One can only marvel at all the major breakthroughs that have been made in the field of medicine during the past decade or two. Cures have been found for many previously deadly diseases. People live longer and more comfortable due to new drugs and treatment methods. Doctors can now even operate on unborn babies, attach severed limbs and transplant organs. More breakthroughs are promised and stem cell research facilities say that they are on the verge of miraculous new cures.

The concept behind bone marrow transplants is no a recent one. These transplants have been done on patients suffering from leukemia and other blood related cancers for some years. The theory is that the transplant will encourage new blood cells to grow in order to replace the ones destroyed by chemo therapy. The procedure is risky, however, and only used as a last resort as the success rate is rather low.

There is still no cure for cancer and bone marrow transplants are merely done to prolong the life of the patient. Scientists hope that this will change. They say that these transplants will eventually becoming a cure for many different types of cancer. Studies in this area have not showed positive results yet because progress is extremely slow. A real cure for cancer by means of bone marrow transplants is still in the future.

While huge efforts are made to develop bone marrow transplants into a cure for cancer, many scientists are also studying the possibilities of these transplants in other areas. Many studies are conducted to find ways in which transplants will be able to repair brain damage caused by accidents and conditions such as strokes. They hope that it will become possible to replace damaged brain cells with healthy ones.

The possibility of using bone marrow transplants to cure heart diseases is also high on the list of priorities. If it becomes possible to grow new cells inside the heart to replace those damaged by heart diseases, many heart conditions will no longer be life threatening. Heart disease is still one of the biggest killers in the world and a major breakthrough in this area will indeed be beneficial to many millions of people.

This area of research has numerous enemies, many of them eminent scientists themselves. They say that there is no prove whatsoever that bone marrow transplants can stimulate the growth of new cells. They point out that these transplants are dangerous and that many recipients do not survive the procedure. They also point out that the cells being transplanted are often obtained from the umbilical cords of fetuses, which raises many ethical questions.

Critics also lambast researchers of exaggerating the potential of bone marrow transplants and the progress that they are making. No positive results have been published yet but the public and the medical world are nevertheless led to believe that major breakthroughs are just around the corner. This is not true, critics say. Positive results, if any, are still many years into the future.

It is impossible to say whether bone marrow transplants will become a miracle cure or not. There is simply not enough information to form a valid opinion. One cannot but help to hope, however, that a cure for many dread diseases will indeed be found.