People’s quest for immortality is ancient. We’ve dreamed of ways to reverse aging and live forever in almost every mythology. It is obvious why. No one likes to admit to the temporary nature of our time on Earth, and what happens to us as we age. Mythology has given way to science and other methods of at least somewhat objective understanding over time. This has lead to the advent of various aesthetic and medical options for helping to reduce the impact that time has on our bodies. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t why regenerative medicine exists even if that particular branch of medicine has promise for helping counter aging. Regenerative medicine is about finding the means to help human bodies repair and replace various forms of damage on its own or with appropriate outside that renders the results indistinguishable from the normal body. This can be a bit complex and as a result, we’ve got a quick primer for those interested in learning about this promising branch of medicine.

One More Time In English
Many people either know about or have heard from someone about what transplanting organs can do to people’s bodies. Drugs have to be taken to suppress the immune system to admit the organs to remain in place and those drugs in turn cause more problems. The goal of regenerative medicine is to get around problems like this. Regenerative medicine specializes in discovery methods to utilize stem cells and newer organ transplant technologies to help the body be able to treat replaced organs with no distinction made between them and the original organ. Stem cells are a particularly promising area of research for regenerative medicine as they can be prompted to form almost any kind cell in the body. This is leading to experimental treatments involving injecting stem cells at the site of nerve damage in some parts of the world. Notably, regenerative medicine is, in many ways, at the cutting edge and as a result many avenues of research have yet to be eliminated and as a result, experimental therapies are not guarantees.

But What Is It?
It should be noted that calling regenerative medicine a branch of medicine science both is and isn’t quite accurate. Regenerative medicine is actually a hybrid area of research that combines multiple disciplines. It pulls from medical and scientific research to try and create a complete picture. Advances in the area of organ transplantation and “growth” are typically derived from tissue based disciplines. Smaller scale disciplines are necessarily involved in the use of stem cells as they focus more on what can be done at those levels. You are probably noticing that none of this really has a direct application in anti-aging. This, like regenerative medicine’s status as a branch of medicine, is an area where this is both true and not true. In truth, regenerative medicine actually offers a lot of promise once we start understanding it more.

What Good Might It Do?
Science generally seems to indicate that aging itself is a highly complex problem that it will take a long time to understand the mechanics of and figure out how to stop or slow it. This isn’t true when it comes to alleviating the symptoms of aging. Organ degradation, damage to the body, and various other minor issues that crop up over time might actually be treatable with regenerative medicine. Of particular interest in these matters is the stem cell section of regenerative medicine. It holds to promise to help with degradation that it is otherwise hard to deal with because the body loses out on its own ability to repair as effectively over time. Turning stem cells into the required kind of cell and providing them to the body might be the key to helping with a number of degenerative conditions associated with age. The benefits of internally treating aging mean that while regenerative medicine might not necessarily expand our lives by much it will certainly improve the quality of life for the years that we have.

Regenerative medicine is an interesting area of research. The lack of direct application to solving the problem of aging may disappoint some people, but the potential gains for long-term quality of life make it a lucrative area of research. Regardless, you can still do your best against external signs of aging by treating the skin appropriately and doing your best to ensure you catch and treat the signs of aging early.