells have the peculiar ability to control the immune system while conserving disease-fighting abilities.
Stem cells produce anti-inflammatory agents to shield canines from the immunological self-attacks.
Research into the use of stem cells to repair bones, severe injuries, and in the treatment of kidney and liver disease, and certain inflammatory diseases of the skin and gut has been on overdrive in the last couple of years and groundbreaking discoveries will be revealed in the coming months.
At the time of writing, there is no complete cure for inflammatory bowel disease in cats and dogs. However, for Ibd in dogs treatment of the condition can be approached in many ways in order to control it, prevent symptoms, and encourage weight gain.
These include but are not limited to dietary change, nutritional supplements, and medication, and often a combination of these can be very effective, but in some cases, inflammatory bowel diseases in dogs treatment can be frustrating and results can be disheartening.
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