The Real Risks and Costs of IV Stem Cell Therapy, From 10 Years in the Field | #189

Throughout history, kings and queens and everybody has looked for the elixir for longevity, and no one found it. What happens with stem cells is that really has become the next frontier that people are, are chasing after. That cell contains all the intelligence that's needed to make a human being. So now we can tap into even just a portion, a fraction of its capabilities. So the science is quite exciting. The question is whether a specific treatment in a specific setting has actually been proven to work. The problem is that if you don't look for the evidence to show you, then you're just waiting for people to come knock on your door and show it to you. Good luck. So you have to be somewhat adventurous and open-minded in order to find the evidence, because a lot of doctors are not looking for the evidence, so their conclusion was that the evidence did not exist. Hello everybody, I'm so happy to be back with you. This is Dr. Joy Kong, and you know I'm here to help you live a happier and longer life. And how do people achieve that besides sleeping well and eating healthy and exercising? One of the biggest hacks that you can utilize is stem cells. And as you know, I'm very passionate about it. I utilize a lot of IV stem cells, intravenous, and that has become very popular. So I want to break it down for you a little bit so you understand what is about, what are the myths, what are the risks and results. And also costs. So clinics around the world are charging people a lot of money, between $5,000 to $50,000 for a single IV bag of stem cells, promising that it will reverse your age, fix your joints, and even extend your life. But let's look at why is this topic— why has it exploded? First of all, stem cell therapy has shifted from research labs to mainstream wellness and longevity just in the last few years. Well, in the last 10, 15 years, when I first got into it. I want to do it for my vitality. There weren't even much data on longevity. So that was 10 years ago. And then studies started to pop up, and especially animal studies. It's really hard to do human longevity studies unless you, you want to wait for a few decades. But in animals, it's a lot easier. Rats and mice only live on average for about 20 months, and then we can check to see if these methods have extended their lifespan. So there's this whole longevity boom. Why do we have a boom? Because we have tools. We have all these interesting tools that we've never had before. So this whole biohacking, using nutrition, using light therapy, energy, NAD, peptides, the boom happened because we've got interesting tools that can actually do something to help with longevity. And you know, throughout history, kings and queens and everybody has looked for the elixir for longevity, and no one found it. What happens with stem cells is that really has become the next frontier that people are chasing after. Because why? Because stem cells are packed with information that can make life. So it can repair life. It basically has a code for how we can become biological beings and be this miracle that we are walking around in. So what's in those stem cells. The very first one is your fertilized egg. That cell contains all the intelligence that's needed to make a human being. So now we can tap into even just a portion, a fraction of its capabilities. So today we'll talk about what's approved, what's in the gray area. Let's take a look. First of all, what can stem cells do? Well, before we talk about that, stem cells are very different. One stem cell is not the same as another stem cell because there are thousands of shades of gray of different kinds of stem cells, from the embryonic stem cell to cells of different lineage. So ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm, they all go toward different organ systems. The hematopoietic progenitor cells will differentiate into the whole blood system. And then we have mesenchymal stem cells that's supposed to, you know, can become muscle, bone, cartilage, et cetera. But they're also everywhere in our body ready to repair and ready to coordinate the repair process. So that's a whole other area, you know, that's a little different from what people are thinking about stem cells. 'Cause people are thinking, well, you know, we're going to make these cells become the new tissue. But now we realize that they are very powerful in signaling the body to repair. So not just to become the soldier that's, you know, that's making up the brick and mortar tissue, they can actually kick the repair into gear. So that regeneration is taking place. So the science is quite exciting. The question is whether a specific treatment in a specific setting has actually been proven to work. What has been proven? So there are a lot of studies on bone marrow transplants, and, and that has been an approved treatment for bone cancer or blood cancer and for some autoimmune conditions. When you wipe out your bone marrow, wipe out your immune system, and you can replace with bone marrow. Of either an adult, or you can use core blood. What's promising? So IV delivering MSCs can help with inflammation and tissue signaling. And what's not supported by broad research is the anti-aging or longevity claims from a particular product. So we don't have any studies on that. When we look at what the science actually says, so there is strong evidence, as I mentioned, blood cancers or even autoimmune conditions, and then graft versus host disease. Those are the two major categories that that has gotten FDA approval. Actually, the approval is pretty narrow because it's only about pediatric graft-versus-host disease that's not responding to steroid therapy. So, um, very narrow. But in science, a lot of people will know that if a drug is approved for a particular condition, oftentimes it started to