The new advances in science truly have no boundary. One man who thought he would never walk properly again had his life changed recently by scientists who grew muscle in his legs.
Fox news reports on the miraculous new development.
Scientists actually used pig material to create the new tissue.
Experts did the procedure in the legs of men who are disabled. The pig material sparked a current in the stem cells of these men causing their tissue to grow. Fox delves into the resilience of muscles, “Muscles have some natural ability to regenerate after small injuries. But if too much is lost -- from a car accident, a sports injury or, for soldiers, a bomb blast -- the body can't heal properly. Hard scar tissue fills the gap instead. Called volumetric muscle loss, a severe enough injury can leave an arm or leg essentially useless.”
The procedure was long but definitely worth the outcome.
Fox explains, “First, surgeons remove the scar tissue. Then they implant something called an "extracellular matrix" derived from pigs. It's the connective scaffolding that remains after cells are removed from a tissue. (Without cells, the immune system doesn't reject it.) Such material has been used for many years as a kind of mesh in treatments for skin ulcers and in hernia repair. What's new here: The matrix temporarily fills in the injury, between edges of remaining muscle. As the scaffolding slowly degrades, it releases chemical signals that attract stem cells to the site. Then physical therapy puts tension on the spot, in turn signaling the stem cells that they need to form strong, stretchy muscle tissue.”
The results were miraculous. “Some of the men improving enough to no longer need canes, or to ride a bicycle again, after years of living with injuries that today have no good treatment,” according to Fox.
