Science You Can Trust
Evidence-based articles on regenerative medicine, curated by Sterling and backed by peer-reviewed research.
The Science
The History of Stem Cell Research: Sixty Years, One Lineage at a Time
From Till and McCulloch's 1961 clonal proof to the first FDA-approved mesenchymal cell product in December 2024 — what was discovered, when, and in which cells.
The Pulmonary First-Pass Effect: What Happens to Stem Cells in Your Lungs
When stem cells are given intravenously, most are trapped in the lung capillaries on the first pass. The evidence now suggests this entrapment is part of how the therapy works — and that the open safety question is coagulation, not cell viability.
Exosomes and Cell-Free Therapy: What the Science Shows, and What It Does Not Yet
Exosomes explain something real — why infused stem cells help without staying. The preclinical results are striking. But they are in mice, rats and cell culture, there is no approved exosome product anywhere, and the field is publishing papers about its own hype. Here is what is actually known.
How Stem Cell Therapy Works
What MSCs are thought to do, what a course of treatment involves, and what the evidence establishes — a reasonable safety record across 2,372 patients, symptomatic benefit in knee osteoarthritis across 610, and no data at all in healthy people.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs): Biology, Mechanisms and Clinical Evidence
An evidence-verified examination of mesenchymal stromal cells — biology, paracrine and immunomodulatory mechanisms, what the clinical trials actually found, the safety signals that are real, and current regulatory status.
NAD+: The Biology, the Evidence, and What the Drip Can Actually Claim
NAD+ declines with age and matters in cell biology — both well supported. Oral precursors reliably raise it in humans; functional benefits have been largely null. And for intravenous NAD+, a 2026 review of 113 studies found no outcomes trials at all for wellness or anti-ageing. What the evidence supports, separated by route.
NK and NKT Cells: The Biology, and What the Trials Actually Tested
NK cells kill tumour cells — that is not in doubt. What the trials tested is a different question: nearly all used donor cells with conditioning chemotherapy, and the one trial of autologous expanded NK cells found no clinical responses.
Combination Therapies: What Would Prove It, and What We Actually Have
Combining treatments is normal in medicine — but proving a particular combination beats its parts needs an add-on or factorial trial. For the NAD+, exosome, MSC and NK/NKT protocol, that trial has not been done. What would settle it, and what the evidence for each component actually shows.
Types of Stem Cells: A Classification, and What Each One Can Actually Do
Stem cells classified by potency and by origin — what each class can actually do, which risks belong to which class, and the one distinction that decides most treatment questions: what is approved medicine and what is not.
Understanding Cell Sources: Bone Marrow, Adipose and Umbilical Cord Compared
Bone marrow, adipose and umbilical cord MSCs compared from the evidence. What the laboratory studies actually found, why cord tissue and cord blood give different answers, why the only approved MSC product is bone-marrow-derived — and why no trial has compared sources in patients.
What Are Stem Cells?
What stem cells are, why the cells used in most treatments are formally called stromal rather than stem cells, and what the clinical evidence shows — including which cell source the only head-to-head comparison actually favours.
Conditions
Ankle & Foot Injuries: What the Evidence Shows
Achilles tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis and talar cartilage lesions share a region but not an evidence base. What the randomised trials show for each — including where the results are negative.
Back Pain and Degenerative Disc Disease: What the Evidence Shows
What randomised, sham-controlled trials of cell therapy for degenerative disc disease actually found — a modest but real benefit, a threefold increase in treatment-related adverse events, and why uncontrolled results mean little in the most placebo-responsive condition in orthopaedics.
Stem Cells and "Optimization": What the Evidence Actually Shows
What the evidence does and does not show about MSC infusion for optimisation in healthy adults — the trials, the doses, the safety data, and the interventions with stronger evidence.
COPD and Stem Cell Therapy: What the Trials Found
COPD is irreversible, and the landmark cell therapy trial was negative on lung function and quality of life while reassuring on two-year safety. What the trials found, what standard care achieves, and why nothing here is a reason to change your oxygen.
Diabetes and Stem Cells: What the Research Actually Shows
Stem cell research in diabetes, separated by type and by indication. What the published islet-cell trial actually reported, why the strongest type 1 signal belongs to a different cell type, what the type 2 effect sizes are — and why diabetic foot ulcer is the strongest indication.
Elbow Tendinopathy: When Gripping Becomes Agony
Tennis elbow is degenerative, not inflammatory — and 83-96% of untreated patients recover within a year. Learn why cortisone injections worsen 12-month outcomes, where PRP evidence actually stands, and why a systematic review does not yet advise stem cell therapy for tendon disorders.
Ageing, Inflammation and Regenerative Medicine: What the Evidence Supports
What changes with age, what is measurable, and what has randomised evidence — including why the strongest trial for cognitive decline in this age band is not a cell therapy.
