Dear Joe,
My worlds collided the other day when I stumbled upon your many, highly viewed stem cell videos on YouTube. You see, my husband is a huge fan of yours. He regularly watches UFC, he practices mixed martial arts and he boxes. He loves your podcast and watches your videos regularly (religiously?). He talks about your show often. I confess to not being a listener/viewer of yours, but I blog about stem cells.
As you may know, stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any cell type in the body. When we talk about regenerative medicine, we refer to (stem) cells, biomaterials and molecules that can repair, regenerate or replace damaged/diseased cells, tissues and organs. This approach is disrupting the traditional biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries with the promise of revolutionary new cures for devastating and costly conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
But stem cells have yet to be shown to be a panacea for everything that ails us – despite some people that say, and market, otherwise.
I understand your podcast is far ranging and wide reaching in its subject matter. I think your goal is to be entertaining and to educate. Me too, although my audience is considerably smaller than yours! Because you have a great deal of influence with your fans and you reach millions of people through your podcast, I’d like to tell you that suggesting that stem cells are a miracle cure for a laundry list of conditions is irresponsible at this time, and it exacerbates a serious problem we have in combatting stem cell tourism.
Stem cell tourists are patients who travel to other countries and pay large sums of money to private clinics for often unproven (and potentially dangerous) stem cell therapies. These days, there is no need to travel as unregulated stem cell clinics have popped up all over the United States and Canada. Patients are being harmed close to home. But you don’t have to take my word for it. This Vox report provides a good overview of the situation and how unregulated stem cell clinics are hurting patients (or at the very least, taking their money and giving nothing real in return).
Your counter argument may be that you’ve had success with a stem cell injection in your shoulder and you know others, especially athletes, who also swear by the healing powers of stem cells. Anecdotal evidence is persuasive, but unless these treatments have withstood the rigours of properly designed, randomized, controlled clinical trials – the gold standard – and been found to be safe and effective, a perceived improvement could be placebo effect or perhaps the body healed on its own. Another possibility is that there was a lot of (media) attention when the treatment was first administered and found effective, but six months later when the perceived improvement ended and the pain or underlying condition returned, no one was talking about that in a public forum.
I’m not a doctor, but many MDs and scientists conducting research with stem cells have spoken out on this issue. There is this 2017 letter from the International Society for Stem Cell Research that represents nearly 4,200 scientists and physicians in the U.S. and over 65 countries. I draw your attention to this paragraph:
“While stem cell science shows great potential to transform healthcare, much of this research is in its infancy, and currently only a handful of treatments has been proven safe and effective for use in patients. Many other claims that are not supported by rigorous scientific or clinical evidence have been made regarding the potential of stem cells to cure a wide range of diseases. Unfortunately, unscrupulous clinics in California and other states are peddling unproven stem cell therapies via misleading advertising and the false promise of cures. Consumers are often unaware that these products and treatments have not been proven safe or effective in clinical trials. These clinics prey on the hopes of desperate patients, who are unable to independently assess the science (or lack thereof) underlying the claims. Unfortunately, these “therapies” are often not effective, and worse, can harm, patients and their families, medically and financially.”
And here is some good advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted on SkepDoc.
“If you are considering stem cell treatment in the U.S., ask your physician if the necessary FDA approval has been obtained or if you will be part of an FDA-regulated clinical study. This also applies if the stem cells are your own. Even if the cells are yours, there are safety risks, including risks introduced when the cells are manipulated after removal…There is a potential safety risk when you put cells in an area where they are not performing the same biological function as they were when in their original location in the body… Cells in a different environment may multiply, form tumors, or may leave the site you put them in and migrate somewhere else.”
Even when stem cell treatments happen in hospitals, outcomes can be disastrous. Patients must be aware that good science takes time and there are great risks in undergoing experimental treatments and, as I’ve been explaining, unapproved treatments.
Joe, please consider interviewing a guest who is an expert in stem cell science and doesn’t have a product or treatment to sell. There are many around and I’d be happy to connect you if you’d like to get in touch (stacey.johnsonatccrm.ca). Thanks for reading my letter.
I am sharing an interview that I referenced above, but I do so reluctantly due to many of the statements that are made. As always, buyer beware!
Stacey Johnson
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