hol+ by Dr. Taz

Reversing Chronic Inflammation and Promoting Longevity with Stem Cells with Dr. Joy Kong
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Dr. Joy Kong: [00:00:00] If you look at the mechanisms of how stem cells work, and I think that's the bottom line, you have to look at the functions of stem cells. The huge part is anti-inflammatory. So mesenchymal stem cells has been demonstrated incredible anti-inflammatory effect. And as you know, diseases, chronic illnesses, inflammation right or aging process is all tied to inflammation.

So when you can calm the inflammation, you can really allow the body to go into the regenerative process. I actually think stem cell therapy is a form of energy therapy. Mm. It's noting we're not injecting molecules. It's not a pharmacological is energetic because I'm injecting DNA and the DNA with this intelligence is sending signals through that intelligence.

So intelligence is a form of energy, right? So, wow. It's a first time in human history that I'm injecting intelligence into the body, back into the body of my patients. Wow. That

Dr. Taz: kind of like blows my mind a little bit. To be a hundred percent honest. That's so incredible. Almost every day in practice, I get asked about stem cells.

[00:01:00] People wanna know what they are, where to get them, and honestly, so many of you are traveling all over the world to get stem cells. I wanna get educated on this topic too, and that's why I invited my next guest. Please meet Dr. Joy Kong, who is a triple board certified anti-aging physician and stem cell specialist.

She's renowned for her expertise in stem cell therapy and a commitment to educating both physicians like me and the public with a strong presence in the industry. She has established herself as a trusted voice through her extensive lecturing at national and international conferences, as well as her publications and scientific journals.

Please welcome Dr. Kong. So what, what's going on this? I feel like the stem cell thing came at me outta nowhere. What's happening? What are stem cells? You know, how did you get into stem cells? Right. Give,

Dr. Joy Kong: give us a little peek of all of that. Yeah. So I got bitten by the stem cell bug about eight years ago.

So I was like every other doctor, having no [00:02:00] awareness of what's going on in the real world when it comes to stem cells. Mm-hmm. Because in medical school, all we were taught was that there were stem cells and you can use them and there's research going on. That's all I knew. End of story. So I was a practicing, actually a psychiatrist.

So after residency I was practicing for seven years and, um, I knew what I knew, uh, which doesn't, did not include stem cells until I met this doctor at the end of, um, like a addiction training. And, um, he said, Hey, you know, I'm a. Uh, anesthesiologist. Mm-hmm. But I use stem cells. I do anti-aging medicine. I was like, really?

What's anti-aging medicine and what you're using stem cells. Right. I thought they're doing research. Right. What? What's going on? So that was really interesting. That shows you how even somebody like me who's really open to integrated medicine, Eastern western integration still, uh, I had no idea that people are actually conducting stem cell therapy already in this country.

That was eight

Dr. Taz: years ago. [00:03:00] That

Dr. Joy Kong: was eight years ago. Right. Okay. So what he told me was, look at what happened with this autistic kid. I give him umbilical cord stem cells and look at all these changes that the teacher have noted down about 40 different changes. Wow. Behavioral, you know, uh, just, yeah. Uh, learning differences, accomplishments in school, et cetera.

And those are the things I could not. Uh, make much of a difference in, even though I was a psychiatrist, right? We were trained in treating autism. So that was mind blowing to me because, you know, I, unfortunately, a lot of doctors these days are not curious enough if their patient got better because that stem cell treatment, they're just like, oh, whatever, or, or whatever alternative treatments, right?

They're still the brushing it off, right. As one off. But to me that was a turning point. Mm. Because there's something I didn't know that's so powerful that if I don't tap into it, then I'm not doing my patient's justice. [00:04:00] So when I saw what he did for the autistic kid, even though he wasn't trained in autism, right, that's when I realized, okay, I need to dig into this.

I need to find out what kind of research are done and what kind of evidence, how, how does it even work? Why, why did it help this kid that I don't know how to help? That's

Dr. Taz: amazing. I didn't even, you know, this is my ignorance again, but I didn't realize. Stem cells were being used for conditions like autism.

I was thinking about it more, or at least in my head, it was more about like anti-aging maybe, or longevity type stuff. I didn't realize this being used. Very condition specifically.

Dr. Joy Kong: Oh my goodness. And that's the whole point of me setting up a academy, American Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy. When I teach doctors.

Yeah. We have like over 30 categories of organ systems and D disease categories from head to toe. Wow. You know, from skin. Skin. You set this

Dr. Taz: organization up?

Dr. Joy Kong: Yes.

Dr. Taz: Okay. Tell, okay. Tell us about the organization. Uh, if

Dr. Joy Kong: people are interested, just look up aa i ct.org. Okay. So that's the American [00:05:00] Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy is about providing cell cell therapy and teaching doctors how to do it, but also doing it.

Under the, the kind of philosophy of respecting the body, right. As a very complex whole, so we're not just Oh, stem cell therapies and all be all, no. We are doing it in a complex web of relationship that's called to the rest of the biology. The body of the human body. So

Dr. Taz: important because even like if you look at the HRT community, it's like HRT for all HRT, for all hormone replacement therapy, but you have to look at it holistically.

Yeah. Otherwise you can do more harm than good, you know? Yeah. I think is

Dr. Joy Kong: arrogance. If we only say thank you. Yeah, my method is fantastic. This is what everybody should do, right? Okay. Yeah. Maybe for most people it's going to be amazing, but for some they may need something else. Stem cells can help everybody.

That's not a question, but there may not be enough benefit for some people if they have a lot of underlying toxicity, maybe [00:06:00] infection, hidden infection. If you don't address those. Or if their, their microbiome is completely outta whack. Right. You need to adjust nutrition. They don't have enough vitamins or, or, or minerals.

Then they can't really get to the place you want them to be. So that's why you have to address everything. Everything. Yeah. It's all connected. We say that all the time. Yeah. But the thing is from head to toe. Yeah. In our clinic, that's incredible. 90% of our patients actually are coming in for severe. And, you know, devastating condition.

So it could be from autism, from dementia, um, autoimmune conditions, all kinds of brain issues, traumatic brain injury, a LS, Parkinson's, um, it can be internal organ issues, heart, lung, kidneys, liver, all of it just testicles really throughout the body. Muscular skeletal is the, the bread and butter of stem cell therapy.

That's what people know most about. Red Kobe Bryant, right? Going overseas. But anti-aging is, is a small portion. Maybe somehow it, you know, [00:07:00] got the best buzz, not loud. Right? Got the best, best buzz. Yeah, it is really important part because my goal really is. People can get, uh, various modalities incorporated so they don't get sick.

Right? Right. So they start to do things that really can enhance their health. And stem cell therapy is a powerful tool, so you can keep your body functioning at a younger state, so you never get to the decline, which is the precursor of disease.

Dr. Taz: Interesting. So let's start with some basics 1 0 1. What is a stem cell?

