We talk to Dr Dev Patel about the new age of Regenerative Medicine
The subject of Regenerative Medicine is not one we hear about much and yet this is probably the most exciting medical speciality. It involves the development of techniques to repair or replace diseased or damaged cells, organs or tissues. We spoke to Anti-Ageing and Aesthetic Physician, Dr Dev Patel, Founder of Perfect Skin Solutions (England, UK). Dr Patel has been serving his patients who travel to his multi-award winning clinic from all around the UK and beyond, with treatments capable of inducing regeneration of human cells, for over 6 years. However, he was most excited to tell us about the latest innovative methods he has brought into his offering.
“Most people have heard about stem cells. These are like baby cells that can transform into other types of cells in the body. Incredible things have been achieved using stem cells to treat various diseases. It was initially believed that these donor stem cells were transforming into healthy cell types to replace the diseased organ cells or other target. However, we now know that -in the main – the donor stem cells merely signal to the host cells to regenerate; known as the paracrine effect. Thus, humans have the ability to regenerate but typically, this will not happen naturally unless the damage is very small eg a graze on your skin. I refer to true regeneration as the ‘Terminator Effect’; if you have seen the films you will understand! The mediators of this cell to cell signalling are called exosomes and scientists have been able to isolate these exosomes from stem cells. This allows us to treat patients with a highly concentrated and purified exosome-rich product, without any donor cells of any kind. The treatment, therefore, has negligible potential for inducing an allergic reaction and with the absence of any cells, is a more acceptable concept to the end-consumer. A typical vial of product allows me to introduce 5-10 billion exosomes to my patient’s skin. These exosomes do not contain genetic code. They act as silencers, reducing production of key proteins involved in inflammation and other negative processes. They contain hundreds of proteins and other factors which will specifically benefit certain issues eg pigmentation, inflammation, elasticity, hair growth. The lab I use has also been able to add additional life-giving growth factors and other beneficial ingredients. The range of potential applications for this technology seems endless and includes inflammatory conditions such as dermatitis. I have used exosome therapy for a number of skin disorders, general signs of ageing, pigmentation including melasma, dark eye circles, scarring and much more.”
So how is it administered? “I inject very superficially using a very fine needle. It is quite comfortable and quick to do. I will often combine this with other modalities of treatment known to trigger biostimulation (eg Radiesse Plus, PLEXR or Morpheus8) to get optimal outcomes. We just need the signalling to induce change in cells. Therefore, you do not need to keep treating for months on end. A course of 5 treatments is usually enough. All patients will continue with a simple growth factor serum (GF5 by CellDerma®) and this will help maintain the positive results.”
If you wish to know more, visit Dr Dev Patel’s clinic website: www.perfectskinsolutions.co.uk or follow him on Instagram @drdevpatel1