Canadian clinic first in country to harvest stem cells derived from body fat

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 10:05PM EST

Wishing that stubborn ring of belly fat would just disappear?

Think twice about willing it away completely. Physicians at a Toronto clinic now consider it biological insurance that can be stored for a rainy day.

Adisave, a clinic specializing in stem-cell harvesting, has begun offering storage of stem cells from human body fat, claiming the biological material can be used as a medical tool to repair and rejuvenate the body.

Debra Seed opted for liposuction treatment to remove fat from her body and is paying $1,700 to have stem cells extracted, frozen and stored at Adisave-- the first clinic in the country to offer fat stem cell banking.

They can put them back in my body and rejuvenate the bad cells, she said.

Dr. Sammy Sliwin, a plastic surgeon and medical director at Adisave, has been working in fat grafting since 1992. He began doing research on mesenchymal stem cells in 2008.

According to Sliwin, fat, or adipose tissue, contains 500 times more stem cells compared to bone marrow. Studies suggest they may have the power to repair injuries, damaged hearts and treat illness, he said.

Its the most plentiful source of stem cells in the body, he said. And because of its ease of harvesting, for regenerative medicine, its the ideal source of stem cells.

The research is still unproven, so Adisave now wants to launch two studies to see if the stem cells derived from fat can repair scars and heal joints damaged by arthritis.

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Canadian clinic first in country to harvest stem cells derived from body fat