Improvement in Joint Problems, Autoimmune Diseases and Circulatory Disorders with Stem Cells from Fat

Is there a panacea, a cure for every disease? Of course not. But the body’s own stem cells from fat tissue have a considerable healing potential.

Scientific studies suggest that the body’s own (autologous) stem cells of the patient can be used in a variety of very different disorders and at least relief and amelioration of symptoms can be achieved.

So for joint problems, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, nervous disorders, endocrine diseases, autoimmune diseases, chronic diseases, but also many other diseases and malfunctions which are characterized by reparable weaknesses of individual organs or organ systems.

Stem Cells from Fat: Cells with Potential

Although stem cell therapies are currently considered as “experimental” and “advanced” therapies and are subject to numerous legal restrictions (e.g., the use of stem cells from donors is prohibited in the EU), the regenerative properties of stem cells have been known for a long time in veterinary medicine.

There are many years of very good experience in the therapeutic use of autologous stem cells in thousands of dogs and racehorses. The stem cells extracted from the animal’s own fat seem to be suitable for regeneration of damaged joints, bones, and cartilage. In addition, stem cells from body fat are administered in other diseases in animals with success too.

Due to the advances in medicine now also humans can benefit from the healing potential of their own stem cells.

Fortunately, there is an increasing number of positive study results from many centers worldwide, so we can perform therapies with adult stem cells from the body’s own fat for certain diseases in humans in my clinic in Vienna.

Therapeutic Application of the Stem Cells

Stem cell therapy with the body’s own stem cells from fat tissue is carried out as an outpatient treatment in local anesthesia.

First, a small portion of fat is obtained by gentle liposuction with microcannulas. The stem cells isolated therefrom in a complex laboratory process are – depending on the indication – either injected locally at the affected organ or tissue or administered systemically in the course of the same treatment. Often repeat treatments are recommended.

In systemic supply (usually intravenously by infusion) the stem cells seem to seek the way to those sites in the body where their regenerative and healing effect is required.

Promising findings from the world of medical science that could perhaps replace currently known therapies in the not too distant future.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Are You Allowed to Use Your Own Stem Cells Without Restriction? (Part 3)

Stem cell treatment of a patient with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can only be performed in a specialized hospital with all-round support in the intensive care unit for legal, medical, and ethical reasons. If such a patient wishes to undergo stem cell therapy, he/she is facing challenges: The patient has to travel to a country where this therapy is generally allowed and there find a hospital where the therapy can be carried out.

The mentioned legal restrictions were allegedly made for “patient safety” reasons; in fact they were – as other standards and restrictions in the EU (light bulbs, vacuum cleaners, etc.) – made on request of lobbyists for the relevant industry. The industry wanted to establish a monopoly on (patented) stem cell drug, which are currently in the planning stages. It’s more about financial interests than about the safety of patients.

What doctors and affected patients think about that? What do you think? Tell me your opinion!

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Are You Allowed to Use Your Own Stem Cells Without Restriction? (Part 2)

Therapies with donor stem cells (allogeneic stem cell therapies) or your own stem cells (autologous stem cell therapies), which were frozen after removal, can only be carried out abroad at present.

In addition, hospitals are allowed to perform “approved” therapies only almost everywhere in the world. Stem cell therapies are considered “novel” and “experimental”.

This means that such treatments must not be performed in hospitals, only in doctor’s offices.

It is thus clear: Seriously ill patients have little access to “novel” therapies because hospitals with intensive care units cannot perform the desired stem cell therapies.

We carry out stem cell therapies in my clinic in Vienna, and also in Switzerland. Naturally, the patient needs to be mobile and in good general condition.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Are You Allowed to Use Your Own Stem Cells Without Restriction? (Part 1)

This was supposed to be a rhetorical question! If you are sick, you should of course be allowed to use your own stem cells for treatment!

But in fact stem cell therapies currently are legally severely restricted in Europe. For example, treatments with donor stem cells or the body’s own (autologous) stem cells that are not injected immediately after removal, but, e.g., frozen, are currently prohibited in the EU and in Switzerland.

So you may not use your own cells without restriction in the treatment of diseases! Allegedly for reasons of “patient safety”.

What is possible is to use your stem cells immediately after removal. This has the advantage that the stem cells are freshest when applied.

We work with fresh stem cells from your own fat and use them in a number of disorders: heart disease, diabetes, joint diseases, nervous disorders, endocrinological diseases, and many other degenerative processes.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Treatment of Severe Diseases with Donor Stem Cells

There are several chronic diseases or attritions of the body, e.g., osteoarthritis, which can be treated with autologous stem cells from body fat (Adipose-Derived Stem Cells, ADSC). For this purpose, a small procedure under local anesthesia for extraction of a portion of fat from the patient is required. The stem cells are injected after isolation from the harvested adipose tissue in a gentle way. If the patient is mobile and in a good general condition, the therapy can be carried out as an outpatient treatment at very low risk in a specialized clinic, given that the doctor performing the treatment has the appropriate expertise.

