STEM CELLS

Stem Cells probably more than any other modality show the most promise to change the face of medicine over the next decade. However, the simple truth is that for most conditions, stem cells are just not there yet (see my Blog).  Stem cells, like other medical products intended to treat, cure or prevent disease, require FDA approval before they can be marketed. As of now, with the exception of using stem cells to treat blood disorders such as leukemia, no other FDA approved stem cell therapies exist for the mass market. 

As a physician and research scientist who has been working in the field of Cell Therapy & Regenerative Medicine for over 20 years, I am just as excited to see new stem cell therapies arrive in the clinic as anyone. Unfortunately, I am as equally disappointed and alarmed with the current state of stem cell treatments in the US and the number of clinics that are charging our most vulnerable patients exorbitant prices for unproven "stem cell" cures. This is why I decided to start Park City Performance Medicine and only offer stem cell therapies that are safe and have real data indicating that they are effective in a significant number of patients.

Stem Cell science is extremely complex and its therapeutic application is even more so. For any one of us, it takes years if not decades to understand just a portion of it. For those of us who have worked at the bench in the stem cell research lab, day and night at times, hoping to find effective, reliable cures for our patients, it is clear that we still don't know what we don't know. There are just as many unknowns as knowns right now regarding which types of stem cells will work best for which diseases, how many cells to give at one time, how often to give them and via which route of administration.

The good news is that behind only the fields of cancer and heart disease, stem cells have the global medical and scientific community working furiously on developing new therapies and cures. If you count stem cell research aimed at fighting cancer and heart disease in that same bucket, the body of work surrounding stem cells is probably larger than them all.

So, what does this mean for patients today who read daily about new stem cell cures but feel like things are just going too slow and they want their stem cell therapies today. It reminds me of the old Dire Straits song, "I want my MTV." Because of all the hype and misinformation out there, patients are now singing a tune called, "I want my Stem Cells," and sadly, they are getting them from some questionable sources. Because of a complicated, and somewhat political debacle, the FDA has remained on the sidelines and has been unable to protect the public from some unscrupulous stem cell scammers and charlatans who are taking people's money in exchange for very false promises. Right now it is buyer beware, a phrase that should never be uttered in medicine.

Stem Cell Take Home Message

So, here's the bottom line. Stem cells have great promise, probably more so than any pharmaceutical drug currently on the market. However, not all stem cell therapies are created equal and right now many of the ones that are being dispensed in stem cell clinics across the nation are inferior, and even ineffective compared to what is being legitimately researched and developed by cell scientists, physicians, and biotech companies currently following the rules. With any luck, we will have many more safe, reliable stem cell therapies delivered by highly qualified physicians in the near future. Unfortunately for now, we just have to bide our time.

To read more Truth About Stem Cells (click here).

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