The most common stem cells in use today are autologous stem cells which are found throughout the body – in the brain, the blood, muscle, skin, liver, fat and bone marrow. Autologous stem cells are used by the body to repair diseased or injured tissue. According to the TOBI Regenerative Medicine Symposium of 2012, at birth, an individual has one stem cell for every 10,000 cells. At the age of 16, the body has one stem cell for every 100,000 cells. At age 60, the ratio has dropped dramatically to one cell for every 2 to 3 million cells5. As we age, we produce fewer stem cells. Our health also factors into the state of our stem cells. According to research done by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), if an individual has a serious disease such as cancer or diabetes, their stem cells are impacted6. This means that sick patients have sick stem cells.

There are many clinics around the country that use autologous stem cells taken from fat or bone marrow. This requires a minor surgical procedure to remove the fat or bone marrow. If you are considering taking adult stem cells from fat or bone marrow, consider the following:

 

Be aware that results vary according to age. If the patient is under age 20, the success rate is high. The older the patient, the lower the success rate.

 

Find out how many stem cells you are getting from your own tissue; if the doctor won’t tell you, consider trying another doctor! The FDA conducted a study and found that adipose (fat) tissue contains anywhere from 4,737 to 1.55 million cells per ml and bone marrow contains one stem cell to 317,400 cells per ml3.

 

Cost. The average cost for treatment of a knee with your own stem cells is approximately $5,000 to $7,000.

 

Your health status: If you’re sick with a chronic condition, e.g., MS, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune, etc., your stem cells will be sick and not as effective. There are several companies that use your own stem cells to treat COPD or MS. Research by the NIH suggests that these patients do not fare as well.

 

The FDA does not approve of, nor does it disapprove of, the use of autologous cells, amniotic cells, placental stem cells or human umbilical cord (HUCSC) at the present time. They are taking a “watch and see” approach for now. In the case of umbilical cord stem cells, the FDA has tissue banks (which also include the blood banks) to oversee the harvesting and certification of the stem cells.

 

Per the FDA, HUCSC are the richest source, having about 5.1 million stem cells per ml1. Per the NIH, they are very young and able to become bone, muscle, cartilage and nervous tissue. These cells are not affected by age or the general health of the recipient. The HUCSC cells that we use are classified as mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). All MSC have the ability to migrate in the body, looking for damaged cells.

 

HUCSC are the result of a healthy mother giving birth to a healthy baby with no known genetic defects. If the mother does not want to freeze her child’s stem cells for later use, the stem cell banks can take the umbilical cord and obtain stem cells from the cord blood. HUCSC have no HLA-DR factor as they are immune-naïve. They do not react to the host so you can give them to anyone. The stem cells I use in my practice are safe for patients because they have been tested for 17 different diseases by the company I use for stem cells. Most other stem cell companies check for about seven.

 

There has been a concern that stem cells can cause cancer to grow. There are studies showing that HUCSC do not cause cancer to grow7. Bone marrow and fat stem cells do not cause cancer to grow, although they do cause the supporting structure around a cancer to grow. It is remarkable to think that we have been using stem cells since the 1950s to fight leukemia.