Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

A person with HIV seems to be free of the virus after receiving a stem-cell transplant that replaced their white blood cells with HIV-resistant versions. The patient is only the second person ever reported to have been cleared of the virus using this method. But researchers warn that it is too early to say that they have been cured.

The patient whose identity hasnt been disclosed was able to stop taking antiretroviral drugs, with no sign of the virus returning 18 months later. The stem-cell technique was first used a decade ago for Timothy Ray Brown, known as the Berlin patient, who is still free of the virus.

So far, the latest patient to receive the treatment is showing a response similar to Browns, says Andrew Freedman, a clinical infectious-disease physician at Cardiff University in the UK who was not involved in the study. Theres good reason to hope that it will have the same result, he says.

Like Brown, the latest patient also had a form of blood cancer that wasnt responding to chemotherapy. They required a bone-marrow transplant, in which their blood cells would be destroyed and replenished with stem cells transplanted from a healthy donor.

But rather than choosing just any suitable donor, the team led by Ravindra Gupta, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Cambridge, UK picked a donor who had two copies of a mutation in the CCR5 gene that gives people resistance to HIV infection. This gene codes for a receptor which sits on the surface of white blood cells involved in the bodys immune response. Normally, the HIV binds to these receptors and attacks the cells, but a deletion in the CCR5 gene stops the receptors from functioning properly. About 1% of people of European descent have two copies of this mutation and are resistant to HIV infection.

Guptas team describes the results in a paper due to be published in Nature on 5 March. The researchers report that the transplant successfully replaced the patients white blood cells with the HIV-resistant variant. Cells circulating in the patients blood stopped expressing the CCR5 receptor, and in the lab, the researchers were unable to re-infect these cells with the patients version of HIV.

The team found that the virus completely disappeared from the patients blood after the transplant. After 16 months, the patient stopped taking antiretroviral drugs, the standard treatment for HIV. In the latest follow-up, 18 months after stopping medication, there was still no sign of the virus.

Gupta says that its not yet possible to say whether the patient has been cured. This can only be demonstrated if the patients blood remains HIV free for longer, he says.

But the study does suggest that Browns successful treatment ten years ago wasnt just a one-off. Gupta says that the latest patient received a less aggressive treatment than Brown to prepare for the transplant. The new patient was given a regimen consisting of chemotherapy alongside a drug that targets cancerous cells, while Brown received radiotherapy across his entire body in addition to a chemotherapy drug.

This suggests that, to be successful, stem-cell transplants in HIV patients would not necessarily need to be accompanied by aggressive treatments that might have particularly severe side effects, says Gupta. The radiation really does knock the bone marrow and make you very sick.

Graham Cooke, a clinical researcher at Imperial College London, points out that this kind of treatment wouldnt be suitable for most people with HIV who dont have cancer and so dont need a bone-marrow transplant, which is a serious procedure that can sometimes have fatal complications. If youre well, the risk of having a bone-marrow transplant is far greater than the risk of staying on tablets every day, he says. Most people with HIV respond well to daily antiretroviral treatment.

But Cooke adds that for those who need a transplant to treat leukaemia or other diseases, it seems reasonable to try and find a donor with the CCR5 mutation, which wouldnt add any risk to the procedure.

Gero Htter, who led Browns treatment and is now medical director of the stem-cell company Cellex in Dresden, Germany, agrees that this kind of treatment could only ever be used for a small group of patients. But he hopes that the paper will stimulate a renewed interest in gene therapies that target CCR5, which could be applied to a much broader group. The real breakthrough, we are still waiting for, he says.

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Second patient free of HIV after stem-cell therapy

Maintaining a Healthy Sex Life

Most men between the ages of 30 and 65 will experience some degree of erectile dysfunction.

Whether you are looking to start a family or maintain a relationship, erectile dysfunction can drive a physical and emotional wedge between you and your partner. If you are dealing with erectile dysfunction or perhapsPeyronies disease, youre not able to live your best life. According to the latest clinical research, stem cells could be the key to reclaiming your healthy sex life.

Stem cells are the most powerful healing solution, arguably, in the history of medicine.

They have the ability to form completely new and healthy tissue, and in the case of Peyronies disease patients, it can completely eliminate the plaque that causes penile curvature in the first place.

