Regenerative Medicine Institute MX Granted Full Accreditation by ICMS

barbara

Pioneer Founding member
It's official. RMI has achieved full accreditation with ICMS. CONGRATULATIONS DR. LOPEZ AND ALL THOSE AFFILIATED WITH RMI. This is a real achievement.

Dr Lopez,

I am please to inform you that the Regenerative Medicine Institute of Mexico (RMI) has been granted the status of Accredited by the ICMS.

Best,

David


David B. Audley
Executive Director & CEO
International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS)
 

Dana George

New member
Barbara,

Thanks so much for sending a shout out to Regenerative Medicine Institute, Mexico. I had the opportunity to interview another patient yesterday and got excited all over again about what the doctors in Tijuana are doing. I have never met a more ethical group of physicians. The work they're doing is changing lives.

Thank you for all you do!

Dana George
 

Claire

New member
RMI in Mexico

Has anyone on this board gone there for treatment? My husband is extremely skeptical because of the location.

Thanks,

Z
 

barbara

Pioneer Founding member
Many thought that the treatments given by X-Cell Center were safe because the clinic was located in Germany. X-Cell was closed by the German government after the deaths of 2 young children.

RMI treats patients at Angeles Hospital in Tijuana, a top notch facility. They also are the first clinic to achieve accreditation from ICMS. This is no easy feat. They have conducted clinical trials as well. While no regeneration was shown, many patients did get some quality of life improvements according to their data. This does not mean that your husband would, but to base a decision on location is usually not a good idea in my opinion.

To date, I know of no one who has gotten any verifiable regeneration of the lungs with stem cell therapy. Improvements for COPD patients, from my experience, are more likely to come from reduction of inflammation, life style changes post treatment, certain medications and supplements, more hopeful outlook on life, ability to exercise more, and even the placebo effect. I currently am experimenting with some additional treatments which seem promising, but it is too early to make any assessment as to the lasting effects of what I was given. I never considered the location of the clinic I went to in my decision and drove 4 solid days there and back to have treatment. I do not fly, so location is a consideration as far as going somewhere I can't drive, but otherwise I would never use it as a criteria for where to go for treatment.

Here are some links that you may find useful:

http://www.stemcellpioneers.com/showthread.php?t=5294

Dr. Grekos is another example. His clinic is in the U.S. I also got blind sided by a clinic in the U.S. Location simply does not factor into whether or not a clinic or doctor is reputable or whether or not it is safe.

http://www.stemcellpioneers.com/showthread.php?t=5542&highlight=grekos

http://www.stemcellpioneers.com/showthread.php?t=4864&highlight=bioregenesis+institute
 

Claire

New member
THANK YOU for your prompt reply!!!!!!!!!!!!

The treatment would be for my degenerative disk disease.
 

barbara

Pioneer Founding member
Zizi - I do not believe that RMI has completed any clinical trials for your condition. I do not know if they have had any success or not along those lines, but I do believe you will get an honest answer from them.

Even though I misunderstood that you had lung disease, what I wrote about location not being a critical factor in choosing a clinic applies to treatment for any kind of disease or condition. The owner of X-Cell Center always tried to use that as a selling point that since the clinic was in Germany, the government approved of it. That couldn't have been further from the truth and eventually the German government shut his bogus operation down.
 

Claire

New member
RMI in Mexico

Thanks again, Barbara!!!

I've read all the info here RE: RMI, and I've researched the facility extensively on various sites, including the ICMS site. I simply cannot convince my husband that it's a great facility, even with the facility having the only fully accredited status from the ICMS, its coordinating of research with NIH and the FDA, etc. He keeps saying Tijuana is synonymous with quack medicine. He keeps saying why aren't docs doing this here? I've tried to educate him on the political/FDA issues, etc., to no avail.

There is a company, Mesoblast, that is now in stage two FDA clinical trials in the USA and Australia that demonstrate that it can regenerate degenerative disks with MSCs. I don't qualify for the second trial because I have multiple, degenerative disks in both my cervical and lumbar spine, not just in one area. Also, the disk between lumbar 4 and lumbar 5 is severely deteriorated and is virtually "rubbing bone on bone." So, again, this disqualifies me from the second trial. This trial is scheduled to be completed in 2015. So, I guess I'll be stuck awaiting the results of that trial.
 
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barbara

Pioneer Founding member
Zizi - You are in the same situation as most of us. There simply are no clinical trials to participate in. As far as Tijuana being synonymous with quack medicine, I can't think of any country or big city that is quack free.

Mesoblast is not a U.S. company. Perhaps that bodes well for their future. I was reminded the other day by someone who had a conversation recently with a well respected doctor in the UK that when heart transplants were first begun, they were done without clinical trials. Patients who were dying were willing to take risks. Now, patients who are dying or desperately ill are not even legally able to have stem cell therapy using their own stem cells in some countries, including the U.S. We are constantly warned of the dangers of going offshore or even having stem cell treatment in the first place. Personally, I am not ready to be looking at the grass from the other side and I resent having someone who hasn't walked in my shoes, tell me what I should and should not do when it comes to my personal health issues. We need real solutions. The ICMS program is one such solution that addresses safety and efficacy. I also believe this forum provides feedback that can help patients. I don't advocate for a free for all where anyone can put up a shingle and get in the business of treating patients, but denying terminally and chronically ill patients the right to use their own stem cells and have their own physicians involved goes too far in the other direction.

I have been in many arguments over this before. Some of those that advocate for strict regulation also have their own agendas. They cannot patent a person's own stem cells and therefore, they do not want such therapy to succeed. Patents for something such as iPS cells would generate billions.

