Stem cell, tissue therapy and regenerative medicine are getting a lot of publicity lately. The reason why is because it is effective and safe! You now have effective options other than drugs, injections, and replacement surgeries for your arthritic (even bone on bone) joints!
There are many options when it comes to stem cell therapy. Since stem cells are not covered by third party payers (like insurance and Medicare), you need to know what you are getting. You, the consumer, need to know what your options are.
When it comes to stem cell therapy, it comes down to 2 choices. You can do autologous (your own stem) or allogenic (from a donor) cells.
After tons of research, I decided the best fit for my practice was allogenic stem cells and tissues from donated human umbilical cords (from healthy moms and healthy babies).
Here are the 5 main differences between using your own stem cells and cells from Human Umbilical Cords.
1- Increased presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Have you ever bit into an apple and left it on the counter? It turns brown because of cell damage from increased ROS. When you use your own stem cells, those cells have a higher number of ROS that can damage the cell.
2- Decreased over all ATP. It is no secret that you get more and more tired as you age. Your cells can no longer produce energy like they used to. Your energy comes from a substance called ATP. The older you are, the less ATP your stem cells will have. This also means that your own stem cells are closer to death than those that would come from donated umbilical cords
3- Autologous stem cells and tissues have higher numbers of IL-6. Interleukin 6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that can damage cells and tissue. This can increase inflammation levels after an injection
4- Decreased Replication Time- In stem cell therapy, replication rate is everything. Stem cells from human umbilical cords from healthy moms and babies replicate every 28 hours and will replicate for 65 cycles! If you are 65 years old, your stem cells can take up to 60 hours to replicate! This greatly decreases the effectiveness of your therapy.
5- Recovery time. Using your own stem cells means they need to be harvested. The process of harvesting them requires either a small liposuction procedure or drilling into bone to harvest the cells from your bone marrow. This increases inflammation levels and recovery time. With umbilical cord cells, the cells have already been harvested and are administered via and IV or a simple injection into the joint, with little to no down time or recovery time.
The point here is for you to make an informed decision. We hope you look at these factors and make your own choice. If you would like some direction, please don’t hesitate to reach to us so we can talk.
Thank you,
Dr Zeiszler