FAQs on Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine involves therapy with autologous regenerative cells that allow the body to heal itself. This therapy uses the body’s own regenerative abilities and allows cells to be harvested from adipose (fat) tissue or bone marrow. With increased degradation or loss of regenerative ability, the injection of stem cells can restore balance after a loss of regenerative ability.

What are regenerative cells?

Regenerative cells are present in the human body, throughout life. These cells contain stem cells, which have an anti-inflammatory effect and stimulate tissue regeneration. Stem cells are considered as “source cells,” which are located in all organs and in and around blood vessels. Regenerative cells have the unique ability to develop into all cell types, so they can replace damaged tissue. The two main types of regenerative cells are adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.

How are adult stem cells different from embryonic stem cells?

Adult stem cells are found throughout the body. These cells serve in their direct environment to maintain the delicate balance of organ regeneration and cell death. Adult stem cells are used for many types of regenerative medicine. Embryonic stem cells appear during the embryo’s development. Therapy using these cells have many ethical considerations.

What methods of regenerative method are used?

The best known type of stem cell therapy is for leukemia, where stem cells are harvested from a donor’s bone marrow and then used for the patient. Stem cell therapy from bone marrow has many advantages, but the collection tends to be unpleasant for the patient. However, many bone marrow stem cell therapies have proven effective. Another method of regenerative therapy is use of adipose tissue-derived stem cells. These cells are available in a high concentration for regenerative methods. The advantage of these cells is they can be isolated within one hour.

What are the effects of regenerative cell therapy?

Regenerative cells have the ability to:

Provide cell renewal – Stem cells can develop into many cell types. This means articular cartilage damage, tendon tears, and other wounds can be treated by injecting stem cells.
Offer anti-inflammatory effects – According to clinical studies, stem cells have a beneficial anti-inflammatory effect. This means they can be used for many spine and joint degenerative diseases, where the pain is related to an inflammation process.
Produce cell rescue – Several scientific reports show the anti-apoptotic effects of stem cells. These cells interrupt the process of cell death to ensure individual cells survive that would have died off in other situations.
Immunomodulation – These cells can be used to treat several autoimmune disorders, such as Crohn’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Form new blood vessels – To heal body structures, there must be adequate blood supply. Stem cells have the ability to regenerate blood vessels.

What medical diseases and conditions are treated using regenerative medicine?

Stem cell therapy is use for may medical conditions. These include:

Cartilage wear-and-tear – Stem cell therapy can treat osteoarthritis, which involves damaged joints and wearing away of joint cartilage. Because of the anti-inflammatory effects, joint structures benefit from regenerative cell injections.
Tendon damage – Tendinopathies improve after the injection of stem cells, including Tennis elbow, Achilles tendonitis, and rotator cuff tendon tears.

How long do the effects of regenerative cells last?

Regenerative cell therapy is a new field of medicine. While not many clinical studies exist on the long-term effects of stem cell injections, current research does support short-term benefits of regenerative cell therapy.

Resources

Helmy KY, Patel SA, Silverio K, et al. (2010). Stem cells and regenerative medicine: accomplishments to date and future promise. Ther Deliv, 1(5), 693-705.