But if the patient is very old, seriously ill, or severely debilitated, instead of a therapy with autologous stem cells a treatment with appropriate donor stem cells from young healthy donors (allogeneic stem cell transplantation) can be performed. The use of donor stem cells spares affected patients the surgery necessary to harvest the fat tissue, which may represent an additional burden in case of a poor general condition. Additionally, the patient could get younger stem cells with a higher healing potential.

Incidentally, allergies or rejections are unknown for such therapies. Donor stem cells are well-tolerated. Nevertheless therapies with donor stem cells are currently prohibited in Europe, although donated cells have proven of value in medicine. Just think of blood donation, plasma donation, organ donation, and bone marrow transplants – patients seeking for cure must travel abroad for stem cell therapies with donor stem cells.

That’s not very patient-friendly, but the pharmaceutical industry is looking forward to new patents…

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Legal Obstacles to Stem Cell Therapy in the EU

Stem cell therapies are legally severely limited in Europe at present. For example, treatment with donor stem cells or the body’s own (autologous) stem cells that are not injected immediately after removal is currently prohibited in in the EU and in Switzerland.

Therefore such therapies must be carried out abroad. In addition, hospitals in most countries of the world are allowed to perform “approved” therapies only. However, stem cell therapies are considered “novel” and “experimental”.

Stem cell treatment in a patient with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), for example, can be performed in a specialized hospital with all-round support in the intensive care unit only for legal, medical, and ethical reasons. If such a patient desires to undergo stem cell therapy, he/she is exposed to challenges: The patient has to travel to a country in which this therapy is generally allowed and there find a hospital where it can be performed.

These mentioned legal restrictions allegedly exist for reasons of “patient safety”. In fact they were – as other standards and restrictions in the EU – imposed because of the activity of lobbyists from the relevant industry. The industry wanted to establish a monopoly on (patented) stem cell drugs, which are currently in the planning stage. It’s more about financial interests than about patient safety.

How do doctors and affected patients think about that?

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Stem Cell Therapies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – Simpler Treatment Methods?

A big problem in therapy with the body’s own stem cells associated with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, and stroke was that because of the suspected “blood-brain barrier” implantation of stem cells into the brain or spinal cord (CNS) was deemed necessary.

Injections into the CNS often lead to life-threatening complications, e.g., by bleeding or infection. Such incidents cause health authorities to prohibit or restrict stem cell therapies, as long as the therapeutic benefit appears not to be proven by large and expensive studies. Just recently, a stem cell institute in Germany was closed by the competent authority due to a cerebral hemorrhage that occurred at an injection into the brain of a child (which was of course caused by the injection instrument and not by the stem cells).

Studies have already shown in 2012 that in mice affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) the intravenous administration of stem cells was sufficient to achieve a significant improvement, though. No injection into the brain or spinal cord was necessary! Is this applicable to humans? Probably – animals and humans are different, but in the basic physiology mice and humans are quite similar.

Especially when it comes to the prevention of dangerous complications, the gentlest route of administration should be chosen in novel and experimental therapies first. Therefore, in my clinic we do not perform any treatments which require opening of the CNS may and instead select safe, proven ways for implantation like intravenous administration. This gave our patients therapeutic benefit and they remained free of complications.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Cure for Infertility with Stem Cells?

I recently received an e-mail from a patient who asked for ways of stem cell treatment for infertility. Although still a long way off, a stem cell procedure to treat male infertility has already been used for years:

If radiation treatment or chemotherapy for cancer is necessary in a prepubescent boy who does not yet have ejaculations, a testicular biopsy is performed in advance. The stanza contains sperm stem cells. These will be frozen at −20 °C and can be thawed later and injected into the testicles. All viable sperm stem cells will be killed by radiotherapy/chemotherapy, but from the injected sperm stem cells mature sperm cells will develop later.

Other forms of treatment for male or female infertility using germinal stem cells are still in the experimental stage in animals. Here stem cells are harvested from the testis, expanded in culture medium, matured into sperm cells and then used for fertilization. The reinjection of expanded stem cells in the tubules of the testis is possible and has already been carried out successfully in animal experiments.

Currently exciting developments in the field of stem cell therapy are going on. I will keep you up to date,

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Stem Cells – Medicine of the Future?

Researchers see great therapeutic potential for stem cells obtained from fat tissue

Vienna (2013-12-04) — Stem cells obtained from harvested fat apparently have an almost inexhaustible potential for therapeutic applications: The treatment of joint problems and arthritis with stem cells from autologous fat is currently the subject of a study being carried out in Germany and France, and there are increasing numbers of promising reports from many other medical fields. At a congress recently held in Marseilles, European doctors and scientists reported on the use of stem cells in cases of diabetes, nerve diseases, autoimmune diseases, after heart attacks and for problems of the urinary tract.

