Regenerative
medicine is no longer a future thought. By Kim Bell
The process of triggering signalling
pathways in our bodies to heal and rejuvenate itself is well studied and
acknowledged in modern medicines. "Given the correct tools and sufficient
time, our body has an immense capacity to 're-invent' itself. Just think how athletes,
body builders and even ordinary people like you and I are able to transform our
bodies by exercising and eating the correct foods," explains Dr Kamlen Pillay,
medical director of Wembley MediSpa and a member of the World Society of
Anti-Aging Medicine, the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine and the Aesthetic
and Anti-aging Medicine Society of South Africa.
But did you know that your skin and
various other organs in the body have a similar capacity to "re-invent"?
Pillay explains that skin-aging occurs
primarily as a factor of collagen depletion due to fibroblasts (those cells that
produce collagen) becoming old and decrepit. "For years scientists have scoured
the earth trying to find ways to stimulate fibroblasts to produce more collagen
- little did we realize that the answers lay within our own bodies." Stem cell
regeneration is a topic that has been bandied about for a few years now. And, thanks
to new initiatives with adult stem cells, these are not considered as
controversial as they once were.
"The technique of using adult stem
cells, whether harvested from adipose tissue or circulating blood, has been employed
for around the last 20 years, but has been gaining significant momentum in aesthetic
medicine from around the turn of the century," says Pillay.
Stem cells are considered pluripotent cells
- which literally translated means "many powers". "In technical terms
this means that stem cells can become any type of cell in your body, including fibroblasts,
by expressing certain epigenes in their DNA. By grafting stem cells into the skin
through the processes of controlled injury, these stem cells take on the form
of the cells of their surroundings and thus become different types of skin cells,
such as epidermocytes, fibroblasts, myelocytes, and thereby produce new and revitalized
and rejuvenated tissue," he adds.
Anti-Aging Treatments
The theory is that stem cells
revitalize organs, and your skin is the biggest organ in your body. In skin rejuvenation
treatments, stem cells are extracted from your blood and are applied to the areas
where the underlying collagen and elastic begin to break down, thereby causing
wrinkles. The result is that the stem cells then accelerate wound healing, producing
fresh tissue and a more youthful skin.
Pillay says he has been using this technology
successfully: "We are extremely fortunate in South Africa to have a number
of world class physicians who travel overseas and learn new techniques as well as
those that conduct world class research in stem cells. In fact, some of the latest
developments in stem cell research come from within our shores."
He explains that the ability to use
your cells for anti-aging treatments has a number of advantages in terms of
decreased side-effects, potential rejections and allergic reactions. "Being
able to give patients long-term results by stimulating their bodies to heal itself
in a gentle, sustainable manner is for me the biggest advantage of using stem cells
as opposed to treatments that confer only temporary results."
Pillay adds that other benefits include
versatility in treating a wide variety of conditions, most treatments are
usually painless and downtime associated with these minimally invasive treatments
are almost zero.
“Some
of the latest developments in stem cell research come from within our shores”
Fat Grafting For Fillers
Cape Town Plastic surgeon Stuart Geldenhuys
adds that the development and refinement of fat grafting techniques has created
a revolution in traditional approaches to facial rejuvenation. Fat grafting is a
minimally invasive surgical procedure that involves removing your own fat and re-implanting
it in other areas of your body as required - typically the face, breast or buttocks.
Stem cell fat grafting is a technique of enriching your fat cells to enhance
the graft survival. Fat has very high concentrations of multi-potential stem cells
which can be extracted by liposuction. This fat is then processed, rendering a
small quantity of stem cells - typically 150ml to 250ml of fat to form 5ml of fluid
containing stem cells. In stem cell grafting, this is added to the fat normally
used for grafting. The addition of these stem cells is thought to enhance fat survival
by releasing growth factors or signalling messages.
"Current evidence indicates that stem
cell grafting enhances survival of the transported fat and this is a better choice
where larger volumes of fat are being grafted, as is the case in a single procedure
breast and buttock augmentations. The face is naturally more vascular and fat
survival more predictable; however, stem cell fat grafting in the face is more of
a luxury than a necessity and the costs of stem cell grafting are
considerable," adds Geldenhuys.
Pillay concurs: "Stem cell
treatment is unfortunately quite costly at present and this cost currently
represents a barrier to entry for many patients. The techniques are also not easy
to master by physicians and one might not necessarily be able to access stem
cell treatments at all physician practices. This is compounded by the fact that
stem cell equipment is also expensive to purchase."
“We
are leading the way into an era of generative medicine, in which damage from
cancer, heart disease and a host of other ailments can be healed”
