‘Stem’ulating health

Imagine suffering from cardiovascular disease or peripheral artery disease for months or even years. You seek treatment from a renowned cardiologist in hopes of improving your quality of life, but the doctor utters those dreaded words.

“Sorry, we cannot do anything more for you. You have to learn to live with the disease.”

You may feel hopeless, but fortunately, one of the nation’s leading cardiac and thoracic surgeons is providing new hope for patients who may suffer from end-stage cardiovascular disease, cardiomyopathy, or peripheral artery disease.

Dr. Raghavendra Vijay (at right), who in 1985 performed the first heart transplant in Florida, is now offering adult stem cell therapy through his Tampa-based company, Advanced Innovative Medicine. Stem cells, which are present in various tissues and organ systems throughout the body, have been found to promote natural healing. Having spent time studying adult stem cell therapy in Tel Aviv and also after recently attending the World Stem Cell Summit, Dr. Vijay is convinced stem cells are the “medicine for the 21st Century.”

“The progress being made around the world is amazing,” he says. “Mark my words: One day, stem cells will be used to effectively treat cancer and other illnesses and diseases. Clinical studies have already shown that adult stem cell therapies can generate new blood vessels and renew blood flow.”

How does Dr. Vijay’s treatment process work? Once a patient is screened and considered an appropriate candidate for adult stem cell therapy, his or her blood is drawn and sent to the company’s state-of-the-art lab in Orlando, where technicians isolate stem cells from the plasma. Then, they use techniques to culture and acquire the necessary number of stem cells needed for therapeutic doses. In five days, the stem cells are ready to be implanted into the patient at an offshore facility in the Bahamas. Doctors cannot perform stem cell procedures in the United States because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved this form of treatment for clinical use.

“This treatment has helped our patients immensely and improved their quality of life,” he says. “I do not understand why we are not allowed to perform clinical trials of stem cell therapy here in the United States. Clinics around the world that are using this therapy are reporting amazing results, and there are even reports that stem cell therapy can help repair blindness.”

Dr. Vijay treats patients with adult stem cells that come from their own body. Thus, there is no possibility that the immune system rejects the cells, which is one of the drawbacks of embryonic stem cells. “As a heart transplant surgeon, I’ve seen people die from rejection of donor hearts,” he says. “Similarly, there is always a chance that the body will reject embryonic stem cells.”

In addition to Dr. Vijay, Advanced Innovative Medicine’s team is comprised of leading professionals in the fields of medicine and science.