With all the latest breakthroughs in what stem cells are doing in the medical and science fields, perhaps one of the oddest parallels in these treatments is how some stem cells are being harvested. Lately, the newest trend in stem cell procedures is to have the patient bank their stem cells through the use of liposuction. That’s right, liposuction.
What are Embryonic Stem Cells:
Embryonic stem cells are some of the most versatile stem cells and can be used for a wider variety of treatments. They can grow in cultures and remain unspecialized. If allowed to clump and form, they can be used to grow nerve cells, muscle cells, and other types of cells. These differentiated embryonic stem cells can go on to be used in diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, vision loss, heart disease, and Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy.
Why Liposuction Works for Stem Cell Banking:
UCLA researchers have noted that human fat does contain stem cells, and it is these embryonic stem cells that are so vital to everything that fat contains. A huge breakthrough for adults, as embryonic stem cells are typically only seen on cord blood banking in newborns. By undergoing liposuction, the fat cells taken from the procedure can be used to bank embryonic stem cells for later treatments and usage.
Why Stem Cell Banking Matters:
Stem cell banking reserves the cells for later use. It preserves them in the condition needed to be used in any future treatment the banker may need. These cells can then be turned into any type of tissue that person needed. For example, in theory, they could grow new heart muscle or a kidney.
Preserving Stem Cells Through Liposuction:
The good part of the entire research study is that even if you don’t need a full liposuction procedure, you can benefit. Having just 20cc of fat removed is enough to get the stem cells for banking. This amount, which is the equivalent to less than a shot glass, is a very small amount. The cells are then over nighted to the processing company for banking, where they can live nearly indefinitely over time.
The procedure costs roughly $2,000 to get the fat cells and get them prepared for the stem cell banking procedure. Then after that cost, you will be charged, on average, about $120 every year you store them. Many are finding this cost justifiable, especially if they have certain family histories of disease and illness, or just to face the uncertainty of what may occur in their later years.
There is no way of knowing if or when you’ll get certain medical conditions or when science will have a breakthrough and cure a condition or disease you currently have. By banking stem cells, some see it as a small insurance policy in case they ever need to have treatments done in the future. Depending on your personal choices, liposuction for stem cell retrieval may be just what you’ve been looking for.Tweet