Why All Stem Cell Therapy Is Not Identical
Before we get into the why, how and what of our treatments, let’s get one important thing squared away: the term “stem cell therapy” is a big, commonly used umbrella term for many different things and, at least the way we see it, kind of a misnomer. We prefer to think of the work we do as regenerative cell therapy. We prefer the term regenerative cell therapy because it is closer to the truth of what we do here at the Goswami Clinic. Our treatments allow you to harness the regenerative properties of your own stem cells to help other “pre-programmed” (we’ll get to that in a minute) cells that might be having trouble recovering after an illness or injury. These stem cells help regrow your naturally occurring tissues so that they’re stronger and better able to heal. It sounds like something straight out of Star Trek, we know, but the reality is, regenerative medicine holds real potential for many patients. What Are Regenerative Cells? Where Do They Come From? What Do I Need to Know About Them? Phew, that’s a lot of questions all at once. Let’s break it down to help make all this easier to understand. As humans, we grow from one cell that multiplies and differentiates into various organ systems. Each organ system retains their specific stem cells, and these constantly renew that particular organ system over our lifetime. If that makes you feel kind of like a giant starfish, that’s okay because it’s kind of the same thing—but our regeneration can only happen inside ourselves. This is the fundamental basis of our existence, at least of our physical existence. These regenerative properties lead us to the possibility of treating diseases and disorders involving particular organ systems by utilizing our own stem cells present in that system. Stem Cells Sources Typically, for orthopedic and sports-related injuries, stem cells (regenerative cells) can be found in three places: bone marrow, blood, and fat. Bone marrow stem cells are of very high quality, as the function of bone marrow is to constantly produce cells. These type of stem cells contain lots of good growth factors as well as other substances that aid in cell growth and regeneration. Bone marrow stem cells have the easiest time adapting to cells in other parts of the body. When someone gets a bone marrow transplant, what they’re really getting is an intense dose of these healthy stem cells. Fat is also a good source of stem cells because they exist in high quantity in adipose (fat) tissue. The challenge with fat is the isolation process (which we’ll talk about more later). When you break down fat, it has to be done in a way that maintains an adequate amount of stem cells. Because this process can be a bit tricky, some clinics will inject pure fat, claiming that it is stem cell therapy. This approach is not only misleading but also provides inadequate benefit to patients receiving the treatment. Blood contains certain valuable cells, proteins, and growth factors that can help with the regeneration of fat and bone marrow cells. Isolating and injecting PRP (platelet-rich plasma), PPP (platelet-poor plasma), and A2M (alpha 2 macroglobulin) helps provide a very robust environment in which your stem cells can thrive and grow. When it comes to understanding the different sources of regenerative cells, here’s a good analogy. Think about bone marrow and fat stem cells as the seeds. Then, your blood cells act as a strong fertilizer. Used together, all of these sources provide an optimal environment for regeneration! Stem Cell Therapy Protocol The most important thing you need to know about stem cell therapy is that there is no standardized protocol (yet) surrounding the harvesting and use of stem cells. This means one doctor might use one type of stem cell while another doctor may choose to work with a different type. Some doctors like to combine the different types of stem cells for their treatments. At our clinic, we tailor our approach to our individual patients and harvest regenerative cells from the source(s) we believe to be best suited to their treatment. Before you panic about the idea of a bone marrow transplant, you should know that the bone marrow harvesting process has changed considerably. It is no longer the extremely painful procedure it once was. Using current techniques and tools (if done properly), bone marrow extraction should be relatively painless. Likewise, harvesting fat has become easier as well and involves a minor liposuction procedure. However, it is important to understand that the techniques and tools are very different from those used in cosmetic and plastic surgery. Your fat stem cells are precious and need to be obtained with as little trauma as possible. If you’re thinking about undergoing a stem cell treatment, don’t move forward unless the prescribed protocol includes stem cell cells in a high concentration from all three sources mentioned above. Otherwise, you may not see the desired results. How Is Regenerative Cell Therapy Performed? There are three important aspects involved in the procedure of regenerative cell therapies: harvesting, isolation, and delivery. Harvesting is the collection of tissue from the part of your body where the stem cells are located. It’s critically important during this process that (1) enough stem cells are collected and (2) they aren’t damaged when being harvested. Isolation is the breaking down of that harvested tissue to isolate the stem cells. The methods used to isolate your cells will determine the quantity and quality. If performed incorrectly, your stem cells’ viability will be impacted. It’s vital that the isolation process is done according to good tissue practices and FDA guidelines. Delivery is exactly what it sounds like. After your stem cells are isolated, they are delivered into your body via injection. However, in order to achieve the results you are hoping for, the precise delivery of cells is extremely important. If the stem cells don’t reach the area of disease or injury, you will obviously not
The Spectrum of Regenerative Treatments
