VSELs for Osteoporosis: A Treatment Whose Time Might Finally Be Here!

The above diagram shows the difference between normal bone and osteoporotic bone. We can see that the osteoporotic bone has much bigger holes and in general is much weaker bone. When we talk about Osteoporosis I can wear both of my hats. The hat of an orthopedic surgeon and that of a Regenerative Medicine stem cell doctor. For 35 years I have seen first hand the ravages of osteoporosis. I have operated on thousands of fractures that were caused by osteoporosis. Many of these fractures were quite challenging. The fixation of the fractures required different surgical solutions including plates, rods, and screws and different combinations. These fractures were the precursor of many other serious problems such as blood clots, strokes, pneumonia and other serious medical problems. The next slide shows the incidence of osteoporosis in the USA.

There is not any widely accepted treatment for osteoporosis. In the above diagram we can see some of the methods that are used to treat osteoporosis. Unfortunately, these treatments are at best band aid approaches. Last year a meta-analysis of no fewer than 33 studies was published in the prestigious BMJ (the former British Medical Journal). This study confirms what had been suspected. Namely, that bisphosphonates are totally ineffective at preventing fractures. Bisphosphonates are a class of osteoporosis drugs such as Boniva (ibandronate), Fosamax (alendronate), Actonel (risedronate) and Reclast (zoledronic acid). Their mode of action is to disrupt normal bone remodeling, which is ultimately detrimental to bone integrity and fracture resistance. They do not increase bone density but slow down bone loss. Teriparatide also called Forteo is the only osteoporosis medicine which has been shown to have the potential to rebuild bone. It has to be given as a daily injection and one of its risks is that it can cause a bone cancer called osteosarcoma. As can be seen none of these medicines are a bargain. Either they do not work or have a significant risk. The interesting new aspect concerning Osteoporosis is the use of stem cells to treat osteoporosis. The following slides give a good idea of what the stem cells are doing.

From this slide we get a better idea of the concept of how stem cells can treat osteoporosis. The cell we are talking about is not any stem cells but what we call an Adult Pluripotent Embryonic-Like Stem Cell. Also called a VSEL stem cell. These cells are revolutionary. We are fortunate in that we are one of the few facilities that are utilizing these cells. I describe these cells as an emergency stem cell supply. They are found in everyone but typically they are not activated. One of the common threads on the studies with these cells is that they seem to be activated by cold temperatures. The propriety information here includes the methods to dramatically increase the number of cells released, how to activate them and finally how to keep them going. We are fortunate to be able to utilize this technology. The technique is relatively non-invasive. It requires an injection or two of some propriety compounds and then a harvesting of some blood. We have utilized these cells for a few years. They work exceptionally well with auto-immune diseases (a type of condition where the body can attack itself) such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis. We also use them for anti-aging as well as for musculoskeletal conditions with good success. When we talk about osteoporosis we think osteoporosis is somewhat like an autoimmune disease. We have seen some of our preliminary results with using these cells for osteoporosis. The results are astounding. The slide below shows one of the patients we have treated. We have had similar results in other patients we have treated for osteoporosis. 

As can be seen this patient has received two injections of the pluripotent cells. They were spaced about one year apart. Our recommendations are to perform two of these treatments a year, spaced approximately 6 months apart. We are also placing the patients on some propriety growth factors and supplement mixes. To make things somewhat easier I have included the patient’s most recent bone density report below. I think that this is easier to follow.

This report shows the patient’s bone density INCREASED 14% IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS!! This increase is exceptional. There is currently no treatment for osteoporosis that I am aware of that would even approach this amount of improvement. Unlike many things in regenerative medicine we see very specific improvement in results in a test (bone density) that is completely objective. The implications of this treatment are profound. If we are able to turn the tide of osteoporosis it will save our health care system billions of dollars. The amount of money spent on a fractured hip is astounding. More importantly this treatment can dramatically improve the quality of life of the patient. Fractures take a toll on the patient and their families. The problem with osteoporosis is that it is a silent problem. Most of the time you have osteoporosis or its less severe counterpart which is called osteopenia there are initially no symptoms. The symptoms occur when fractures start happening. Other manifestations include some wedging of the vertebral bodies (back bones) which can cause spinal deformities. As far as other manifestations of the VSELs we have seen significant improvements in the treatment of auto-immune diseases. We have had a number of patients go off their medications for these diseases. Some of the side effects for these medications include developing a lymphoma. There also seems to be some manifestations of some anti-aging properties but I will leave this for another blog. We are very high on these cells. I will be attending and lecturing at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 17 and 18. This meeting will present some of the newest information on VSELs by those experts in the world involved with these cells. Some of the topics will include infertility, treatment of various inflammatory diseases including COPD, addiction problems. We are quite excited about these cells and have a published paper coming out about these cells. We will now be offering an osteoporosis program that will include two of these VSEL treatments a year. Incorporated into these treatments we will utilize a proprietary blend of cytokine growth factors and a supplement program. Both the growth factors and the supplements will also target osteoporosis. Also we will pay for one bone density so that we can track our results. So the warning should go out to Osteoporosis and Osteopenia. We have targeted them in our gun sites and we are going to assassinate them.

Joseph Purita, MD