A stem cell

Dr. Joy Kong: is. A primitive cell mm-hmm. That has the capability to replicate itself, but also make a copy of itself that's a little different that can replenish tissue. So if we go back to the very beginning, I always like the, the very beginning, the history, which is the fertilized egg. Mm-hmm. So both UME mm-hmm.

As amazing and complex as we are, we're eggs. We came from a single [00:08:00] cell. Right. And what the hell's going on in that single cell? How did it know to become a full-fledged human with such complex organ systems all talking to each other somehow we are all walking, talking, you know, generating thoughts. I mean, it's a miracle, right?

Yeah. Very much so. What was in that cell, and that's what we're tapping into, that first cell contain this DNA. Mm-hmm. The DNA is the blueprint for life is the most energy dense substance in the universe. And what is energy and what's intelligence are the intertwined? Do we know the answer? Not exactly, but.

You can imagine if there's information probably that's where the, where, where the energy in the DNA is contained in, right? Mm-hmm. The information, this power that's within this capability to respond to the environment to generate changes, so, so that's what we're tapping into. So the first. The fertilized egg is the first stem cell, and from there downward, [00:09:00] um, you start to form different structures, right?

Mm-hmm. The, the embryology, the different layers. Yes. Taking me back, remember? Yes. It's a complex, complex right process. I think I did okay on that test. I think so. I'm trying to remember now. It's, it's a pain. It's a, it's a pain, right? It's very complex. So when you start to develop different organs. There's a process where you go down the develop developmental pathway to gain specialization and you lose capacity.

Mm. So when you're very young, early stem cells, you, you can become anything. The embryonic stem cells or the first, the, when, when we talk about embryonic stem cell therapy mm-hmm. Is really the cells that's in the inner cell mass, um, in the, the, in day five to seven

Dr. Taz: Okay. Of

Dr. Joy Kong: the, the embryo formation. Okay.

So the inside the, the embryo, there are all these cells that you can obtain and each can form a full fledged human being. Right. Wow. So they're, they're that potent. But as [00:10:00] they develop, they start to lose the capability to become anything. Ah, but then they gain function. So they're gaining, you know, let's say heart, they start to go toward the pathway of the heart.

Until they reach the end stage of a stem cell, which is a tissue specific stem cell. Mm. In your heart you have heart specific stem cells, so that's at the very, very end, um, end of the stem cell pathway from there on.

Dr. Taz: So you have embryonic stem cells, which are from the beginning. Yes. Then you have maturing stem ger cells, different germ

Dr. Joy Kong: layers.

They each can develop into different, uh, stem cell lines. Gotcha. Right. Then you have tissue specific stem cells. Right. So three different, each of your organ types basically. Exactly. Okay, gotcha. So each of your organ already have stem cells that can regenerate cells in that organ, and this is. The premise of how we're doing stem cell therapy right now.

Mm-hmm. We're really not giving you a organ [00:11:00] specific stem cells, and we may not need to because by giving you something called hemato, uh uh, the mesenchymal stem cell mm-hmm. We are actually able to send signals to your own tissue specific stem cells so they can replenish the tissue.

Dr. Taz: So it's like a commander in chief.

Exactly. Now being able to direct somebody further down the road. Exactly. Because they have the resources and the energy to do so. They

Dr. Joy Kong: have

Dr. Taz: the information. And the information. Yeah. Gotcha. It's like

Dr. Joy Kong: blasting your body with clear instructions. Oh, wow. And a lot of times as we age, age, that's miracle. It is a miracle.

That's why it's so incredible. It's so fun. Exciting. Yeah. And I see it in practice that it actually works. So what's really interesting is when we were born mm-hmm. These mesenchymal stem cells, I mean that this is one type of stem cells, but they're very powerful because they're strategically positioned.

In every part of your body, so anywhere you have blood vessels, blood supply, these cells are hovering, well, they're holding onto your [00:12:00] blood vessels like a gecko on, you know, holding onto a wall, and they will sense what's going through your blood. Blood vessels and then they will also sense what's going on in the neighborhood, in the tissue.

So they, and they also talk, they have their hands on the local tissue, specific stem cells, so they're like hearing what's going on in the blood and then they're sensing what's go, what you need in the tissue. Sometimes they can sense signals into the blood. So entire system, your immune system can respond.

It's like gathering an army, sending out this rescue signal. Signal. So your, your immune system was sent what's necessary to help local repair. But at the same time, if there's an area that is screaming of injury or inflammation, those signals will be floating through the blood and the stem cells can sense it.

Mm-hmm. So these mesenchymal stem cells. When they sense these strong signals, they can squeeze themselves into the blood vessel and actually swim upstream to find the signal. Once they find the [00:13:00] highest density of the signal, they will squeeze themselves out and then that then they can do their thing, produce all their signals to tell local cells what to do, but also sent signals into the blood.

Fascinating. That's why mesenchymal stem cells so powerful. And what's interesting is the number of stem cells, these mesenchymal stem cells, I'll just call MSC for short. The number decline as we age. Mm. When we were born, you had one in 10,000 cells as MSEs, but by the time you're a teenager, it's already down to one in a hundred thousand.

Mm. Right. You have one 10th as far as proportion of number of cells, and by the time you reach your forties is one in 400,000. Oh, wow. By the time you reach your eighties is one in 2 million. Mm-hmm. So no wonder people are wrinkling. Right. And their organ functions are declining. They can't repair as fast.

Mm-hmm. That's why they have osteoarthritis. Mm-hmm. You think it's a wear and tear disease. Just look at the little kids, how much they're wearing and tear in their body. Mm-hmm. Nobody is having osteoarthritis. [00:14:00] Right, right, right. Absolutely. So, so it's a degenerative inflammatory condition because your body cannot keep up with repair because you're just running out of good signals.

I

Dr. Taz: love that. I hope everybody heard that aging is a degenerative inflammatory condition due to lack of the ability to repair. I think that's a really different way to think about aging, and I think that's. Almost a hopeful way to think about aging, because we can improve the way we repair and we can reverse inflammation.

Those things are definitely possible. So when it comes to actual use of stem cells in clinical practice, what has the history of that been? Has it been used or known about for a while, but was just kind of hush hush? Was it used in other systems of medicine or other countries? You know, what's the background, you know, before we jump into how it's being actually used today?

Dr. Joy Kong: Mm-hmm. Yeah. The very first. Stem cell transplant really was the f first bone marrow transplant that was, uh, I think is the, the right around 1960s. So Right, [00:15:00] right. At the, the transition point. Uh, so people did not know that they were transplanting stem cells. They thought there's something really important, the bone marrow Right.

That you one person needs, you know? Right. There's good things in the bone marrow. Right. That's, that's all they knew. Yeah. And then they realize, oh, there are these blood forming units, uh, from the bone marrow. So they're hematopoietic progenitor cells there. All, all these, uh, immune cells, uh, very primitive immune cells.

