Stroke
Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke
Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke
A Stroke is a chronic or long-term disease that occurs due to the interruption of blood supply to the brain tissues. Within minutes, the brain cells tend to die and undergo immense degeneration. This is a vascular disorder which is treatable with Stem Cell Therapy because it focuses on replacing damaged neuron cells.
SCT has a great potential to be more effective than previous methods and also carries less risk. At the present time, SCT or technology is in the beginning stages. However, the new ethical policies and rapid advancements can help enhance the applicability and prognosis of the treatment.
What is a Stroke?
It is a cerebrovascular accident that occurs due to the restriction of blood supply to a specific region of the brain.
This restriction of blood causes:
Deprivation of cells form oxygen and nutrients
Ischemia of the neural cells
Damage or death of the cells due to lack of oxygen
Strokes are the leading cause of disability around the world. A stroke is considered to be a medical emergency that needs prompt treatment and management. In case of delay, it can cause physical and mental disabilities.
A Stroke is mainly of three types:
TIA (Transient Ischemic Stroke): Also referred to as a mini-stroke because there is the temporary restriction of blood to a specific area which resolves within some time.
Hemorrhagic Stroke: Refers to the rupture of the blood vessel due to AVMs (arteriovenous malformations) or aneurysms
Ischemic Stroke: The most common type of stroke which causes permanent clots of blood to prevent the proper supply of blood and oxygen to the cells.
What causes a Stroke?
The vital cause of Ischemic Stroke is thrombosis of the blood or blood clot formation. When a blood clot forms due to blood thickening or other factors, it blocks blood flow to the next parts of the brain tissues. Brain tissues require a constant flow of blood and nutrients to work.
When a blood clot causes blood flow restriction to the tissues, they tend to die within seconds to a few minutes of the accident. As a result of this accident, the function of those tissues and cells also stops, causing dysfunctions in the patient.
Generally, increased levels of cholesterol in the blood can be an important reason for thrombosis. A cholesterol plaque can cause rupture of the minute blood vessels in the brain, which can initiate the fatal clotting process.
Other damaging or significant factors for the incidence of a Stroke may include:
Myocardial infarction (heart disease)
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Diabetes (Type-2)
Smoking and high cholesterol (LDL) levels
Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by a rupture of blood vessels resulting from high blood flow rather than thrombosis. When a blood vessel ruptures, it causes edema of the surrounding area, damaging the neighboring brain structures.
What are the symptoms of a Stroke?
The cardinal symptoms or features are FAST:
Face drooping: Causing drooping on one side of the face during smiling
Arm weakness: Sudden downward movement of the arm on lifting
Speech problems
Time to act: Refers to the immediate identification of these symptoms and contact to the first aid emergency services
Other symptoms may include:
Vision blurriness and blackouts
Spasticity or paralysis of the one side of the body
Numbness, headaches, and inability to move
Difficulty in understanding verbal commands and speaking as well
Contractures may also develop in the long-term causes of strokes
THE TREATMENT JOURNEY
How are Strokes treated?
There are different treatments offered for the variety of strokes.
Ischemic Stroke: Administration of aspirin or TPA injections (Tissue Plasminogen Activator). TPA dissolves the blood clot within 4-hours of administration after having a stroke. Other treatments may include carotid endarterectomy (removal of plaque by opening the carotid artery and then removing the plaque) and angioplasty (stenting).
Hemorrhagic Stroke: Immediate control of bleeding, blood pressure management, and prevention of seizures. Medications for countering the effects of blood thinner drugs, repair of ruptured vessels, shrinkage of aneurysms, and removal of AVMs are the other treatment options in hemorrhagic strokes.
However, all types of Strokes require physical rehabilitation and a careful exercise plan to minimize the damage to the skeletal muscles and neuronal pathways. The prognosis of a stroke varies with the time of treatment post-stroke. In case of immediate treatment, you can achieve maximal independence within days.
How can Stem Cell Therapy treat Stroke?
Stem Cells are capable of differentiating into all the other types of cells. Exogenous administration of Stem Cells can stimulate the reparative processes of endogenous cells. It can help in the replacement of the injured tissues of the cerebral area.
Ischemic Stroke inflicts serious damage to the brain's cells by damaging the vascular system's heterogeneous neuronal connections and cell population. There is strong evidence of regeneration for different types of Stem Cells as Adult Stem Cells, Neural Stem Cells, and Embryonic Stem Cells.
Theoretically, Neural Stem Cells are the most suitable candidates for the restoration of neuronal cells due to their:
The natural tendency of differentiating into mature neuronal cells
Resemblance or origin from the same source of the tissues
Neural stem cells help in restoring neuronal functions because they secrete multiple neurotrophic factors like VEGF and BDNF. These factors further help in health maintenance, proliferation, generation, and the maintenance and survival of the neurons. Specifically, VEGF helps in causing vascular restoration and angiogenesis due to the ischemia of cerebral tissues.
