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Anti-Aging: Stem Cells

2012-02-11T00:04:12Z

One of the great medical breakthroughs of modern medicine is the use of adult stem cells, derived most easily from fat. Stem cell treatments are a type of intervention strategy that introduces new cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. These cells take on the characteristics of tissue they are introduced to, and therefore begin to repair the tissue by replacing damaged cells. Recent breakthroughs include repair to skin, muscle and cartilage, with nerve tissue next.

Up until recently the media has largely focused on the more controversial embryonic stem cells. These are stem cells derived from embryos. The potential uses of these cells to cure and treat diseases remain vast, but the controversial source of the cells poses ethical questions that have delayed medical progress.

During the past decade, researchers have discovered that stem cells can also be extracted from your own fat tissue. These ‘adipose-derived’ adult stem cells have the same potential as embryonic stem cells, except for the ability to differentiate into sperm or ova. Unlike embryonic stem cells, stem cells extracted from your own fat are abundant, easily available, and pose no ethical or political controversy.

Cosmetic Enhancements vs. Disease Therapies

The FDA does not allow doctors to promote the use of stem cell therapies to treat diseases unless you are part of a clinical trial. In this capacity they are considered to be ‘drug therapy’ and subject to very strict regulation. Therefore, many patients currently travel outside of the U.S. to get these therapies.

On the other hand, the use of your own (autologous) stem cells to restore a more youthful appearance is available now. These therapies do not fall under the FDA’s ‘drug therapy’ guidelines, because they do not involve drugs, merely your own fat being re-injected in the same operative session as the liposuction procedure to remove the fat. Also, the stem cells have been only minimally manipulated, and their use to enhance fat transfer does not alter the original biologic mission of the stem cell.

However, if your autologous stem cells are re-injected in a separate or second operative session, it is unclear whether the FDA considers that application to be a drug therapy, even though it is used for the same cosmetic purpose.

Stem Cell Enhanced Fat Injections

Surgeons have been extracting fat cells since the early 1990s for the purpose of re-injecting them into other tissue for over a decade. The process has not always worked perfectly, however, and surgeons have learned that successful fat grafting is highly dependent on the techniques used. As it turns out, some methods for extracting, processing, and reinjection fat cells results in high concentrations of adult stem cells in the fat. This has produced not only long lasting results, but also repairs in injured tissues

To perform stem cell enhanced fat grafting, fat is first extracted by liposuction. The fat is then processed to isolated, concentrate and activate the stem cells. Techniques include centrifugation and chemically processing the extracted fat. Long lasting results are only achieved with proper fat processing techniques. The fat must also be re-injected in very small quantities and distributed through all tissue layers to facilitate reestablishment of blood flow to the fat grafts.

Examples of stem cell enhanced fat transfers include:

Face Fat Graft – This fat restores facial volume and rejuvenates facial tissues and skin. By increasing blood supply to tissues, it also makes tissue look younger.
Breast Augmentation – Fat injections provide a natural alternative to breast implants, and can continue to build fat in the breast subsequent to the ‘transfer.’
Butt Lifts – Originally used for buttock enhancement, stem cell enhanced fat transfers are being used in body contouring to create an hourglass figure.
Hand Rejuvenation – As in the face, this is not only a volume enhancement, but aged hand skin is revitalized by the fat transfer.

adapted from New You Magazine

Does getting Botox make you nervous??

2012-01-19T15:11:44Z

Smell this....

If you are uptight, anything that pokes you—like a needle full of Botox—is likely to upset you even further, as well as feel more painful. Naturally, then, anything that can relax you will be beneficial. That’s the idea behind a new study by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Baumann Cosmetic and Research Institute. Researchers found that patients who were exposed to the scent of lavender essential oils had a gentler experience with Botox. Why? The smell of lavender tends to lower your heart rate, and therefore make you more relaxed. It also increases your parasympathetic nerve activity, which also calms the system. This idea is not new—doctors have reported lavender’s relaxing effects for centuries—but this is the first time it’s been used in the cosmetic arena.