So the bone marrow was the very first one, and that's one reason that bone marrow stem cell treatments was kind of the, um, almost like the standard for some time. Mm-hmm. That's why there are still so many doctors doing it, even though later on we discovered other types of therapy that possibly are better mm-hmm.

Are superior, such as. Birth tissue derived stem cells. Um, especially if you are looking at transplanting between two people within the same person. Um, some people may say, well, you know, I want my own stem cells, [00:16:00] but still your own stem cells have declined as far as quality. Right. Compared to thelocal cord in the newborn because the, the, in the newborn, that's the, the cord is really much younger than the baby's stem cell.

Wow. So you're not just getting the baby's stem cell, you're actually getting what's in between the embryonic stem cell, the first egg pH that we talked about. Yep. Mm-hmm. And the baby. So they're in between, in their characteristics when you look at cellular markers, they have, um, a lot of the embryonic markers that have dissipated disappeared in the baby's stem cells.

Gotcha. So these are very special group. Um, so as far as the umbilical cord stem cells Right. That have been used probably only in the last 20 years or so. Okay. Yeah, so that's fairly new. The fat derived stem cells was a little bit, uh, a little bit earlier than the birth tissue derived stem cells. That's why they're, you know, they're popular.

Um, they're really not getting cells from the fat, right. They're, they're getting the [00:17:00] cells from the blood vessels that's supplying the fat. Mm. That's why they're, they were spinning, they were processing them to free these cells up that they were trapped in the matrix, and that's in the fat, but they were really along the blood vessels.

Interesting. So these are the mechy stem cells. So

Dr. Taz: there's been some controversy around, you know, acquiring stem cells, stem cell harvesting. You know, uh, cleanliness of stem cells in that harvesting process. Can you talk to us a little bit about that? Like what, what is the controversy and then how are we getting stem cells that we're using today?

How do we know we have a good quality stem cell versus not? And for somebody who's listening and, and is interested in stem cell therapy as a consumer, you know, what should they be thinking about or looking for as well?

Dr. Joy Kong: Yeah. So I always say there are only two things that matter in stem cell therapy. One is the cells and the other is where to put it.

Mm-hmm. So, so one is the original healing factor. The second is the art. Of how to provide that healing. So the quality of [00:18:00] stem cell is paramount. Mm. So if you are looking at your own stem cells, maybe it's not as potent as the younger birth tissue stem cells, but if we're just looking at birth tissue, stem cells, still, I think you're maybe alluding to right incident that happened a few years back, what was in the politics

Dr. Taz: too.

It became a campaign issue around stem cell therapy and birth harvesting of stem cells and stuff like that. So just wondering what, what that's all about. Yeah. You know,

Dr. Joy Kong: so. So first of all. Um, there shouldn't be controversy to harvest stem cells from the, the tissue that's usually thrown away after birth.

Right. Right. So, right. But we don't do anything with the umbilical, so, yeah. Right. So, and the baby's healthy. You know, we don't, we don't try to get anybody to abort. Right. We, in the US we only obtain the tissue after a life healthy baby is born, right? They clamped a cord, usually they just throw it away.

But now we have an option to give to the mother, do you wanna save it for your baby or do you wanna donate it? So most of the time they actually choose to, to [00:19:00] donate. Okay. 'cause they, they don't wanna spend the money to keep the, you know, the tissue and et cetera. So, when. You have these birth tissue and there are all these companies that want to extract these incredible cells from the tissue.

Um, and it's, it's like a gold mine that people are jumping. It is like a gold rush. Yeah. You know, the new Western gold rush. Right, exactly. Stem cells. So, and I see all kinds of actors jumping in. Um, a lot of businessmen. I've nothing against businessmen. I'm a businesswoman myself. However, the priority of why you're doing it needs to be to bring good Yes.

And for healing. Mm-hmm. And to give people the best possible. Mm-hmm. Right. But that's one thing I saw as lacking. That's why I started my own stem cell company, because I realized that a lot of these people have their priority wrong. Mm. That they will cut corners and, uh, sacrifice quality and sacrifice just the, the scientific, um, the composition of [00:20:00] the product.

Mm. In order to gain more profit. So one of the companies they were. Trying to, uh, you know, the, the, the demand was high, right? So they were selling a lot and they weren't really keeping up with what's necessary, which is the sterility of a product. That's really the basics, right? You're giving a human anything, whatever, you know, drugs, supplements, you wanna have something that's pure, right?

You don't wanna give people contaminated, um, substance. So what they did was that they actually do not go through testing 'cause they cut corners. Usually after the cells are separated, uh, from the tissue, you're supposed to send it to third parties, sterility lab. And it takes two weeks for the results to come back because they were supposed to grow the cells to see if any bacteria will grow.

Any endotoxins will be secreted. Yeah. Um, so they didn't do that, and they just started selling. And it turned out that there were. Contaminated with e coli and um, a lot of [00:21:00] people got hospitalized. So, so that's unfortunate. Um, however, it will be, um, it will be unfair. To shut or, or to shoot down a whole industry just because they're bad players.

Right? Right. Let's say a a, something's really good for your health, let's say vitamin C. Right? And there's one company that did something that's really bad and contaminated the product. You don't shut entire vitamin C production that way. Same thing as if the not doing something right in the stem cell therapy.

You don't say that We shut down the stem cell therapy. Just like if a surgeon did something bad for knee replacement, right. And the person suffered a lot. You don't shut down. You don't say, we, we don't, you know, we should, we should ban knee replacement. Right? Right. So same, same philosophy. So unfortunately, um, that's one example.

Okay. And I've seen some companies cut corners as well, but I think majority of them are trying to do the right thing. Yeah. Are, are trying, well, how do

Dr. Taz: you know who's trying to do the right thing and who's not? [00:22:00]

Dr. Joy Kong: So how do we know Yes. Which company's good? Yeah.

Dr. Taz: How do you

Dr. Joy Kong: That is tough. So I work with various laboratories and I personally inspect them and, you know, I really, uh, validate what their products contain.

Um, but for. A lay person or for just regular doctors. Right. Who wanna use the product and everyone says they have the best product. Right. So it becomes, it becomes difficult. Well, it's the key. It sounds

Dr. Taz: like the key though is, is look for companies that have done testing, that have submitted themselves for testing, that sounds like something everybody can at least ask.

Mm-hmm. You know, like what type of third party testing have you done? Yeah. You know? Yeah. So, you know, okay, so we have this industry now, or this option of stem cell and stem cell therapy. Maybe talk through, while we're still in, just kind of the mechanics of it. Like, how's it done? Is it injected in the blood?

Is it the same thing? Is it PRP and exosomes? Is it, you know, put on topically? Like, what, how, how are we actually [00:23:00] doing this? Yeah.

Dr. Joy Kong: So now you're talking about the art. Yes. This is the art part. How toce themselves, first it was the product, now it's the art. So now you have to look at what are you trying to target.

