18 Nov Bone Marrow Stem Cells vs. Adipose (Fat) Stem Cells – Which Is Safer?

Debates regarding the potency and benefits of one type of stem cell over another aren’t your everyday dinner table conversation. However, these discussions are important for anybody who is considering stem cell treatment. There are many different stem cell types to choose from, and two of the most common are derived from bone marrow and adipose (fat).

Adipose stem cell therapy Arizona is quite common and has success rates similar to therapy performed with bone marrow-derived stem cells. However, each type of stem cell does have its own unique properties and excels in certain areas. How can this be, you might ask when stem cells have no basic form or function?

We will explain that to you in this article as we compare bone marrow and adipose stem cells.

About Stem Cells and Stem Cell Sources

At their core, stem cells lack any unique traits. Each one seems to be identical on their own. In this state, they function like static pluripotency waiting to be formed. Much like terrain theory and Royal Rife’s work suggested that bacteria were pluripotent, stem cells show us that pluripotency is not only plausible but is in fact taking place in our bodies all the time.

Different stem cell sources are applicable for different reasons. They can be sourced from blood, fat, bone marrow, embryonic tissue, and umbilical tissue. The latter two are not popular options due to ethical concerns. Most doctors prefer to work with either bone marrow or adipose stem cell therapy Arizona.

But if stem cells seem to be the same, does it really matter where you get your stem cells from? Are bone marrow-derived stem cells any better for you than fat-derived stem cells?

Bone Marrow vs. Adipose Stem Cells

Certainly, due to this stigma in our society against anything ‘fatty,’ most people are naturally attracted to stem cells withdrawn from bone rather than fat. But this stigma is largely unfounded – there are plenty of healthy fats – and furthermore, doctors of adipose stem cell therapy Arizona aren’t going to be relying on social phenomena to inform their decisions.

The general consensus is that bone marrow-derived stem cells are better, as confirmed by some – though not all – evidence. Additionally, evidence is not completely reliable since most of it has been done in vitro, in petri dishes, rather than in vivo, in the body.

Many people allow their understanding of stem cells to be filtered through a style of thinking brought on by mass marketing and associations. When hearing “bone-derived” stem cells, patients thus assume that these cells must excel at treating joint and bone conditions, whereas something like “fat-derived stem cells” must help with fatty conditions.

In reality, both cells are perfectly capable of maturing into healthy cartilage and thus are capable of healing joints and bones. However, stem cells derived from adipose tissue are found to be between 10-100 times more abundant than stem cells found elsewhere in the body. This alone is a deal maker for many of the professionals who prefer to practice adipose stem cell therapy.

Furthermore, bone marrow tends to decline and degrade as we age, producing fewer cells. Adipose tissue continues to produce the same number of stem cells.

Clinically, adipose tissue stem cells have proven to be at least as effective and, in some cases, more effective than bone marrow cells. Because of this and their abundance, they’re generally a safer option.

Conclusion

Both bone marrow and adipose-derived stem cells show a lot of promise for helping to repair various conditions in the human body. However, since adipose stem cells have proven to be just as effective as bone marrow stem cells, and yet remain up to a hundred times higher in concentration, many doctors prefer to rely on them.