Longevity enthusiasts and those suffering from Arthritis are spending thousands of dollars getting stem cells injected into their knees for treatment. According to experts, mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs - multipotent cells that can differentiate into various cell types, including bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle are being used by rich people, including Bryan Johnson, the businessman famed for spending a fortune to try and reverse ageing process for various body treatments.

Mayo Clinic says stem cell therapy is a promising solution for correcting various degenerative, traumatic, genetic, and autoimmune disorders including leukemia and diabetes, as approved by the FDA. However, using another person’s cells to keep your knees healthy is a relatively new feat and has not been given consent yet.

In arthritis, the cartilage covering the ends of the bones starts to deteriorate and wear away. As the bones lose this protective covering, they rub against one another. This leads to pain, swelling, and stiffness - and, ultimately, loss of function and mobility.

Millions of people in the United States live with osteoarthritis of the knee. Many manage their symptoms through exercise, weight loss, medical treatments, and lifestyle modification. And if symptoms become severe, total knee replacement is an option. Over 6,00,000 people in the United States undergo this operation alone every year. Yet, doctors say stem cell therapy can be an alternative to surgery.

And so, billionaires and athletes are flying to places like the Bahamas and Panama to undergo the procedure on their knees, according to the New York Post.

Doctors inject healthy stem cells into a person, which help regenerate and repair tissues that have been damaged. Medical experts are hoping the therapy – using other people’s cells, can be used to treat a long list of medical issues.

“What I’m really hoping for is that in the future, when we go to the office for the yearly checkup, and we get our flu shot, maybe we’ll also get a stem cell boost either to treat our current conditions or to delay the onset of them, to treat our bodies in the best possible way independently of whatever the genetic lottery gave us,” Matthias Bernow, the CEO of the biotech company Cellcolabs that provided the stem cells for Johnson’s procedure, told Business Insider.

However, stem cell therapy is currently extremely expensive and requires much more research, especially when used for newer treatments such as joint regeneration.

Johnson says he has spent $16,500 per injection on his knees. His spokespersons say Johnson was injected with cells from young, healthy Swedish volunteers, after a detailed evaluation and peer-reviewed studies on potential longevity treatments. However, he has not yet noticed any major change.

“That’s probably because my health biomarkers are already in the top 1 per cent as far as muscle, fat, metabolic health, cardiovascular health, et cetera,” Johnson told Business Insider. “So, it’s pretty difficult for my subjective feeling of wellness to improve.”

What are the side effects and risks?

Studies say stem cell treatment for knees is noninvasive, and the side effects are minimal. According to Healthline, after the procedure, some people may experience temporary increased pain and swelling.

However, when the procedure uses stem cells that come from your own body, it reduces the risk of any serious side effects. But when they are harvested and processed from someone else, the likely side effects are still not known.

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