Okay. So if you look at the mechanisms. Of how stem cells work. And I think that's the bottom line, right? You have to look at how the cells work, and from there you can decide what to do with it. So the functions of stem cells, the huge part is anti-inflammatory. So mesenchymal stem cells has been demonstrated incredible anti-inflammatory effect.

And as you know, diseases, chronic illnesses, inflammation is the word right over aging process is all tied to to inflammation. So when you can calm the inflammation, you can really allow the body to go into the regenerative process. And then second really huge part is immune. Uh, balancing the, the immune, uh, reactivity, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Immune regulation. Right. So you are allowing the immune system to calm down if [00:24:00] it's overactive. Mm-hmm. And to boost the system if it's underactive. And then there's some other really cool properties like antifibrotic properties, and I've seen that over and over again. I've seen that in COPD liver cirrhosis.

Mm. In nodules in the thyroid or testicles or pone, you know, coverage or the penis from the, the plaques. Yeah. Just had a patient with that breaking down scar tissue. It's powerful. And we don't have anything in medicine that can do that at this point. So, I mean, how And stem cells help that. Yes. How fun is that?

Right. Okay. So you can actually break down scar tissue and they can also promote angiogenesis. So new blood vessel formation, so many diseases. Right. If you bring. More blood circulation now you can help regenerate and does the tissue no good to have new cells with no blood supply. Right. So for the heart, you know, for really any, anything, there's, you can generate more blood vessels and then you can, um, uh, there's anti cancer properties.

So the cells have been [00:25:00] shown mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to secrete, um, certain ligand to trigger programmed cell death in cancer cells.

Dr. Taz: Wow. Yeah. So why are we not using it more with this epidemic of

Dr. Joy Kong: cancer that we're having? Well, I think that, uh, what do they call the big C word is a little bit, uh, of a taboo subject.

Mm. Uh, however we can talk about research. Okay. Because there's plenty of research from all around the world using mesenchymal stem cells to treat various types of cancer. Mm. And there's been very promising results. So, so the, the anti-cancer properties, there's also anti-microbial properties besides boosting your immune system's, uh, immune system to fight microbes.

It can also secrete anti-microbial peptides, directly killing microbes. And it can also provide something like, uh, mitochondria transfer, which I think is super cool. Fascinating. 'cause imagine these young cells from the OC cord having very vibrant, fresh mitochondria, [00:26:00] and these new cells getting into the body can kind of spit out the mitochondria either into space or put in a vesicle, diffuse with the, with your cells and elevating the energy, you know, kind of life force Yeah.

Of your cells. So, uh, everything becomes. You know, more forceful, right, right. As far as regeneration and, uh, it can also salvage damaged tissue. So there, there's systemic benefits and their local benefits, of course, can trigger your local stem cells to go into regenerative wow. Replication. So, so if you look at all these, um, aspects of how the cells work, then you will, you want the systemic benefit, right, right, right.

You want inflammation to calm down. You, you want your immune system to come on board. So for me, at our clinic, one of the keytones of stem cell therapy is IV stem cell therapy. IV stem cell therapy. Exactly. Okay. Because what I'm doing really is what the cells were doing in the body before the cells were hovering around the blood vessels [00:27:00] waiting for signals.

Right. And then they will squeeze themselves into the blood vessels to find where the signals are at. So if I put them into the bloodstream Right, I'm really doing something similar to what the cells were doing in the body before anyhow. Right. So then they will find their way to where they're needed. So.

It doesn't matter where your problem is, the cells will be attracted to those signals. But of course, if you have a lot of injury, a lot of inflammation, and there're only this much cells and put in the body, they're gonna be diverted, right? Mm-hmm. It's like mm-hmm. An army that's divided into many battle fronts.

So then it's gonna be harder to fight battles, and that's why there's dose dependent, um, stem cell therapy, right? Treatment. So you want to calculate how many cells you need by just how much damage you're trying to fix.

Dr. Taz: So I've heard a lot, I've heard about iv. Is iv the most aggressive form or the most, uh, I think is the most comprehensive, effective, comprehensive form.

Yeah. Okay. I

Dr. Joy Kong: have helped people, even with. Chronic [00:28:00] knee pain. Right, right. Chronic, um, rotator cuff injury. Right. Without touching those joints and they recover. Get better. Yeah. Interesting. Plantar fasciitis. So yeah, those are the musculoskeletal. A lot of people think, oh, you have to put the cells down.

Right. Apparently not, because I've had great successes success just by putting it through the IV route. Through the IV route. Yeah. Because I think even

Dr. Taz: is there, uh, intrathecal or within the spine stem cell therapy That would be

Dr. Joy Kong: for doctors who are willing to do that. Okay. I don't do that in clinic. Okay.

You. Do you have more risks? Yes. You have more cells directly into the spinal canal and that can, you know, flow through right. And into your, your brain. Um, but that does pose more risk. That may not be necessary. Okay. Because we do something called intranasal. Uh, you can inject stem cells through the intranasal route or you can use exosomes, intranasally.

Um, I think that's a much safer way of delivering cells into the brain. Besides, we [00:29:00] also use something called mannitol pre-infusion to open up the blood brain barrier. So when we actually infuse stem cells. So there's a technique to all of this. Yeah. You can't just go and they're, so what about

Dr. Taz: the beauty?

Okay, not to get super light now, but what about like the beauty treatments of PRP and exosomes? I've actually had facial exosomes done, and I, and I like it, but what's your thought on. All the stuff being applied topically. Yeah.

Dr. Joy Kong: I think they're great. Um, you do want to regenerate everything Yeah.

Underneath, yeah. But topical, uh, you know, breaking down scar tissue, right, right. To release wrinkles, uh, to help resurface, basically improve collagen production, decrease inflammation, promote the regeneration, you know, building more skin cells, newer, fresh, uh, and healthier tissue. So definitely, I think they're very, very powerful.

A wonderful tool. Okay. However, I'm still a huge fan of IV stem cells because What about the [00:30:00] fat pad underneath your, your skin, right? Yeah. What about the ligaments and the, the muscles? If you don't address those, right. Those atrophy and sag, now you've got perfectly smooth skin, but, but it's still sagging, just a little sagging.

Gotcha. Okay. So if you really want true use, right, and rejuvenation, you want to go from the inside out and, but the outside, you may need a little bit more. You know, TLC. Right? Because you get more damage. Right. By being exposed to the environment. Yeah. Exposed to, yeah. This, uh,

Dr. Taz: tox environment. This is so interesting.

So let's talk a little bit about what you're seeing in clinic. Like what is, what is the patient coming in and asking for by the time they ask for stem cells, what is the average person looking at? And then I kind of wanna dive into some of the conditions that even we see in practice where we get stumped or we kind of hit a roadblock, um, and see if you actually see some improvement there.

