What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. It is associated with the breakdown of the cartilage within your joints. Cartilage is a thin, slippery tissue that ensures fluid joint movement and absorbs impact, so when it wears down, your joints become stiff and painful. Over time, bone-on-bone friction can result in painful swelling that doesn’t go away (chronic inflammation).

OA can occur in almost any joint in the body, but is most common in the knees, hips, and spine. Because cartilage naturally deteriorates over time, OA is often called “wear and tear arthritis”.

How stem cells help with osteoarthritis
Stem cells are particularly useful in the regeneration of tissues that have poor potential for repair on their own. One such tissue is cartilage, which normally does not regenerate after birth. The cartilage found within joints is called articular cartilage, which wears out over time and has a short lifespan.

Fortunately, stem cells can help with OA in a number of ways. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to orchestrate the body’s natural healing, and have successfully been used to restore degenerated cartilage within joints. This treatment can often bypass the need for painful and invasive joint replacement surgeries, while significantly reducing recovery times.

Stem cells can also be used to regenerate the damaged tissue causing many bone, tendon, and ligament conditions. The transplanted cells naturally migrate to damaged areas in the body to replace damaged cells, regenerating lost or injured tissue.

MSCs also have anti-inflammatory properties, and naturally migrate to sites of inflammation in the body. There, MSCs suppress the immune response to bring down inflammation. In this way, stem cell therapy can also alleviate pain associated with OA. In early-phase clinical trials, administration of MSCs was linked to pain reduction and cartilage protection.

*Typical Treatment Protocol
A typical protocol consists of injecting 50 million cord tissue-derived MSCs (Mesenchymal Stem Cells) directly into the problem areas. For best results, this is accompanied by intravenous transplant of 100+ million MSCs. Each procedure takes approximately 45 minutes. The protocol is minimally invasive to the patient and has very little downtime. Patients normally travel home two days following their scheduled appointment.

Treatment goals
Our protocol aims to reduce the overall levels of chronic low-grade inflammation in the body. The effects are expected to last for a very long time.

Stem cells are uniquely and intrinsically able to migrate to sites of damage and inflammation in the body. Studies have shown that stem cells are able to orchestrate the repair and regeneration of deteriorated tissues, as well as modulate the immune system, to promote better health.

The benefits of stem cell therapy can include a reduction in harmful symptoms, the slowing of the progression of the disease, and an overall increase in quality of life.

*Treatment protocols are individualized for each patient according to a variety of factors, including overall patient health, condition, and severity. A protocol optimized for your particular situation will be developed in consultation with a stem cell physician and a review of your medical records.