be used in other things. So that's called off-label use. And, and probably majority of medicines practiced by off-label use. But as long as it's accepted by the medical community in general, that's considered completely fine. So we do have evidence for orthopedic applications, for a lot of autoimmune conditions, and a lot of different organ diseases. So I actually founded an academy, American Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy, and that's what I spent hours trying to teach other providers, that we do have evidence. So if your doctor, just be careful, your doc, you may go to your doctor, say, yeah, I'm thinking about doing stem cells, your primary care doctor or specialist, some are very open-minded and will say, go. They've seen some science and they are very encouraged by it and they encourage people to pursue it. But probably the majority of doctors, they are conservative doctors. They tend to have the attitude of show me first. The problem is that if you don't look for the evidence to show you, then you're just waiting for people to come knock on your door and show it to you. Good luck. So you have to be somewhat adventurous and open-minded in order to find the evidence because a lot of doctors are not looking for the evidence. So their conclusion was that the evidence do not exist. So that's unfortunate because that's doing patients a disservice. But there are a lot of evidence such as heart disease, different cardiovascular system problems, liver, kidneys, lungs, reproductive organs, or the brain, all kinds of orthopedic issues. There are a lot, a lot of evidence out there, some more than others. Autoimmune probably is the most robust in orthopedic conditions. Also, there are some evidence of the anti-inflammatory and rejuvenation effects from the IV-administered mesenchymal stem cells. So those the cells from the mesoderm that can develop into bone, cartilage, and muscles, but they can also coordinate regeneration. So you can use these cells to produce rejuvenative effects. And there has been studies in animals or even in humans showing the anti-inflammatory benefits and also some rejuvenation benefits. Some studies looking at people's hair, nail, or their, their skin, their energy level, their sex drive, everything. Has improved, right, to a— they are more rejuvenated. So yes, there's some evidence. It's true that the broad claim like reversing aging or adding 10 years to your life or cures and, you know, various conditions, these statements probably is not warranted at this point because we don't have enough evidence. Has there been some evidence that can reverse aging in animals? Yes, there has been. And it's pretty exciting because when they dissected the brain and muscles of these rats that were given stem cells, they saw that everything was reversed back to the younger state. That was actually pretty, pretty convincing evidence. But broad claims for humans that, you know, we have to temper our enthusiasm. So what is allowed? What is the regulatory landscape? It is a little bit of a maze. And I've been navigating this maze for the last 10 years. Things have not changed that much, to be honest, although different states are opening up more. The FDA, What they said is that, okay, you can use stem cell. We're not saying that you can't use stem cells, but these products better have not been manipulated by enzymes or chemicals, and they should not be expanded, which means grown in culture to huge numbers. And then they have to be used for homologous purposes. Homologous means whatever the cells were doing in the body before, in the donor, now we put in the recipient's body, it should be doing similar things. And so as long as you fulfill those criteria, then they're considered tissue transplants and not drugs. So that's kind of the landscape in the US, which is very nice because a lot of doctors are operating under these guidelines. One thing we have to remember, just because doctors are using these cells to help people with a variety of conditions, they can't say that I'm treating this condition. They can say that I'm helping this patient's body to improve, right, to be more effective. So just because we're using it doesn't mean that it's endorsed by the FDA, right? So we need to be cognizant of that. What about The EU, that's an interesting question about the European. A lot of people go to Europe thinking that, oh, you know, they're, they're more advanced. I have news for you. The United States is the most advanced when it comes to research. Just the sheer volume of therapy that's done using stem cells in this country way surpass any other country. The only other country that can rival in research is China. So China does a lot of research, especially in the umbilical cord, you know, the birth tissue aspect. But they're very, very active in research. There's a few other countries that are doing quite well as well. Japan, Korea. So what about Europe? People go to Switzerland thinking that's, that's better. Well, that's debatable. They're still quite conservative. So in Europe, they're under EU regulations. They do require a centralized approval called EMA, that's European Medicines Agency. So this means that there's higher standards of evidence and oversight before a product can be given to patients.. So it's actually a little bit harder. And then the hospitals can get an exemption. The hospital under national authority can prepare and administer a non-routine, the biologics product, for an individual patient without the EMA approval. Hello, my loyal listeners. I want to interrupt this podcast for just a second because I want to let you know that if you're looking to help solve a major health issue, or you're looking for health optimization and just for longevity purposes, you can find us at Chara Health. We are considered the leader in the regenerative medicine and longevity space, and we