Yeah. But talk to me a little bit about your, like what's happening in your clinic. Yeah. You just reminded me of, '

Dr. Joy Kong: cause I've trained a lot of physicians. Yeah. And they come to my course. I remember [00:31:00] there's one time I was going through the different organ systems. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the, the, the different clinical research.

And my staff was telling me the sounds the, the doctors were making. They were like, whoa. Wow. They were, they were, they were just shocked. Shocked. Yeah. Because I think in their mind it's like, oh my God, this is possible. This patient I have that I haven't been able to help. Now I just see they've done research on this.

Right. This actually helps. So it, it, it's really powerful to go through all these evidence. So in my clinic, people. Basically who have tried everything right. Most of the time. Right. Um, unfortunately, you know, you and I are both trained in traditional medicine mm-hmm. And it's very drug oriented. Yes. Um, a lot of times it doesn't really address why the disease happened in the first place.

Right. So it, it targets how we can relieve symptoms and, and that brings about a whole other. You know, a, a slew of, uh, potential problems. Right. Right. Because we're, we're, we're, it's like [00:32:00] a throwing a, a like a wrench, you know? And this intricate, uh, system, a system

Dr. Taz: that communicates with each other, a system that is so biologically and physiologically complex Yeah.

Have, that's why have can't bandaid here and then bandaid here and expect the two not to communicate with each other, you know? So Yeah.

Dr. Joy Kong: That's why you have these powerful side effects, right, right. They're very, you know, very severe and, and, and frightening sometimes. And I always said if stem cell therapy has even one of the, the severe side effects of any of the FDA approved drugs, we would've been shut down.

Mm. But it's so safe. And, and it, it, it's also gentle on the system, but as far as going back to what it has, you know, been helpful for and really from head to toe. So when people come to me, they've already tried, you know, all the traditional approaches, right? Right. So let's say people with diabetes, right?

Blood sugar. I've had people even doing biohacking. Some people have done, you know, everything the traditional medicine has to offer and then everything the alternative [00:33:00] medicine has to offer and still the blood sugar was not budging. Mm-hmm. And then they come in, they really want, you know, to do some, you know, help with regeneration.

Right. And lo and behold, there goes the blood sugar start to come down. And I have somebody with, uh, lymphoma also tried everything and tried alternative treatments for over four years, and then came to our clinic and did one stem cell treatment. The, the, the white blood cell count started to come down first time in, in over four years.

Wow. And the second test coming down even further, I mean, he was ecstatic and not just coming down, but the energy level, the immunity mm-hmm. The kind of, you know Right. Vibrancy. He was able to, to notice. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, but people come to me all kinds of, all kinds of conditions. Yeah. So, musculoskeletal

Dr. Taz: autoimmune.

Um, let's talk about cancer for a second. 'cause I feel like that's a big one. And then we're, you have to go there, huh? I have. I am so curious. You're fearless. I'm so curious. I, I do wanna talk about cancer [00:34:00] and then I do wanna talk about kind of cognitive health, brain health, mental health, you know, like that, because that's such a problem.

I think these are two big epidemics. That's why I wanna go there. I, I feel like these are two very big epidemics. First it was impacting maybe somebody over 40 or over 50, but now it's a conversation for even our teenagers and young children. So what's happening with cancer in the world of stem cells?

What are we seeing? Can, is it an option for something like breast cancer, which almost, I don't know how, what percentage of women today face it, but it's pretty big. Or for prostate cancer in men or for any of the other solid type tumors? Is it an option?

Dr. Joy Kong: Um. There's actually a little bit of controversy when it comes to cancer and stem cells because there were, uh, concerns mm-hmm.

About cancer possibly being, uh, promoted, you know, basically cancer growing mm-hmm. [00:35:00] More, uh, of the bad cells. Yeah. Right. Growing into even, even more virulent or, or larger quantity because you're putting cells in there that promotes growth. Right. However, um, people need to be very clear about what kind of cells we're talking about, because if we are getting cells from your own body, that's where the vast majority of the evidence come from, of the cancer promoting properties of stem cells.

Because your own stem cells, even though you love them, you think your own, you know, everything is great within your body, but you have to realize you have aged. Right. We all have aged and. By the aging process, you have lost certain type of intelligence within the cells. They're losing capabilities, including abilities to recognize cancer.

Because the research for, for example, when, uh, research was very, um, uh, you know, kind of a, providing this [00:36:00] resounding evidence when they put umbilical cord MSEs next to cancer cell versus putting fa derived MSEs next to cancer cell, the FA derived of course is from an adult, right? Right. Umbilical cord from early tissue.

So when you put them next to cancer cells, both in a Petri dish and in a live animal's body, in both cases, the fat derived MSEs made the cancer grow and the block cord derived MSEs make the cancer shrink, shrink and go away. Oh my gosh. And this, uh, to glioblastoma, right. Very virent form of cancer. So you have to.

Look at what form of, uh, cells you're using. So would I recommend somebody use their own stem cells? No. If they have any concerns of a family history of cancer or recent history of ca cancer, I would say don't. Please don't do that. However, the evidence is overwhelming when you use early umbilical cord derived stem cells that is actually anti-cancer.

So initially I didn't, you know, I, I got caught up [00:37:00] in what people were saying. Right, right, right, right. Of of course you need to avoid Right. Until I looked at the evidence much more closely Right. Than I realized. Okay. It's actually, it's the type of stem, yeah. Stem going to help people. Are there risks?

There are always risks in life. You know, it will be, um, it'll be foolish. Right. As a doctor to not, you know, protect yourself. Correct. Basically, because cancer happens. All the time with or without stem cells. So you need to, you know, you know, basically allow the person to understand that that's a possibility.

Is that a possibility? Well, maybe there is a remote possibility using umbilical cord cells. Although I have yet to see research showing that Right. There's no evidence in a human that these umbilical cor cells actually gonna promote cancer. The overwhelming evidence is that they're actually anti-cancer.

Interesting. So, whether or not it's for any specific type of cancer, I think there are different studies on different types of cancer and they've shown a lot of benefits. I, I, I, you know, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, [00:38:00] they're, uh, different forms of cancer. Solid tumor or, or, um, or blood cancer. They have shown benefits

Dr. Taz: in.

They have shown benefits, yeah.

Dr. Joy Kong: So.

Dr. Taz: And what about glioblastoma? Have we seen benefits with that? I don't know. It's such a leap, or, yeah. Not, you know, yeah. Yeah. The top of that is there, so if someone's watching us and, and they have someone they care about who's dealing with cancer and, and they've tried a lot of things, is there a resource for them to go to, to learn more about stem cells and cancer?

Dr. Joy Kong: Well, uh, yeah. Well, I have a not very long a video about stem cells and cancer, specifically on YouTube. Okay. So people can look that up. Okay. Just putting cancer. Joy Kong, you know, that, that, you know, stem cells, right? It should pop right, right up. So I go through the evidence. Pro cancer, anti-cancer, the controversy.

