New Anti-aging Stem Cell Treatments

Stem cell therapy of any kind is controversial, but perhaps the most controversial new use of stem cell therapy is to halt or even reverse the aging process. The idea that stem cells might be useful in halting aging is based on preliminary evidence suggested by a recent study involving mice. Based loosely on this preliminary research, thousands of anti-aging treatments now claim that their special formula (of skin crème, hair crème, all kinds of crèmes and treatments) is solidly based on the rejuvenating power of stem cells.

Are antiaging stem cell therapy claims based on reality or hype?

The reality can be found in a scientific study conducted at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and scheduled for publication in Nature magazine on January 20, 2010. The HHMI study found that when stem cells from very young mice were injected into older mice, the cells in the older mice began to mimic the younger stem cells and made the old mouse look and act like a young mouse.

When the younger stem cells were injected in the old mouse and, at the same time, the older cells in the mouse were also selectively killed off with radiation, the effect was even more dramatic.

The researchers also found that a specific hormone had to be blocked in the injected older mice in order to maintain the anti-aging effect. That hormone, called IGF-1, is normally responsible for both cell growth and anti-aging activity, so the need to block it makes no obvious sense to scientists for the time being.

In short, the researchers have no idea of why injecting younger stem cells into mice makes them younger, no idea of how long the anti-aging stem cell effect can last, no idea of why a hormone that normally slows aging must be blocked to maintain the effect, and no idea of what the long term side effects might be.

That’s just what researchers don’t know about the long-term effects for mice. Effects on human beings are totally unknown because proper studies on humans have not been conducted, and won’t be conducted until the effects on animals are better understood.

All things considered, what this means is that claims that stems cells are included in an anti-aging treatment and that the inclusion of such cells make the treatment worth hundreds of dollars, should be met with a certain amount of skepticism. No evidence exists to suggest that simply applying a cream containing stem cells to the surface of human skin does anything at all that a cream without the stem cells wouldn’t do just as well.

On a more serious (and more dangerous) note, controversial medical spas are springing up outside the U.S. that offer to inject humans with stem cells and to then roughly follow the procedure used on mice in The Howard Hughes Medical Institute research to create youth in the subjects. This is an extremely dangerous proposition and should not be undertaken under any circumstances, although, with the promise of eternal youth hovering just within reach, some people will almost surely try it.

No experiments have been conducted that confirm injecting stem cells into humans makes them young. Nor does anyone know what the side effects of such a treatment might be for humans, or what the long-term effects might be. Doctors do know for certain that manipulating hormones within the human body is an extremely dangerous procedure that should only be undertaken by highly skilled endocrinologists to correct disease, and even then the procedures can be dangerous.

In short, stem cell research suggests that someday the aging process in humans may be understood well enough that we will be able to halt or reverse it. That day is closer than anyone expected it to be. But that day is not here yet. Wherever anti-aging stem cell claims are made, proceed with extreme caution.

Related links:

Antiaging HGH Treatment - A Guide to Human Growth Hormone

Anti Aging Treatments