If youre tired of pumping your body with risky or ineffective medications, stem cells can provide long-term relief and help you feel like youre in your 20s again!

At HealthGAINS, we exclusively use Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC). They are unique in that they are unspecialized and have the ability to morph into any specialized cells as needed.

Mesenchymal stem cells also have a self-renewing ability in which they continuously divide to make more of the cells that they transform into.

For years, doctors have utilized the unique nature of stem cells to produce renewed, healthier tissue and organs for patients in need of serious medical relief.

All stem cells carry three properties:

These properties, when applied to an area of the body, allow for the newly introduced stem cells to take on the function of surrounding cells. This addresses the deteriorating effects of aging. When applied to the groin, stem cells provide men with these key benefits:

For those suffering from moderate to severe erectile dysfunction, stem cell therapy is a viable solution. By introducing stem cells into the body, their regenerative effects work to restore and repair the blood vessels and tissues that are preventing the ideal blood flow that creates strong and lasting erections.

With renewed blood vessels, men can achieve harder and longer erections as well as improved sensation for a reinvigorated sexual experience. Men will be able to perform better, more often and with more ability and enthusiasm.

A unique behavior of stem cells is their innate ability to seek out and remove foreign particles from the body. For those suffering from Peyronies disease, little has provided you relief from the physical and sexual discomfort that comes with the condition. However, the plaque build-up that creates the uncomfortable bend, can be removed through stem cell treatments. The stem cells will identify the plaque as an issue and eliminate it entirely and permanently from the body.

Patients can, in as little as 8 weeks, experience lasting relief from their Peyronies disease and accompanying Erectile Dysfunction. Patients can resume or experience for the first time their healthy and satisfying sex lives.

If you arent familiar with our GAINSWave therapy, it utilizes the healing effects of sound waves that are pulsed into the penis to pump up its performance by improving blood flow. The results are impeccable, long lasting and produce no side effects.

Because GAINSWave therapy and stem cell treatments are surgery-free, they can be utilized to enhance each others effects on your sex life.

These treatments work together through GAINSWave creating a stimulant that triggers the body to generate growth factors and send them to the treated area. The stem cells then come in to assist in the creation of more growth factors (proteins) as well as become the building block for more tissue. From soft tissue to new blood vessels, these two treatments work together to regenerate and reinvigorate your sexual capabilities completely.

Are There Any Side Effects?

The Mesenchymal Stem Cells we utilize are donated from the umbilical cords of healthy, full-term infants after childbirth. These cells are the healthiest and strongest version of stem cells that have been extracted for medical use.

This, combined with the fact that mesenchymal stem cells are inherently immune privilege (meaning they contain no allergies and will not react negatively with the body), gives patients peace of mind. No side effects have been found in our stem cell treatments.

Stem cells are a very powerful solution to many medical issues. If you want the most out of your sexual health treatment or you have a serious case of Erectile Dysfunction, utilizing a combination of stem cells with a GAINSWave treatment will give you the most potent healing results that modern sexual health medicine can provide.

We recommend speaking with one of our mens health specialists. Our medical experts will review your medical history, current sexual health, and overall wellness goals to develop a treatment plan tailored to you.

If you want to drastically improve your sex life through natural treatment methods, call the experts at HealthGAINS at (866) 540-3555.

Link:
Stem Cell Therapy for ED in Miami, FL - HealthGAINS

Have you been told that steroid injections or invasive surgery are your only options to treat your knee pain? Interventional orthopedics provides a non-surgical alternative that uses your body's own stem cells or blood platelets to help repair damage.

Recent research shows that some of the most popularorthopedic kneesurgeries,including meniscectomies, have no benefit and are nomore effective than placebo or sham surgery.

Moreover, knee replacement is extremely traumatic and carries associated risks, and even successful surgeries require months of painful rehab to regain strength and mobility. Most surgeries also accelerate degeneration, which leads toosteoarthritis and exacerbates the biomechanical problems that initially led to the need for the surgery.

Patients suffering from knee injuries or degenerative conditions should consider all of their options, including regenerative stem cell and platelet injection treatments.

At Regenexx we invented a new approach to orthopedic care we call Interventional Orthopedics. This approach involves the use of image guidance (flouroscopy and ultrasound) to precisely place high-dose stem cells or platelets from your body directly where they are needed in a specific joint structure.