utilize modalities like stem cell therapy, peptide therapy, plasmapheresis, ozone treatments, laser therapy, all to create a beautiful symphony to get you to where you want to be. You can find us at www.charahealth.com. Chara-health.com. That's C-H-A-R-A. Let's look at what's going on when we're operating under these kind of circumstances. So like in Europe, the same product, the same vial could have different legal realities because the same vial, same procedure, even though science is the same, safety is the same, depending on what kind of paperwork you may or may not be able to do it. If you don't want to go through the more approved route, which is the full EMA approval, then you can go under a licensed clinical trial, or at least you do it in the hospital through this exemption. But doesn't mean that there are not clinics who are unregulated who are providing the products. So what are the costs? Just so you, you know, there is a budget tier between $3,000 to $8,000. You know, that's, that's possible. But these usually, correlates with much looser oversight. So some gray zone markets, that makes that much more common. But if you want to get higher-end, more regulated programs, usually between $15,000 to $50,000. So it's not cheap, but these more regulated programs does allow you to— you are able to see more lab certification or physician oversight requirements, et cetera. But price is not a reliable signal of legitimacy. However, unusually cheap product tend to raise red flags. I've seen outrageous prices, you know, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 in some overseas clinics. But just because it's a high price tag doesn't mean that it's better either. So what are the real risks? One is contamination risks. There was a company called Livyon that was, you know, had recall from the FDA because of contamination. A lot of people got hospitalized from contamination of E. coli from improper handling and testing. Yeah, so different contamination is one potential risk if you don't get the right product. Another one is the product viability risk. So you could be getting cells that you think are doing something, but they're dead because one, the lab may not know how to process it. They may not be using the best techniques. They're not as good as scientists, basically, and they could be improperly stored. Or improperly shipped, and that can result in dead cells. And of course, that greatly decreases efficacy. We're counting on the cells being alive and responding to the environment and sending the right signals. But I have to admit, even dead cells can have a lot of benefits. This is how powerful the stem cells are. The signals within these products, even if they're dead, just like exosomes— exosomes are not alive, right? These are inanimate particles from the cells. So they're made by the cells, so they're not alive in a sense, but they can still produce a lot of benefits. So same as these products that contain dead cells, but they probably still have a lot of exosomes and growth factors and cytokines, etc. So they can still be helpful. And the last potential side effects is inflammatory effects or even rejection risks. By definition, stem cells, because they're so young, they're so primitive, they don't really have the surface markers that mark them as foreign in general. The stem cells also evolve. So the more evolved they are, the more potential they can cause problems. That's why it's such a benefit to use younger sources because younger cells have a tendency to work better with the body and actually kind of communicate with the recipient. Typical example is when you use bone marrow transplant. Let's say somebody got their bone marrow wiped out and then they are transplanting another person's bone marrow. And even a perfectly matched donor, after the transplant happens has more side effects than when someone is getting a cord blood transplantation. So cord blood is very similar in composition to the bone marrow. But when you use cord blood and you don't match at all, because basically people don't really match it, you don't match for sex, for, for other markers and, you know, HLA markers, etc., you don't match at all, but you end up having less side effects comparing to a perfectly matched adult bone marrow. That shows you how different it is. The older it is, the more chance of rejection. But the younger cells tend to have very little surface markers. They, they're very primitive, so they don't tend to cause these rejections as far as the body recognizing the cells as somebody else. But if you start expanding them now, the cells start to morph genetically. They will have different expressions. Once they express themselves, what's expression? Is making protein because you have to function. You have to make things work. You can only do your job by using proteins to signal and conduct, you know, different functions. So the moment you express these DNA sections into protein, now our DNAs are all a little different. So when you express the protein, the protein are a little different. Now you can cause rejection. So there's a chance of rejection. This is why I've heard people in overseas clinics, they may be getting a product and they're dividing them by multiple doses because one giant dose could potentially, potentially cause a lot of problems. But when they divide into different doses, the first time they're getting the treatment, they may feel fine. But the second time, they're getting just a little sicker, not feeling so great. And the third time, even worse, full-blown, the clinic may not tell you, but rejection type of reaction. Also, when cells start to divide, they can also start to secrete inflammatory molecules because they are in a bit of a stressful environment, so they can secrete things that can cause inflammation. So these are the potential side effects. So cytokine storm is possible, immune