Stem Cell Therapy Matthews NC

There are stem cell clinics out there making a big deal about counting autologous stem cells after they are harvested from your body. They go on and on about how technologically advanced this is, how labor intensive it is, and how much better it is for the patient to have their cells ‘counted’ prior to stem cell treatment. In reality, all they are doing is trying to justify why they are charging you thousands of dollars more than other clinics doing the exact same procedures.

The bottom line is none of the most highly respected stem cell experts in the country are doing this, for multiple reasons. The technology to do accurate identification and counting of stem cells is extremely expensive, laborious, and time consuming. And when we say ‘time consuming’ we mean it takes DAYS or WEEKS to do it correctly.

Plus, counting stem cells in a patient’s sample entails more handling and manipulation of the sample which delays the time until the stem cells are actually injected into the patient, and could lead to a higher risk of bacterial contamination of the patient’s specimen. Besides, let’s say you went through the effort to actually COUNT the stem cells in a particular patient’s sample.

• What if the number is on the low side?
• Are you going to go back to the patient and take MORE stem cell material?

No, you’re not, because the patient will likely not let you perform another harvest procedure the same day. So counting is more of an academic exercise. It doesn’t really change the outcome or benefit the patient IN ANY WAY.

To confirm our suspicions about this, we contacted Dr. Paul Tortland of the New England Stem Cell Institute in Glastonbury, CT. Dr. Tortland is an internationally recognized leader in nonsurgical sports medicine, musculoskeletal ultrasound, and regenerative medicine, especially in PRP and autologous stem cell treatments.

He was the first physician in New England, and among the first in the country, to begin performing PRP and autologous stem cell treatments for orthopedic conditions, in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

He was the first physician in the world to receive certification in Regenerative Medicine by the American Academy and Board of Regenerative Medicine. He’s board-certified in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Sports Medicine. Dr. Altizer personally asked Dr. Tortland if there was any utility in counting stem cells prior to treatment.

This was his answer, copied verbatim:

Hi James,

So here’s the bottom line:

At point of care, you can only measure total nucleated cell count (TNC). TNC counts measure ALL nucleated cells. From there you have to make an educated guess as to how many of those cells represent progenitor cells. And that number can vary greatly depending on the patient and your harvesting technique.

You need very expensive and sophisticated equipment to measure actual cell counts. To measure CFUs you have to plate out a sample and grow it for 2 weeks to see how many colonies form. To measure cell surface markers to determine if you actually have stem cells (e.g., CD45-), you need even more sophisticated equipment such as mass spectroscopy.

To measure stem cells from adipose, you have to digest the fat using collagenase and then perform counts on the cells once you isolate them. Again, something that no one is doing bedside. And even if you could do that, that does not necessarily indicate what’s happening in vivo. Once you digest the fat and isolate the cells, you have fundamentally changed the properties of the tissue. So it’s more of an academic exercise.

You can measure cell viability bedside, but it still doesn’t tell you what type of cells they are. So, bottom line is that it’s really blowing smoke. It’s a marketing gimmick.

Hope that helps,
Paul

So, the final answer is counting stem cells in a lab is a pointless waste of time outside of an academic research center. For the typical patient getting autologous stem cell therapy it makes absolutely no sense to do it and has absolutely no effect on the final outcome.

All it does is increase the TIME is takes to do an autologous stem cell treatment, increase the manipulation and handling of the patient’s specimen which could increase the RISK of infection, and greatly elevates the COST of the final treatment. So, until research shows a benefit of counting cells and until the renowned experts like Dr. Tortland start doing it, we won’t do it either.

Dr. James Altizer, our director of stem cell and regenerative therapies, is the only one performing procedures in our office. He has provided thousands of stem cell and growth factor treatments since January of 2016. At NeoGenix, Dr. Altizer is in charge of your case from start to finish.

If you are shopping around at other clinics, be very careful you are not fooled into having a procedure performed at a Chiropractic “straw” clinic staffed solely by inexperienced nurse practitioners or physician assistants to cut costs. In these clinics, you may never even see a physician. These clinics might be owned by a medical doctor on paper, but in reality, all patient care is dictated by Chiropractors practicing medicine without a license. These Chiropractic clinics use high-pressure sales tactics and often over-promise or even guarantee results.

We understand we are not the only clinic in the Carolinas providing stem cell and growth factor treatments, but we are one of the few with an actual MD who oversees your care from start to finish and actually performs your procedures, and our MD has more experience than anyone else in the Carolinas.

When it comes to making a decision about your health, make sure you choose a clinic with an experienced, licensed physician that will be open and honest with you. You will get a realistic assessment of whether or not stem cell and growth factor treatments will work for you, and if Dr. Altizer doesn’t think it will work, he will tell you that, too.

No arthritis therapy is permanent because there is no way to completely stop the disease of arthritis. Even artificial knee joints last on average 10-15 years before wearing out. You might know someone who has had to have a ‘re-do’ joint replacement. But with stem cell and growth factor treatments our hope is to prevent patients from having to resort to joint replacement surgery or at the very least delay it as long as possible.

Medical studies on stem cell and growth factor treatments currently show results can last several years. Dr. Altizer has treated thousands of patients since January of 2016, and the majority of them are still doing well. No, stem cell and growth factor treatments are not a permanent cure for arthritis. There is no such thing, not even with surgery. (And if anyone tells you the results are permanent or a cure you are in the wrong clinic).