Discover how stem cell therapy offers new hope for treating many disorders—can optimize health and potentially slow the effects of aging
By Eric Stoffers
What does quality of life mean to you? Most of us—especially as we age—would describe a “better life” as one with fewer aches and pain, more energy, a more youthful appearance, and a more active lifestyle.
And for those who will cope (or are already coping) with conditions and diseases like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, a brighter future would mean delaying the onset of symptoms, or making existing symptoms less severe.
I know that simply feeling better goes a long way to helping me enjoy a higher quality of life. And that makes a big difference. Whether you enjoy dancing, hiking, biking, walking along the beach, playing with the grandkids, or simply doing daily chores around the house, each day becomes more enjoyable if you have more energy and less pain and stiffness.
There are two key components of our health we must maintain to truly get the best out of our later years: our physical health and our cognitive function.
Research shows that stem cell therapy can enhance health (and quality of life) by:
- Reducing systemic inflammation (as chronic systemic inflammation has been shown to accelerate aging)
- Alleviating chronic pain
- Regenerating damaged tissues
- Improving skin health and appearance
- Improving mental clarity
- Improving gut health
- Slowing the onset and reducing symptoms of autoimmune and degenerative conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and ulcerative colitis
- Potentially slowing the impact of aging
But to really see the impact stem cell therapy could potentially make on your quality of life, allow me to introduce you to a few of the people we’ve helped. Here are a few brief stories that show the dramatic improvements stem cell therapy has made in their lives.
Kevin Nash: “A life-changing experience”
The day after we treated Kevin Nash at BioXcellerator, he said, “I walked from the hotel to the medical center and probably passed 300 people on the way. It’s the fastest I’ve probably walked since I was 30—and that was 30 years ago.”
Kevin had been suffering pain from shoulder injuries and herniated discs as well as degenerative disc disease. The pain got in the way of him living the active lifestyle he’d once enjoyed. And it grew more severe over the years, especially in his shoulders, where he explains he experienced pain “24/7.” But within two months of receiving stem cell therapy, he says that pain was gone.
A better life with less pain sounds good, but what Kevin really treasures is what that means to his daily life. He walks more quickly now, enjoys more activity, and, perhaps best of all, finds himself smiling more frequently.
As Kevin told us, “I haven’t smiled this much since holding my son for the first time.”
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Jim Stewart: “Turning the clock back”
Jim Stewart was only in his 30s when he began suffering from back pain because of a degenerative disorder in one of the discs in his spine. That pain grew worse over the years and made life a lot harder and less enjoyable for a young father trying to spend quality time with his family.
Before undergoing stem cell therapy at BioXcellerator, Jim said he would suffer from severe pain for at least two hours after waking up each morning. But the very first morning after treatment, his pain was gone.
“I woke up, and after standing up, said to myself, ‘Wait a minute … what just happened? I don’t feel any pain,’” Jim recalls. “I was so ecstatic and excited that I literally started jumping up and down!”
Getting his pain treated certainly improved Jim’s quality of life and made it far more enjoyable. As he told us, “This therapy has changed my life—literally turning the clock back at least 10 years.”
Marvella Stewart: “A new lease on life”
We also treated Jim Stewart’s wife, Marvella. Who was suffering from chronic pain and memory issues because of a brain injury from a car accident.
“I literally could not function,” Marvella says. “Even if I knew you, I couldn’t remember your name. When driving, I’d forget where I was going. Sometimes I didn’t know where I was. I was just constantly living in a fog.”
But after stem cell therapy, she says, “I don’t even have the words for the difference! I was in such pain for four months after my car accident. It’s now just two days after my stem cell procedure, and thus far, I have zero pain. I have a new lease on life. I am having such a great morning. I am feeling grateful and blessed to be pain free and living life again.”
That seems like a better quality of life to me—and, more importantly, for both Jim and Marvella Stewart.
Treating specific conditions
At BioXcellerator, we treat patients for many different types of diseases, injuries, and conditions. These include:
- Autoimmune diseases
- Orthopedic and sports injuries
- Degenerative disc disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Cosmetic and skin health
- Gastrointestinal disorders, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
- And many others
We also treat patients for relief of chronic pain from injuries sustained recently or even many years ago. And we offer dermatological treatment protocols to help restore a more youthful appearance—including fading wrinkles and blemishes on the face and neck.
From head to toe, mesenchymal stem cells can help improve life as we age—especially when pain prevents us from taking part in activities we once enjoyed when we were younger.
Yet, at BioXcellerator, we are often asked, “Can stem cell therapy improve overall health—especially for people with old injuries, autoimmune diseases, or degenerative conditions that cause more and more nagging pain over the years?”
Well, there’s certainly evidence that stem cell therapy can help reduce chronic inflammation and improve overall health. In fact, when we follow up with patients treated for specific conditions, they often report improvements after treatment for those conditions. But many also tell us that they feel better overall—with more energy, less pain, and more vitality.
