TBI Therapy - Pluripotent Stem Cells And PRP For TBI
 

TBI Therapy – Regenerative Therapy for Brain Injury Recovery

Has anyone else seen this? I have spoken to several people who have done this protocol and am planning to do this. One woman told me she was in a car crash and hadn't improved in more than a year. Another improved more modestly, and I am in the process of contacting more people who the clinic said would talk to me. The first two I found on my own.

Dr. Hughes protocol involves many different therapies combined to treat TBI out of his offices in Colorado. They include:

1) Autologous pluripotent stem cells (VSELs) - Very Small Embryonic Like Stem Cells. These are pluripotent stem cells that originate in the bone marrow and circulate in peripheral blood. They behave like embryonic stem cells but are in fact adult stem cells and so can be used. These are not mesenchymal stem cells. The company that makes the technology to isolate them is Tithon Biotech.

2) Platelet rich plasma (PRP) - Concentrated growth factors and cytokines from the blood which can help repair tissue. This is combined with insulin and infused into the cerebral spinal fluid around the brain through the roof of the nose. This doctor is the only person in the U.S. using PRP to treat TBI.

3) IV NAD+

4) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) - This releases more stem cells into your blood from your bone marrow so that they can be collected.

5) Supplements, nutrition, etc.

Wondering what everyone's opinion on this is. Dr. Hughes told me that he has treated around 400 people with this protocol in the past several years. He has been willing to chat with me for several hours overall on the phone for free which I think is rare.

I realize that this combination therapy is not at all FDA approved. But I am going on 18 months with PCS and I am ready to try this, especially given that it is all my own cells and growth factors and not from another source. I have done 130 mHBOT dives so far now, and after improving somewhat I am feeling ready for the next step.

I would be extremely cautious about this.

A warning sign is the large number of testimonials on the site. There is no independent medical confirmation of any of them. For all anybody knows they could just be advertising material composed by the owner of the clinic.

The information here may help you to make an informed choice about the clinic:

Nine Things to Know About Stem Cell Treatments

I have actually seen that list of 9 already. I doubt the physician is outright making it up. You could flat out lose your license or more for something like that. His regular practice is sports medicine where he is using the same cells+prp.

Integrative Medicine in Colorado | Aspen Integrative Medicine

You may also notice that many of the testimonials are more modest. One, presumably for a severe TBI patient, talks about how he learned to use a straw after the treatment to feed himself. Not exactly promising the moon. I would also say that he has said that the treatment will take several months for you to see the full benefits. So the other treatments you are doing around that time are unlikely to account for the improvements people are making. The only other thing that might is HBOT because you are doing it long term.

Indeed as they warn he is using testimonials to back up what he's claiming. But like I said, I found several people who went through his protocol outside of those he recommended I talk to in my HBOT support group. One woman was helped a lot and was able to begin working again, the other one modestly. In both cases it took several months to receive the full benefits.

The whole protocol seems well thought out. HBOT is mobilizing stem cells into the blood which can be collected in a minimally invasive way. The whole idea is that you are harvesting as many of the right type of cell as possible. HBOT is also changing the expression of thousands of genes and oxygenating the brain which is therapeutic in and of itself. There is much evidence now for the efficacy of HBOT including the fact that I have already benefited from it.

I’ve done 16 HBOT sessions. Definitely noticed improvement so far but quite a ways from where I’d like to be. Obviously I can’t expect to be my normal self so have to be happy with the positive changes.

Did you notice much difference after 20 sessions and then 40? All the studies say at least 40.

I noticed real changes at 30-40 dives.

This Australian approach to clinics which sell stem cell treatments may be of interest. The TGA is similar to the FDA.

Stem cell treatments and regulation - a quick guide for consumers | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)

Curious about results
 

SilenceIsSacred,
Please let us know if you go through with it and what results you do or don't get! Optimally, I'd be interested to hear from you 3-6 months after treatment.

Also, is your experience with HBOT detailed in another post? I'm curious if you gained much from it after 40 dives. I'm also curious if you used 1.5 ATA and 100% oxygen. Was a hood used, or was the chamber filled with O2? I don't want to change the topic of this thread, so please let me know if you've detailed your HBOT treatment and results elsewhere!

Thanks! -Dan

I have done 130+ 60 minute dives, 1.3 ATA, with O2 through a mask @ 8 Lpm. I have had some improvements, especially in the area of sleep. I mostly sleep normally now and don't have to take anything most of the time. My mood has also improved, as have my memory and concentration to some degree, but only modestly. I deeply regret not finding out about it sooner because had I begun shortly after my injury I could have restored more function.

Just got back in from doing the procedure. I have a bit of a headache but am otherwise feeling alright. He told me to start looking for results at 3.5-4 months, although some people experience them sooner. I can answer questions if you have them.

Hello. Don't know if you're still active here or not but I am 7 years post TBI. Am in urgent need of getting HBOT. Have contacted Paul Harch in New Orleans and am getting over there as soon as possible. I am curious as to how in the hell you afforded 130 dives? My insurance or any does not cover HBOT for post tbi syndrome. I am ** struggling exponentially. Any information that you have would be of great benefit.