Hair Loss: What the Evidence Shows
PRP for pattern hair loss has randomised trial evidence — pooled hair count +17.9 hairs/cm². A review of what the trials show, and how PRP compares with minoxidil and finasteride.
Heart Disease: Regenerative Approaches, and What the Trials Found
Cardiac disease has the largest cell therapy trial programme in medicine and a long record of neutral primary endpoints. What the trials found, why one of the most-cited was retracted, and why we do not offer this treatment.
Hip Pain & Arthritis: What the Evidence Shows
What the research shows about hip osteoarthritis, cell therapy and hip replacement — including why hip evidence differs from knee evidence, and why osteonecrosis is a separate question.
Immune System Optimization: The Role of NK Cells
What NK cells do, what immunosenescence is, and what the one published trial of expanded autologous NK cells actually found — including that it reported no clinical responses.
Knee Osteoarthritis: What "Bone-on-Bone" Means, and What the Treatments Actually Do
What a "bone-on-bone" X-ray does and does not tell you, and what the treatments actually achieve — including the finding that about half the benefit of a stem cell injection is contextual, and the randomised trial data on knee replacement and exercise.
Meniscus Tears: What the Evidence Actually Supports
Traumatic and degenerative meniscal tears share a name and almost nothing else. For degenerative tears, arthroscopic surgery did not outperform sham surgery in a randomised trial — and the human evidence for stem cell therapy is ten patients in two uncontrolled studies. An evidence-graded guide.
NK/NKT Cells for Cancer Support: What Patients Need to Know
What NK and NKT cells do, what engineered NK cell therapy has achieved in registered oncology trials, and why a wellness infusion is not that. No cell therapy has been shown to prevent cancer or recurrence.
Immune Recovery After Cancer Treatment: What the Evidence Shows
Cancer treatment leaves the immune system depleted, and recovery is measurable. Whether any cell therapy improves on it — or reduces recurrence risk — is a different question, and there is no evidence that it does.
Pulmonary Fibrosis: What the Evidence Shows About Stem Cell Therapy
What the published human trials of MSC therapy in IPF actually found, why transplant referral timing matters at diagnosis, and the treatments with stronger evidence than stem cells.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: Managing Inflammation Through Regenerative Medicine
What the four published human trials of MSC therapy in rheumatoid arthritis actually found, why every one of them kept patients on their DMARDs, and what modern treat-to-target care achieves first.
Rotator Cuff Tears: What the Evidence Supports, and Where It Runs Out
Which rotator cuff problem you have determines the answer. The strongest evidence for PRP and stem cells is as an adjunct to surgical repair, not a replacement — and subacromial decompression did not beat placebo surgery. An evidence-graded guide.
Skin Rejuvenation: What the Evidence Supports
What the trials found on PRP, microneedling and exosomes for skin — including the placebo-controlled trial that missed its primary endpoint, and the two treatments with better evidence than any of them.
Athletes Over 40: What Changes, What Works, and What to Check First
What genuinely changes for athletes after 40, what the evidence supports, the anti-doping rules that apply to IV therapy, and what the cell therapy research actually shows.
Chronic Viral Infections: Immunotherapy Approaches
What immune exhaustion is, which chronic viral infections have effective or curative treatment, and what cell therapy has and has not been shown to do. Hepatitis C is curable.
Erectile Dysfunction: What It May Be Telling You About Your Heart
Erectile dysfunction is usually a blood-vessel problem, which makes it an early warning sign for heart disease — ED preceded coronary disease by about two years in 93% of affected men. What to get checked, what actually works first-line, and where shockwave, PRP and cell therapy genuinely stand.
Frailty: What the Evidence Shows
Frailty is a measurable clinical syndrome affecting about one in ten adults over 65. What the randomised evidence shows on exercise, cell therapy, and what remains unresolved.
Parkinson's Disease: The Frontier of Regenerative Neuroscience
Stem cell therapy for Parkinson's is at the frontier of neuroscience — first-in-human trials of iPSC-derived dopamine neurons have begun. An honest assessment of where the science stands, what's proven, and what's still emerging.
Peripheral Neuropathy: Can Regenerative Medicine Restore What Nerve Damage Takes Away?
Peripheral neuropathy is a syndrome with many causes, some of them treatable. What the regenerative evidence does and does not show, and the daily foot care that prevents the worst outcomes.
Stroke Recovery and Stem Cells: What the Trials Actually Found
Every randomised placebo-controlled trial of cell therapy in acute stroke has missed its primary endpoint — MASTERS OR 1.08, TREASURE 11.5% vs 9.8%, AMASCIS no difference at 24 months. What the trials found, by route and phase, and why intensive rehabilitation remains the evidence-based option.
Stem Cells and Healthy Aging: What the Trials Actually Found
The clinical evidence for stem cells and aging comes from trials in people with diagnosed frailty. The largest found a real placebo-controlled improvement in walking distance — and no trial has studied healthy adults.