These cells then work in the site of your injury to grow into new, healthy tissue, a process that will only occur if the cells have been placed exactly where they need to go in order to achieve positive outcomes for the patient.

This precise approach to orthopedic care cant be replicated by a surgeon or nurse in a chiropractors office. Interventional Orthopedics requires thousands of hours of training following a standardized protocol process to become a licensed Regenexx physician.

The innovative Regenexx procedures restore knee function and mobility and decrease pain without the need for surgery by regenerating damaged tissue. During this outpatient procedure, ourexpert physiciansuseprecise image guidanceto inject custom concentrations ofyour body's natural healing agentsinto the exact areas of damage to tighten and stabilize your knee joint for better function and mobility.

This page contains an extensive library of educational resources on kneeconditions and our patented Regenexx kneeprocedures. We encourage you to research your options.

GET RELIEF. 855-330-5818

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Knee Stem Cell Therapy & Platelet Rich Plasma

Broadly speaking, there are two basic kinds of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. As the name implies, embryonic stem cells come from embryos. These kinds of cells are known as pluri-potential, meaning that they can become anything required to create a human body. Embryonic stem cells are taken from unwanted embryos, and as such, are highly controversial. Embryonic stem cell use is highly regulated and has also been associated with certain kinds of tumor formation.

Adult stem cells, on the other hand, come from adults. Adult stem cells are harder to isolate, but still retain many (but not all) of their undifferentiated properties, allowing them to become nerve, skin, bone, cartilage and other tissues as needed, depending on the specific type of tissue they are recovered from. Bone marrow adult stem cells (mesenchymal stem cells), for instance, come from the mesodermal sections of the human body and can form into cartilage and bone.

Evidence suggests that they are also capable of differentiating into other tissues like connective tissues (ligaments, muscle, tendons), blood vessels, fatty tissues, nerve and blood vessels. Bone marrow stem cells are not as prevalent in the body and usually need to be cultured (encouraged to multiply in the lab) so that there are enough to work with.

Fortunately, human fat cells also have mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) which can be more easily harvested and separated from fat cells for use. Because the ratio of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is over a thousand times greater in fat cells than bone marrow, these usually do not need to be cultured and can be obtained from fatty deposits in the patients body.

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Stem Cell Therapy FAQS | National Stem Cell Centers

Clinical research regarding stem cell therapy benefits has grown dramatically in recent decades. The most promising thing about stem cell therapy and similar prolotherapy treatments including PRP is that they offer relief for patients with chronic pain and difficult-to-heal injuries, all without medications or risky reconstructive surgeries. Today researchers are also uncovering ways to apply stem cell treatments for common chronic conditions such as heart disease,neurodegenerative diseases and diabetes.

The most common use of stem cell treatments in prolotherapy is managing pain. Most consider stem cell therapy to be a form of interventional pain-management, meaning its a minimally invasive technique. Treatment involves injecting stem cells (along with an anesthetic and sometimes other substances) around painful and damaged nerves, tendons, joints or muscle tissue.

What specific types of conditions can stem cell therapy help treat? Some of the most common include osteoarthritis knee pain, tennis elbow, shoulder pains or rotator cuff injuries, tendonitis, Achilles tendon injuries, ACL injuries and now cardiovascular diseases likeatherosclerosis.

There are now more options available to patients than ever before for various types of prolotherapy treatments, but the type of prolotherapyI recommend the most is the unique approach to stem cell therapy offered by the Regenexxclinic. I have personally visited the Regenexx clinic in the Cayman Islands to receive treatments performed by Dr. Chris Centeno, Dr. John Schultz and Dr. John Pitt for back and tendon injuries. The form of stem cell therapy offered by these doctors is considered to be one of themost thoroughly researched and effective in the world.

Stem cell therapy is a type of treatment option that uses a patients own stem cells to help repair damaged tissue and repair injuries. Its usually performed relatively quickly through injections, and is a simple outpatient or in office procedure.

