Stem cell treatments, theoretically, can be used by everyone. This is because every single person has stem cells in their system already, and needs them in order to maintain their health, recover from wounds, and generally to help them replace sick or dead cells in their system.
The question isn’t whether you can get stem cells, it’s if stem cell medical treatments will help positively improve your health. For someone who is young, with no ongoing conditions or health concerns, a stem cell transplant won’t feel like anything at all, because there’s no reason to increase the number of stem cells in the body.
That’s where the eligibility factor comes into play. Here at Bioxcellerator, we always run a full consultation and get your medical history, so we understand your condition, general health, and lifestyle.
This way we can understand more about you, and determine whether stem cell treatments will be a good fit for you, or not.
We use many different metrics to help determine who is a good candidate (meaning, are likely to see benefits from stem cell therapy) and who isn’t, but how to determine stem cell therapy eligibility in yourself? We’ve put together this guide to help you:
What is (and Isn’t) Stem Cell Therapy
Before we get into stem cell eligibility, it’s first important to know more about the treatment itself, since this can help you wrap your head around its potential, and its limitations.
What are stem cells, is a good place to start. In short, they are a master cell that can become other cells. Types of blood cancers, for example, can be treated with a type of stem cell treatment known as a bone marrow transplant. In this case, the stem cells from your bone marrow work to replace every injured or damaged blood cell, helping you recover fully.
What are stem cell injections, then? They’re simply injections or an IV of screened and purified stem cells. In general, there are two main types:
- Autologous Transplantation: These are stem cells collected from the donor themselves. They are screened, purified, and then re-infused in a targeted area in the body.
- Allogenic Transplantation: This means that the stem cells come from either unrelated donors or a family member. If the cells are from unrelated donors, they will be heavily screened (both the donor and the cells), purified, and then stored in cryo.
In hospitals, the goal will be to get the cells from either a family member of good general health, or from the patient themselves. This is because rejection (where your immune system destroys foreign bodies) is a possibility with stem cell treatment. Using a close family member minimizes the risk of this rejection, and using your own cells almost guarantees your body will accept the cells.
What about allogenic treatments? Our stem cell treatments are sourced from Wharton’s Jelly, and are considered juvenile. These cells are not embryonic, but also don’t have a specific surface protein that immune systems target as foreign bodies. This means that our treatments, even if they’re from unrelated donors, are more likely to be accepted by your system and then put to work.
How to Determine Stem Cell Therapy Eligibility
So, who is eligible to donate stem cells, and who is eligible to receive them?
Donor Eligibility
To donate stem cells, you need to be:
- Relatively young
- In good health
- In a healthy weight range
- Disease-free
- Without pre-existing medical conditions
Receiver Eligibility
To receive stem cells, you need:
- To have an eligible medical condition. In hospitals, this means you have one of the eligible types of blood cancer or conditions that can be treated with bone marrow transplants. In private clinics, the range of conditions is wider, covering everything from a brain injury all the way to a slipped disc.
- To have severe enough symptoms: Stem cell therapy cost can be very high, so only those who with chronic, acute, or degenerative conditions are typically accepted for treatment.
- Current medical treatments: some treatments, such as chemotherapy, can destroy new stem cells, meaning you get no benefit from the treatment.
- Overall health: You must be well enough to have these medical treatments, since some patients experience flu-like symptoms immediately after treatment.
Ready to Learn If You’re Eligible?
If you are located in any of the locations we cover, then get in touch with our team. We are more than happy to go through your entire medical history and work to understand your current condition prognosis in order to determine if you are a good match for this treatment.
In general, those with chronic conditions that cannot be treated easily with traditional medicine or a hospital visit are a good fit.
Either way, by coming to us for a full consultation, we can let you know just what your chances are. We only accept those as patients who we see as good candidates. We do this so that those who pay for our treatments can expect a good chance that the treatment will be a success for them.
Since we don’t take everyone, you can rest easy knowing that you won’t waste your valuable money (or hope) on a treatment that just isn’t a good fit for your condition. You can instead rest easy knowing that the science is on your side.
If you are a good fit and we do take you on as a patient, then we even offer payment plans to help you spread out the cost of our treatments in a timeframe that works for you. We also follow up after treatment, as we want to know how you are getting on and how successful the treatment was for you individually.
We can do all that and more, starting with answering all your questions with you and your health in mind. All you need is to get in touch with our team, book an appointment, or send us a message. We are always happy to help you get the answers, and treatment, you need.