The therapeutic effect of stem cells from fat tissue is being tested throughout Europe in clinical studies due to the possibilities it presents for improving the quality of life of patients suffering from these ailments. The EU is contributing millions towards the sponsorship of these studies, in which only a few selected patients can participate. Physicians in private practice are also working on the evaluation of stem cell therapy and are making this therapy available to a larger number of patients.

Clinic DDr. Heinrich® is currently conducting an internal method comparison on the therapeutic application of stem cells for different diseases.

“The greatest therapeutic benefits from stem cell treatment seem to be seen in chronic illnesses in their initial stages,” says DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich, a Viennese physician working in the area of aesthetic surgery and regenerative medicine. Since 2007, he has been using stem cells from autologous fat in his Clinic DDr. Heinrich® for regenerative treatments, breast augmentation with stem cells as well as for skin rejuvenation on the face and body. “Stem cells have a remarkable potential for healing, which we must also use outside the area of aesthetic medicine to the advantage of our patients,” DDr. Heinrich notes.

A mixture of cells is obtained from the fat tissue, known as the Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF). This includes the actual stem cells and progenitor cells of the connective tissue, as well as diverse other cells. The question as to whether the regenerative effect is only attributable to the so-called mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), or to all cells that are part of SVF, is still the subject of research.

In any case, due to the large quantity of stem cells in fat tissue, multiplication of stem cells by artificial means in a laboratory is mostly unnecessary. This makes the therapeutic application of fat stem cells more simple and cost-effective than therapy with stem cells from bone marrow. Bone marrow stem cells occur in lesser quantities, and therefore usually have to be multiplied in a laboratory.

Stem cell treatment is performed on an outpatient basis using local anesthesia. Initially, a small amount of the patient’s autologous fat is gently removed by liposuction using microcannulas. The stem cells obtained therefrom are either injected directly into the area affected or administered as an infusion.

“Autologous stem cells may be the way of the future in many fields of medicine,” is how DDr. Heinrich sees the great potential for the success of stem cell therapy.

Should you be interested in participating in the internal method comparison, please contact Clinic DDr. Heinrich® at: http://ddrheinrich.com/contact

Contact:
Clinic DDr. Heinrich®
Contact: Herfried Wagner
E-mail: info@ddrheinrich.com
Web: http://ddrheinrich.com/
Phone: +43 1 532 18 01

Do stem cells gained from fat heal arthritis and damaged joints?

Call to participate in internal application observation on therapy using stem cells for damaged cartilage and deteriorated joints

Vienna (2013-05-07) — The treatment of damaged cartilage and arthritis using stem cells from autologous fat is the object of a study currently being conducted in Germany and France. First results recently published sound promising: Patients treated with stem cells for arthritis of the knee joint reported that they suffered less pain and have considerably increased mobility.

Due to the high potential to improve the quality of life of patients, the therapeutic effect of stem cells from autologous fat in joint ailments will be studied in an internal application observation at Clinic DDr. Heinrich®.

“The greatest therapeutic benefits of stem cell treatment appear to be gained in cases of arthritis which has not reached its advanced stages,” states DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich, a Viennese doctor working in the area of aesthetic surgery and regenerative medicine. In his Clinic DDr. Heinrich®, stem cells from autologous fat have been used for regenerative treatment, stem cell breast augmentation and stem cell facelift since 2007. “Stem cells have an enormous healing potential that we also have to use outside the area of aesthetic medicine for the benefit of patients,” says DDr. Heinrich.

Stem cells and the progenitor cells of connective tissue, so-called “mesenchymal stem cells”, seem to play a central role in the regeneration of deteriorated cartilage, bones and joints. Every person has sufficient amounts of these vital cells, since large quantities of them are present in fat tissue. The artificial reproduction of the stem cells in a laboratory is therefore unnecessary.

Treatment of joints takes place on an outpatient basis using local anesthesia. First of all, a small amount of fat is obtained using gentle liposuction with microcannulas. The stem cells gained from it can either be implanted directly into the joint to be treated, for example, in knees, hips or hands, or administered via infusion.

With regard to the huge potential for success that stem cell therapy represents, DDr. Heinrich explains that, “if damaged joints are treated early enough using stem cells, patients could, for the time being, be spared from having to have artificial joints.”

Should you be interested in participating in the internal application observation, please contact Clinic DDr. Heinrich® at: http://ddrheinrich.com/contact

Contact:
Clinic DDr. Heinrich®
Contact: Herfried Wagner
E-mail: info@ddrheinrich.com
Web: http://ddrheinrich.com/
Phone: +43 1 532 18 01