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Johns Hopkins Medicine
Graphic shows the process in a recent study in rats where Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers harvested, implanted and measured the effectiveness in spinal fusion surgery of freshly isolated stem cells derived from adipose (fat) tissue – known as adipose-derived stomal vascular fraction, or AD-SVF – and from bone marrow (BM).Credit: A. Perdomo-Pantoja, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Adipose cells, better known as fat, may be the least popular component of the human body. However, most people don’t realize that fat actually has many important functions in establishing and maintaining good health – providing energy, insulating the body against heat loss and protecting nerves, just to name a few. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine suggest there’s another role for the poor maligned adipose cell: a practical and plentiful source of stem cells for use in spinal fusion surgeries.
Chronic itch known clinically as chronic pruritus is characterized as an unrelenting and sometimes even debilitating sensation to itch, and often lowers the quality of life for those who suffer with it. Treating the condition has been difficult because there are few Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies. Now, a recent case study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers provides evidence that a promising option for patients with chronic itch may already be available: medical marijuana (cannabis).
A report on the team s findings was published April 9, 2021, in Chronic itch can be an especially difficult condition to treat, with off-label therapeutics often utilized, says Shawn Kwatra, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. With the increased utilization of medical marijuana and our knowledge of the role of the endocannabinoid system [a complex cell-signaling system that regulates a variety of functions in the body]