Autologous stem cell therapy: Using your own fat to rejuvenate you inside and out

MANILA, Philippines - Nothing has fired up — or riled up — the medical community and the public more than the tantalizing promise — or perceived dangers — of stem cell therapies.

These endlessly replicating cells, which can be harvested, processed and re-introduced to the body to do their regenerative work, have become the buzzword both in the cosmetic and medical worlds. In fact, strides in stem cell research are widely acknowledged to be one of the top medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.

Once commonly harvested from the blood and marrow of patients, stem cells can now be extracted from human fat.

No rejection, no allergies

Dr. Rose Gatmaytan, a practicing dermatologic and cosmetic surgeon for close to 20 years, offers the Autologous Stem Cell Treatment Program.

Gatmaytan is an AdiStem stem cell medical specialist, a diplomate of the Philippine Dermatological Society, the only group of the true and accredited dermatologists in the Philippines. She finished her degree of doctor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Santo Tomas. She’s a fellow of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, Philippine Society of Liposuction Surgery Inc., Philippine Academy of Dermatologic Surgery, Foundation Inc., to name a few.

According to Gatmaytan, the autologous stem cell treatment involves taking the fat from the patient’s abdominal area, activating the harvested stem cells from the fat mixed with platelet-rich plasma from the patient’s blood in a process that takes only two hours, and then returning the activated stem cells to the patient via an intravenous or IV drip.

“Because I take the stem cells from the patient’s own fats, so technically, there is no rejection, no allergies,” said Gatmaytan.

The autologous stem cell treatment is under the “registered and permitted” stem cell preparations and therapies of the Department of Health Administrative Order 2013-0012.

According to the DOH, human stem cell and  cell-based or cellular therapies shall be performed only in health facilities accredited by the department.

Time-saving

These adipose-derived stem cells or ADSCs have the ability to differentiate into a variety of different tissues including bone, cartilage, muscle, ligament, tendon and fat. ADSCs can recruit other stem cells to speed up repair and healing of affected tissues and promote the growth of new blood vessels.

The new technique dramatically cuts down on the amount of time it takes to reintroduce the activated harvested stem cells into the patient’s body.

In the early days, stem cells needed to be harvested from the bone marrow, a difficult, time-consuming and expensive process.

“First, harvesting from bone marrow has to be done in the hospital. You have to wait while the stem cells cultivate to a therapeutic threshold of at least one million stem cells. Therapeutic means the point where it becomes effective. That takes about two to three weeks. It will be cultured and that is where the expense comes in, too. So you have to pay for the culture, the lab, the freezer for storage. Kaya milyones ang bayad (That’s why it costs millions of pesos),” Gatmaytan says.

Simpler, faster, less expensive

With fat harvesting, the process is simpler, faster and less expensive.

“Fats with lots of stem cells are in the puson (lower belly) area,” she says. “Between 20 million to 60 million of stem cells can be harvested from 100cc of fat.”

She takes about 100 to 200ccs of fat, separates the stem cells from the fat cells, mixes platelet-rich plasma from the patient’s own blood to the harvested stem cells and photoactivates them with AdiStem’s  AdiLight-2, which jumpstarts the regenerative process.

Then, in the comfort of Gatmaytan’s clinic at CaraDERMe Surgicenter at 126 Eurocrest Building along Jupiter Street in Makati, the patient can wait out an IV drip that reintroduces the stem cells to the body anywhere from one to two hours only.

Minimal discomfort

“The discomfort is minimal and the patient can be out and about in around five to six hours,” she says. While the effects of the IV can be felt in one to two weeks, Gatmaytan reports that some of her patients have reported almost immediate benefits.

Gatmaytan says the reintroduced stem cells work by looking for areas in the body that need repair and renewal. Then the stem cells will home in on areas where there is inflammation, which signals pain or injury. Then, they will begin repairing and/or regenerating the skin, lungs, blood pressure, bladder function, hair, sexual performance, liver and general well-being.

Are there follow-up treatments after the procedure?

“No, that’s it,” says Gatmaytan. The body, she suggests, will then go on to complete the healing process.

Side benefit

Some of the diseases that may benefit from stem cell therapy include Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, sexual dysfunction, allergies, memory loss, emphysema, kidney and liver diseases, acne and other skin diseases, joint pains, lung disorders, spinal cord injury, hair loss, autism, osteoporosis, prostate disorders, osteoarthritis and stroke. It is also an anti-aging conduct.

There’s another side benefit to adipose stem cells.

“Patients are happy because I get the fats from their puson,” she says, warning though that the patient shouldn’t expect his or her fats to disappear completely.” For that, a separate liposuction is needed, which Gatmaytan offers as well.

(For best results, consult your primary or family doctor.)

(For inquiries on fat-derived stem cell therapy, call

899-9677, 897-7685  or 0905-2222644. Drop by the

CaraDERMe Surgicenter at 126 Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati City.

For more information, visit www.caraderme.com.)