DALLAS (Ivanhoe Newswire) - Using embryonic stem cells in medical research is a controversial topic. Using adult stem cells to cure disease has nothing to do with embryos, and is showing great promise for curing a wide variety of chronic conditions.
Doctors have been using a patient’s own stem cells to heal without surgery.
Elsa Rosa can’t walk without pain. Doctors say she needs two knee replacements. Instead, she has tried something new – stem cells harvested from her own body to heal her knee.
“I would like to be active again. I’m young at heart,” she says.
Doctors use liposuction to extract fat cells from Elsa’s abdomen. The cells are separated, concentrated and treated. The doctor injects her own stem cells back into Elsa’s knee, where they will grow and hopefully, heal the damage.
“It’s a great option for Elsa, because we’re seeing about 85 percent of knees respond,” says Dr. Bill Johnson, internal medicine specialist at Innovations Medical in Dallas, Texas.
Stem cells harvested from your own body have the ability to reproduce and become cartilage, bone and muscle.
“Well, it is remarkable. I think that we’re seeing some really remarkable changes in responses in a lot of our patients,” says Dr. Johnson.
“I think I’ve gone through enough pain, so I don’t need any more,” says Rosa.
Elsa is just hoping to walk again pain-free, without going through the discomfort of knee replacement surgery or the inconvenience of rehabilitation.
Adult stem cells are being used in clinical trials all over the country to treat everything from chronic pain, joint problems, erectile dysfunction and COPD. The FDA still considers the stem cell therapy investigational, and insurance companies typically will not cover the procedures.
