Regenerative medicine has continued to advance exponentially with promising effects in the areas of total aging care, health promotion, and regenerative aesthetics, but some people may not even know what regenerative medicine is.
In this issue, we will outline regenerative medicine and describe its benefits and three types of stem cells particularly highlighted in regenerative medicine: somatic stem cells.
Regenerative medicine is a therapeutic approach aimed at treating injuries and diseases using the power of patients’ own cells without drugs.
Lizards’ tails are a good example to help you understand the power of cells.
When a lizard’s tail is cut off, a new tail grows after a while.
This is because lizards’ cells have regenerative capacity.
In fact, this same capacity is also believed to be possessed by human cells.
Today, injuries and diseases are usually treated with artificial devices such as prosthetic legs and pacemakers, and chemical compounds such as drugs.
In contrast, regenerative medicine utilizes the regenerative capacity innate to humans to promote natural healing of injuries, diseases, and cell functions that have been lost due to aging without relying on man-made materials.
‘Stem cells’ in humans are indispensable to regenerative medicine.
The human body is composed of about 60 trillion cells, each having a lifespan to fulfil its function. These cells repeatedly undergo birth and death daily to keep us alive.
Stem cells are responsible for producing new cells to replace dead ones.
These stem cells have the capacity to both differentiate and self-renew.
The differentiation capacity is the ability to transform into a variety of different cell types, whereas the self-renewal capacity is the ability to replicate while maintaining the same traits even after cell division and proliferation.
Stem cells can be divided into ‘somatic stem cells’ and ‘pluripotent stem cells.’
From here, we will explain somatic stem cells.
Somatic stem cells exist innately in the human body.
They have been clinically applied and used in the treatments for many injuries and diseases since the 1970s.
Somatic stem cells have various subtypes, including mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cells.
Among them, ‘mesenchymal stem cells’ are well-known somatic stem cells.
Reportedly, they can differentiate into limited but diverse cell types, such as bone, cartilage, fat, nerve, and stem cells.
Mesenchymal stem cells can be obtained from bone marrow and fat. They may be less likely to cause immune rejection and are thus considered relatively safe.
The Regenerative Medicine Division at Korokai Medical Corporation provides stem cell-based regenerative medicine as a medical institution approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. *1 If you are interested in stem cell therapy, please contact us for a consultation.
In Regenerative Medicine Division at Korokai Medical Corporation, we carefully select evidence-based treatment and provide regenerative medicine tailored to each patient’s needs according to a comprehensive new treatment strategy. To achieve the best possible outcomes, we use stem cell therapy in combination with oral therapy such as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and peptide therapy.
*1 Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
With more studies conducted and new research outcomes published, the benefits of stem cell-based regenerative medicine that could not be imagined before are gradually being elucidated.
Regenerative medicine using stem cells has the potential to help treat cerebral infarction, diabetes mellitus, sequelae of COVID-19 infection, etc.
In the areas of regenerative aesthetics and aging care, increasing the quantity of stem cells in the body is expected to slow down or prevent aging, which can be regarded as one of the benefits.
In this section, we will further explain four benefits of stem cell-based regenerative medicine.
Stem cell-based regenerative medicine provides opportunities to approach heart diseases and neurological disorders that have been considered difficult to treat.
As described earlier, this is because of the two abilities possessed by stem cells: differentiation capacity and self-renewal capacity.
Stem cells promote tissue regeneration by differentiating into the cells of damaged tissue and continuing to produce new cells by the self-renewal capacity.
In addition, stem cells have a property known as ‘homing’ by which they migrate to locate and repair damaged tissue. They also exert ‘paracrine actions’ to suppress pain and inflammation in the body, which helps optimize therapeutic outcomes.
Stem cell-based regenerative medicine is associated with low risk of immune rejection and side effects and is considered less likely to cause pain. This means less patient burden.
In stem cell therapy, adipose tissue-derived stem cells are collected from a patient, and are then cultured and intravenously returned into the patient’s body via injection to restore and repair damaged functions of the body and regrow tissue that has been damaged to improve the health condition.
Since the therapy utilizes the healing capacity innate to humans, the likelihood of immune rejection is considered generally small.
If you are interested in stem cell therapy, please contact us for a consultation.
In Regenerative Medicine Division at Korokai Medical Corporation, we carefully select evidence-based treatment and provide regenerative medicine tailored to each patient’s needs according to a comprehensive new treatment strategy. To achieve the best possible outcomes, we use stem cell therapy in combination with oral therapy such as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and peptide therapy.
