Regenerative Medicine
General
Regenerative medicine refers to therapies that are able to repair, restore and regenerate damaged tissues in the body. These therapies represent a significant advancement from traditional ones that only offer symptom relief as a proverbial “band-aid”.
Regenerative procedures come in two forms. Those that require a biologic harvest from the patient (bone marrow or adipose tissue), or those that come from an external source (e.g. amniotic fluid/membrane, or umbilical cord blood/tissue).
Our regenerative medicine promotes the repair of diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissues using these procedures. In our clinic, they are used through IV therapies for the restoration of the scalp and penis, and penis as part of a procedure for hair loss and erectile dysfunction.
What do they contain?
Known as the “products of conception” or “postnatal tissue”, the regenerative materials from amniotic and umbilical tissue include the following:
- Amniotic Fluid
- Placental Membrane
- Umbilical Cord Tissue
- Umbilical Cord Blood
- Wharton’s Jelly
The primary function of these materials – which is to support the growth and health of the fetus- lies outside the scope of the guide of the laboratory. However, many of these functions provided during fetal growth translate into patient benefit during regenerative procedures such as preventing infection and tissue growth of many kinds. These include collagen, tendon, lung, kidney, heart, etc.
Research done on these products of conception have shown the multitude of benefits that these materials contain:
- High numbers of stem cells
- Concentrations of growth factors
- High numbers of cytokines
- Additional elements including exosomes, microsomes, secretomes, mRNA, etc.
These components all act together as a “orchestra” of benefits to help the patient.
FDA Regulations:
None of the biologic materials previously mentioned come from “aborted fetuses”. The babies are not involved during the acquisition process in any way after the separation of the biologic material- which is typically discarded- from their bodies.
These use of embryonic stem cells in the US are legally prohibited. There is no fetal tissue, no cloning and all donors are consented and screened according to FDA regulations.
What conditions benefit from their use?
The list of conditions that may possibly benefit from amniotic/umbilical procedures is extensive, however, the biologics are not FDA Approved and studies are not large enough to state that stem cells therapy is a definitive treatment for any condition.
With the way these biologics are regulated by the FDA, they may be used where physicians deem them to be safe and useful. Our disclaimer is consistent: No treatments mentioned here have been evaluated by the FDA. As with any medical treatment, Wellness Architects and the labs we buy the material from do not guarantee any particular outcome. No treatment protocol or specific biologic indication has been evaluated or approved by the FDA.
Our material was obtained from a laboratory that offers therapies under IRB Approved Protocols. These protocols are for the investigation of regenerative therapies using amniotic and umbilical cord tissue therapy for the following issues:
- Orthopedic
- Autoimmune
- Neurodegenerative
- Renal
- Pulmonary
- Cardiac
- Urologic
In our clinic we combine these protocols with these materials and the PRP, where a blood sample is used from the patient. This blood is placed into a kit and spun quickly for 10-15 minutes in a centrifuge machine. What it does is separate the blood into several layers.
The middle layer is termed the “buffy coat” and contains concentrated platelets, white blood cells, and 8-12 growth factors. There are minimal stem cells in PRP, but with the plasma taken from the patient and the material obtained from the lab with the exosomes or stem cells, we will obtain a helpful regenerative combination.
For more information please call or text at (787) 397-4633 and one of our experts will instruct you.