Stem Cell Therapy

What is a stem Cell?

A stem cell is basically any cell that can replicate and differentiate. Serving as your body’s natural healing cells, they are recruited by damaged tissues to repair and regenerate damaged cells. In “the right” environment, stem cells can change/differentiate into bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, collagen, neural tissue, blood vessels, and even some organs. Stem cells may assist healing, via the secretion of special chemical messengers that repair damaged tissues.

Types of stem cells

There are two types of broad categories of stem cells. They are either allograft (from another person) or autograft (from your own tissue). Current sources of allograft cells are embryonic tissue, amniotic fluid, or umbilical cord. Embryonic stem cells have a host of ethical concerns, and unless you have donated your own umbilical or placental cells at birth, access to these cells are via allograft. A concern with allograft donated umbilical or placental stem cells is that it is unclear how the foreign DNA will affect the recipient’s body long term. Other downsides of umbilical/placental sources are possible immune reactions, potential disease transmission, less predictable stem cell potency, and higher percentage of non-stem cell content. By using one’s own cells, these potential problems can be avoided.

Autograft derived sources of stem cells are called “adult stem cells”. Adult stem cells already reside in one’s body in different tissues. That makes these cells autologous, containing your unique DNA and cell surface markers, making them a perfect match and the preferred cell to utilize. Two sources of adult stem cells are bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and adipose-derived multipotent/mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs). Bone marrow stem cells are lower in numbers, yielding approximately 5,000 to 60,000 cells, and therefore are usually cultured in order to multiply their numbers for future use. As it turns out, fat is also loaded with mesenchymal stem cells. Our technology processes the fat to yield approximately 500,000 to 1,000,000 stem cells per cc of fat, and therefore, it is possible to obtain as many as 10 to 40 million cells per single treatment. Other disadvantages to bone marrow cells are that they are older, possessing shorter DNA strand telomeres which is a predictor of cell function and age. The number and quality of bone marrow stem cells decline with age at a faster rate when compared to adipose stem cells. Bone marrow harvesting involves a more invasive extraction, which is potentially more painful. In reviewing outcomes data, treatment cell numbers appear to correlate with treatment success. Research has shown in doner-matched studies that ADSCs retained enhanced capacity compared to MSCs from bone marrow, suggesting ADSCs may be the most appropriate cell type for musculoskeletal tissue engineering and regenerative medicine therapies.

How do stem cells heal?

These stem cells are known as “progenitor” cells. This means they remain dormant unless they witness some level of tissue injury. It’s the tissue injury that turns them on. So, when a person has a degenerative type problem, then stem cells tend to go to that area of need and stimulate the healing process. We’re still not sure if they simply change into the type of injured tissue needed for repair or if they send out signals that induce the repair by some other mechanism. Suffice it to say that there are multiple animal models and a plethora of human evidence that indicates these are significant reparative cells.

The stem cell harvesting procedure

Stem Cells of Idaho specializes in the use of fat-derived stem cells. Patients have their cells harvested in a “mini liposuction” procedure performed under local anesthesia in our office. The procedure lasts 20-30 minutes and results in minimal discomfort to the patient. Approximately 100 cc’s of fat is harvested and using our special sterile “closed system” technology, the fat is processed to obtain a solution rich in your own stem cells. This solution is called Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) and actually contains four factors (signaling molecules) to advance and promote your body’s healing process. Our technology allows us to isolate higher numbers of viable cells that we can deploy during the same surgical visit. Also, in the same procedure day visit, you will have the option of cryo-preserving your cells for subsequent treatments and future use. Specific deployment methods are selected that are unique to each condition being treated.

What diseases and problems can be treated?

To date, there are a variety of conditions that have been shown to benefit from stem cell therapy. Currently, the majority of processes being treated are orthopedic in nature. Adult stem cells appear particularly effective in improving joint pain, repairing cartilage and ligaments, and even painful conditions along the spine.

Other ailments that have shown improvement with stem cell therapy include heart disease, Asthma, COPD, autoimmune illnesses such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Chron’s disease, as well as other inflammatory and neurologic conditions.

Stem cell therapy relies on the body’s own regenerative healing to occur. The regenerative process may take time, particularly with orthopedic patients who may not see results for several months. In some diseases, more immediate responses are possible. Most patients, especially those with orthopedic conditions, require only one deployment. Certain types of degenerative conditions, particularly auto-immune disease, may respond best to a series of stem cell deployments. The number and necessity of any additional treatments would be decided on a case-by-case basis. Some patients may not experience significant improvement and others may see dramatic regeneration of damaged tissue or resolution of diseases.

cell Banking

Cryo-preservation and banking of adipose-derived stem cells can be performed a the same time as your SVF deployment procedure. This will provide patients with their own personal stem cell line that could be used “on-demand” in the future for treating a multitude of conditions should the need arise. These stem cells are available anytime from the cell bank without the need for another harvest procedure. Cell banking also offers an opportunity for patients to participate in a wellness regenerative medicine program that can potentially help fight the negative effects of aging with periodically scheduled stem cell administration.

Our Team

As a board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon, Gregory Schweiger, MD has specialized in Traumatic orthopedic injuries and Sports Medicine for over twenty years. I am eager to share this technology with as many patients as possible because I truly believe in its healing potential. In addition to our Physician Assistant Tess Stewart, and Medical Assistant Hannah Hopson, my wife Leslieann Schweiger joins us in this endeavor. Leslieann has 23 years of experience as a Certified Register Nurse Anesthetist, which adds another level of care to this safe and minimally invasive procedure.

How can I obtain this procedure?

Initial consultation to determine if stem cell therapy is right for you is done in our office. Appropriate radiographic studies are available on-site as needed. Our office accepts most major insurance carriers.

At this time, the cost of stem cell therapy is not covered by insurance. This is an out-of-pocket expense but is a fraction of the cost of what people are currently paying to travel out of the country to receive cell treatments that are not from their own tissue. Our fees are set as reasonable as possible to lower the threshold for public access to stem cell medicine. Fees include the harvesting, isolating, and deployment of your own cells. Please contact Trinity at our office to schedule a consultation at 208-579-2038.