There’s been a lot of big talk about stem cell therapy. It’s been used to help those with blood cancers, degenerative disc disease, Type 1 diabetes, heart disease, burn injuries, and even blindness.
Some of those achievements are old hat. Others have only been done once – so far. Regardless, the list is impressive, so it’s natural to ask yourself what else stem cell therapy can do for you. Can stem cell therapy improve digestive disorders? This guide gets into its potential use as a treatment:
Stem Cells: An Overview
A good place to start in working out how stem cells could help with digestive disorders is to understand what are stem cells.
Stem cells are simply master cells. The ones in our bodies can become a number of other cells when the old ones become damaged, diseased, or simply die out. Stem cells are essential as we grow and get bigger, and they’re also key in maintaining your health, and in repairing damage.
We have our own stem cells, and produce more throughout our lives. Just because we produce them naturally, however, does not mean we always have as many stem cells as we need to handle all the tough jobs that we ask out of our bodies.
If you have a digestive disorder, for example, then you may not have enough stem cells to completely tackle the condition. This is particularly true if it’s a chronic or degenerative condition.
Common Types of Digestive Disorders
There are many different digestive disorders and their accompanying symptoms. For example, if you have a digestive disorder, then you may also be dealing with chronic back pain. This is because of the way our nerves link up. When inflamed in your gut, the nerves may radiate pain all the way through your back, and, in some cases, through your knees.
Of course, if you have chronic back pain for another reason, stem cells for back pain are also available. In this case, you’d likely want to look into bone marrow aspirate concentrate, as those stem cells for back pain can become bone, cartilage, ligament, and connective tissue.
As for digestive disorders themselves, stem cell treatments may be able to help conditions such as:
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Chron’s Disease
- Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
- Celiac Disease
- Pancreatitis
How Can Stem Cell Treatments Improve Digestive Disorders?
There’s no evidence that stem cell therapy can cure digestive disorders, but there are ways that it can help you manage your conditions, particularly if they are chronic. It is important to note that the FDA doesn’t yet approve for stem cells for digestive disorders, so you will need to cover the stem cell therapy cost by yourself.
That’s why it’s so important to do your research and be realistic about how stem cells could help, and the kind of overall benefit you can expect.
Stem cells, for example, may be able to help you with your digestive condition by:
- Regenerating Damaged Tissue: if your digestive issues boil down to damage somewhere along your system, then stem cells could help by regenerating the damaged tissue, improving function and, as a result, your symptoms.
- Boosting the Immune System: If you have an overactive immune system, then you may be experiencing digestive issues as a result. Stem cells could, theoretically, help regulate your immune system by reducing inflammation.
- Treatment of Autoimmune Disease: If your digestive condition is due to an autoimmune disease then stem cell therapy may be able to help treat the underlying condition, providing lasting relief.
How Stem Cell Therapy Works
The next important question to ask yourself is about the injections themselves. What are stem cell injections, what’s in them, and what kind of stem cells are all very important questions to ask your provider.
Here at Bioxcellerator, for example, we source our stem cells from Wharton’s Jelly, which is a by-product that’s found around umbilical cords. We only use donated umbilical cords that have been pre-screened.
Once we get the tissue, we extract the stem cells, screen the stem cells themselves, then work on purifying them and boosting their numbers. They are again screened (as there are now more cells) and then stored. During screening, if there are any damaged or problematic stem cells, we remove them.
We do this to give you the healthiest batch of stem cells. Those stem cells are also juvenile, meaning they’re less likely to be attacked by your immune system and destroyed.
These stem cells can help reduce inflammation, which makes them a helpful treatment for back pain, digestive disorders, and even conditions like arthritis.
They are also tissue-based, which means they’re well-positioned to help repair tissue, increase white cell blood count, and even repair muscle cells.
Can Stem Cell Therapy Help Me?
There are many factors that impact how successful the treatment may be for you. The first is your overall health. If your system is actively focusing on other areas of your health, then stem cells may be used for a different purpose than you want them to.
The second is your immune system. While we take every step to help reduce the risk of rejection, it’s still possible. Your body may recognize the new stem cells as foreign bodies and destroy them.
The nature of your condition also matters. You need the right type of stem cell in order to treat the cause of your digestive condition. If your condition is degenerative, or can be worsened (like with celiac disease), then stem cells may not provide lasting relief.
Want to Learn More? Book an Appointment with Our Team
Have a look at the locations we cover, and then book an appointment with our team. We are more than happy to go through everything there is to know about stem cells and how they can help those with digestive disorders and other conditions. Whether you’re looking for new ways to heal your gut, or for effective treatment for back pain, or anything else, stem cells may be the way to reduce your symptoms.
We give every potential patient a full consultation and only take you on if you and your condition are a good fit for the treatment, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.