Um, however, when it comes to using stem cells, um, when a patient has cancer, we've done that. We've actually, just a very recent case, about two weeks ago, one of our doctors actually drove over to San Diego to deliver the treatment [00:39:00] to a cancer patient who is in Kaiser. Mm-hmm. Uh, basically dying. Mm-hmm.

There was nothing that can be done. She was lethargic for a few months, barely talking. Right. And Kaiser had nothing to offer. Right. They just said there's, they're at the end Absolutely. Zero therapy we can give you. Mm-hmm. So they have a policy. If they have nothing to offer a patient, then they are allowed to pursue alternative forms of therapy.

Gotcha. So the family were desperate and they wanted the treatment. So we delivered it. And, uh, within one hour. The color was coming back to the patient's face. Mm-hmm. And not only that, she started to get feisty. She was saying she didn't want something on her arm. She started just talking. Mm-hmm. Her personality was coming back and now, you know, she's been eating and she's, you know, she's living her life.

Yeah. So, I mean, that's when somebody was dying. Um, but of course I talked about the lymphoma patient. Right. How the number was was decreasing because you're elevating your immune system. Yeah. You're able to fight the cancer better. Not to mention these cells actually have [00:40:00] Right. A direct anti-cancer properties.

So the combination of boosting your life force Right. And your ability to fight. That's a great way to

Dr. Taz: think about it. It's, it's not necessarily a cure, but it's boosting. Mm-hmm. Your body's ability to hopefully at the end of the day, shut these cells down, so. Right. And that's

Dr. Joy Kong: pretty much the only thing we can talk about right now.

Right. 'cause just like supplements, right, right. You can't talk about diseases. Right. But you can boost, you can, you can, you can always boost and augment the body.

Dr. Taz: Okay. Let's flip to, uh, mental health. Cognitive health brain injuries, we have a problem. What is the role of stem cell therapy in this massive epidemic impacting children, teenagers, adults, seniors, as we're seeing the decline of our brains.

Dr. Joy Kong: Yeah. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of research Okay. On brain conditions and stem cells, they're just not enough. Um, there's one animal research that's really cool about addiction. [00:41:00] Mm-hmm. Alcohol addiction and they, they used animal model and was seeing dramatic decrease in addictive behavior in, in alcoholic rats.

Mm-hmm. Um, but for humans, I, I think they're just not enough if we're not there yet. Research. Yeah. But. Part of the beauty of being educated as doctors, that we can, uh, we, we can conduct deductive reasoning, right? Yes. We know how the cells work, right? We know what happens in mental health and just like addiction neuroinflammation Yes.

Is part of the underlying mechanism, right? For all of the problems, all things, right. So the stem cells, because it can calm inflammation, because it can balance your immune system, which also has a lot to do with mental health. And because it can help promote tissue regeneration and it, it's very neuroprotective.

Mm-hmm. It actually secretes, um, different, uh, molecules to that have been demonstrated to have neuroprotective properties. That's why it's so helpful for, um, [00:42:00] after stroke. Mm-hmm. Or a traumatic brain injury. So, or, or even Alzheimer's. Right. So knowing what they can do for the brain, uh, we can deduce that it may be helpful.

Um, but there hasn't been enough

Dr. Taz: research. Research Yeah. Behind it. Yeah. Okay. Let's go a little bit lighter and a little bit maybe more fun. What about skin and hair and, you know, wrinkles and, uh, all the stuff that Yeah. Both men and women today care about when it comes to our aesthetics, where, yeah.

Where's the role of stem cells for that?

Dr. Joy Kong: Well, I definitely think if you really care about being useful. You should look into IV infusion of stem cells. IV stem cells. Yes. Okay. And I've been doing that every three months for the last eight years. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I can show you pictures 'cause I'm 53. Yeah.

I'll show you pictures of when I was 43. Okay. Of what happens, you know, to my skin and to my overall. Just the, even just the, the facial fullness. Yeah. And the [00:43:00] youthfulness. Yeah. Because even though I didn't want to admit when I was 43, when I look at the pictures now, I say, oh my goodness. Yeah, I was aging.

I didn't know I was aging at that time. I just thought I, my camera wasn't real good. Right? The lighting was terrible, right? Yeah. But now I realize it is. It's stem cells. Where's your

Dr. Taz: clinic?

Dr. Joy Kong: So when can I get it? So, so, yeah. So you wanna rejuvenate, right? Yeah. You wanna replenish tissue from the inside out, right?

Um, on top of that, you can do procedures to help with. The regeneration of your skin. Mm-hmm. And you can definitely do either stem cell injections. I was teaching doctors, no, you, you want to inject the cells into the skin because the cells are very big. If you just put it on surface, even if you microneedle, um, they're gonna be very few cells that actually get inside of your skin.

But if you inject, they're there. Mm-hmm. They can migrate, they can, you know, diffuse do their thing. Yeah. So they can go to places, you know, they, they, they will, they will sit there and start to secrete all these regenerative [00:44:00] signals. Gotcha. Um, but you want to inject cells into the skin or the scalp, and then you can do micro needle on the surface.

But if you don't wanna do that, some people are afraid of needles. Um, and it is a little bit painful, have to admit. So you may not have to, you can just use exosomes because they're nanoparticles, they go across the skin. Um, can you right away

Dr. Taz: microneedle those into the skin? Yeah. So you can, so we

Dr. Joy Kong: have a product, um, called chara exo.

Mm-hmm. SST. It's, it's only for, uh, topical use. Okay. And then we can, uh, dilute that we, we can basically dissolve this lyophilized exosomes Yep. With this liquid that contains hyaluronic acid, GHK copper peptide mm-hmm. And also biotin. Right. All very beneficial for skin regeneration. You can mix the two together mm-hmm.

And do this incredible facial treatment. So you, because the, the hyaluronic acid will produce a little bit of [00:45:00] viscosity. Mm-hmm. So you can put it on your, your skin or, or scalp. Mm-hmm. And do microneedle. Mm-hmm. And then they will. Uh, penetrate much deeper once you are doing micro microneedling, but microneedling also is gonna, uh, produce all these signals to, to, to repair and regenerate so your cells will come alive much more so that now you have the signals from the exosomes and the copper peptide and et cetera.

Now you can work synergistically together. So that's very effective and it's not very. Painful. It's actually, you know, fairly and hair

Dr. Taz: loss where that's a big complaint for so many people. Yeah. What, where's um, I

Dr. Joy Kong: have, I'll be remiss not to mention IV route. Yeah. For hair loss. For hair loss especially.

Okay. If you have autoimmune or infectious origin, infections sometimes can trigger autoimmune issues. So people have clumps of hair coming out and I've treated, uh, people with those type of hair loss. Yeah. And they, all of a sudden they stop losing hair. Yeah. And they [00:46:00] barely are, you know, seeing much hair loss when they, when they shower right now, they have a chance to actually grow their hair back.

