Regenerative medicine
What is Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative medicine involves the process of growing tissues and organs in the laboratory and implanting them in the body. These tissues, known as biologics, can be composed of sugars, proteins or nucleic acids, or complex combinations of these substances. They may also be living entities such as cells and tissues.
The latest scientific advancements can be applied in such way to stimulate the body’s own repair mechanisms, and to present the conditions necessary to allow for natural healing pathways to flourish.
Regenerative medicine is now widely recognized to represent the cutting-edge of biomedical research. Given the promising clinical trial results and experience reported to-date, medical professionals agree that it will continue to play a more dominant role in the future of medicine.
What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are the substances in our bodies that serve two essential biological functions:
1. Growth
In essence, stem cells are what created us. We all started life as a single stem cell, which then divided over and over again until it formed a complete human being.
As stem cells divide, they progressively differentiate into specific cell types. Eventually, they form all of the 220 types of cells that exist in our bodies.
An important tenet of stem cell medicine is the concept that the base material that was responsible for our generation also has the inherent ability to promote re-generation.
2. Healing
In addition to tissue generation, stem cells are responsible for mediating healing processes within the body. Damaged tissue emits distress signals that can be sensed by nearby stem cells, which then spring into action to correct the imbalance. The stem cells secrete specialized biochemical signals, including growth factors, cytokines (cell signaling molecules), and exosomes (extracellular vesicles), to direct healing or regeneration of the tissue. Thus, they have the capability of producing a custom response to a particular problem.
When stem cells are compromised or not present in sufficient quantity, the body’s healing capabilities are diminished, and disease is often the result. The over-arching objective of stem cell medicine is to implant healthy, active stem cells in sufficient quantity, when and where they are most needed. This can elevate your body’s natural healing response, which often leads to a successful result even where other approaches have come up short.
Why it Matters
Regenerative medicine matters because it provides hope where it may not otherwise exist. It can be a viable option for those struggling with medical difficulties for which other solutions are inadequate, ineffective, or even dangerous. Regenerative medicine constitutes an approach that is largely different than conventional medicine. By enhancing your body’s natural ability to respond to disease, it can address situations that are not always solvable by other means.
Stem cell administration can also assist with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed conditions. There are reportedly more than 100 types of arthritis, for example. Precise diagnosis and development of an optimal treatment protocol can be quite challenging even for the most capable of physicians. Stem cells have an amazing ability to naturally sense the problem and issue a fit-for-purpose response. They may even address developing problems that have not yet become symptomatic. Finally, intravenous administration of stem cells is often reported to improve energy levels, sleep quality, and overall sense of well-being.
Stem cells do not replace traditional medicine (although there is some overlap). They are, however, are an additional tool that doctors have to enhance the vitality of their patients.
Stem cell medicine is an approach that does not involve pharmaceutical medications or surgery. It additionally offers excellent confidence in safety when carried out correctly.
There is certainly a time and place for traditional medicine. It has helped numerous patients and saved many lives. Like all modalities, however, it has its limitations. Wouldn’t it be desirable, therefore, to have an option that did not lock you into a lifetime of pharmaceutical use, avoids complications resulting from surgery, and does not have the risk profile associated with some traditional therapies? Wouldn’t it be even better if this alternative could achieve a successful result where other protocols often come up short?
A number of celebrities and world-class athletes have used stem cells to help them perform at the highest level possible. These treatments are not only for famous sports stars or celebrities, however. They are now available at an affordable cost for us regular people as well (just not necessarily in our home country at this time).
At the end of the day, whether you choose to seek regenerative medicine options for yourself is a decision about how you want to live out your life.
Do you want to:
- Refrain from participating in the activities that you love… or recapture your ability to engage?
- Live a holistically healthy life… or maintain a life-long medication protocol?
- Undergo major irreversible or dangerous surgeries… or avoid surgical complications?
- Maintain an elevated level of vitality… or experience progressive degeneration?
- Remain independent… or need to rely on external support?
- Travel and go on adventures… or struggle to accomplish daily tasks?
- Live a life of pain… or experience the freedom that release from pain provides?
- Play with your grandchildren… or not have the capacity to interact with them?
It matters because we only have one body. The more we can do to take care of it, the more we are able to enjoy life on many levels.