The Medicine of the Future Starts with Repair and Regeneration: Stem Cells

By Dr. Jennifer Hopkins, DNP
Integrative Medicine Specialist | Certified in Hormone Health
Medical Director of Mindful Medicine

I Don't Chase Trends. I Chase Truth.

Last week I flew to Los Angeles, spent an entire day inside one of the most cutting-edge regenerative medicine clinics in the country, got certified in stem cell therapy, and sat in the chair and received a stem cell IV infusion myself.

And I need to tell you everything.

But first, let me be clear about something. I do not bring anything into this practice that I have not studied, questioned, experienced, and learned from the very best in the field. Every certification I have ever pursued, every modality I offer patients, every conversation I have had on this podcast about healing, it all comes back to one thing. I will never ask you to do something I have not done myself.

Stem cell therapy is no different. And after everything I learned, witnessed, and personally experienced in Los Angeles, I am more excited about this than anything I have brought into Mindful Medicine to date.

Why I Went

This was eight months in the making. Stem cell therapy has been on my radar for a while and the more I learned, the more I knew it was the direction we needed to go. I had been planning to go last January and had to postpone. When the next opportunity came I was on a plane.

I found Dr. Joy Kong while driving to my clinic one day, listening to a podcast. She was talking about the efficacy and the genuine healing quality that stem cells have for humans and I pulled over. I knew immediately that she was the person I needed to learn from. Not because of her credentials, although those are extraordinary. Because of her integrity.

Dr. Joy Kong is UCLA trained and triple board certified in psychiatry and neurology. She is certified in addiction medicine, anti-aging, and regenerative medicine. She was named Top Doctor of the Year in stem cell therapy in 2019 and Stem Cell Doctor of the Decade in 2021. She is the founder of Chara Health in Los Angeles and the American Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy. She has been featured on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC.

But what sets her apart is not the accolades. It is the fact that she created her own stem cell company because she was not satisfied with the quality of products available. She wanted a pure source. She wanted to control the integrity of what she was putting into her patients. That is the kind of person you fly across the country to learn from.

What Stem Cells Actually Are

Before I tell you what I experienced, I want to make sure you understand what stem cells actually do because once you understand it everything else makes complete sense.

Your body already has stem cells. Every single tissue in your body has them and their only job is to show up when something is damaged and fix it. They are your body's built in repair crew, working quietly in the background your entire life, regenerating and restoring without you ever having to think about it.

Here is the problem. As we get older that repair crew gets smaller and slower. The stem cells we have decline in both number and ability. Healing slows down. Recovery takes longer. The things that used to bounce back just do not bounce back the same way anymore. That is not weakness. That is biology.

Stem cell therapy is simply the process of bringing in reinforcements. We are introducing new, young, highly active stem cells into the body to support and strengthen the natural repair process that already exists. We are not forcing the body to do something unnatural. We are giving it better tools to do what it was already beautifully designed to do.

Where These Stem Cells Come From

The stem cells used in the most advanced practices today come from healthy donated umbilical cords. After a baby is born and both mom and baby are perfectly healthy, the umbilical cord, which would otherwise simply be discarded, is donated by the mother. Those cells are young, they are incredibly powerful, and because of how they work, the body does not reject them.

This is not controversial. These are not embryonic stem cells. This is ethically sourced, clinically studied, and increasingly well-researched medicine.

And the sourcing at Dr. Kong's clinic is extraordinary. Donors cannot have received the COVID vaccine. Every donor goes through extensive testing before she will accept the stem cells, and the cells themselves go through rigorous testing after collection. The result is one of the cleanest, most pure sources of stem cells available anywhere.

This is also why I am not a fan of PRP, where your own stem cells are extracted and reinjected. If you are already inflamed, already dealing with an autoimmune condition, already struggling with joint pain or chronic illness, why would you use your own compromised and aging stem cells? Logically it does not make sense. And the science supports using the young umbilical cord source over your own.

What I Witnessed at Chara Health

Chara Health is Dr. Kong's full regenerative medicine clinic in Los Angeles. Walking in felt like walking into my own Disneyland. The level of clinical rigor, combined with the genuine warmth and patient care, was everything I hope people feel when they walk into Mindful Medicine.

I watched her do stem cell injections for back pain. I watched her administer IV stem cell therapy to children with autism. I saw joint injections for knees and shoulders. I learned head injections for hair thinning. I watched aesthetic procedures that are genuinely changing the way people age.

And then I sat in the chair myself.

What Happened When I Got the Stem Cells

I chose the IV infusion because I wanted to understand what the wellness and anti-aging application actually feels like for someone who is not dealing with a specific diagnosis.

Here is what I can tell you. It felt like getting an IV bag of fluids. That is it. The infusion took about 25 to 30 minutes. I felt nothing during the procedure. No pain, no reaction, nothing dramatic. I felt good afterward. I actually worked out that evening.

The next morning I looked in the mirror and something was different. My skin looked better. More perfused. My cheeks had a healthy color I did not put there. I skipped the blush because I did not need it. I noticed more sustained energy over the following days. And the thing that surprised me most was that I had zero inflammation from my flights home, which anyone who travels knows is not normal.

My goal is to do this every three months for wellness and anti-aging. And after experiencing it myself, that is not a goal. That is a plan.

What Stem Cell Therapy Can Help With

The applications are expanding as the research grows. Right now stem cell therapy is being used for chronic inflammation, autoimmune conditions, joint pain and musculoskeletal issues, brain health, hormonal support, anti-aging and longevity, hair restoration, and sexual wellness. The list continues to grow as clinical experience and research catch up to what practitioners like Dr. Kong have been seeing for years.

Animal studies are showing subjects living approximately 30% longer. The research is not small. The potential is not small. And the people in the biohacking and longevity space have known this for years.

A Word on Safety

I know some of you are wondering whether to trust this. That is a fair and intelligent question and it deserves a direct answer.

I flew to Los Angeles because of that question. I chose the most credentialed person in this field because of that question. I sat in the chair myself before bringing this to a single patient because of that question. And I want to be very clear. There are people offering stem cell therapies in other countries and in unregulated settings and the outcomes can be dangerous. I heard firsthand about people who nearly died after receiving stem cells in Mexico from a substandard clinic.

The source of the cells matters. The person administering them matters. The clinical rigor matters. Integrity matters. And that is exactly the standard we will hold at Mindful Medicine.

What This Means for Mindful Medicine

This is just the beginning. Stem cell therapy will be coming to Mindful Medicine and this episode is only a first look. In upcoming episodes we are going to go much deeper into the science, the specific applications, what the treatment looks like, who is a candidate, and exactly what we will be offering.

I did not fly to Los Angeles because it was convenient. I hate flying. I hate airport scanners. I went because I believe that if someone is going to trust me with their health, I owe it to them to never stop learning, never stop evolving, and never ask them to try something I have not tried myself.

The future of medicine is not just treating disease. It is helping the body genuinely regenerate. And I am incredibly excited to be a part of that.

In the latest episode of the Mindful Healing podcast, "Stem Cells: Meet the Future of Medicine," I share everything. The full story of my trip to Los Angeles, what I witnessed inside Chara Health, my personal experience sitting in the chair, the science behind umbilical cord stem cells, why I chose Dr. Joy Kong specifically, and what is coming to Mindful Medicine as a result of this trip. This is just the beginning of the stem cell conversation and the podcast is where it starts.Go listen. This one is different.

And if something here sparked a question or you want to know whether stem cell therapy might be right for you, reach out. We will look at your full picture together and figure out what makes sense for you specifically.

Wishing you love, light, and continued healing,
Dr. Hopkins