Episode 25: Stem cell therapy: Is it ready for Prime Time FxMed?

As you probably know, stem cell therapy outside of the research
setting is the Wild West. It’s offered everywhere, here and outside
of the US (there’s a whole “stem cell tourism trade”). Radical
claims are made routinely without much evidence or oversight.
Pricing for therapy, and protocols used, vary widely, although
anyone (even those participating in research trials) can expect to
spend thousands of dollars. Given that my patient has MS, I reached
out to Dr. Terry Wahls and asked if she had any insight into a
direction for us. She suggested I look into a massive, years-long
multi-center clinical trial using stromal vascular fractions (AKA
adipose-derived stem cells and growth factors) for a variety of
conditions, including MS. The first publication from this study out
February 2017, focusing on safety of SVF over 5 years, demonstrated
a very low number of adverse events, and significant improvement in
pain rating in a variety of musculoskeletal diseases. (N =1524)