Does Stem Cell Therapy for Anti-Aging Work?

Anti-aging treatments and therapies are a hot topic in the cosmetic world today. Stem cell therapy for anti-aging is the latest hype which lacks scientific evidence but has gained popularity. 

There is an undeniable link between the number of stem cells present in the body and aging. Stem cells aid the body’s self-healing system, and their decline indicates that the body is growing old. This is judged by many researchers as showing that stem cell therapy – an external infusion of stem cells – might actually work for anti-aging.  

Stem cell therapy for anti-aging includes injecting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are adult stem cells, into the bloodstream. The concept behind this infusion is that these stem cells will be accepted by the recipient’s immune system and be used for healing damaged tissues. But sometimes, these foreign cells are attacked and eliminated by antibodies before they can contribute to anti-aging or they are sent to the excretory organs such as the lungs, where they can form blood clots.

Other methods of stem cell therapy for anti-aging constitutes grafting the stem cells permanently in the body, so they have a higher chance of staying and converting into the different cells that need to be replaced. The risk that is posed with such treatment is for tumor formation and cancer. But treatments such as bone marrow transplants, which is now FDA approved, entailed a lot of research and experimentation before being widely accepted.  

Stem cell therapy for anti-aging has had successful results where Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Georgia Institute of Technology proved it slows down tissue degeneration. But on the other hand, had proven to be hazardous when it led three women to lose their eyesight while trying to restore vision.
Stem cell therapy shows a lot of research potential for anti-aging and organ regeneration but must not be blindly trusted to be the elixir of life as advertised by cosmeticians.