Osteoarthritis Stem Cell Therapy

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of degenerative joint disease. Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage cushioning the joints breaks down and causes the bones to rub together, inducing a change in shape. It most commonly affects joints in the knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, ankles, and hands.

Stem cells are unprogrammed cells in the human body that can replicate themselves or differentiate into other types of cells like: nerve, skin, blood, muscle, bone, cartilage and other specialized types of cells. At the forefront of Cellular Therapies, in a new field of science called Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells have the potential to treat many conditions because of their ability to replace tissue or organs that have been damaged by disease, trauma, or congenital issues.

Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the ability to become specialized cells. By following the inflammatory responses released by damaged or diseased tissues in the body, stem cells are activated to help repair and regenerate damaged cells such as nerve, skin, blood, muscle and many others.

Our stem cells are utilized daily to regenerate and repair tissue that has been damaged due to age, disease or trauma.

There are three sources of stem cells that can be harvested from a patient’s body. These sources include bone marrow, peripheral blood and adipose (fat) tissue.

Stem cell therapy is an intervention strategy that introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. Many medical researchers studying Cellular Therapies in Regenerative Medicine believe that stem cell therapies have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. Studying the ability of stem cells to self-renew and differentiate offers significant potential for tissue generation that can potentially replace diseases and damaged areas in the body, with minimal risk of rejection and side effects.

The stem cells for an adipose adult stem cell procedure are harvested by extracting the patient's adipose tissue through a procedure called mini-liposuction. This is an outpatient procedure performed under local or twilight anesthesia. During the procedure, the fat cells are extracted from the patient’s body. The extracted fat cells are then transferred to Younique Therapies onsite lab where the processing of the stem cells occur. During the processing phase, the stem cells are isolated from the fat, activated using the patient’s own growth factors derived from their PRP (platelet rich plasma) and prepared for infusion. The final stem cell product is reintroduced back to the patient intravenously (IV) and in a combination of other modalities, all dependent on the patient's specific needs. It takes approximately four to five hours to complete the entire process, from extraction to infusion.

Our blood contains platelets which contain hundreds of proteins called growth factors that are very important in the healing of injuries. PRP is plasma with a high concentration of platelets. Studies have shown that the increased concentration of growth factors in PRP speeds up the healing process.