This type of treatment has also been found to help:

According to the National Institute of Health,

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, skin, sperm, eggs and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for other cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

The California Stem Cell Agency reports that there is no limit to the types of diseases that could be treated with stem cell research. Because of their amazing abilities to help with regrowth, stem cell therapy treatments are now being used (or continuously researched) in regards to treating:

Stem cells are usually taken from one of two areas in the patients body: bone marrow or adipose (fat) tissue in their upper thigh/abdomen. Because its common to remove stem cells from areas of stored body fat, some refer to stem cell therapy as Adipose Stem Cell Therapy in some cases. (1)

Once stem cells from removed from one of these locations, they are placed in a centrifuge machine that spins them very, very quickly and concentrates the substances that are most valuable (including up to seven different types of natural growth factors). The sample of concentrated stem cells is then injected directly into the patients affected, painful area allowing the cells growth factors to go to work immediately, building new skin cells, connective tissue and so on.

What exactly makes stem cells so beneficial and gives stem cell injections the power to do this healing? Stem cells have the following unique characteristics, uses and healing abilities:

The type of stem cells being used in the most cutting-edge orthopedic practices including those offered at the Regenexx clinic mentioned above are called Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). A growing body of research shows that MSCs have the capability of differentiating and forming new orthopedic tissues that make up muscle, bones, cartilage and tendons, ligaments and adipose tissue. (3)

Research suggests that in treating orthopedic problems,fat-derived MSCs tend to under-perform bone marrow derived stem cells, therefore bone derived is the preferred method. (4) This is especially true when bone marrow cells are dramatically concentrated using advanced centrifuge equipment. Certain studies have found that these advanced samples can contain up to 25 different growth factors and other beneficial rebuilding substances.

In studies regarding orthopedic care such as those used for cartilage replacement,bone repairand soft-tissue repair bone marrow stem cells injections have been found to: reduce chronic pain, heal stubborn injuries, improve functionality and return patients to their normal routine sometimes within just one week.

Wondering if MSCs for orthopedic injuries are safe? There is no evidence of overgrowth of MSCs in damaged tissue or reason to believe theres risk for tumor growth. Advanced clinics such as Regenexx actually count cells before injecting them and carefully monitor progress. According to research used by Regenexx, MSCs safely stop proliferating once they physically contact each other, because this signals to them that the affected area has reached its full potential in growth. (5)

Cardiovascular diseases can deprive heart tissue of oxygen and cause scar tissue to form which changes blood flow/blood pressure. Research suggests that stem cells taken from adult bone marrow have the ability to differentiate into those needed to repair the heart and blood vessels, thanks to the secretion of multiple growth factors. Several ways in which stem cell therapy is now being used and further researched in regards to improving recovery of heart disease are:

Although more research is needed to assess the safety and efficacy of this approach, stem cell types used in heart disease treatment include: embryonic stem (ES) cells, cardiac stem cells,myoblasts (muscle stem cells), adult bone marrow-derived cells, umbilical cord blood cells, mesenchymal cells (bone marrow-derived cells) and endothelial progenitor cells (these form the interior lining of blood vessels).

Studies have found that stem cell treatments can help improve the growth of healthy new skin tissue, improve collagen production, stimulate hair growth after loss or incisions, and help replace scar tissue with newly formed healthy tissue.

One of the ways stem cells help facilitate wound healing is by increasingcollagen concentrations in the skin, which shrinks as it matures and thereby strengthens and tightens the damaged area. This same mechanism also applies to treating connective tissue injuries related to collagen/cartilage loss, such as those caused by osteoarthritis or overuses that affect ligaments or tendons.

Recent progress in the treatment of diseases like Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Alzheimers and stroke recovery show that transplanted adult stem cells can be used to form new brain cells, neurons and synapses following cognitive degeneration or brain injuries. (6) Research conducted by the Research Center for Stem Cell Biology and Cell Therapy in Sweden is still underway, but current findings show that stem cells can improve synaptic circuits, optimize functional recovery, offer relief from degeneration symptoms, slow down disease progression and potentially even more.

Some of the ways that stem cell injections/grafts work in neurodegeneration treatment are: normalizing striatal dopamine release, impairing akensia (loss of voluntary movement), replacing neurons destroyed by the ischemic lesions following strokes and halting destruction of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons.

Immune rejection is the term used to describe damage to healthy tissue and cells in patients with autoimmune disorders and other inflammatory conditions. In people who suffer from type1 diabetes, for example, the cells of the pancreas that normally produce insulin are destroyed by the patients own immune system; in people with thyroid disorders, the thyroid gland is attacked and damaged.