Mm. So you want to address your system. Right. You, you have always have to look at where's the problem. Mm. Um, but if you wanna target locally, you're always gonna get more signals from the cells. If you put the cells or the signals from the cells, which are the exosomes, when you put them just in the local area.

In the local area, topical, uh, you know, application. So you're saying like

Dr. Taz: topical and IV

Dr. Joy Kong: will be, that will be the, the power punch. Yeah. Is what we're talking about. That would be the, yeah.

Dr. Taz: I love that. The best then. Okay. Last one. Weight loss.

Dr. Joy Kong: Um, you know, I don't know if there's direct evidence for weight loss, however, I've seen people with, um, with stem cell IV infusion, usually they have so much more energy and so much more, they just feel better.

This feeling of a vitality. Yeah. Previously they may be. [00:47:00] Almost incapacitated by pain or just sluggishness. All of a sudden they feel like they're, they feel good. They're, they're able to work out and all of a sudden the weight just comes off. Just starts Just 'cause they're overall

Dr. Taz: life force. I love that you mm-hmm.

Use the word life force. We use that all the time. Oh, really? In Chinese medicine, like q right? Yes. Or prana, this like energetic field, whatever we wanna call it, improves. Yeah. And that in turn allows like behavior to change. Yeah. And on

Dr. Joy Kong: that line, yeah. I actually think stem cell therapy is a form of energy therapy.

Mm. It's noting we're not injecting molecules. Right. We're not, it's not a pharmacological is energetic because I'm injecting DNA and the DNA with this intelligence is sending signals through that intelligence. So intelligence is a form of energy. Right. Wow. So you are infusing. I'm, I'm, it's a first time in human history that I'm injecting intelligence.

Into the body, back into the body of my patients.

Dr. Taz: Wow. That kind of like blows my mind a little bit to be a [00:48:00] hundred percent honest. That's so incredible. You know, where, where is, I'm afraid to ask this question, but I'm gonna do it anyways. Uh, where are the me where is the medical community when it comes to stem cells and where is the pharmaceutical company when it comes to stem cells?

Because oftentimes they will try to monetize or turn a modality into a prescriptive modality. So tell me what's happening in the landscape of the place that we came from. Yeah. Traditional medicine.

Dr. Joy Kong: Yeah. Um, it's interesting. Um, one funny part you were mentioning pharmaceuticals. Yeah. So they, they definitely want to capitalize on this.

And what's funny is that they're so stuck in the traditional pharmaceutical, uh, line of thinking. Yeah. That they are trying to replicate. Cells as if they're making a drug. Right? But cells don't live forever, right? You can't [00:49:00] just make the drug and, and standardize them in a way that, because some com there's a company that we're trying to get FDA approval, they were using the same line of cells.

Mm-hmm. Right? So you keep replicate these cells. You think that Now I have control because these are good cells, right? So when I did my first group of study, phase one, it's great, right? It got good results and then they do phase two, but you keep replicating the cell, these cells, right? They don't just keep growing and with no changes, right?

These are biological systems. Then they have a finite. Lifespan, they can't just replicate forever. Right. It's, they, you know, these are not, uh, you know, like a particular molecule that these are complex systems, so they start to degrade. Mm. And then by phase two, whoops. Not, it's not working. Didn't work as well.

Yeah. But phase three failed. Yeah. So it just, it's funny, right? So if you keep using your, uh, conventional way of looking at this new way of doing medicine, then you probably won't do very well. Right? So, [00:50:00] yeah, there are companies who are capitalizing on it, but you could get products from the cells so you can allow the cells to secrete certain molecules.

And then you use those, that's, I'm talking about exosomes in particular. Mm-hmm. These little packets that contain, um, probably thousands of different kinds of molecules. You can use that, um, to, to help with, uh, healing. Um, but that's still, you know, how do you standardize it? So I think the FDA is having trouble regulating it.

They're going to, because it's a di dynamic system. Well,

Dr. Taz: it's the same problem they have with supplementation or Chinese orbs or any of these modalities because all of these are based on what does your particular body do or organize around. This particular herb or supplement, you know, you can't use the same philosophy like drug A creates reaction B, therefore it works.

You know, a lot of like the herbal literature and the supplement literature is much more around [00:51:00] augmenting, providing energy to the body in different ways. And that's gonna look different on different people. So it's very difficult to standardize it across the board. Mm-hmm. So it's almost like the field of energy therapies.

If we're gonna throw stem cells into that too, I would throw supplements into it. I would throw acupuncture into it. I would throw craniosacral therapy, you know, all these different things. I would throw into this bucket of energy medicine that needs a different form of research. Mm-hmm. To, yeah, kind of prove effectiveness, you know?

And I

Dr. Joy Kong: do believe that the conventional way of. Breaking everything down to the, the, the really granular Yes. Part of A to B relationship. A to B, it, it ends up driving you crazy because I don't know if you've seen those doctors trying to explain pathways of drugs. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And you're trying to determine what this drug eventually does to this particular, um, I say this behavior, right?

And this behavior is affected by all these different changes, [00:52:00] all these things. Yeah. And then this drug could be increasing this neurotransmitter and this neurotransmitter will decrease the other neurotransmitter. And then, yeah, you have this web that's self limited, so you prophecy, you are driving yourself crazy and you can't figure it out because it's need to be a system approach.

And I do think that ai, artificial intelligence at this point is probably going to help us decipher these complex relationships that our human brain cannot comprehend. I think that will be the next. Next generation of where medicine's is going, where we go. Yeah. Gotcha. But, but coming to your question, back to your question about how the medical community is receiving Yeah.

Stem cell therapy, I would say, um, they're always open-minded. And, um, kind of brave doctors. Brave souls. Yeah. Who want to embrace new therapies. They're always people who are pioneers. Right. Who are willing to look beyond the box. Right. But majority of the people, [00:53:00] the doctors still have their blinders on.

Yeah. I would say 90% of the doctors, unfortunately right now, are still practicing very old medicine. Right. That doesn't work very well. Say it's

Dr. Taz: 20-year-old medicine at least. Yeah. It

Dr. Joy Kong: doesn't work too well. That's why so many doctors are quitting, not to mention so true that they're very poorly compensated.

Their ability to make a good living is getting more and more diminished while the stress just keeps mounting. 'cause they're not effective. Yeah. But still they're locked into the system and they don't even want to look outside. And what's interesting is that this whole generation of providers, unblock is gonna be left behind.

Mm. So this whole other way of doing medicine, these doctors are gonna form the new wave of medicine. The other one just gonna gradually die off. Yeah. Yeah. That, that's it. Yeah. So the, either you come on board. Join the new wave, or you'll be a part of the old

Dr. Taz: one. Yeah. No, I'm, and you know that I was telling you earlier, that's my mission.

