Booming Industry of Stem Cell Injections to Anti-Age Knees, Joints

He claims he’s finally found a solution: fly to the Bahamas for an experimental treatment to inject millions of stem cells taken from healthy, young Swedish volunteers into their knees, hips, and shoulders. The cost? About $16,500 per joint, or $25,000 for a full-body combo.

This is not new science. Stem cell therapy research is already underway. Age-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritisBut using it to soften the knees of healthy (and wealthy) 40-somethings is new territory.

And Johnson isn’t the only one capitalizing on this trend.

There’s been a quiet buzz in the wellness world about the idea of ​​injecting young cells into your knees to rejuvenate them.

While it is not FDA-approved in the U.S., several clinics overseas have received approval from regulatory agencies in other countries and offer the treatment for a fee. A large market of unregulated clinics is already raking in the cash, from $1,200 to $28,000 per treatment, capitalizing on consumer interest in the healing powers of stem cells. the study Found.

Leaders in the longevity field say it’s a promising idea, and experiments like Johnson’s could help shift the health care paradigm toward proactive, preventive care of joints.

For now, here’s what we know and don’t know about stem cell therapy for the knee.

Injections to enhance the body’s natural healing ability

In search of his “superhero joint,” Johnson flew to Physical Longevity, a Bahamas clinic developing experimental anti-aging treatments, primarily using stem cells.

Johnson didn’t just want stem cells: He booked a specific type of treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells (or MSCs) These cells are all the rage these days in the longevity field because they reduce inflammation and promote regeneration. Unlike other cells, they can function alone, isolated from other tissues, and are naturally attracted to damaged or dysfunctional tissues to aid in repair. the study It suggests.

Speaking to BI about a month after the surgery, Johnson said he hasn’t noticed any big changes yet.

“That’s probably because my health biomarkers — muscle, fat, metabolic and cardiovascular health — are already in the top 1 percent,” Johnson said, citing his own health data. Website“So it’s pretty hard to improve my subjective sense of well-being.”

Still, Johnson said he waits for objective data to confirm benefits, and trusts the process he’s developed over years (and millions of dollars) to determine the value of longevity treatments. Johnson told BI he hired a team of medical experts to evaluate peer-reviewed studies on potential longevity treatments and rank the quality of the evidence. MSC therapy was selected as a treatment of interest, and Johnson said he and his team felt the clinic and stem cell donors were trustworthy and safe. It was worth the trip to the Bahamas.

Currently, the only FDA-approved stem cell therapy available in the US uses a patient’s own cells. Rasool Choudhury, a professor of biological sciences who specializes in stem cell research at the University of Auckland, told BI that this works for some things, but may not be very effective at rejuvenating joints. It’s hard to reverse the damage of aging with cells that age with you, Choudhury noted.

Younger cells taken from healthy volunteers seem to be better at repairing damage and regenerating tissue, at least that’s what Johnson’s doctor, Stephen Sampson, told BI. Chandlee said that might be true when using cells from embryos, but there are ethical and technical concerns, and even cells from healthy donors in their 20s are aged to varying degrees.

It’s a promising area of ​​medicine, but it’s a long way from FDA approval, and even Sampson cautions that stem cells from young donors shouldn’t be viewed as a quick fix or panacea.

“I have to temper expectations and let patients know this is not a magic powder. We are studying this in clinical trials and it will take time to see results,” Sampson said.

Athletes pioneered this trend

As is often the case with proprietary and experimental treatments, the true pioneers of this treatment were athletes.

a 2014 Survey Twelve NFL players, including Peyton Manning, have been found to have undergone stem cell therapy (not FDA approved) to help them recover from various injuries. NFL superstar George Kittle, professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and UFC fighter TJ Dillashaw all visited the same clinic in Panama to be injected with cells taken from donated umbilical cord tissue. (Other athletes have received treatments using their own stem cells; tennis legend Rafael Nadal has had them injected into his knees and back.) ESPN reported.Golfer Jack Nicklaus has also reportedly suffered from back pain. CNN.

Sampson is frustrated by the fact that his research is impossible to do because it is inherently expensive and perpetuates a vicious cycle: Only being able to study a small number of people reduces the opportunities to study how these treatments might help with aging and chronic disease, he said.

But in a way, that’s why he’s such an enthusiastic advocate for wealthy patients like Johnson, and the elite athletes who are actually receiving the treatment: People with a vested interest in longevity, and the resources to pursue it, are helping to drive interest in this type of medical treatment.

He hopes that this topic will spur research that may one day help treat and prevent several chronic diseases.

When stem cell therapy goes wrong

However, research is a slow process.

For now, the main impact of this interest in brewing has been the so-calledBad Clinic“In the U.S. and abroad, unproven treatments are making bold claims about how they can change your body.”

Under proper medical supervision Some research No adverse effects have been found with stem cell therapy for various conditions.

But this is an area of ​​risk: if stem cell therapy goes wrong, it can cause infection, blindness, or excessive cell proliferation, which can lead to the formation of tumors.

“I’ve heard horror stories of people going there in their desperation, and maybe some people will benefit, but the vast majority don’t know what they’re going to get,” Choudhury said. It can be hard to know exactly what you’re going to get, how much you’re going to get, and whether it’s going to be stored and handled safely.

There are many unknowns about the long-term effects of the procedure. the study Professor and researcher at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine,Stem Cells: An Insider’s Guide,“Any benefits that may be seen from stem cell therapy could be placebo, potentially deterring patients from more evidence-based treatments such as joint replacement surgery,” he told Business Insider.

Johnson said he doesn’t believe his approach of pursuing experimental, innovative treatments is riskier than letting nature take its course, especially after doing plenty of preparation. “Obviously, something could go wrong, but that’s life, and something is going to go wrong anyway,” he said. “Risk is a nuanced issue. It’s not clear that this is a high-risk path. It may actually be a low-risk path.”

Bottom line: Is stem cell therapy worth it?

Matthias Bernaud, CEO of Cellullabos, the biotech company that provided the stem cells for Johnson’s surgery, is optimistic about the future of the treatment.

“What I’d really like to see is that in the future, when we go to the doctor for our annual checkup and get our flu shot, we’ll also be able to get a stem cell boost, so that we can treat current diseases or delay their onset and treat our bodies in the best way possible, without being at the mercy of the genetic lottery,” he told BI.

Stem cell therapy appears to show promise in treating vision loss and diabetes, but experts largely agree it’s probably no fountain of youth.

Better quality data are needed to understand how these affect aging, as they may not be of any use in addressing the more complex effects of aging, such as neurodegeneration.

“At a more fundamental level, there’s no common sense reason why MSCs would be effective against aging, particularly brain aging,” Knopfler said. “So far, we just haven’t seen the clinical trials go very well for the most part,” he added.

But if you can’t afford to fly out for high-tech treatment, finding a physical therapist or a good personal trainer can be a helpful first step to assess your mobility and develop an exercise plan to relieve joint pain and prevent injury in the long term.