Sports medicine, or regenerative medicine, is a specialized branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and offers an array of treatments and prevention of injuries related to exercise and sports. There is a wide spectrum of regenerative treatments that help people recover and return to their active lifestyles after an injury. Unfortunately, none of these treatments are FDA approved yet. The goal of regenerative medicine is to help you heal and give you a higher quality of life. It is best to assess the various types of regenerative treatments to determine which type is most suitable for your condition. Not all regenerative treatments are equal in value and effectiveness. Each regenerative treatment has its pros and cons based on scientific evidence. The concept of regenerative medicine is regenerating damaged areas and repairing the cells. It’s a revolutionary approach that will change the way medicine is practiced. In many ways it’s similar to the discovery of penicillin in the last century. Our bodies are full of regenerative cells. It’s a matter of knowing how to apply this concept in a non-invasive, natural treatment and in the safest and most effective way. With anything new, lack of standardization can make it confusing to the patients as to what treatment they are exactly getting. It is becoming more and more common now for mushrooming stem cell clinics to use so-called external sources such as amniotic fluid, placenta tissues, and umbilical cords cells. Some even mis-label or call them baby cells; this gives a false impression that these cells may be more potent than one’s own cells. Currently, a whole host of companies are providing an array of stem cells that are being grown in laboratories that sterilize, harvest and package the cells with added stimulants, which are chemicals that can biologically alter the cells. How much efficacy is present in these cells after package and production is an important question to ask. Sterilization does not guarantee a foreign disease from entering your body because it is introducing cells from someone else’s body. This can be risky. Regenerative cells from your own body can be extremely safe provided they are harvested and isolated in a proper manner. Otherwise, they can be equally ineffective and even harmful. It’s high time the FDA regulates this industry before people lose faith in this wonderful discovery all due to the greed of a few snake oil salesman practices. Stem cell therapies have great potential. Let’s not over-sell their promise without proper research and evaluation. Let’s establish standardized protocols and safety standards that can assure some uniformity for treatments. The general intent of regenerative treatments is to regenerate and repair, not just provide symptomatic relief. Manipulation of cells such as adding chemicals or storing cells is neither safe nor effective. There is a risk of introducing foreign sources into your body. A metaphor to illustrate a current array of regenerative treatments is to compare it to that of consuming fruit juice. You can get fresh pressed juice from fruit itself, or you can get juice reconstituted from a concentrate, or you can drink something that is fruit flavored, mixed with other chemicals. Similarly in regenerative treatments, depending on the source of cells and concentration of application, it will determine great results or no results from that particular regenerative treatment. Make an informed decision by understanding the spectrum of regenerative treatments. Based in Newport Beach, CA, the Goswami Clinic is an innovative practice lead by Dr. Gaurav Goswami who treats sports injury, joint pain, back pain, arthritis, declining performance and more. Known for his non-conventional methods, Dr. Goswami specializes in regenerative sports medicine, providing advanced minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments to athletes of all ages and levels with the goal of returning them to optimal performance. Call 949-734-9696 to request additional information.
Meniscus Tear: What Is It & How Do You Repair It?
What should you do if you tear your meniscus? We discuss prognosis, recovery time, and treatment options, including alternatives to surgery.
Sports Injury Recovery: From Treatment to Rehab
Athletes understand that competing comes with a price of potential injury that could change their sports careers, especially if they don’t properly address their health conditions. Since athletes are mostly Type A personalities, excellence and relentless training come with an overwhelming toll. Fatigue and recovery from the competition and ongoing workout can be a hard journey to sustain. And it takes professional therapists and doctors to assist in sports injury, recovery, and therapy. What do athletes need to know about their fitness regimen? As an athlete or a person with an active lifestyle suffering from a repeated or one-time injury, there will come a time when it’s necessary to prepare your body to return to your sport with endurance, power, and agility. This type of sports therapy, known as “return to play therapy,” is specific to the sport you play. With a “return to play” approach, you’re guided through the proper steps and exercises to help you recover quickly. You learn how to condition your body and the injured site to return to rigorous play. Movement patterns and imbalances are assessed and corrected to prevent fewer injuries including repetitive motion injuries, rotator cuff injuries, and overuse injuries. At the Goswami Clinic, we offer a comprehensive treatment and rehab program to ensure the highest level of recovery and sports therapy to allow athletes to return to their play and respective competitive sports. With this integrated sports injury, recovery, and prevention program, we can help personalize individual’s goals, sports lifestyle, and training to deliver the most optimized outcome while treating and healing the root of the injury. The role of muscle fatigue. Muscle fatigue is an exercise-induced reduction in maximal voluntary muscle force, which may be caused by peripheral changes at the level of the muscle (peripheral fatigue). It may also occur because the central nervous system fails to drive the moto-neurons adequately (central fatigue). Fatigue is inherently a part of exercising but in our training plan and preparation, we can identify imbalanced patterns at the core of injury causality and correct them through targeted training. Depending on the nature and extent of the injury, therapeutic exercises, home exercise programs, and manual techniques are included as well in the program. Our rehab program and regenerative cell treatments are carefully designed to help with preventative injuries for future play while healing any injured areas as holistically as possible. To learn more about our sports therapy program and regenerative treatments for your knee, shoulder, ankle, hip or spine, request additional information or to learn more give us a call or schedule an initial 1:1 evaluation. [activecampaign form=10] Based in Newport Beach, CA, The Goswami Clinic is an innovative sports medicine clinic lead by Dr. Gaurav Goswami who treats sports-related injuries, joint pain, arthritis, declining performance and more. Known for his non-conventional methods, Dr. Goswami specializes in regenerative sports medicine providing advanced minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments to athletes of all ages and levels with the goal of returning them to optimal performance.
What’s Wrong with My Knee?
With all our daily activities, sports, and mobile lives, our knees are our most prized assets for getting us around. We sometimes do not realize the pressure and strain we put on our knees and take it for granted until something gives.