Just as you would plan for your own financial future, you can now plan for your health future by storing your own stem cells for your own use at a later stage. You can choose Adult Stem Cell collection and storage as your personal insurance; your stem cells will be available for your own use when needed in the future. The time for collection is now, when your are healthy and there is no risk of infusing cells that may already be damaged.

Stem cells, collected from your own body, can be used to change the course of certain chronic diseases that commonly affect older adults: heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes mellitus, autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic wounds. Perhaps this list of potential chronic diseases brings to mind relatives who suffered from these same ailments. A family history of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other degenerative diseases, plus environmental and lifestyle choices, may put you at risk for the development of these same disorders.

Patients with a positive family history of cardiac disease, diabetes, cancer, neurologic diseases or autoimmune disorders should take advantage of this opportunity to protect themselves now, while they are healthy. Many older adults diagnosed with a disease requiring transplant are unable to find healthy, matched donors. Banking their own stem cells now assures patients that matched stem cells will be immediately available if needed in the future to treat a chronic or catastrophic illness.

There are tremendous clinical and economic advantages to using your own stem cells, should a stem cell transplant become necessary. There are no issues with rejection. There will be no need for a lifetime of immune suppression drug therapy. Your own stem cells find their place in your body more quickly than stem cells donated by another.

Stem cells are taken from your peripheral blood through a procedure called apheresis, which is a procedure similar to platelet donation. No stem cell expansion, chemical additives or additional onsite processing is required after collection. Unlike harvesting stem cells from bone marrow, apheresis is a noninvasive phlebotomy procedure that takes place in our collection center.