Let 2019 be the year of a new you, allowing you to put your best foot forward, and leaving the aches and pains of a life well lived behind you.
Stem Cell Life NZ (stemcelllife.nz), a branch of Clinic 42 (boutique cosmetic and regenerative medicine clinic), run by doctors in Epsom is one of the few clinics in New Zealand where this revolutionary approach to medicine is being fostered. Through their affiliation with the Cell Surgical Network based in California, and with a network of treating physicians worldwide, you can be confident you are in very capable hands.
For many years, stem cell therapy has been utilised in veterinary medicine for treating race horses and greyhounds in particular, and in the last decade, pet owners who are wanting to optimise the quality of life and mobility of their four-legged friends and minimise their discomfort.
Somewhat counterintuitively, human medicine has been much slower to catch on! The network Stem Cell Life is affiliated with has now treated over ten thousand patients worldwide, giving us access to information on what is likely the biggest cohort of patients to have received stem cell therapy. By working collaboratively, we have the knowledge and expertise of an anonymised database of patient information, which gives us the ability to predict outcomes for some conditions with a good deal of certainty, before treatment.
Early studies through the Cell Surgical Network focussed on confirming the safety of their treatment protocol, with a secondary endpoint being patient outcomes. It was apparent early in the 2000s that this was an area of medicine than needed to become available to the masses, and as numbers of patients have increased worldwide, so too has the certainty of outcomes. For example, individuals suffering from arthritic change in their hips or knees, particularly if it is age-related, can expect a greater than 80 percent likelihood of improvement in their symptoms following a single stem cell treatment. Other conditions, such as neurological, lung and heart disease are also showing promise, although the numbers treated to date are smaller, and therefore the treatment outcomes cannot yet be predicted with the same level of certainty. It is clear that treatment with stem cells has a regenerative effect on body tissues, as well as anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. That translates to your own cells repairing themselves, giving personalised medicine a whole new meaning!
Stem Cell treatment is very safe – your own cells are being recruited and deployed to areas of damage or inflammation within your body, and therefore the risk of rejection or infection is negligible. Another positive of this treatment, is it is a half-day procedure, completed with local anaesthesia only. Many of our patients are keen to avoid much bigger procedures such as surgical joint replacement, which come with surgical and anaesthetic risks, and consequently a higher rate of side effects and possible complications. Joint replacement surgery definitely makes stem cell treatment look like a walk in the park!
At Stem Cell Life, we feel it is our duty to bring the most cutting-edge medical approaches in our speciality field to New Zealanders, and we are humbled that people are travelling from Asia and Australia, as well as the South Island, to benefit from this treatment. Why not come and have a consultation to discuss your concerns and explore whether this recent development in medicine, which is on your doorstep in Epsom, is right for you.
For further information please make an appointment to see Dr Eloise Dickie or Dr Joanna Romanowska at Clinic 42.
