What is stem cell treatment for arthritis?
Arthritis and arthrosis are the most widespread orthopedic diseases. They damage the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes the joints chronic damage. Doctors use orthopedic stem cell therapy for joints restoration.
Stem cells are the unique type of cells in human body. Stem cells are multipotent because they are the precursors of all body cells: blood, brain, bone, skin, etc. That’s why these regenerative cells can replace any damaged cell including the joints one.
Advantages of stem cell therapy for arthritis:
- leads to the damaged joint tissues regeneration;
- restores the immune system functioning;
- normalize metabolism;
- activate the production of immune cells that protect the body from an autoimmune attack.
Stem cell therapy for joints is an alternative treatment option to surgery and drug therapy.
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Treatment method
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Surgical intervention
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Drug therapy
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Stem cell therapy
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Pros
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The operation is the radical method for the complete joints treatment.
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Medications reduce pain symptoms and increase the joints function.
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Orthopedic stem cell therapy is the only option for the chronic arthritis treatment. The therapy leads to the complete regeneration of damaged joint tissues.
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Cons
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Risks of postoperative complications and side effects. Surgery may cause the joints immobility.
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Drugs cannot restore the joints and tendons tissues, treat the disease fully. In some cases, they cause side effects.
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There are no side effects and complication risks after stem cell therapy for arthritis.
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Top 3 countries that provide stem cell treatment for arthritis
Ukraine
Ukrainian doctors use fetal, umbilical cord, mesenchymal (from the bone marrow) and adipose (from the fat tissue) stem cells. Ukraine is the only country to provide stem cell therapy for joints using fetal cells. During the therapy experts make a cells injection. After the treatment, the patients notice the pain elimination and the joints movement restoration. Stem cells replace the damaged tissues and provide the joints recovery.
Poland
Specialists of the medical centers in Poland offer only orthopedic stem cell therapy. They use this treatment method as an alternative to surgical joints replacement (endoprosthetics). The country is very popular destination for arthritis stem cell treatment among the world-renowned sportsmen. Polish experts use umbilical cord, mesenchymal (from the bone marrow) and adipose (from the fat tissue) stem cells.
Czech Republic
Experts in the Czech Republic recommend stem cell treatment for joints instead of surgical and drug therapy. They carry out stem cell treatment for arthritis using adipose-derived cells from the abdominal fat tissue. There are no contraindications for the procedure. A patient has no side effects and complications after stem cell injections for arthritis.
Types of stem cell therapy for arthritis
Stem cell therapy is divided into 2 types:
- allogeneic (specialists provide a patient with donor stem cells)
- autologous (doctors use patient’s own cells for the treatment).
There are 4 stem cell sources:
- Fat (adipose) tissue is the primary source of stem cells. Doctors provide liposuction to get the cells. They use the cells from the abdominal tissue. The success rate of the therapy using stem cells from the fat tissue is 100%.
- Umbilical cord stem cells are obtained immediately after the childbirth. 100% is the effectiveness of these cells for the child and 25% for his/her relatives in case of allogeneic stem cell procedure.
- Bone marrow is the most widespread source of stem cells worldwide. Specialists treat over 100 malignant diseases (blood, neurological, immune, autoimmune, etc.) using stem cells from the bone marrow.
- Fetal tissue is used as the stem cells source only in one country over the world — Ukraine. Doctors in Ukraine provide the therapy using fetal stem cells. This kind of the cells is forbidden in other countries due to religious rules. Specialists obtain the cells usually during artificial insemination "in vitro." Fetal cells use has no contraindications.
Stem cell therapy in the best medical centers
Choosing a hospital for the treatment, a patient should pay attention to:
- medical center status
- hospital accreditations/certifications
- doctors’ qualification and experience
- price policy in a clinic.
Submit a request on Bookimed website, and our Medical Doctor will contact you within 24 hours. S/he will inform you about the best hospital, stem cell treatment for arthritis cost, and top doctors in this specialty. Bookimed Medical Doctor supports a patient at all treatment stages.
Steps of stem cell for arthritis procedure
- A patient undergoes a full preoperative diagnostics. A doctor examines the patient’s joints and cartilage.
- A specialist gets sample of the cells from the chosen tissue.
- Experts in the laboratory isolate stem cells from the others and cultivate the necessary amount.
- A doctor determines the number of injections according to diagnostics result. It may vary from 1 to 3 due to the severity of lesions.
- A specialist makes injections.
- A patient undergoes the postoperative examination. Hospitalization is not required.
The treatment course takes approximately 10 days.