Research continues to show us that certain adult stem cells are capable of differentiating and producing needed cells, such as insulin-producing cells that eventually could be used in with people diabetes. This strategy is still being researched extensively and is not yet widely available, as scientists continue to experiment with reliable strategies for generating new cells/tissues that will not be rejected or harm the patient once implanted.

Meanwhile, a promising clinical trial led by Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University that explores the potential benefits of stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis is underway as of March 2018. The 110 patients participating either received a drug treatment or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).The clinical trial looks promising given that after one year of treatment only one relapse occurred among patients in the stem cell group compared with 39 relapses in the drug treatment. And, after about three years, the stem cell transplants had a 6 percent failure rate compared with a failure rate of 60 percent in the control (drug treatment) group.

The researchers note that stem cell therapy doesnt work for all cases of MS and its not an easy process. First patients must undergo chemotherapy to destroy their faulty immune system. Then stem cells that help make blood through a process called hematopoiesis are removed from the patients bone marrow and reinfused into the patients bloodstream. These fresh stem cells, which are not affected by MS, rebuild the patients immune system. Despite this challenging process, preliminary results demonstrate that this could be an effective treatment in the future. (7, 8)

For decades researchers and doctors primarily used two kinds of stem cells taken from animals and humans, especially when they were still embryos (not yet born). These are calledembryonic stem cells and non-embryonic (somatic or adult) stem cells. In the late 1990s, it was discovered that stem cells could be taken from human embryos and grown inside of laboratoriesfor reproductive purposes, including for in vitro fertilization.

Then in 2006 a breakthrough discovery was made that some specialized adult stem cells could be reprogrammed and used in many other ways to help repair damaged tissue. These are referred to as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and are the type used in many of the treatments described above.There remains a lot to learn about the potential uses of stem cell therapies, and how scientists can continue to explore transforming unspecialized adult stem cells into the types of specialized cells needed.

The NIH reports that in future years some of the primary goals of stem cell therapy research are to: identify howundifferentiated stem cells become the differentiated cells that form the tissues and organs, determine how stem cells can turn humangenes on and off, learn to predictably control cell proliferation and differentiation, and investigate more uses for stem cells in serious medical conditions such as cancerand birth defects.

The hope going forward is that stem cells can also be used as a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat common and serious diseases without the need for organ transplants or surgeries, including: maculardegeneration, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

Cancer treatment is a particular important area under investigation, as early studies are showing that stem cells are safe and well-tolerated in patients with acute and chronic leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other cancers. (9)

Stem cell treatments are offered by various doctors who practice pain-management and other techniques, including orthopedics and anesthesiologists.Depending on the type of treatment needed, its also possible to visit a neurologist, cardiologist, etc.Commonly these treatments are offered at clinics with ateam of doctors who work together to specialize in diagnosing, preventing and/or correcting a range of musculoskeletal, neurological or connective tissue disorders/injuries.

If youre planning on visiting a doctor for pain management, look for a physician who has board certification through an organization like the American Board of Anesthesiology orAmerican Board of Pain Medicine. I recommend viewing this Physician Finder tool to locate a practitioner who performs the advanced type of stem cell applications described above.

Personally, I most suggest checking out Regenexx, one of the only organizations to run large-scale analysis of patient stem cell procedure outcome data. It has published numerous findings from tracking their own patients on their website. Much more detailed information on improvements that can be expected following PRP procedures including those for knee meniscus, arthritis, hip dysfunction, knee pain, wrist/hand injuries, ankle/foot pain and shoulder/rotator injuries can be accessed through Regenexx directly.

Once you find a qualified physician, heres a brief overview of what you can expect from stem cell therapy treatments:

Although stem cell treatment is considered to be very safe, there are also side effects that are possible. Make sure to find a qualified practitioner and let them know if your experience following a treatment does not sound like the typical one described above.Like other types of non-invasive treatments and prolotherapy techniques, some mild side effects after injections are normal. Side effects of stem cell treatments can sometimes include:

Read more:
5 Stem Cell Therapy Benefits for Joint Pain, Heart ...

How Much Do Stem Cell Therapies Cost?

In patients who have exhausted all conservative treatment options and are trying to delay a shoulder replacement, Dr. Verma may recommend a stem cell injection to promote healing and symptom reduction of the injured soft tissue or bone. Stem cell injections with Dr. Verma are $3,000. Since stem cell therapy is still considered experimental, insurance does not cover the procedure. All procedures require cash payment.