Wrist & Hand: Carpal Tunnel, Thumb Base Arthritis and De Quervain's
Carpal tunnel syndrome, thumb base arthritis and De Quervain's are three different problems with three different answers — and one of them is time-critical. What the evidence supports for each, including where it argues against injection.
Clinical Evidence
Regulatory Status: What Is Approved, What Is Not, and Where This Treatment Sits
Culture-expanded allogeneic MSCs given intravenously are a "351" biologic under US law, requiring an IND and a BLA — and the treatment offered here is not FDA-approved. What the two pathways mean, what RYONCIL's approval does and does not establish, and how to check any product's status yourself.
What the Meta-Analyses Show: Stem Cell Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis
A review of the published meta-analyses of stem cell therapy for knee osteoarthritis — what they found, where they disagree, and why the comparator changes the answer.
Stem Cell Clinical Trials: How to Find Them, How to Read Them, and How to Join One
How to search the clinical trial registries yourself, how to read a trial record, and why joining a trial is not the same as buying a treatment. Includes verified currently-recruiting Phase 3 trials and the four approved cell therapy products.
Safety Profile of Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy
What the safety evidence for mesenchymal stromal cell therapy actually shows — the adverse events consistently found in randomised trials, how risk differs by cell source and route, documented harms outside trials, and what remains unknown.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy: An Evidence Review
An evidence review of mesenchymal stromal cell therapy — mechanisms, what the trials actually found across conditions, the procoagulant risk signal, and the limits of the current evidence base.
Lifestyle & Recovery
Exercise After Treatment: A Safe Return to Activity
How to return to activity safely after a joint injection — the warning signs that need same-day medical assessment, a staged return, and why exercise is first-line treatment in its own right.
The Active Adult's Guide to Joint Preservation
A practical guide for active adults to protect their joints. Learn the three pillars of joint preservation—strength, flexibility, and weight management—plus early intervention strategies.
Nutrition for Joint Health: What the Science Says
What diet can and cannot do for joint pain — the evidence for weight loss, the Mediterranean pattern and individual supplements, and the drug interactions worth knowing about.
Walking Without Pain: Five Daily Habits That Support Your Joints
Five daily habits that support your joints — plus what the evidence actually shows about walking as first-line treatment, and the symptoms that mean you should be assessed rather than walk it off.
Treatment Comparisons
Why 50 Million Premium Cells Outperform 100 Million Frozen Cells
What the evidence establishes about cell viability, cryopreservation and dose — including why time between thaw and injection matters more than the headline cell count.
Stem Cells vs. PRP: What the Evidence Actually Shows
An evidence-first comparison of stem cell therapy and PRP, current to July 2026. What the randomised trials and European society consensus actually show, how much of the benefit is placebo, and where the evidence is genuinely thin.
Stem Cells vs. Steroid Injections: What the Evidence Compares — and What It Doesn't
No trial has compared stem cell therapy with corticosteroid injection head-to-head. Here is what each has actually been shown to do — how large the steroid benefit is and how fast it fades, what the two-year cartilage data show, and why the cell-therapy evidence is genuinely mixed.
Stem Cells vs. Surgery: Understanding Your Options
What the evidence shows about joint replacement and mesenchymal stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis — including the fact that no trial has ever compared them directly.
Why Stem Cell Therapy Costs What It Does
What drives the price of a stem cell therapy programme, what is not included, what the evidence does and does not show, and why the money is spent whether or not the treatment helps.
Guest Guides
The Complete Guest Journey: What to Expect, and What to Weigh First
What happens at each stage of the guest journey, what the evidence supports about timing and outcomes, what the risks are, and where clinical judgement enters the process.
Preparing for Your Stem Cell Treatment: A Complete Guide
A practical 4-week preparation guide — travel, documents, packing and logistics — plus which medication questions belong to your own prescriber and must not be decided from a checklist.
21 Questions to Ask Any Stem Cell Clinic
21 questions to ask any stem cell clinic before treatment — covering regulatory status, evidence, product, safety, liability and cost, with how to verify each answer independently.
Recovery & Aftercare: What to Expect, and What to Watch For
What is usually unremarkable after treatment, when to seek help, what the evidence says about timing — and why medication decisions belong to your prescriber, not a web page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Stem Cell Therapy
Honest answers to common stem cell therapy questions — what the trial evidence shows on safety and results, where the evidence is uncertain, and what to ask before deciding.
What to Expect: 30, 60, and 90 Days After Stem Cell Therapy
What the trials actually measured, and when — including why day 30 is too early to judge, what dose appears to do to durability, and what to do if day 90 comes and nothing has changed.
Who Is (and Isn't) a Candidate for Stem Cell Therapy
Find out if you're a candidate for stem cell therapy. Learn which conditions respond best, ideal patient characteristics, and contraindications based on clinical trial evidence.
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