I think there needs to be a new way to do medicine. I think a lot of us have to come together and create a new system, whether it's starting [00:54:00] with medical homes and then having novel specialty care that actually makes a difference. I think this is the future and I think. For anyone to continue to point fingers.

You know, I've come a long way from being called a quack in my early days, you know? Oh. So, you know, we've come a long way from that, which is fantastic. But I think, I don't think anybody in the conventional medicine, academic community can point fingers anymore because it's obviously not working. You know?

And the consumer, the patient is desperate for alternatives while the doctor is desperate for a way to express their skill and their talent and their creativity. 'cause healing is a gift. And in the current system, doctors are not allowed to express or to use that gift. And that in itself is incredibly wrong.

So, so I, yeah, I see the future. I can see it, you know, and I

Dr. Joy Kong: think patients are the ones that are driving this wave. Totally. Because I have a hundred percent.

Dr. Taz: Yep.

Dr. Joy Kong: You know, multiple [00:55:00] doctors approaching me saying Dr. Kong, I have a few patients. They all are trying to get stem cell therapy. Yeah. They've all asked me and I don't know what to do.

I don't know how to do it. Can you teach me? So they will not have come to me on their own. Right. 'cause PA they're like, they realize these people are asking for, they have, they have to catch up. Right. So, yeah, because people are desperate. They're desperate. Speaking

Dr. Taz: of which is stem cell therapy expensive?

Dr. Joy Kong: Um, the range is, uh, quite a, quite a spread. Okay. It's between $5,000 to $50,000 within the US and overseas. So that's kind of the, you know, there are companies probably can charge more. Right. But that's the range depending on what you're doing. Right. Are you just doing a joint injection? Are you doing a facial?

Are you doing iv? So, but if we're talking IV treatment Yeah. Generally is probably, yeah. The range is, is gonna be about the same. It's a little bit more expensive, probably, you know, 7,000 up, up $50,000 and, um. Yeah, [00:56:00] people think that, um, things are better or cheaper overseas, and that's just not true.

Sometimes they're a lot more expensive. It's not uncommon for people to be charged 35, $50,000 overseas.

Dr. Taz: And is the quality maintained overseas or how so? The

Dr. Joy Kong: problem is that overseas, the reason that they are overseas is because they're trying to avoid certain regulatory constraints within the US because in the US if you start to grow the cells, cell expansion, not.

It means that you are changing the cells in certain way. Mm-hmm. Which is true. The moment you start to grow the cells, the cells will make changes such as genetic expressions. They go down different pathways and they start to secrete different types of growth factors and signals. And they can finesse, right?

They can get older, they can even be become inflammatory. Um, and then they can cause more rejection. Once they start to express different proteins on their surface because they're gaining function, because they're [00:57:00] going down a particular pathway, now you have more chance for rejection. So that is the problem.

And this probably is part of the reason FDA says the moment you start to expand and grow the cells culture and you wanna give it to people, well now you have to do clinical studies. Mm-hmm. Because now we think you're making a drug because so many things can change. So we need to study it. But all these companies are saying, no, earlier research are using this large number cells, so we need to use.

This large number of cells, and we can only do it if we grow the cells and we have to do it overseas. However, what's happening in the US is that because of the constraint, all these doctors are using cells that are not expanded. So they are just the original cells in the tissue. So once you carefully separate them out and you cryopreserve them, that's just the way they are.

They've never been grown in a culture, so they preserve the earlier characteristics, so they don't have the kind of potential to cause [00:58:00] rejection, and they have not gone through genetic changes. So there's very little side effects, especially when we're talking about MSCs, which is very immune calming. But if you go overseas, you think you're receiving a hundred million, 200, 300 million cells.

But how many of those cells are actually still. The original MSEs, not very many because the cells have a tendency, that's the characteristic of a stem cell. They divide asymmetrically, they divide into, if you imagine one cell divide into one of the cell and the second one is the daughter cell. That's more differentiated.

And now you have two cells, right? Right. And that original cell would develop divide into a copy of cell and a daughter cell. The daughter cell can only divide into daughter cells. It can't go backward. So now you've got four cells with only one stem cell. Right? So then you keep going. Gotcha. Now you got a soup.

Of differentiated cells that have been changed, then it doesn't have the original characteristics. And you give that to people, it can work. Um, people have achieved some [00:59:00] good results, but you also have increased the chance of rejection and side effects. Wow. And that's what we've seen.

Dr. Taz: Fascinating stuff. I could talk to you all day about this and there was more we wanted to get into, but we are outta time.

But thank you so much for being here. I do want to, before we leave you, I ask every guest this question. You talked about energy, you talked about life force. What maintains your life force? What keeps you whole? Um, that's a daily process. So that's a great answer right there. It's a daily process. Yes. It's not something that's a destination, but keep going.

It's a pursuit. Yeah, it is a pursuit for sure.

Dr. Joy Kong: So eating healthy is really important. Don't put junk in your body and move your body in some ways. Um, I'm not always. And, you know, perfect in that right. Some days get so busy and I forget to, to exercise. And then, um, yeah, some kind of, uh, centering. Process.

Right. Whatever [01:00:00] you do. Meditating, you know, going off for a jog, whatever you have to do, you know, hug your pets. And, uh, um, and of course for me, I love stem cells for me is one of the greatest hacks because it's so easy, so fast. Yeah. And I only have to do it a few times a year. Amazing. So that, that's my great hack.

Um, because I'm actually not very consistent. Um, sometimes I, I slack off like supplements I take, I rarely take anything long time. 'cause I just, I don't remember and I get annoyed. So, but there's something that's, that's really simple. And then. Yeah, that, that's, uh, my, uh, my big tool for maintaining. That's your, that's your hack usefulness and vitality stem cells.

Dr. Taz: All right. Well, I've learned a lot today, so thank you so much for educating me. I'm hoping any of you watching or listening know a little bit more about stem cells, and if you are thinking about it, you have a little bit more guidance now on how to go about it, what to look for the questions maybe to ask Dr.

Kong, if anyone [01:01:00] wants to connect with you, what's the best way for them to do that?

Dr. Joy Kong: Yeah, so my, uh, website is joy kong md.com. Um, or my Instagram is. Dr. Joy Kong. So Kong is KONG. And, um, if anybody's interested in taking a deep dive in stem cells or any other modalities of healing, um, I do have a podcast, the Dr.

Joy Kong podcast. Amazing. And then I have a YouTube channel, um, just Joy Kong md. I have lots of videos. I probably talk more about stem cells in different aspects of stem cells than anybody I know. So that could be a great place for, as a resource for people.

Dr. Taz: Incredible. Well, thank you for being here. No, you welcome and spending some time with us today.

Welcome. Thank you so much for listening and watching today's episode of Whole Plus, be sure to share this episode with your friends and family. And if you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe to this podcast on YouTube, or click the follow button on Apple, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcast.

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