Home › Blog › Stem Cells and Athletes: Bleacher Report

The Bleacher report last week had an interesting op-ed on stem cells and athletes. As discussed here, many athletes are leaving the country to access advanced stem cell therapies that aren’t available here due to stifling over-regulation of this field. This is an interesting piece that focuses on the “what if’s” of competition. For example, when an Olympian can save a career by going just off-shore to get more advanced orthopedic therapies than are available here, is that cheating or enhancement or just a smarter athlete?

Why More Athletes Will Soon Be Going to Europe for Stem Cell Treatments like the NFL’s Peyton Manning and the NBA’s Kobe Bryant

It comes as no surprise that Peyton Manning will undergo stem cell therapy in an effort to avoid another surgery on his neck after Kobe Bryant’s visit to Germany for a similar treatment. While this may be new for athletes, it is not new for celebrities, politicians and the super-wealthy around the world.

There are several different types of stem cells including the controversial use of embryonic stem cells and the use of a person’s own stem cells. Most of the treatments sought by athletes are limited to the use of their own cells.

Thanks to a ban on stem cell research in the U.S., American medicine is ten to fifteen years behind stem cell research in Europe. Now, there are a few American biotech companies who have received approval from the FDA to start clinical trials of embryonic stem cell therapy on humans with spinal cord injuries. But, sadly, U.S. researchers are now decades behind. Read more…

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