In the first part of our series on stem cell treatment, we went into detail about why researchers are excited about stem cells, but also why stem cells have severe limitations.
The truth is, stem cells are too expensive and too volatile for most people to pursue as a treatment option.
Fortunately, stem cell treatment has a new rival that’s cheaper, safer, and guaranteed to work.
Exosome Therapy Is Like Stem Cells On Steroids
Exosome therapy is like stem cell therapy in the sense that exosome therapy actually requires stem cells to work in the first place.
To understand what exosome therapy is, you need to know what an exosome is.
Stem cells, as you’ll recall, are “blank slate cells” that can morph into just about any other kind of cell in the body.
As Chris Centeno, MD, says this about them, “Exosomes are how cells talk to each other.”
In order for cells to communicate, they release exosomes to “talk” with surrounding cells. Say, for instance, that Cell A needs to talk to Cell B.
Cell A will release a bunch of exosomes that will travel to cell B and communicate chemical information to Cell B that will tell that cell how it should code messenger RNA (m-RNA).
Centeno says this about their communication “The message may be how to behave or what’s happening in the local area or it can even be something like a computer virus that hijacks the other cell (mRNA).”
The most critical aspect of exosome therapy is they work a lot like stem cells, as they’re made from stem cells (generally placental stem cells from babies born C-section.)
When exosome therapy is performed, damaged cells receive cellular communication from the exosomes on how to behave.
And in some cases, this can lead to damaged cells recoding themselves for healing, whereas before they have atrophied and died.
The information packets exosomes deliver to other cells have been shown to regenerate and repair cells in very much the same way as stem cells, but because they do not regenerate stem cells, they’re able to perform much more efficiently and much more effectively.
This means they’re more dependable and more affordable, too.
The Added Benefits Of Exosome Treatment
In the previous article, you learned that stem cells are expensive, in limited supply, don’t cross the blood-brain barrier, may be rejected by the body and need to be as new as possible to be effective.
The good news is none of these factors influence how exosomes work.
Physiologically speaking, exosomes aren’t deterred by age, rejection, or the blood-brain barrier.
Additionally, stem cells emit large amounts of exosomes, so while stem cells may be in limited supply, exosomes are not.
Lastly, they are quite a bit less expensive than stem cells.
While still a few thousand dollars (now), a few treatments are generally all that’s needed to get exosome therapy to work, and as the technology advances, the prices will be sure to come down.
The Bottom Line, Do They Work?
To help illustrate how effective exosome therapy is, take a look at this case study that Dr. Wiggy Saunders of Robinhood Integrative Health published on his website.
“We first started using exosome therapy in July of 2019.
In the short time since we began using it, our patients have experienced incredible results.
I’ve got several case studies to illustrate just how effective exosome therapy is, and I’m going to share one of the more exciting stories (while changing a few details to protect the privacy of our patient).
One of the very first times we used exosome was with an athlete who had a partial tear of their ACL.
This athlete was in an extremely competitive sport and surrounded by teammates who relied on them.
At first, the assessment of the partial tear of the ACL led the player to believe they’d miss the rest of their season.
The physician who performed the initial exam on the player confirmed the player had a very loose Lachman’s test; a Lachman’s test is used to assess the strength and stability of the ACL.
When the player came to our office we administered a mixture of PRP (platelet rich plasma) with exosome injection to help heal the ACL. Within 2 weeks we retested the ACL with a secondary Lachman’s test and we observed a very solid response. 1 week after that test (and 3 weeks after the tear) the player had resumed running and begun rehab, and within another few weeks the player was back to participating in their sport.
That case study is one of several positive ones we’ve collected in the 3 months since we began using exosome therapy at the clinic, and bolsters our belief that exosomes can be used with great effect in the future.”
If you’re interested in exosome therapy, consider looking at integrative clinics and other cutting-edge clinics to schedule a consultation.