How Young Blood May Rejuvenate Your Immune System and Make you Strong

On this episode of the Anti-Aging Hacks podcast, I talk to a Stem Cell expert.

We discuss the following topics:

1.How our Immune System declines and how to slow down the decline

2. How Young Blood Plasma may boost your Immune System and reduce Frailty

3. How and when to Bank your Stem Cells for future use

Here are the highlights from our call:

Dr. Maharaj Background 

– Joined bone marrow transplant program in Edinburgh

– Developed field of autogolous (your own) bone marrow transplants

– Developed a process to develop stem cells for patients and froze cells, destroyed bone marrow and re-infused those stem cells into patient

– The re-infused stem cells would regenerate bone marrow

– Now this procedure is done worldwide

– Now, when people are at risk for cancer, they bank their stem cells

– Immune senescence starts to develop after age 40, and causes cancer, diabetes, Parkinsons, heart disease

– Immune senescence also causes recurring infections and frailty, and frailty is an indicator of immune senescence

– Working with young blood study to determine if that is a way to correct immune senescence

What does a Bone Marrow Transplant Do 7:00

– It is a way of taking the immune system from a healthy immune system and replacing the diseased immune system of someone that has leukemia or blood disorder

– Extract bone marrow using long needles into hip bone and were very painful

– Due to the volume needed multiple injections and needed an operating room under general anesthetic

– A new process is called peripheral blood stem cell mobilization. If you give the person a particular protein, this releases stem cells from bone marrow into blood and these would be enough to get infused into blood

– Every year 20,000 people donate stem cells to someone else

– Individuals can also bank their stem cells when they are healthy so they can be used later

Stem Cell Banking and Fat vs. Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cells 11:00

– FDA has recently banned stem cells from adipose fat because of the extraction process involved

– No such regulation for bone marrow or blood stem cells

– This is because these procedures have been proven over many years that this works

– Adipose or fat stem cells still have some controversy around them, we are unsure if fat stem cells will solve these problems

– Fat is an immune organ, and areas where fat accumulates there is usually inflammation

– Also unsure if mutations may occur due to re-injecting fat stem cells

Adult Stem Cells Location and Red vs. Yellow Bone Marrow 13:20

– Yellow marrow relates to the fat in the bone

– Red marrow refers to the cells that produce blood

– Three different stem cells in bone marrow: Mesenchymal, Hemapeotic cells and Endothelial stem cells

Is Immune Senescence same as regular Cell Senescence 15:25

– Immune system is in bone marrow but also in other organs

– Every single tissue in body has stem cells, and bone marrow immune stem cells significantly higher than those in other tissues

– Senescent cells have been exposed to toxins which DNA 

– Senescent cells can exist in every organ, and bone marrow can have a high number of stem cells because it is a very active organ

– Senescent cells concentration tends to occur more frequently in organs that are very active vs. others

How do we Measure Frailty in Humans 17:18

– Frailty has different parameters that evaluate cognitive function, physical function, and social function

– We can determine a person’s resilience

– Scientists have developed a frailty index standard, there is correlation between immune senescence and frailty

– Dr. Maharaj using 41 different parameters in his study

Dr. Maharaj’s Study 19:40

– Conducting a study to look at effect at aging of immune system and senescence with frailty

– Got approval from FDA for the study

– Looking to reduce frailty in people by transferring young blood stem cell mobilized plasma into older individuals

– Asking young donors between 18-35, mobilize the stem cells from bone marrow, and collect their plasma which they then inject into older individuals

– Looking for over a 100 markers to see if the study works

– Primary objective of the study is to look at safety in individuals between 55-95

– The second objective to see if the study is efficacious – in that it works

– Plasma injections are being given once a month for a year

– Patients are monitored for 2 years, first year patients get infusions, second year they get monitored without the infusions

– Study started in January 2019

– Study is not funded, have received some funding to get started but study needs $10 Million dollars

– Stem Cell Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Inc is the foundation, and board members have agreed to raise funding

– Looking for additional funding to complete the study

– If funding is available, would be able to complete the funding in 2 years

How does the FDA approve such studies 27:00

– Another start-up for shut down by the FDA for not guaranteeing safety and efficacy. May have minimized the potential risk to patients

– Dr. Maharaj working closely with the FDA, as patients can die

– Must ensure safety first even before claims on efficacy

– Must use defined criteria that are established by FDA

– Would like to get first phase as soon as possible, and then define next phase

Could we go to a local Walgreen’s or CVS every 3 months to boost Immune System 31:10

– Yes, we need to protect immune system way before the diseases of aging or frailty show up

– Normal aging is after 40, and seeing many people with accelerated aging

– We need to be proactive and start maintaining our immune system right after age 40

– We could get to this place quite soon where we could boost our immune system

– There are many things people can do right now to delay immune system senescence and disease

How can People Delay Immune System Senescence  35:00

– There are many items that cause faster aging and immune senescence

– Genes are often associated with accelerated aging, just look at your relatives or parents

– Heavy metals such as mercury and eating a lot of fish (esp large fish)

– Micro-nutrients affect function of cells of immune system

– Gut microbiome

– People being exposed to more infections damages immune system, eg. Lyme’s bacteria

– Lack of sleep, exercise, stress, toxins such as alcohol

– Astronauts and pilots, their immune systems can be affected

Other Anti Aging Hacks 37:50

– Chronic stress is a huge factor, after seeing people coming in with cancer rates

– Addiction from cells phones and other devices can damage immune systems

Should you Bank your and your babies Stem Cells 39:15

– The best stem cells to bank is from adults from ages 18-35

– These stem cells are not just stem cells but also to cells of immune system

– At a later date, if a blood or immune system challenge occurs then they can be used

– Dr. Maharaj offers program to bank stem cells

– Cord blood, has high number of stem cells, but volume of cord blood that can be collected is small

– When child is under 10, then there may not be enough stem cells from the kid

 Dr. Maharaj’s Information

– Institute is called Maharaj Institute of Immune Regenerative Medicine

– For study, the foundation is called Stem Cell Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Research Inc