reaction is possible. I want to talk about the results. There are definitely clinical studies talking about IV stem cell therapy. There are a lot of studies actually for diabetes, for different organ diseases, cardiovascular problems, brain conditions, a lot of IV therapy. So there definitely has been studies and is rapidly growing, which is really exciting. As a doctor and an educator, I do want to make sure that our providers are up to date on these studies. So that's why in our training, we make sure that we go over these studies. So when the doctor is looking at a patient, it can be more certain or informed on what has been shown. If you don't know, then you're just, you're guessing, right? So We, we need to speak from evidence. And lastly, this field is moving. I'm the one of the people that are trying to move it. And so are all these amazing doctors who are taking my courses, who are in the trenches treating patients. Patients need help. And even if there's no evidence, doesn't mean that we just give up. But we know how the cells work. The cells work by reducing inflammation, by breaking down down scar tissue, or even just talking about mesenchymal stem cells, by enhancing blood vessel formations, by rescuing damaged tissue, by modulating immune system, by donating healthy mitochondria, or even secreting antimicrobial peptides to kill off microbes, um, by anti-cancer properties. So there are all these properties we know about the cells, and that's what we are doing for patients. Because when a patient comes to us with a problem that they they have struggled for years. But we know how these cells work, right? We may not know the cells, how they do in this patient with this condition, but hey, let's be doctors. We speak in logic, right? So logically, this is how cells work. And logically, we can sort of envision that this could be helpful. And that's how I ended up treating patients with all these conditions that there are no studies about. But, you know, that's great if I'm the first one. How exciting, right? And then we're seeing benefits. So many of our doctors are doing it, and it's just beautiful. This is, this is what's making it so exciting, um, exciting for doctors, and of course, incredibly exciting for patients. So that's all I have for you. And if anyone's interested in knowing more about stem cell therapy, what kind of evidence is out there, my academy is called AAICT, American Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy. I I do certification trainings. Like we have one coming up in July 18th and 19th in Los Angeles. And we also, you know, we're usually do it twice a year, but we may have to do it 3 times a year because of popular demand. There's also an online course, but anyone could go on the website, aict.org, and look at the section of case studies. And a majority of those cases were from my patients, but some are from doctors that I've worked with. With. So take a look at this long variety of patients who got results from these, these treatments. So this is all about, well, it's about making contribution, right? We're making contribution to the body of science. Please go take a look. And if you're interested in receiving stem cell treatment or IV treatment, I always say IV is absolutely incredible. It's so powerful because it is one of the ways that we can produce profound changes. It's not just about putting the cells into the veins so they can travel everywhere and to your heart, your brain. Oh, you know, that's— yes, that's true. That's great. But besides traveling to different places, we can also utilize this ability to interact with your immune system because it actually— one of the first places go to is where they're, you know, there are a lot of blood, right? People talk about lung trapping and, you know, that's very limited. And, you know, I think that's a pretty old story, but lungs are very, very well perfused. That's one reason there are a lot of cells in the lungs, but they're also a lot in the spleen, which is a major immune organ, and besides the liver and the heart. But in the spleen, these cells are interacting with the spleen, also peripheral lymphoid system, profoundly altering how immune system is helping your body to repair. So you don't want to kind of forego that kind of power because that has produced profound benefits. That's what I see in patients with autoimmune conditions, with Lyme disease, or even with brain conditions and lots and lots. I have podcasts on all these different, different things I've, I've seen. But But yeah, go on Academy website and take a look for yourself. So that's all I have for you. And if you want to get treated, my clinics in Los Angeles, we would love to help you. We have some really interesting protocols, not just stem cells. Stem cells doesn't function in vacuum either. So make sure when you look for a provider, are they optimizing everything? Are you making sure these cells are functioning at the top? Are— can they get to places where they need to go to? We actually use laser to guide the cells, right? We don't just put an IV, just say, oh, do your thing. We actually help to direct the cells to get to certain places. And what about different supplements to help the cells? What about the peptides? You know, we're utilizing peptides to work together to sharpen our target. And that's it. It's an inspiring field and it's exciting. And it's also moving because I'm seeing the kind of difference I'm making in people's lives. So welcome to the new way of doing medicine. Thank you for watching and listening. If you enjoyed this kind of content, please subscribe and turn on your notification bell so you don't miss any of my future content. And if you want to learn more about regenerative medicine or other modalities in anti-aging medicine, please go to my YouTube channel, Joy Kong, MD, and there are all kinds of videos to help you keep learning.