Stem cells are the building blocks of all tissue, cartilage and bone and they are found inside everyone’s bodies. When you are injured, your body sends stem cells to the injured area to repair it. As the body ages, it has fewer and less potent stem cells, so when joints are injured or suffering from arthritis or degeneration, we just don’t have as many stem cells to repair the damage as when we’re young.

Amniotic-derived regenerative cell therapy offers patients 3 essential properties that enhance the ability to heal and restore joint health:

• A high concentration of regenerative cells

• Hyaluronic Acid for joint lubrication and movement

• Anti-inflammatory cytokines and cellular growth factors essential for building new joint tissue

 

Since amniotic-derived regenerative cell therapy is not derived from embryonic stem cells or fetal tissue, there are no ethical issues with the treatment. The amniotic regenerative cell therapy consists of an injection directly into the painful area.

The therapy has the potential to actually alter the course of the condition and not simply mask the pain. This therapy has significant potential for those in pain, and could actually repair structural problems while treating pain and inflammation simultaneously.

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When the amniotic cell material is obtained, it comes from consenting donors who have undergone elective C-sections. The fluid is processed at an FDA regulated lab, and is checked for a full slate of diseases per FDA guidelines. The amniotic material has been used over 100,000 times in the US with no adverse events reported. It acts as an immunologically privileged material, meaning it has NOT been shown to cause any rejection reaction in the body. This means there is no “graft versus host” problem.

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WHAT ARE STEM CELLS?

Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body. A stem cell can not only replicate itself, but it can also turn into other specialized cells, such as blood cells, skin cells, bone cells, cartilage cells, and just about any cell in the human body.

Everyone already has hundreds of millions of stem cells in their body. They’re the reason that your skin is completely replaced every 35 days. Stem cells cause your hair and nails to grow. They’re replacing the worn out and damaged cells in your organs and tissues throughout your body. And they’re creating 2 million new red blood cells for you every second!

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HOW DO STEM CELLS FUNCTION?

Stem cells have the ability to travel to injured tissues, a phenomenon called homing. This occurs by injury/disease signals that are released from the distressed cells/tissue. Once stem cells arrive at the site of injury they go to these “distress signals” and dock on the cells to begin performing their job.

• Serve as a cell replacement where they change into the needed cell type such as a muscle or cartilage cell. This is ideal for traumatic injuries and orthopedic indications (damaged joints, degenerated cartilage, etc.).

 

• They do not express specific HLAs which help them avoid the immune system. In fact, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) do this so well that they are in clinical studies for “graft vs host disease” and have already been approved for pediatric graft vs host disease in Canada. These studies and data support the notion that the cells are safe to use as an “off the shelf” product.

 

• They dock onto an adjacent cell and release proteins called growth factors, cytokines and chemokines. These proteins and growth factors help control many aspects of the repair process.

 

• They control the immune system and regulate inflammation which is a key mediator of diseases of aging (joint degeneration) and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

 

• Help to increase new blood vessel formation which helps damaged tissues receive proper blood flow and the correct nutrients needed to heal.

 

• Provide trophic support for surrounding tissues and facilitate endogenous repair. This works great when used for orthopedics (joints and bones) as it causes signals to be released which will activate your own stem cells to repair a damaged knee for instance.