Stem cell-based regenerative medicine is considered particularly useful in reducing pain caused by soft tissue damage such as chronic pain, muscle strain, ligament sprain, and tendon rupture.
Some of the diseases that can potentially be treated by stem cell-based regenerative medicine are listed below.
Diseases that can potentially be treated with stem cell-based regenerative medicine (excerpt)
For example, chronic pain refers to pain persisting even after the healing of an injury or disease or medically unexplained pain.
It is characterized by widespread pain that is difficult to locate. Generally, chronic pain is managed with symptomatic therapy such as over-the-counter pain medication. However, with stem cell therapy, it may be possible to cure chronic pain.
In addition, injecting stem cells into the knee joint regenerates cartilage that has worn down, potentially eliminating the need for surgery.
For this reason, stem cell therapy is considered effective for knee osteoarthritis, which worsens over time due to inflammation caused by gradual wear of knee articular cartilage.
The solution for knee osteoarthritis is usually surgical treatment, but many patients want to avoid surgery because they are concerned about the risks associated with their chronic diseases and age.
In this regard, stem cell therapy may minimize the need for surgical intervention in some cases and has garnered much attention as a state-of-the-art treatment also used by overseas athletes.
Even in the early stage, undergoing stem cell therapy before the condition worsens can potentially help prevent knee osteoarthritis.
Thus, stem cell-based regenerative medicine holds the potential to control pain such as chronic pain and help alleviate the symptoms.
In the treatment of chronic pain, the risk of immune rejection and infection are generally considered low because of the use of patients’ own cells.
If you are interested in stem cell therapy, please contact us for a consultation.
In Regenerative Medicine Division at Korokai Medical Corporation, we carefully select evidence-based treatment and provide regenerative medicine tailored to each patient’s needs according to a comprehensive new treatment strategy. To achieve the best possible outcomes, we use stem cell therapy in combination with oral therapy such as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and peptide therapy.
With the differentiation capacity, stem cell-based regenerative therapy holds promise for treating diseases that could not be treated before differentiation.
Diseases that can potentially be treated by stem cell differentiation
This article outlined stem cell-based regenerative medicine and described its therapeutic effects and benefits.
Stem cell-based regenerative medicine is generally considered less likely to cause immune rejection, side effects, and pain, thereby being less burdensome for patients.
Although stem cell therapy is considered safe in general, there is a small chance that the large number of infused stem cells may cause a blockage in a blood vessel. It is thus important to always choose a trustworthy clinic to receive stem cell therapy.
The Regenerative Medicine Division at Korokai Medical Corporation provides stem cell-based regenerative medicine as a medical institution approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. *8 If you are interested in stem cell therapy, please contact us for a consultation.
In the Regenerative Medicine Division at Korokai Medical Corporation, we carefully select evidence-based treatment and provide regenerative medicine tailored to each patient’s needs according to a comprehensive new treatment strategy. To achieve the best possible outcomes, we use stem cell therapy in combination with oral therapy such as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and peptide therapy.
*2 Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
1) Treatment method
Stem cells present in your own adipose tissue are collected and cultured before being administered via intravenous drip or local injection to an affected area.
2) Risk for adverse reactions
During and after fat harvesting: Some people may experience internal bleeding, swelling, postprocedural infection, postprocedural scar appearance, or injection site pain.
During and after stem cell administration: Some people may experience injection site pain, allergic reaction, or pulmonary embolism.
3) Contact information
Regenerative Medicine Division, Korokai Medical Corporation
5th floor, Precious 18, 4-14-6 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
4) Cost
This treatment is considered as self-funded medical care not covered by health insurance.
Approximately 1,650,000 JPY including tax (may vary depending on diagnosis)
For more information, please contact us.
5) Procurement route
Stem cells are cultured at a CPC affiliated with our hospital.
6) Devices/drugs with the same efficacy that are approved in Japan
No drugs with the same efficacy have been approved in Japan.
7) Safety information from other countries
Safety reports from other countries are not available.
*There is a possibility that this treatment may present a significant unidentified risk.
8) Unapproved status
This treatment uses a drug that has not been approved under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act.
9) Unapproved drugs/devices
Public relief systems (The Relief System for Sufferers from Adverse Drug Reactions and the Relief System for Sufferers from Diseases Infected from Biological Products) do not apply to unapproved drugs and devices.
