An elderly patient asks about stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis:
Is it reasonable or rather recommendable to do a stem cell therapy in case of bilateral hip osteoarthritis at my age? I am 89 years old.
It depends on the general health status, the condition of osteoarthritis, and expectations, but basically yes. Indeed a high dose of stem cells would be necessary, which could either be gained by isolation out of a bigger amount of the body’s own fat or by expansion in a laboratory.
In patients with high age or bad general state of health the injection of donated stem cells of young, healthy people would come into question as an alternative to the patient’s own stem cells. However, application of donated stem cells is currently forbidden in the EU.
DDr. Heinrich, MD