Does “Stem Cell Therapy” Actually Contain Stem Cells?

A new study shows that these “regenerative medicine” clinics might be promising more than they can deliver.

Here’s the pitch. You’ve heard of stem cells, right? They are these amazing cells that can change into any type of cell you may need based on where you stick them. They can become blood vessels, brain cells, cartilage-producing cells. And here you are, with knee osteoarthritis that is just bone on bone. What I’m going to do is inject some stem cells into your knee, and they will take up residence there, and make more cartilage, and heal your pain. Insurance won’t cover this. I’ll charge you…say… $5000.

That pitch has led to a 35 Billion dollar industry — and a slew of stem-cell clinics popping up around the country making some really big promises.

But if you look at the actual data — the actual trials of stem cell therapy for things like osteoarthritis — you will be very underwhelmed. Here’s a study showing the injections do no better than steroid injections (which are about 100 times cheaper) and which, frankly, don’t work that well in their own right.