New You Magazine

Time for an Undo

2011-11-09T21:25:55Z

Ever since explorer James Cook returned from his voyage to New Zealand, tattoos have been part of our fashion subculture. Now modern technology allows us to undo these skin stamps, if we decide it’s time for a change.

Call it a snap decision. One night you decide that getting a tattoo of a fairy with hearts around it is a good idea. So you go to your local version of L.A. Ink and let Dave, the tattoo guy, jackhammer it between the back of your shoulder blades. Years later you are a different person, and while the tattoo might have made a bold statement way back then, now it just sticks out like a sore thumb and you want it gone.

This is how Heather Albrittin felt. At age 19, she was off to college, leaving her best friend behind. They decided to commemorate the friendship with zodiac tattoos. Albrittin got a Leo symbol intertwined with her best friend’s Capricorn symbol, placed on her left shoulder blade. Now, at age 28, she wishes it was never there.

“I thought it was cute when I was younger, but not so much now,” Albrittin says. “It didn’t look feminine. It looked kind of manly to have it on my shoulder blade.”

Albrittin heard that laser tattoo removal was painful and expensive, but her fears were quelled when she found Linda Quinn, M.D., a board-certified cosmetic surgeon in Jacksonville, Fla. Dr. Quinn specializes in laser medicine as an alternative to traditional surgical procedures...continue reading

The Right to Bare Legs!

2011-10-28T15:38:45Z

Spider Veins? If a spider web comes to mind, you’re right. These red or purple veins, which appear mostly on women, often create a sunburst or web-like pattern on the skin. And while they are not medically harmful, spider veins can cause a burning sensation or achy feeling from prolonged standing. To top it off, they’re visually unappealing and may have you thinking twice about baring your otherwise sexy skin.

It’s no wonder that many of us feel self-conscious about those pesky spider veins and want to get rid of them. Otherwise known as telangiectasia (three Greek words meaning: end, blood vessel and stretch out), they are also referred to as broken capillaries.

Lots of us have spider veins, so it’s no surprise that there are a variety of ways to cosmetically treat these imperfections. You can have them zapped with a laser or injected with a solution (aka, “sclerotherapy”)

So how does it work? When the solution is injected into the blood vessel, its cells are disrupted and the vein (typically) becomes inflamed. It then closes, turning into tiny scar tissue that fades over time. And while the notion of “injecting” a solution sounds unpleasant, a very fine, thin needle is used.

You will experienced only a little bit of stinging and burning.

adapted from New You Magazine

We want to know what your questions are!

2011-10-24T00:57:08Z

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"I can't seem to shed these last few pounds, despite diet and exercise. Any recommendations?"

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Hair on our toes...do we care?

2011-07-18T17:15:38Z

For years, women have turned to laser hair removal for legs, underarms and bikini lines. Now that the procedure is becoming more routine, they are turning to other areas, such as the feet. Cosmetic surgeons are reporting a rise in demand for laser hair removal on toes, according to lifestyle magazine Female First. Hair removal takes about 15 minutes per foot, making it easy for busy career women to fit the procedure into their schedules. The pay off is the permanent removal of 60% to 95% of the hair. And, of course, the avoidance of shaving, something the average woman does 11,540 times in their lifetime.

Broccoli on the brain

2011-07-13T22:23:47Z

Broccoli is high in lignans, a phytoestrogen compound that has been shown to benefit cognitive kills (thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, and learning words. A 2005 study by researchers at King's College London (United Kingdom) revealed that broccoli also is high in glucosinolates, a group of compounds that can halt the decline of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, which is necessary for the central nervous system to perform properly (low levels of acetylcholine are common in those with Alzheimer's Disease). If you're not fond of broccoli, try other glucosinolate-rich foods such as: potatoes, oranges, apples, radishes and other cabbage-family vegetables like Brussels sprouts.