A stem cell treatment developed in Abu Dhabi has helped 5,000 patients recover from Covid-19. Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre said it also administered the treatment to four patients with leukaemia, who also recovered as a result. In Covid-19 patients, the treatment, called UAECell19, appears to help the body fight the virus and makes the disease less harmful. It involves extracting stem cells from patients’ blood and reintroducing them after “activating” them. The cells are then nebulised, converted into a fine spray, and inhaled by the patient. There they help regenerate lung cells and improve the body’s immune response by preventing an overreaction to the infection, which can damage healthy cells. Its efficacy was <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/coronavirus-uae-stem-cell-centre-develops-potential-breakthrough-covid-19-treatment-1.1013578">announced in May</a> and the UAE government ordered the treatment be provided without charge to all moderate to high-risk Covid-19 patients in the country. Following an initial trial, researchers were able to conclude that UAECell19 reduced the duration of patient stay in hospital from 22 days to only six, when compared with patients who had received standard treatment. Further analysis revealed that patients treated with the stem cells were 3.1 times more likely to recover within seven days than those treated with standard therapy. More than two thirds (67 per cent) of the patients who received the stem cells treatment owed their recovery to the new treatment, the centre said. Dr Yendry Ventura, who leaves a team of doctors and researchers at the centre, said stem cell therapy could hold the key to treating many diseases. "The reality is that cell therapy is curing cancer … We need to improve this therapy and make it available for many other people," he <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/coronavirus-inside-the-uae-stem-cell-centre-working-to-treat-covid-19-1.1034254">told <em>The National</em>.</a> “The future for the stem cells lies in regenerative medicine, in which you can treat almost all the degenerative conditions. “You can create in the future, if you have the right technologies, even artificial organs.”
