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In this episode of the Anti-Aging Hacks podcast, I speak with a stem cell expert.

We discuss the following topics:

1. How our immune system declines and how to slow the decline

2. How Young Blood Plasma can 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 Wallpaper

– Participated in bone marrow transplant program in Edinburgh

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

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

– The re-infused stem cells would regenerate bone marrow

– Now this procedure is carried out all over the world

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

– Immune aging begins to develop after the age of 40 and causes cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart disease

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

– Working on young blood test to determine if it is a way to correct immune aging

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 in someone who has leukemia or a blood disorder

– Pulled out the bone marrow with long needles into the hip bone and was very painful

– Due to the volume, I needed more injections and needed an operating room under general anesthesia

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

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

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

Stem cell bank and fat vs. bone marrow and blood stem cells 11:00

– The FDA recently banned stem cells from lard 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 to work

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

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

– Also unsure if mutations can occur due to re-injection of fat stem cells

Location of adult stem cells and red vs. yellow bone marrow 1:20 p.m

– Yellow marrow relates to the fat in the bone

– Red marrow refers to the cells that produce blood

– Three different stem cells in the bone marrow: mesenchymal, haematopoietic cells and endothelial stem cells

Is immune aging the same as normal aging of cells 15:25

– The immune system is in the bone marrow, but also in other organs

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

– Aging cells have been exposed to toxins, such as DNA

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

– Concentration of senescent cells tends to occur more frequently in organs that are highly active compared to 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

– Researchers have developed a frailty index standard, which is the correlation between immune defense and frailty

– Dr. Maharaj uses 41 different parameters in his study

Dr. Maharaj’s Study 7:40 p.m

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

– Received FDA approval for the study

– Seeks to reduce frailty in humans by transferring young blood stem cell mobilized plasma to elderly individuals

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

– Looking for over 100 markers to see if the survey works

– The primary purpose of the study is to look at the safety of people between 55-95

– The second goal to see if the study is effective – in that it works

– Plasma injections are given once a month for a year

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

– The study started in January 2019

– The studio is not funded, has received some funding to get started, but the studio 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 funds are available, would be able to complete the financing in 2 years

How does the FDA approve such studies 27:00

– Another FDA shutdown startup for not guaranteeing safety and efficacy. May have minimized the potential risk to patients

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

– Must ensure safety first, even before claims of efficacy

– Must use defined criteria set by the FDA

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

Can we go to a local Walgreen’s or CVS every 3 months to boost the immune system 31:10

– Yes, we need to protect the immune system long before the diseases of aging or frailty appear

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

– We must be proactive and start maintaining our immune system just after the age of 40

– We could get to this place quite quickly, where we could strengthen our immune system

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

How can people delay the aging of the immune system 35:00

– There are many things that cause faster aging and immune defense

– 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 (especially large fish)

– Micronutrients affect the function of cells in the immune system

– Gut microbiome

– People exposed to multiple infections damage the immune system, e.g. Lyme bacteria

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

– Astronauts and pilots, their immune system may be affected

Other Anti-Aging Hacks 37:50

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

– Addiction to mobile phones and other devices can damage the immune system

Should you bank your and your baby’s stem cells 39:15

– The best stem cells for banking are from adults aged 18-35

– These stem cells are not only stem cells, but also for cells in the immune system

– At a later stage, if a blood or immune system challenge arises, they can be used

– Dr. Maharaj offers program to bank stem cells

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

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

Dr. Maharaj’s information

– The institute is called the Maharaj Institute of Immune Regenerative Medicine

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