Autologous stem cells, also referred to as adult stem cells, have a natural ability to differentiate into multiple tissue types. In addition, they may provide valuable biologic factors to modulate the inflammatory process. Stem cell therapy for the shoulder offers a possible alternative to cortisone injections or shoulder replacement in young, active patients suffering from osteoarthritis. With this stem cell therapy technique, patients do not experience the ethical concerns associated with embryonic or fetal stem cells since adult stem cells are harvested directly from the patients own body or from discarded placental tissue.

Stem cell therapy for the shoulder as a management option for shoulder arthritis is a fairly simple procedure. It requires a sample of bone marrow to be harvested from the patients own body, commonly from the hip area. After the bone marrow is harvested, the sample is spun in a special machine called a centrifuge to separate a combination of adult stem cells, platelets and white blood cells. The combination of healing agents is then injected into the damaged shoulder joint to regenerate articular cartilage and accelerate healing. Alternatively, allograft (donor) type products with stem cells harvested from placental tissue are available for office based injections.

It should be noted that these injections are considered experimental at this time. While studies are ongoing to determine the efficacy of these types of injections, further study is needed to determine appropriate patient indications and expected outcomes.

If you would like additional resources on stem cell therapy for the shoulder as an alternative to shoulder replacement surgery, please contact the Chicago, Westchester, Oak Brook and Hinsdale, Illinois orthopedic office of shoulder specialist Dr. Nikhil Verma.

Link:
Alternative to Shoulder Replacement | Stem Cell Therapy ...

Medical professionals debate whether or not stem cells therapy is an effective treatment for sports injuries, such as ACL tears and chronic tendonitis. It is a controversial subject and research is ongoing.

See Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tears

The theories behind stem cell therapyResearchers theorize that when applied to a sports injury, stem cells might:

See Knee Cartilage Repair, Regeneration, and Replacement

Article continues below

Future research will help show if none, all, or a combination of these processes is at work. In the meantime, doctors debate whether or not stem cells are a good treatment option for sports injuries.

The challenge facing researchersThere is no standard recipe for stem cell therapy. The stem cell therapy in one study is not necessarily the same as the stem cell therapy in another study. The differences can include:

Because of these differences, it is difficult for researchers to draw conclusions or make generalizations based on existing studies.

Many sports medicine doctors use stem cell therapy in combination with another regenerative medicine therapy, platelet rich plasma (PRP). These physicians believe that PRP can make the most of the stem cells potential effects.1,2

See Types of Regenerative Medicine for Sports Injuries

PRP is derived from a sample of the patients blood. In the bloodstream, platelets secrete substances called growth factors and other proteins that:

See Are PRP Injections Effective?

PRP can be used alone to treat sports injuries, such as elbow tendinopathy.

See What Is the Difference Between Tendonitis, Tendinosis, and Tendinopathy?

Like stem cell therapy, PRP therapy is a not a standard therapy and may not be covered by insurance.

See Pros and Cons of Using PRP for Tendon Injuries

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Does Stem Cell Therapy Work? - Sports-health

What are stem cells and how do they work?

Stem cells are essentially blank cells that can become whatever type of cells the body needs at the time. They can grow new cells and repair damaged tissues. Stem cells are attracted to inflammation and can therefore seek out the damaged tissues in the body and repair them from within. As an adult, your body naturally produces stem cells in your bone marrow for use throughout the body, but as you age, you produce significantly fewer stem cells than you did when you were younger. This is why you are more prone to injury and it takes longer to heal. Stem cell therapy treats the source of your pain by stimulating the body to heal itself, generating new tissue in the damaged areas. Stem cells will turn into whatever type of cartilage, muscle, bone, or other tissues that the body needs at the time. Stem cells can and will seek out the damaged areas in the body and help the body to regenerate those areas, however the greatest results are achieved when the stem cells are directly injected into the damaged area, such as a knee, shoulder, hip, elbow, etc. These stem cells quickly go to work to renew and repair the area, and pain relief is usually seen within 1-4 weeks.

