BY ROBYN LITTLEWOOD
The Latin American Stem Cell market size is predicted to grow from 1,538.94 million USD to 2,581.55 million in the next 4 years. In the U.S., access to stem cell therapy is very limited and only certain types of stem cell therapies are allowed and approved by the FDA. Many effective therapies and types of stem cells are still illegal in the U.S. or considered off-label use by the FDA.
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As of 2023, no major medical insurance companies cover the costs of regenerative stem cell procedures. The relatively low cost of orthopedic stem cell procedures available here in Los Cabos is attracting many folks from the U.S. and international visitors as well. The average orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. is paid $552,040 per year as of March 26, 2024, so what gives?
“Healthcare” in North America, (U.S., Canada and Mexico) should really be called “Sickcare” as next to nothing is done in terms of preventing problems before they are at a crisis level. Stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis or other orthopedic issues is only useful BEFORE you need a total knee or hip replacement or back surgery. You need to have at least a small amount of tissue left in order to regenerate cartilage or connective tissues. Stem cells are not magic. Most types of stem cells can’t generate tissue. They initiate a healing cascade for the tissues you have left in the joint.
U.S. insurance companies and the medical system are not able to cover anything until it is already a bill WAY past due. If you do visit an orthopedic doctor when you first begin to have knee, neck, elbow or back pain, you will most likely be given a shot of cortisone which will work a few times, until you get worse. When the joint deteriorates and the shots stop working, which they almost always will according to the statistics, you will need a joint replacement surgery. Even if you are medically covered for hip or knee surgery, you are still looking at a lot of pain and downtime. Joint pain is widely accepted as “normal” by many doctors and people over 50. It may be normal, as in very common, but it is not necessary.
After 40+ years of bodybuilding, too much cardio and doing generally stupid things like zooming down steep mountains with sticks strapped on my feet, I had wrecked my lower back, neck and hips. The pain started when I was 46 in my lower back and gradually worsened over 12 years until I found myself unable to work out at all. Ironic for a personal trainer who specializes in pain relief techniques!
As a permanent resident of Cabo San Lucas, I have been very blessed and lucky to have had access to stem cell therapy at an affordable price. Since age 58, over the past two years, I have done four stem cell procedures using four different types of stem cells: Autologous stem cells, (meaning my own) from my blood and bone marrow and Allogeneic stem cells derived from the donated medical waste of full-term births, (umbilical cord cells and placental cells from a government regulated lab in Guadalajara).
Fortunately, I still had enough tissue left in between my vertebrae that stem cells worked wonderfully for me in all four procedures. I also did a lot of stretching, strengthening and mobility exercises targeting the biomechanical imbalances that helped to cause the damage in the first place, (i.e. a tight right hip flexor). Subsequently, after having several of my personal training clients try stem cells for shoulders, backs, necks and knees, I have observed that those who do the corrective exercise get fantastic results while those who do not… do not.
Most recently, I tried some on my face in conjunction with a CO2 laser which greatly improved the elasticity and appearance of my skin. The rapid rate of healing using stem cells and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber after the laser was almost superhuman.
In all the stem cell procedures, I used hyperbaric oxygen chambers both before and after to enhance the effectiveness of the treatments. It is well-documented that the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, (HBOT), is an excellent idea to release your own stem cells into circulation as well as increase the effectiveness of stem cells introduced from another source.
There seems to be a lot of misinformation about what stem cells can do for you, and what they might possibly do TO you. In 2017 there were several high-profile cases in the U.S. of stem cell therapies for ocular disease that had left patients with serious complications. However, in these cases, stem cells had been injected directly into their eyeballs, resulting in scar formation and vision loss. Directly injecting something into the eyeball seems obviously like a bad idea.
Another dubious source of hysteria against stem cells has been directed at the public by Big Pharma. Pharmaceutical companies will have a natural bias towards stem cell use for medical purposes. For one thing, you cannot patent a person’s own stem cells. For another, big pharma’s biggest money maker, Humira, treats arthritis. Stem cells are currently being used to treat virtually every one of the “killers” of aging including cancer, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s and autoimmune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis. These are the biggest money makers for Big Pharma so you can expect they will fight back.
In my own experience, I have only done stem cells here in Los Cabos and I have nothing but positive results to report. I would certainly recommend them to anyone with joint problems. But if you are considering a stem cell treatment, it would be best to make sure you do your due diligence on the doctor, clinic or hospital offering this type of service. If there is bad news, it will be easy to uncover with some minimal checking.
The Mexican government has made it compulsory for all stem cell clinics in Mexico to have a license from COFEPRIS. Checking with this agency would be a good idea before you choose a stem cell provider. Checking prices with more than one clinic would also be advised as there is a wide range of pricing plans and types of cells you can use. Most of all, educate yourself by studying what stem cells are and what they can and can’t do.
For more information about our stem cell providers in the Los Cabos area, you can contact me at robynlittlewood@yahoo.com
