Home › Blog › Honored to Be Named a Top 50 Functional Med Doctor by Josh Axe

I remember a friend of mine telling me years ago that even though I had an MD after my name, I reminded him more of a chiropractor. That was in fact a high compliment as I’ve never been a fan of the traditional “bull in the china shop” medical approach. This past week, Josh Axe, DC, who runs one of the most popular health sites in the Internet named me to his top 50 functional-medicine-physicians list. I also took this as a high compliment.

How Are Stem Cells Functional Medicine?

Stem cells right now live in the weird spot between traditional and alternative medicine. On the one hand, there are many drug companies gearing up to figure out how to make stem cells drugs pay the bills. There are countless universities performing both basic bench science as well as clinical trials. So very much traditional medicine. Having said that, the physicians using stem cells have taken a different path. They use these cells as a tool to try to help the body heal, which is very much an alternative-medicine concept. So sometime in the next few years, traditional medicine is going to have to go through its biggest overhaul since Hippocrates. It is going to have to adopt portions of alternative-medicine philosophy (like the the body can, in fact, with the right help, heal itself).

In the meantime, we have “Functional Medicine.” This term has been used to bridge the gap between traditional pharma-centered medicine and its research base and alternative medicine focused on self-healing. Hence, functional-medicine doctors use both—research and self-healing using diet, exercise, supplements, and now platelet rich plasma and stem cells.

Dr. Josh Axe

I first met Josh as a patient. He wanted to use his own stem cells to try and solve orthopedic problems that were preventing him from getting the most out of his body. I’ll let Josh tell his own story here:

The upshot? I’m very proud and honored to be on Josh’s list. Not only because I’m not a fan of traditional medicine but also because it’s guys like Josh who have defined a new trend in medicine—you can heal yourself if you take care of yourself!

The Regenexx-C procedure is not approved by the USFDA and is only offered in countries via license where culture-expanded autologous cells are permitted via local regulations. 

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile