News
Stem cell therapy 'turns back clock'
Saturday, July 07, 2012 12:00 AM Views : 1302 Jon Carlos RodriguezMANILA, Philippines – Stem cell therapy, aside from being a potential cure for a wide range of illnesses, can also make a patient look and feel younger, a stem cell therapist said.
Dr. Ricardo Quińones, a cosmetic surgeon and dermatologist, has trained to conduct stem cell therapy, which he describes as “the future of medicine.”
Quińones said stem cell therapy has become popular for its ability to regenerate and heal properties of adult stem cells.
“As we grow old, our stem cells dramatically decline. When we were children, we had 80 million stem cells. As we reach the age of 40, our stem cells decline to 35 million,” he told “Mornings@ANC” on Friday.
Quińones explained that the procedure is similar to “turning back the clock” because it can increase a person’s stem cells to 100 million.
“I’ve done two patients from Zamboanga City. I called them up after the procedure and they told me they look younger. They have the stamina, the vigor and they have felt an increase in short-term memory, powers of attention and concentration,” he said.
Quińones also said the procedure has the potential to cure diabetes, heart damage, brain damage such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis, stroke, baldness and even sports injuries.
3-hour procedure
Quińones said any patient, except those diagnosed with cancer, can undergo the procedure, which he said will only last for about 3 to 4 hours.
After receiving clearance from a physician and passing medical and laboratory tests, anesthesia will be administered to a patient before stem cells are harvested.
Stem cells are then harvested from the patient’s own body in a process similar to liposuction.
Quińones said the effects of the therapy vary from case to case, with some feeling the effects within days, while others may have to wait months.
However, he noted that he has yet to encounter a case wherein the therapy had no benefit to a person’s body.
“Everybody reported improvement,” he said.
Quińones, who has a clinic in Sta. Rosa, said stem cell therapy costs around P300,000 to P600,000.
“It’s the future of medicine. Just keep yourself updated, there are a lot of studies on stem cell. But be sure the therapist is certified before undergoing the procedure,” he said.
Source:http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/07/07/12/stem-cell-therapy-turns-back-clock
August 18, 2012
Hi. You can find Dr. Quinones's contact details here: ://www.rzqcosmeticsurgery.com/about.html
July 28, 2012
Can I get the clinic's complete address and contact number of Dr Ricardo Quiñones?
September 09, 2012
Philippine Stem Cell Treatment Centers - Caveat Emptor! As a Filipino medical professional, I am deeply worried and concerned about the rampant promotion of so-called Stem Cell Treatment CentersÂť in the local media. Recently, at least 3 stem cell centers were inaugurated in three major hospitals in Metro Manila. These Stem Cell Centers are claiming the ability to cure at a hefty price diseases like cancer, Parkinsons Disease, Alzheimers Disease and Diabetes Mellitus among others. The truth however is that the current status of most stem cell treatments are mostly experimental and had not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Administration (EMA). To date, the only legitimate and approved use of stem cell treatment in the U.S. is blood stem cell transplantation to treat conditions of the blood or immune system or to replace the blood system after treatment for specific cancers. This is the reason why most of these stem cell treatment centers can only operate in countries with poor health regulatory bodies like China, some Eastern European and South American countries, and some Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines. Sadly, it seems that the current stem cell treatment in the Philippines is mainly economically driven (sometimes in the guise of medical tourism), and if I might say, an outright commercial exploitation of desperate Filipino patients seeking cure. These local stem cell centers share common features which point to a lack of scientific rigor in their treatment . They mostly rely on patient testimonials or anecdotes to illustrate the effectiveness of their treatment and don't show scientific data or statistics to support their claim, they don't have any publications of their experience in reputable peer reviewed medical journals, they don't publish their negative results or complications and they lack transparency in showing their treatment protocols to their patients. Their claim to treat a wide array of diseases from cancer to Alzheimers Disease and old age smacks of the snake oil remedy of old. Stem cell treatment can also cause direct harm since there have been some cases of stem cells differentiating into tumor cells. I would therefore like to appeal to the Philippine Medical Association and the Department of Health to act immediately and put a stop to the commercial exploitation of our Filipino patients as they are subjected to a questionable and largely unproven medical treatment. (Learn more about stem cell treatment and report your concerns at the International Society for Stem Cell Research's watchdog program ://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/ and ://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumers/ucm286155.htm) Jose A. Aguilar, M.D.