PORTSMOUTH - Stem cell therapy is beginning to change the way arthritis and other chronic pain conditions are being treated

PORTSMOUTH - Stem cell therapy is beginning to change the way arthritis and other chronic pain conditions are being treated.

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy activates the body's own self-healing mechanisms for cellular and tissue regeneration and repair, according to Dr. Jeff Donatello, of the Center for Functional Medicine and Wellbeing, located in Orchard Park. To date, Donatello said he has had 12 patients cancel their knee replacement surgeries because their joints have healed to the point where they have regained mobility and are experiencing a significant reduction of pain.

"The stem cells know where to go and what to do in people that have arthritis. We treat people with osteoarthritis; knees, shoulders, necks and backs where they're degenerative," said Donatello. "This is going to be a disrupter in many industries; the pain medication industry. If you get this done, you're not going to need to get knee replacements."

Donatello said the anti-inflammatory power of the stem cells is so strong, once it is injected into the problematic area, they begin to create new tissue within one to two weeks.

"The reason why you get arthritis and you have problems down the road is because you lose your stem cell count as you get older. For a 26-year-old, one out of 150,000 cells in your bone marrow would be a stem cell. For a 50-year-old, it's one out of 400,000. When you get to 80, it's one in two million," said Donatello. "A lot of people in their 40s and 50s tear their meniscus (in your knee), your body is trying to heal it but you're getting older and your body is not regenerating fast enough. Now you're 60, the knee is all arthritic, it's breaking down. The doctor's answer now is a corticosteroid injection, which breaks down the tissue more and sets you up for tissue that's destroyed so they replace the knee."

Donatello said he discovered two years ago the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had begun to allow this type of stem cell treatment, which had been available in many industrialized countries for more than a decade. However, since the stem cell treatment is still a relatively new form of therapy, Donatello said it is not currently covered by health insurance providers and the cost depends on what part of the body is being treated. He said therapy on the knee costs $4,000.

"We're not treating anything. We're doing cellular regeneration and we find that it's very effective for areas of inflammation," said Donatello. "A knee replacement costs $50,000 and sure people say insurance covers it. Well they cover 90 percent and Medicare kicks in another 5 (percent) and the patient pays 5 (percent) out of pocket, plus you're out six months trying to rehab it.

These work better than Cortisone shots, just right now Cortisone is covered by insurance but it wrecks you. The people who can afford to do this aren't going to need those other (treatments)."

Greg Colby of Stratham underwent the treatment about a month ago. The 48-year-old real estate appraiser and agent said he has suffered numerous injuries over the course of his life that have required three lower back surgeries and a metal plate being inserted into his neck, in addition to undergoing multiple knee surgeries.

"My body is so beat-up, so I try to take the time to find the right treatment that's actually going to help and take the time to heal. A lot of people just want to treat the symptoms and they get prescribed all sorts of drugs and all they do is treat the symptoms," said Colby, who sells real estate with Studio H. "When I get up in the morning and look at the stairs, they don't seem as scary to me anymore and that's big for me because I'm up and down peoples' stairs constantly with my job."

Donatello said he believes stem cell therapy will become the preferred and mainstream treatment for many chronic pain issues.

"Right now, we're one of the only places in New England doing this and I have a nurse practitioner and her name is Rachel Martin and she is the one doing the injections. My job is to educate," said Donatello. "It can't not evolve into an incredibly commonplace therapy because it works so well.

The insurance companies are probably about five to 10 years out from covering this."

Anyone looking for more information is invited to call Donatello's office at (603) 308-9159 or visit the website at CenterForWell.com.