What does the future hold for stem cell treatments? The question is almost impossible to answer due to the complex nature of these remarkable cells.
Decades of research has allowed us to only glimpse the potential of stem cells to treat disease. Clinical trials have shown great promise as life-changing therapies for patients suffering from diabetes, Parkinson’s, ALS, multiple sclerosis, autism, heart disease and macular degeneration, amongst many others.
We should celebrate successful stem cell treatments already being used routinely in bone marrow stem cell transplants for leukemia and other specific types of cancer, sickle cell anemia and disorders of the immune system.
Our clinic provides mesenchymal stem cells to assist in the reduction of pain and the restoration of degenerative joints and spines. When properly administered, there is no denying the healing capability of these amazing cells. I am truly proud to have improved the quality of so many lives with this simple procedure, however, a lack of consistent quality product regulations, standardized treatment protocols, routine follow up care and misleading claims in our industry has resulted in mixed patient experience outcomes. If we are to gain public trust and government approval, we must always rely on evidence-based science, document and share clinical patient progress and outcomes and place the patient’s best interest at the forefront of our recommendations.
Stem cell exploration is one of the largest and fastest growing fields of medicine on the planet, and for a good reason, it holds the potential to change the paradigm of healthcare around the world from one dependent on treating symptoms with synthetic, often unpredictable, dangerous drugs, to a natural safe human cell tissue product. Now that’s a future I can get behind.
Allan D. Laird D.C.