There isn't much you can do to try to educate someone on the issues when they don't want to be educated. I have found it to be fruitless. Hopefully, your husband will do some research of his own to understand that this is a monetary and political issue for the most part.


http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/cs/pat/hearttx/history.html
 

Claire

New member
RMI in Mexico

Yes. I know Mesoblast is an Australian company, but because it is doing FDA trials in the USA, my husband trusts it over clinics overseas, especially those in Tijuana. Like I said, he refuses to educate himself on the topic. If it were HIS spine, perhaps he'd more motivated to learn the facts!

I have received a lengthy reply from RMI, which my husband refuses to read. I responded with more questions, specifically RE: DDD treatment there, and am awaiting a reply from RMI.

My husband also seized upon a price quote of ~ $8,000 from a clinic in Arizona (Stem Cell Rejuvenation Clinic, Dr. Tim Peace) and is acting as if that is what treatment should cost. Never mind that upon my further investigation, the clinic has no scientific data backing up its claims or procedures.
 

yorkere

New member
Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Disc Degenereation

Zizi:

I too ran into a situation where there was apparently no real track record to look at; I'd contacted Celling Treatment Center, in Austin Texas, I think, quite some time back...sent in my MRI for review, and was advised that I was a candidate for their stem cell treatment. When I talked to the doctor over the phone, and asked about those he had treated, he stated he'd had 12 patients he'd treated and that "all were doing well..." That was about it. I forgot the quoted cost, but I think it was about~$12000...The treatment was to consist of drawing stem cells from bone marrow (I think). With no track record to review, I stopped considering going there...

I since found a way to help with spinal discs that have apparently vanished, it consisted of "Spinal Decompression Traction" using a "DTS" system, out here in California...it was expensive, but it has seemed to have worked rather well for me at this time (it's been ~a year since the last treatment...)

Robert
 

Claire

New member
Celling in Austin, TX

Robert,

Thank you for your reply!!! I looked at Celling, too. However, it appears to have fled the state in the wake of a Texas Medical Board ruling regarding oversight of procedures. The web site says Celling is in the process of relocating.

I've heard of non-surgical spinal decompression and have a referral from my neurosurgeon to see a chiropractor for this and for physical therapy. I've never been to a chiropractor; I've been told to avoid them. Was a chiropractor the person who performed your spinal decompression? Also, I've had physical therapists who injured me. So, I'm rather apprehensive about this referral.

Thanks!

Z
 

Bobcat

New member
I broke my hip a few years ago. My chiropractor used soft laser on it. I had no pain after about 6 days and in a couple of months, it was completely healed. I have had no problems since.

Who told you to avoid chiropractors?
 

Claire

New member
Soft Laser

Bobcat,

Thanks for your reply! I've never heard of soft laser treatments; I will look into that.

I come from an extended family of doctors, and maybe it's just professional snobbery, but they've always said go to osteopaths instead of chiropractors. Plus, I know plenty of people who've been injured by chiropractors. However, I do know some people who swear by them.

Thanks Again!

Z
 

yorkere

New member
Spinal Decompression Traction

Hey; I just read your posts; allow me to get back to you all in a little while and I'll provide a bit more details on the DTS treatment....

Robert
 

yorkere

New member
Spinal Decompression

Hi!

My experience with decompression traction therapy has turned to be a good one...after x-rays and an MRI revealed that I suffered from spinal disc degeneration, and that there was apparently no disc visible at the last element of my lower back, I began to try to act to help myself.

I went to the Spine Center at Loma Linda University; the surgeon looked at the x-rays, then asked if I was in any pain...I was then advised to wait 'till the pain became unbearable, then come back and he'd fuse the spine for me...that was it! The whole session lasted ~6 minutes.

I saw a full page ad in the local paper, and decided to take a look; I went to the Spine and Disc Laser Pain Center in Corona, CA, run by 2 Chiropractors, and decided to go for it.

The treatment consisted of 35 back traction sessions lasting ~20 minutes each, twice a week. Each time I went, my lower back felt really pretty good, but noticeably tender and a bit sensitive. I was advised that it was due to the structures in my back being moved around.

The treatment began ~ 12-12-10; it's been quite a while now ('bout a year & a half), and so far, no problems with my back...and no longer any tenderness either. While I was going there I talked with quite a few others who were going there, the place was always crowded..almost without exception, they all claimed really serious improvement. The only person who seemed to have ongoing trouble was a woman who'd been badly clobbered in a car crash, and whose neck had been really badly trashed. She had no health insurance, and had been advised by a surgeon that the total cost of neck surgery would be ~$184,000. By the time I left, she was having some pretty good days....but was still going through some bad days as well...so this thing is not a consistent miracle-worker.

The cost of this is serious, and so far, insurance won't pay. But surgery for this stuff does NOT have a real good track record...

I was told that the developer of the DTS machine was an Orthopedic surgeon, not a Chiropractor.

I've since discovered that quite a few Chiropractors are offering this treatment, with rather varying costs, apparently. As usual, experience and skill are hugely important...

Robert
 

Claire

New member
Non-surgical Spinal Decompression

Robert,

Thank you for your input! I met the chiropractor yesterday. I got some dry hydrotherapy massage (sounds like an oxymoron, I know) that felt really good. I'm to call his office today RE: spinal decompression and possible physical therapy. The decompression is $85 per session. I just lost my COBRA and no one will insure me with all of my disabilities; so, I'm paying cash.

Are you still getting the decompression treatments? How long does each session last and how often do you get them?

No one in my area does the laser treatments, but they do look interesting. I think the nearest place I found that offers the lasers is several hours away.

Thanks Again!

Z
 
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