Stem Cell Therapy, What Is Your Take?

First let me throw in the caveat that I find new healing modalities, such as stem cell treatments, quite fascinating so I don’t want to have my opinion confused as a stem cell hit piece.   I am looking at the totality of the information and forming my opinion.

Right now, stem cell research is in its infancy.  It does seem to hold promise for future systemic treatments and it has proven itself successful for certain localized treatments. I, however, have not talked to anyone with genuine FQAD that has been systemically helped by stem cells, yet.    If you have been helped please contact me as I would be interested in hearing from someone who was chronically suffering and had their lives turned around by stem cells.

For me the unfortunate reality is this; I have heard from a handful of genuine severely floxed folks who have gotten much worse after stem cell therapy.  A couple of folks initially had what they thought was an overall systemic benefit, only to see that perceived benefit disappear and in some their chronic symptoms got much worse.  Although I don’t pretend to understand the mechanism of temporary improvement (possibly placebo), I can make several educated guesses as to why it would be negative from a genetic basis.

To be fair, I have talked to some folks who have had stem cells injected locally, such as a knee, shoulder, or spine, to solve localized problems that have had some improvement, but no systemic body-wide ‘reset’ or great systemic improvement has been reported to me. 

There is a lot of rumor and hearsay of folks claiming miracle cures with Stem cells, and when I have looked into some of these cases by further checking into the veracity of their claims, the actual facts surrounding their recovery was dubious at the best,  as was their ‘perceived’ level of floxing.

Stem cell treatments have cropped up all over the place, about as much as places selling miracle CBD oil.  And because of this it is hard to separate truth from fiction. There are all kinds of practitioners claiming to be ‘experts’ in an area of stem cells and genetics.  These are areas that even those with advanced PhD’s do not fully understand.  Because of this, do you expect the local chiropractor to be a stem cell expert?   There are the occasional nightmare reports from these stem cell clinics, such as this example here. 

One popular floxed stem cell treatment professional, who I consider was initially mildly floxed (if even floxed at all), treats patients with stem cells charging up to to $10K as day!  The person has excellent reviews online.  Behind the scenes there is a much different uglier truth.  I have heard from floxed critics, both patients and a fellow MD and researcher, who paint a much different picture. The MD says that they have collected stories of very bad outcome from stem cells.  The patients have told me stories of how this professional has ‘gone after’ aggressively to shut down any criticism or squelch negative opinion.

To compound the confusion, things such as healing and suffering are subjective.  For instance, a person who receives stem cells and gets improvement in their pain, but is still unable to walk, might look at their stem cell venture as a success.  Yet, another person might consider it a complete failure.  Stem cells are different, depending on their locale in the body so promises of system improvements can be misleading.

By reading my website you will find that I am in no way a fan of the FDA.  Despite this, they have issued warnings on stem cell treatments and some of their concerns are valid.   We can’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

For me, success is weighed only in a substantial alleviation of floxing symptoms allowing a person a complete return to a functional lifestyle. 

Then there is the cost factor.  Stem cell treatment is expensive, very expensive.  I have also corresponded with some that have come away feeling victimized after spending $25,000 for stem cells treatment that did not produce viable results.  Some individuals have mortgaged their homes and put their families in financial hardship just to get stem cell treatments. 

Listen, I do get it and I am not without compassion because I know people are scared, in pain, and suffering. If I knew for a fact that stem cells would help me, I would raise money and try them myself (non-embryonic). However, I have heard it time and time again, people get desperate and look for help and they want it right now. They don’t want to hear anything negative from me or anyone else, they just want to get better. Believe me, I, and many, many others have been there.  The bad news is that people are often vulnerable during these times and can easily be taken advantage of, and in the area of stem cells it would be easy to be taken advantage of.  My advice is to read this article from the International Society for Stem Cell Research entitled  Nine Things To Know About Stem Cell Treatments.

If you decide to pursue this avenue, please research thoroughly and use extreme caution.

Bottom line, as of this time, there are no stem cell clinics that I endorse, and even if I had a lot of money to spend on stem cell treatments, I would personally not risk stem cell treatment on myself.