When you understand how stem cell therapy works to treat specific conditions, you’ll see how these types of therapies can also potentially optimize overall health, as an extra benefit of treatment. These health benefits are based on the way mesenchymal stem cells work—on their properties, and on the way they function in the body.
Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells offer exceptional healing properties
Although there are several varieties of stem cells, there have been many research studies on how one specific type of stem cell—umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)—demonstrate exceptional healing properties.
Umbilical cord-derived cells are very young and have consistently demonstrated more healing potential and better patient outcomes than cells from adults.
The most effective stem cell therapy starts with the best possible cells
For example, at BioXcellerator, our cells are produced from mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton’s jelly umbilical cord tissue.
These cells are cultured and expanded and tested to make sure they meet high standards for purity and potency, and demonstrate:
- High levels of anti-inflammatory properties
- The best potential to modulate the immune system
- More potential to stimulate healing
Our proprietary protocols help create high-potency cells that work more quickly and effectively to promote healing, reduce inflammation, and regenerate damaged tissues.
Staying heathy: The role of inflammation and immunity
Diseases such as Crohn’s disease and osteoarthritis may seem very different—and they are—but a theme common to each is inflammation. While inflammation is the body’s natural signaling system that healing is needed in a specific part of the body, too much inflammation isn’t healthy at all.
Although inflammation is a common factor in Crohn’s disease and osteoarthritis, the two conditions are very different based on what causes this inflammation. Specifically, Crohn’s disease damages digestive tissue because it’s an autoimmune disease (a category of conditions that result from a poorly functioning immune system).
Our immune systems usually monitor the body for foreign pathogens and attack them if necessary. But in patients with autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks healthy body tissue instead. Immunity and inflammation are highly related because immune response can trigger excess inflammation. Temporary inflammation is a normal and necessary response to the threat of a real infection, but it’s not healthy when the body senses—and reacts to—an infection that doesn’t really exist.
Osteoarthritis is different from Crohn’s disease because it is not an autoimmune disease. Instead, osteoarthritis causes pain and inflammation because it destroys cartilage tissue that protects the small bones in joints. Patients with normal immune systems can suffer from osteoarthritis and inflammation as cartilage continues to deteriorate over time.
There is, however, another form of arthritis that is an autoimmune disease—rheumatoid arthritis. This type of arthritis causes similar damage, pain, and inflammation as osteoarthritis, but for a different reason: The body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cartilage tissue.
Research shows stem cell therapy using mesenchymal stem cells can be effective in treating osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and many other conditions because these cells promote healing by amplifying the body’s own healing processes to reduce inflammation, balance the immune system, and regenerate damaged tissues.
Universal benefits of mesenchymal stem cells
There are many conditions we treat using mesenchymal stem cells because, as noted earlier, they demonstrate properties that can help both to reduce inflammation and to improve immune function.
When mesenchymal stem cells enter the body, whether administered by injection or IV infusion, they naturally migrate to specific areas of the body where healing is needed.
For example, even if you are being treated for a digestive condition specifically, the stem cells will circulate throughout your muscle tissue, joints, and skin—and, in the process, healing damage you might not be aware of. Such damage may even be “intentional,” as from vigorous exercise that causes microscopic tears (which is the reason we need recovery time after exercising). As we age, we need more recovery time than we did when we were younger.
But with mesenchymal stem cells at work, recovery after exercise may speed back up again—and the cells may even contribute to improved overall health. This is because they can take advantage of natural processes to promote healing and repair tissue—whether in a joint, the digestive system, the skin, or other areas. It’s these cells’ universal healing and repair properties that demonstrate the potential to enhance overall health and wellness.
An application of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells can help our aging cells function better by:
- Slowing cellular aging by reducing DNA telomere damage
- Reducing systemic inflammation by regulating cytokine release and other inflammatory responses.
- Promoting healing of damaged tissues throughout the body, including of muscles, tendons, cartilage, and gastrointestinal tissue
- Increasing the production of skin and collagen cells that can fade wrinkles and blemishes
Yes, aging is a constant for all of us—but for some people, the process is a lot more rapid than in others. Now, it’s possible to slow down that process by combining stem cell therapy, good nutrition, and healthy lifestyle choices. New, exciting research into the regenerative properties of mesenchymal stem cells is why I see age 100 as “the new 60” in the not-too-distant future.
New hope for a better life ahead
If you were being treated for a serious condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and you experienced relief from pain and inflammation as a result, that would certainly improve the quality of your life. But if you also had more energy, your skin looked healthier, and your cognitive function improved (or was maintained into your later years), that would result in an overall improved quality of life.
So, you can see how stem cell therapy could help you enjoy a fuller, more active life—whether you enjoy tennis, golf, hiking, playing with the grandkids, working in the garden, or any other activity.
While stem cell therapy may not really turn back the hands of time, you can certainly feel younger and live better. That’s why stem cell therapy offers new hope for a better life.