Exosomes and Autoimmune diseases:
According to the clinical literature, Exosomes combined with MSCs help in autoimmune diseases by regulating the inflammatory cytokines, microenvironment, and immune cells. These processes have a potent relation with both adaptive and innate immune cells. In these cells, macrophages, Treg cells, Th17, immunoregulatory miRNAs, and CD4+Th1 are the most crucial ones.
Exosomes-combined-MSCs help in the regulation of T-Cell subsets in cases of autoimmune diseases. Moreover, the MSCs-Exosomes also aid in reducing the levels and concentration of pro-inflammatory Th17 and TH1 cytokines as IL-17AF, IL-12p70, and IL-6. However, the same MSCs-Exosomes help in increasing the concentration of anti-inflammatory Treg.
Therefore, MSCs-Exosomes increase the concentration of Treg cells and the related products without changing the concentration index of the lymphocytes to maintain immunoregulation in the body. Similar effects of these cells are seen in the cases of RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and GVHD (graft-versus-host disease). MSCs-Exosomes help improve the GVHD by suppressing the differentiation of populations of the naïve T-cells. Macrophages constitute a crucial and major portion of the innate immunity of the human body, which can be regulated through the administration of MSCs-Exosomes. According to the different microenvironments, Mo (naïve macrophages) can be polarized into anti-inflammatory (M2) or pro-inflammatory (M1) to play different roles in different conditions. Along with the autoimmune conditions, this combination therapy can also help facilitate metabolic hemostasis to attenuate obesity and adipose inflammation. Moreover, MSCs-Exosomes can also promote the M1-M2 macrophage conversion to reduce the pro-inflammatory factors or effects of the macrophage M1.
How is the treatment at The Renue Medical Centre different?
The Stem Cell Therapy (SCT) at The Renue Centre is a holistic approach to treating Strokes.
Your Renue Journey does not end after your last day of SCT. We follow up with you to assert your progress, following four phases:
Pre-treatment: Clinical evaluation, lab test results, and other diagnostic procedures
You will take our Renue Epigenetic Test powered by TruDiagnostics that will assert your biological age and other important health markers. Your TruDiagnostics test is part of The Renue Difference. It provides your doctor with critical information about your health and your true age (biological vs. chronological).
After the epigenetic test and we have received all your medical records, your Patient Advisor will assist you in planning your travel to Puerto Vallarta.Treatment day: With the help of apheresis and processing of stem cells, the donor cells are injected inside the body. Stem Cells transplantation can range from 1 x 106 – 8 x 106 cells. The route of administration of stem cells for strokes can be intra-arterial, intranasal, and intravenous. The dosage of the stem cells also depends upon the severity and type of the disease, which is customizable.
30, 60 & 90 days after the treatment: To check for flare-up frequency, improvements, contracture release, and spasticity
Six months after treatment: Lab tests, flare-up frequency, clinical evaluation, mobility, quality of life, and disease prognosis
YOUR TREATMENT JOURNEY
Experience Renue in Puerto Vallarta
Arrival Day
Upon arrival in Puerto Vallarta, a Renue representative will meet you at the airport in one of our Mercedes vans to transport you to the hotel.
Our representative will quickly review your schedule for the coming days for your peace of mind. Renue makes it worry-free, so don't worry!
Evening
You traveled all this way, so would you like to check our list of recommended restaurants? We can make reservations for you to enjoy the great food and warm atmosphere of Puerto Vallarta.
Check out the Renue chauffeur for recommendations, reservations, leisure activities, and your transportation needs.
A better life starts now!
Day 1. Enjoy The Renue Difference.
Count on your Renue Advisor and staff to help you have a pleasant experience. Our Renue chauffeur will pick you up from the hotel and take you to The Renue Medical Centre in the Joya Hospital. Our staff will welcome and assist you at the Centre.
Our staff will check you in at the Centre and take you on a tour of the facilities, including The Renue Laboratory, where your stem cells and exosomes are produced. You will also visit the Hyperbaric Chamber facility, an essential part of The Renue Difference.
After your check-in, our medical associates will proceed with any necessary blood work or tests organized by your Patient Advisor.
After that, you will meet with your doctor to review your file. Then, your doctor will make any adjustments to your treatment schedule submitted by your Renue Patient Advisor.
Once your doctor has reviewed your file, additional testing might be required—for example, X-Rays, MRIs, and others.
After that, you will have your first Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) session.
Following your first treatment session, our Renue chauffeur will return you to your hotel.
Evening
Do you have any plans for the evening? Or maybe you would need a chauffeur?
