Adult Stem Cell Therapy: Body Redesigning by Joseph Christiano

Every human being has stem cells. Stem cells are our body’s remodeling and repair crew. Adult stem cells that are the most popular in application and research in association with tissue repair are the mesenchymal stem cells. Stem cells are found in the bone marrow, blood, and adipose tissue or body fat. The greatest amount of stem cells, by the millions, are found in adipose or fat tissue.

These cells go to areas in your body like the joints, meniscus tissue, ligaments, tendons, and rotator cuff where blood and oxygen flow is limited or nonexistent—areas of hypoxia or low oxygen content. These areas do not heal on their own because the body cannot get enough repair cells to the injured area. Once injected into your body, these stem cells begin their repairing and rebuilding the damaged area(s).

Because stem cells are unspecialized, they can grow new bone tissue, cartilage, organs, nerves, new breasts for a cancer reconstruction patient, and even damaged or torn muscle tissue. Adult stem cell treatments are valid and efficacious; many top professional sports athletes use stem cell treatments to rebuild and repair the injured areas of their joints so they can get back to their sport in record time. Yes, stem cell treatment is the wave of the 21st century!

Adult stem cells not only rejuvenate tissue, they can reconstruct various types of injuries and defects. Stem cell injections, or platelet injections, grow into and even multiply cartilage tissue in the joints, saving a patient from unnecessary types of medical surgical procedures like knee or hip replacements. There was the time when a bone-on-bone joint condition was next to a death sentence of the joint. Now that same joint can be rejuvenated with PRP (platelet rich plasma) and stem cells and actually have new cartilage growth providing the protection between the bones it once had when healthy. The beauty is that this procedure is all natural with no ill side effects, no dangerous additives or chemicals or medications; therefore no toxicity in the body, just the individual’s own blood and components.

Because all individual cases are different, results will vary; but it usually takes two to three months for the repair process to take place, but noticeable improvement can be experienced well before that.

Stem Cell Terminology

Adult Stem Cells: Also referred to as somatic cells; adult stem cells include any body stem cell other than an egg or sperm cell in the female or male, respectively.
Stem Cells: Cells that can divide and self-renew for an indefinite period of time to differentiate into specialized cells.
Autologous Transfer: Transfer of adult stem cells to a different location in the same person. The transplant of stem cells to different areas of carries little risk of the resulting tissue being rejected.
Cord Blood Stem Cells: Stem cells present in the umbilical cord blood that can be collected after birth and stored for later use in therapeutic treatment. Cord blood stem cells are haematopoietic (they can produce blood cells), and are commonly used to treat cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy.
Differentiation: Cell differentiation is the result of the interaction between a cell’s genes and the external environment including physical and chemical conditions. The cell can differentiate into specialized cells such as those of the liver, heart, or bone. Various techniques have been devised to cause a cell to differentiate into specific cell types for therapeutic purposes by influencing the signaling pathways of proteins on the cells’ external surface; this is known as directed differentiation.
Embryonic Stem Cells: Stem cells capable of dividing for a long period of time without differentiation. These stem cells are derived from pre-implantation embryos and have been the subject of much debate in medical bioethics. Due to their primitive (undifferentiated) nature they can lead to the creation of many cell types, which may cause problems if implanted in living tissue without careful control. Embryonic stem cell use is very controversial in many religious, societal, and cultural circles.
Hematopoietic stem cell: These stem cells form the red and white blood cells and platelets and are found in bone marrow and umbilical cord blood.
Mesenchymal stem cells: The current, somewhat general term for non-blood somatic (adult) stem cells from a variety of tissues in the body.
Multi-potent: A stem cell can be multi-potent in that it has the ability to differentiate into a number of different cell types in the body, such as blood cells, bone cells, or cartilage.
Somatic (adult) stem cells: An increasingly used source of stem cells derived from adult tissues such as bone marrow, blood, fat, and other organs. Less potent than embryonic stem cells, somatic cells have a more limited number of cell types into which they can differentiate.