HUCT( human umbilical cord tissue): The stem cells that we use in our office come from the donated human umbilical cord blood of screened, healthy live-birth babies. The product consists of a very concentrated cord blood stem cell population that includes hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), and mesenchymal stems cells (MSC). These stem cells have the ability to replicate and to release growth factors and cytokines, as well as differentiate into more mature cells. The donors of these cells are heavily screened and the cell product is rigorously tested in a lab to make sure they are viable and free of diseases. These are not embryonic stem cells, and therefore there is no controversy over their use. Now that the healing power of stem cells is widely known, many new mothers will pay to store their babys cord blood for possible future use, but the vast majority of umbilical cords get discarded instead. Those mothers that donate their umbilical cord blood are offering truly life-changing therapies to patients in need.

While all types of therapies have risks associated with them, stem cell therapy has been used in medicine for many years and has shown a very low incidence of adverse effects. Regenerative medicine and the use of stem cells in the general population is becoming more widespread due to the positive results they have achieved over time. Please contact our office for more information or to schedule for one of our informative educational seminars to learn more.

Excerpt from:
Stem Cell Therapy | Neck & Back Pain | Colorado

How are Stem Cell Injections Performed?

Many patients question, what is stem cell therapy and how is it performed? Stem cell therapy is performed by Dr. Verma and his team as a non-surgical procedure that takes under one hour to complete. During the procedure, Dr. Verma will harvest stem cells from the bone marrow in a patients hip. The stem cells are then inserted into the damaged shoulder, knee or elbow joint. Stem cell injections come from a patients own body so the rejection risk is extremely low.

In some cases, allograft (donor) stem cells can be used in an office based procedure for specific conditions such as arthritis and tendon inflammation. In most cases these cells are harvested from donor placenta tissue which is otherwise discarded after birth. The cells are isolated and processed in a sterile fashion for use in a clinical setting.

Have a question about biologic treatment? Dr. Verma answers frequently asked questions.

It is important to note that stem cell therapy is not for all patients. In general, Dr. Verma recommends this procedure to patients who have moderate osteoarthritis in the shoulder, knee or elbow where a complete collapse of the joint is not present. Stem cell injections are also recommended for a number of tendon injuries that have not responded to other treatments.

It is believed that stem cell therapy will become more common as additional research studies are completed by physicians. Dr. Verma and his colleagues at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush are involved with researching biologic treatments, such as stem cell injections, to learn more about therapy outcomes. The orthopedic physicians also document their patients outcomes to contribute to their research findings. As the science around stem cell procedures evolve, more medical indications will be developed and utilized by Dr. Verma and his team.

For more resources on stem cell therapy or to determine if you are a candidate for stem cell injections, please contact the office of Dr. Nikhil Verma, shoulder surgeon and knee specialist serving the Chicago, Westchester, Oak Brook and Hinsdale, Illinois area.

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Stem Cell Injections | What is Stem Cell Therapy | Chicago ...

In 1964, the tips of my skis hit a snow bank and my bindings didnt release. At the time I knew something very very bad had happened! In the olden days, osteoscopic surgery hadnt been invented, so an incision was made from the medial clear across to the lateral knee and 80% of the cartilage was removed. Skip ahead 5 decades to an arthritic, painful knee that doesnt work well at all (And since the other knee has been taking most of the walking brunt, it isnt in good shape, either).

I was taking pain-pills just to get out of bed and be semi-functional. I asked the orthopedic surgeon at my HMO about alternatives (including stem-cell injections) and he tossed me a metal/plastic contraption that was about as big as a toaster (or so it seemed to me) saying that was as good as I could do.I had been researching stem cell research for several years and throughout I would have to go out of the country for treatment (thereby risking unforeseen consequences then and in the future).Through a series of synchronistic happenings, I discovered ThriveMD took stem cells from adipose tissue and mixed it with a patients own platelet-rich plasma (PRP). They then inject it into joints with the aid of fluoroscopy. I decided to get the procedure, and was jumping off the table and home within two hours. After 10 days, there was no discomfort from the procedure and I began reducing my pain medication. As I write this love note to my benefactors, I havent had to take anything for pain!

MY LIFE HAS CHANGED, MY KNEES ARE EVER SO HAPPY AND IVE NOT HAD TO TAKE ANY PAIN PILLS SINCE THE FINAL INJECTION OF PRP!!!

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME BACK MY PAIN-FREE MOBILITY AND THE POTENTIAL TO GROW BACK NEW CARTILAGE.*

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Stem Cell Therapy Reviews & Patient Testimonials [Knee ...