Dr. Joy Kong (Uplift Longevity Center) reviews five common mistakes doctors make with mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy: (1) assuming all MSC sources (umbilical/placenta vs bone marrow/fat) are equivalent — she argues younger sources (umbilical/placenta) have higher potency, longer telomeres, greater growth factor secretion, better mitochondrial activity, broader differentiation potential and may be safer vs older sources that can promote cancer; (2) treating only the local injury rather than the whole-body/systemic milieu in chronic degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis; (3) thawing cryopreserved cells slowly (e.g., in a clinician's hand) instead of rapid 37°C water-bath thawing, risking crystal formation and cell death; (4) injecting unfiltered cell suspensions (e.g., via 10cc syringe) risking cell aggregation and embolism — she recommends using proper IV filters; (5) administering overly concentrated IV MSCs (insufficient dilution) which can provoke a hypercoagulable state — recommends appropriate dilution and infusion techniques. She invites requests for scientific studies and provides clinic contact info (Uplift Longevity Center).
Chapters
Hi, this is Dr. Joy Kong. So today I want to talk about the common mistakes that I see doctors make when they provide stem cell therapy. I really think it's important information to share because all these mistakes are really doing patients a disservice. The first mistake I see is that doctors are thinking that all different sources of stem cells, I'm talking about MSCs, mainly mesenchymal stem cells, they think they're all equal or have similar efficacy. So whether or not you're getting cells from the umbilical cord or from a person's own bone marrow or fat, that they are very similar, but indeed they are not. Because studies from all around the world have shown that cells from the earlier sources, the placenta, the umbilical cord, actually have higher potency, they secrete more growth factors, they have longer telomeres, they have more vibrant mitochond, they're more metabolically active, they have more potential to differentiate into different tissue and cell types. And they are also safer because they have the intelligence of being able to detect pre cancerous or cancer cells and sending particular ligand to lead them into programmed cell death. Whereas older cells, like fat derived stem cells, have lost that potential. Or at least from research, it has shown that it actually promotes cancer growth in sharp contrast to the younger umbilical cord derived stem cells. So there's huge difference between these two sources. This is why in my clinical practice I use umbilical cord derived stem cells, because I know they're more potent and they're also safer for patients. And the second mistake I see people make is that they're forgetting about treating the whole body. So if you have an injury, let's say a knee, if we just inject into the knee, if this is somebody that has acute knee injury, who's young, an athlete, that's fine. But if this is osteoarthritic knee, which means a degenerative condition, a chronic inflammatory condition, usually happens when people reach their 50s, 60s, 70s and above. And these are inflammatory situations where the regenerative potential of the body has been hampered, so you're not able to regenerate the cartilage. So in that case, if you just target the knee without addressing the whole body, your body is not going to be able to help you to regenerate, not to mention the outer one third of the cartilage of the knee that is nourished by the blood supply. So only the inner two thirds are nourished by the synovial fluid where you inject it directly. So you want to attack from both angles. When you give something systemically, it does talk with your multiple organs, including the spleen and peripheral lymphoid system. And we all know immune system is powerful in helping us, you know, not only fighting against diseases, but also fighting against aging and against all kinds of chronic conditions. So, so these are two kind of philosophical mistakes I see doctors make, but there are also some technical mistakes I've seen. One is that, you know, doctors are thawing the cells out by putting the cells in their hand, right? Putting the vials in their hand, and they think by rolling around and that will gradually thaw. Thawed out. Yes, it takes about five minutes. It does thaw the cells out, but it's slower. And the problem with that in comparison to using a 37 degree water bath is that the water bath will thaw the cells out very fast. There's the water, the conduction. The cells are thawed out probably in 60% of the time. When you use your hand, not only your hand temperature is quite a few degree lower than your core body temperature, but, but also the conduction rate, it just is not very, it's not very effective. So it takes much longer. The longer you let the cells stay in that thawing process, the longer you're allowing them to stay at the temperature that's close around -59. And that's when crystals can form. So these cells can form crystals and those crystals can puncture the cell walls and. And then there you got dead cells. So you want to minimize the time the cells are staying in that limbo. You want to thaw them out as fast as possible. And then another mistake I've seen is that doctors are putting the cells, you know, putting them in a 10cc syringe and then shooting it into people's veins. And that is dangerous, that is causing this likelihood of embolism. Because the cells, as cells, they have the tendency to aggregate. So they, they are attracted to each other. They tend to form a ball. They want to be around each other. So you want to use a proper IV filter to break up these cell aggregates so that they're separated out and they're not going to form a ball and end up causing, you know, you know, part of pulmonary embolism or other kinds of embolism or stroke. So that's important. And then the last part is that a lot of doctors don't realize that mesenchymal stem cells, they are the golden standard and they are very powerful, but they also have a tendency to cause a hypercoagulable state if you make them too concentrated. So when you use IV infusions, you don't want to just put them into, you know, one little 10, you know, 100cc bag. You want a proper dilution factor. So that is something that's important that you, you need to safeguard your patient's outcome with proper dilution factor. So these are things I want people to be aware and I want doctors to be aware. And I welcome any input. If anyone wants any scientific studies, I'm happy to provide. You can contact me at Uplift Longevity Center. So that's uplift with the Y. And I welcome any input and hope you found this helpful.
