A combination of self care and stem cell repair could be the key to a healing and healthy lifespan, says Dr Halland Chen
The field of anti-ageing medical interventions has become increasingly crowded in recent years, yet Miami-based longevity practitioner Dr Halland Chen there is one standout candidate – autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSC).
In a conversation with Agetech World positing on the optimum pathway for regenerative medicine Dr Halland said: “Florida, in particular, is very stem cell friendly. They’ve even changed the local legislation making it a lot easier to do stem cell therapies…there has never been a better time to be involved.”
Dr Halland is a double board-certified physician specializing in longevity medicine, cellular health, and biotech innovation.
He trained as a medical doctor with an initial focus on sports medicine before branching out into interventional pain management, leading on to more complex, spine-procedure work.
In a chat with Agetech World, he said: “And, after doing all that training, I realized that in medicine, what was really missing was helping people heal their body. And so I became very focused on how we actually heal the body so that people can have a better outcome.
“So, I became very focused on regenerative medicine very early on. This was back in 2010. Back then it was only PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) bone marrow, and now we are very advanced.
“The technology of stem cell cloning is moving fast. You can take a mesenchymal stem cell, expand it, make a permanent bank, and then use that permanent bank for the patient.”
Autologous stem cells
Dr Halland’s four key areas of research for MSC’s are; long covid, autoimmune, neurodegenerative – Alzheimers and dementia – and orthopaedic treatments, and he elaborated on the best form of treatment for these conditions.
He said: “Autologous means your own DNA. And, so I think autologous mesenchymal stem cell therapy will be the leader.
“A lot of people go to places to receive donor allogeneic, because they think it’s better as it’s younger. That’s not true.
“When you have an autologous stem cell and you cultivate it properly, that cell looks very much identical from an eighty-three-year-old cell to a twenty-year-old cell.”
In Florida there are FDA-authorized clinical trials and expanded-access programs for MSCs, which have been harvested from the patient’s own bone marrow or adipose tissue.
“While you’re manufacturing, manipulating cells, this has drug-like properties. So if that’s the case, if you’re doing autologous in a twenty-year-old and autologous in an eighty-three-year-old, it has to be the same output …and that’s what we’re seeing,” he added.
Self care
In symbiosis with these medical procedures Dr Halland has a keen emphasis on proactive and functional medicine; gut health, hormone health, optimization of the body, and supplements – which has seen him develop a unique, well-being approach.
He calls it the ABCs of longevity, saying they are system-focused with the aim of allowing the body to develop a ‘healing state’.
These are:
–Actions over medications
-Your Body systems over symptom treatment
-And, then the Cornerstones.
The four cornerstones are; inflammation, detox, the immune system and stress.
He continued:” These things all build up in the body, and that’s why we age. A lot of inflammation causes ageing. Your bodies are full of toxins; we have heavy metals, plastics, microplastics, things like that, that accumulate.
“You have a weakened immune system, so then the immune system can’t combat things like cancer.
“And stress; stress is like a number one killer. And then obviously at the top of the pyramid is mindset.
“The way I look at this formula is the actions you take on your body systems over the cornerstones…and so that’s basically why I think this is fundamentally the key to longevity, in that you’re breaking it down.
“Okay, you have this disease, ‘let’s treat it with insulin’, or, you have this problem, you have a headache and migraines, let’s ‘treat it with this’.
“The ABC is more about, what actions or activities could I do instead of medicines? For example, sleep biohacking routines instead of just sleep medications.
“So these are the things that we can all manage ourselves. If you did these four things, you would absolutely live a long time.
“My goal is that people should be on the minimal amount of medications for as long as possible.”
Technologies
Dr Halland is a big fan of the emerging technologies that can help optimise health; citing the Oura ring which monitors sleeping patterns, as one of his favourites
Then there is the Morphus lounge chair, which he finds key for relaxation. It is described by its manufacturers as being a ‘comprehensive wellness solution designed to elevate your mind and body’.
With this focus on healthy lifespan Dr Halland went on to say that there will be a time in all of our lives when we reach what he terms a ‘genetic ceiling’, and the quest is to put ourselves into a place where that can be managed.
He said: “I think there’s gonna be this, what we call a genetic ceiling…(and) this theoretically might be 120 to 130 years old. And ,then what happens? You can’t undo all the damage that’s been done to your organs, etc, over the preceding years.
“That’s why I focus so much on stem cells, because the answer is stem cells. It’s stem cells, it’s your hormones, it’s all the things that optimize the body into a healing state.
“So very much from my perspective of this, I think it’s about getting the body into a healing state.”
@ Dr Halland is the Founder of Cell Theory, a science-driven supplement brand focused on optimising cellular health and longevity. https://www.celltheorylabs.com/