How many treatments are required for success?
Most patients with common types of hair loss will require only one treatment, with a follow-up after three months. Certain types of progressive types of hair loss may require additional treatments with finasteride and/or laser biostimulation. The number and necessity of any additional treatments would be decided on a case by case basis. Financial consideration is given in these instances.
What are stem cells?
Adult (not from embryonic source) Mesenchymal Stem Cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability to replace dying cells and regenerate damaged tissue. These special cells are capable of regenerating healthy cells and enabling a person’s natural healing processes to be accelerated. Adult stem cells have been used for a variety of medical treatments to repair and regenerate damaged tissues.
There are different kinds of stem cells. Most people are familiar with “embryonic stem cell.” These are cells from the embryonic stage that have yet to differentiate – as such, they can change into any body part at all. These are then called “pluri-potential” cells. Because they are taken from unborn or unwanted embryos, there has been considerable controversy surrounding their use. While embryonic stem cells have been used outside the United States, they are not approved for use within the United States. Furthermore, embryonic stem cells have been associated with occasional tumor (teratoma) formations. There is work being conducted by several companies to isolate particular lines of embryonic stem cells for future use. West LA Medical & Skincare Stem Cell Center and the Cell Surgical Network do not use embryonic stem cells.
Our focus is on the “adult stem cell.” This is a stem cell that already resides in one’s body within different tissues. In recent times, much work has been done isolating bone-marrow derived stem cells. These are also known as “mesenchymal stem cells” because they come from the mesodermal section of your body. They can differentiate into bone and cartilage, and other mesodermal elements, such as fat, connective tissue, blood vessels, muscle and nerve tissue. Bone marrow stem cells can be extracted in low numbers, but the process is painful. Fortunately our fat is also loaded with mesenchymal stem cells. In fact, our fat has thousands of times more stem cells compared to the bone marrow. Through advances in research and technology, we are able to separate the mesenchymal stem cells from fat.
What do we know about stem cells?
The success and favorable outcomes are directly related to the quantity of stem cells and quality or PRP we are able to delivery into the scalp. The stem cells have the potential to repair human tissue by influencing healing and forming new cells of mesenchymal origin. Stem cells also have the ability to form new blood vessels and other tissues, making them suitable for mitigating a large number of traumatic and degenerative conditions.
We have anecdotal and experimental evidence that stem cell therapy is effective in healing and regeneration. Stem cells seek out damaged tissues in order to repair the body naturally. The literature is full of successful testimonials but we are still awaiting definitive studies demonstrating the efficacy of stem cell therapy. Such data may take many more years to accumulate. In the meantime, we are helping many patients suffering from hair loss. We have initiated pilot studies as investigational tests of treatment effectiveness with very high numbers of adipose derived stem cells obtained from fat.
Dr. Melamed is a member of The Cell Surgical Network’s cell harvesting and isolation group. Our group and office uses the most advanced technological breakthroughs that allow patients to safely receive their own stem cells in extremely large quantities. Our treatments and research are patient funded and we have endeavored successfully to make it affordable. All of our sterile procedures are minimally-invasive and done under local anesthesia. Patients who are looking for non-surgical alternatives to their degenerative disorders can participate in our trials by filling out our treatment application to determine if they are candidates. The West LA Medical & Skincare Stem Cell Center is proud to offer the most advanced treatments for Regenerative Medicine.
Are stem cells FDA approved?
The use of stem cells is not FDA approved for the treatment of any specific disease in the United States. Therefore all existing treatments are considered investigational. Many reputable international centers have been using stem cell therapy to treat various chronic degenerative conditions as diverse as severe neurologic diseases, renal failure, erectile dysfunction, degenerative orthopedic problems, and even cardiac and pulmonary diseases to name a few.
What claims are currently made by our office about stem cell therapy?
None. Our aim is to make cell based medicine available to patients who are interested and to provide ongoing research data under approved Institutional Review Board (IRB) validated studies. We will follow our stem cell treatment patients over their lifetimes. This will enable us to accumulate significant data about the various degenerative diseases we treat. Instead of providing simply anecdotal or testimonial information, our goal is to categorize the various conditions and follow the patient’s progress through various objective (e.g. x-ray evidence or video displays) and subjective (e.g. patient and/or doctor surveys) criteria. We are aware of a lot of stories about marked improvement of a variety of conditions, but we make no claims about the intended treatment. We have submitted preliminary safety data to the FDA as part of an approval application which is under consideration. Still, these are your own cells and not “medicines” for sale. They are only being used in your own body. Most likely, no claim needs to be made; rather a statistical analysis of our findings would suffice to suggest whether treatments are truly and significantly effective.