Regenerative Medicine

We are regenerating ourselves constantly. Below I outline 8 steps we can take right now to practice our own ‘regenerative medicine’.

As cells die, new ones are generated and so, a bit like Dr. Who, we - or rather our cells - are constantly regenerating. Understanding how we can improve our cells ability to reproduce is now at the forefront of modern regenerative medicine.

As cells die, new ones are generated and so, a bit like Dr. Who, we - or rather our cells - are constantly regenerating. Understanding how we can improve our cells ability to reproduce is now at the forefront of modern regenerative medicine.

We are learning how we can help ourselves stay younger through the lifestyle choices we make. We are now able to practice regenerative medicine at home and in our everyday lives (see below).

If our cells did not reproduce, our organs would quickly wear out and cease to function. All our organs are made up of cells that are specialised and specific to that organ. Organs constantly regenerate themselves at the cellular level. They regenerate because our cells are programmed to reproduce by our DNA. But our cells do not reproduce forever. Eventually the telomeres at the ends of the chromosomes within our cells shorten, and the cell dies.

Some cells reproduce more than others. Some cells live longer than others. Red blood cells live 4 months, white blood cells live for a year, colon cells last a year, brain cells last our entire lifetime. Skin cells last 3 days.

Stem cells treatment has been around for a few years now. People are choosing stem cell treatment because stem cells can become any type of cell specific to a given organ or part of the body. This specialisation of a cell for a particular organ is known as ‘differentiation’.

Young Embryonic stem cells will reproduce more than adult stem cells, as they are younger. Because stem cells and are capable of ‘differentiating’ into cells specific to a particular organ, introducing young embryonic stem cells into the body can benefit any organ and the body as a whole. Regenerative treatment using Embryonic Stem Cells is a new, proven anti-ageing treatment.

Every cell in our body contains DNA. Our DNA is contained in our chromosomes. Each chromosome is protected by four telomeres at the ends. As we age, the telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes wear out and shorten, whereupon our cells can no longer reproduce, or ‘regenerate’.

As our cells become less able to regenerate, the health and performance or our organs and muscles deteriorate over time. We ‘age’ and feel ‘older’.

As we grow older, our bodies no longer heal as they used to. We no longer recover as easily; we no longer feel ‘young’. Our muscles grow less efficient and, with less exercise, we grow stiff and ‘old’.

Modern regenerative medicine improves how our cells reproduce. The aim is to lengthen the telomeres on our chromosomes, to protect our DNA, which is part of our chromosomes. DNA is our personal ‘blueprint’ determining how we are individually built, determining whether we are male or female and our individual characteristics.

Each time a cell regenerates, our telomeres become ever so slightly shorter. Cells regenerate many times. There are 50-75 trillion cells in the human body. Humans have 46 chromosomes in each cell, comprising 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell. Each chromosome has 4 telomeres, so there are 194 telomeres per human cell. These telomeres protect our DNA.

There’s a myth that every 7 or so years the human body has completely regenerated itself. But we also age. We can help ourselves stay younger for longer by taking action to slow the shortening of our telomeres, to slow the ageing process.

Here are eight steps we can take:

• 1. Do not smoke. We all know smoking can cause cancer, such as lung and throat cancer, and it also causes heart disease. Smoking can also cause numerous other diseases. We also now know that smoking shortens our telomeres and speeds up our ageing process.

• 2. Do not suffer stress or allow yourself to become stressed. Stress shortens our telomeres. De-stress by taking holidays, resting sufficiently, taking time off in the day to relax, reading and meditation, or a long country walk (or regularly visit a gym if you live in town). Living in a perpetual state of stress ages you faster. Happy and relaxed people protect their telomeres and live longer.

• 3. Exercise regularly to reduce stress and to relax your body.

• 4. Take antioxidant supplements and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables to reduce free radicals. Free radicals attack cells and reduce telomere length.

• 5. Take fish oil supplements daily. Omega 3 fatty acids specifically have been found to lengthen telomeres.

• 6. Spend some time outside in the sun. Vitamin D helps lengthen telomeres.

• 7. Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight shortens telomeres.

• 8. Consider modern regenerative medicine including embryonic stem cell therapy to lengthen your telomeres and improve cellular regeneration.

To effectively reverse the ageing of our cells and lengthen the telomeres of our chromosomes and protect our DNA, we need to supplement our body with younger more efficient stem cells. The youngest stem cells possible. Embryonic Stem Cells.

Embryonic Stem Cells derived from human embryos are ethically unacceptable. Only recently have scientists learned how to create Embryonic Stem Cells from our own adult skin cells. This is ethically acceptable, resulting in only one clinic in Europe being licensed to practice regenerative medicine using Embryonic Stem Cells.

Embryonic Stem Cells are uniquely able to lengthen our telomeres and reverse the process of ageing by allowing our body to heal as it did when we were young.