Remember that relaxation can improve your health, too. Ask our Renue chauffeur for suggestions. They know the places to go in Puerto Vallarta.
Treatment Day & Second Hyperbaric Session
Day 2. Now you're a pro!
Our Renue chauffeur will pick you up according to the schedule and take you to The Renue Centre.
The medical team will welcome you and start your treatment as soon as you arrive:
300 Million Stem Cells IV*
16 Billion Exosomes*
*The actual quantity of Stem Cells depends on the patient’s body weight and severity of the disease.
Then, after your treatment and second Hyperbaric Chamber session, the Renue chauffeur will return you to the hotel.
Evening
Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful place; we suggest you don't miss out and enjoy your stay. You know it: ask our Renue chauffeur for suggestions and have fun!
The third and fourth Hyperbaric sessions make a difference!
Day 3 and 4. You're almost done.
Our Renue chauffeur will pick you up according to the schedule and take you to The Renue Centre.
Your scheduled treatment will start as soon as you arrive.
Then, after your treatment and second Hyperbaric Chamber session, the Renue chauffeur will return you to the hotel.
Evening
Your Renue Journey allows you to explore all that Puerto Vallarta has to offer.
Ask our Renue Concierge for suggestions, and remember to enjoy yourself.
It's not over yet.
Day 5. Departure or extended stay?
Our Renue chauffeur will pick you up from the hotel. Then, they will take you to the airport or another treatment according to your schedule.
However, maybe you would like to extend your stay and your wellness holiday because Puerto Vallarta is stunning!
Talk to our Renue chauffeur. Our team will contact you to confirm all details: tours, restaurants, and other treatments you would like to have.
Are you going to miss us?
Don't forget our follow-up treatments. Talk to your Patient Advisor:
30, 60 & 90 days follow-up: Stroke symptoms clinical evaluation, flare-up frequency, and lab test results
Six months post-treatment: Stroke symptoms clinical evaluation, flare-up frequency, lab test results, X-ray report, and review of the diagnostic criteria
Significance of Hyperbaric Chambers post-treatment:
Three sessions of Hyperbaric Chambers are given to the patients after the treatment to:
Increase the levels of oxygen in the ischemic regions during the occlusion to minimize the hypoxic damage of the cells
Increase the arterial pressure of O2 (oxygen), enhance oxygen content, decrease the pressure in the intracranial area, relieve cerebral edema, and stabilize the blood-brain barrier
Mobilize the Stem Cells recently administered inside the body
Improve the spasticity and uncontrolled movements of the limbs
Reduce the events of inflammation and swelling
Enhance the growth factors induced by the neural cells
EXPECTED RESULTS
SCT to live a better life: Benefits and outcomes
The effectiveness of Stem Cell Treatment can improve all your symptoms, creating considerable impact on your quality of life and daily activities.
As part of The Renue Difference, you will receive four Hyperbaric Chamber sessions that greatly improve SCT efficacy and stimulate the body cells to combat the disabilities of having a Stroke. These sessions comprise four days: one day before treatment, two after treatment, and on the day of treatment.
After the SCT procedure, an MRI test depicts the further need for the treatment at a specific body site.
Talk to our Patient Advisor to know more about SCT at The Renue Centre.
Expected results and prognosis:
Expected result 1: Immediate control of associated symptoms of the stroke post-treatment, but will require monitoring of risk factors for the Stroke.
Expected result 2: More independence in ADLs and IADLS, mobility, and reduction in spasticity coordination after six months of injection.
Expected result 3: Increased independence, contractures management, decreased neuro damage progression, improved balance and coordination, stable posture, and more life satisfaction.
FREQUENT QUESTIONS
What are the risk factors of Stem Cell Therapy for Strokes?
Generally, Stem Cell Therapy has a satisfactory safety profile, good prognosis, and effectiveness.
However, no medical procedure is 100% safe; the most frequent or common risk factors of SCT can be:
Bleeding from the site of injection
Fever
Painful injection area /site
Lethargy and fatigue
Allergic reactions
Management of Risks
Bleeding and swelling of the injured site are manageable via proper technique. Allergic reactions are preventable through pre-injection history and care. Fever, lethargy, and pain are managed through the appropriate drugs along with the treatment.
The benefits and effects of Stem Cell Therapy depend on several factors: the patient's health condition, underlying issues, lifestyle, and others. To assess your expected results, we would like to know more about you. A medical advisor will talk to you about your diagnosis and treatment options and collect information for the attending physician; they can answer all your initial questions:
Will the therapy work for my case?
What does the treatment involve? Is it painful?
Is it expensive? How much does it cost?
Start your Wellness Journey!
Click on the button below to book a consultation to answer your questions and discuss your medical history, your treatment journey, and your goals.