Oh baby, this stem cell longevity therapy sounds like a futuristic ride

THE LATEST TOOL IN THE ANTI-AGEING BATTLE? THE UMBILICAL CORDS OF NEWBORNS, DISCOVERS INDIA BLOCK

- 

No one wants to age these days. Youth may be our immortal obsession, but what is the point in living ever longer, and staving off death, if you look and feel like the extra years are taking their toll?

This is where stem cell therapy comes in (if you're one of the one per cent, that is).

"Nobody wants to live longer if they don't feel good, right?" as Dana Herrera succinctly puts it. Herrera is the chief commercial officer at the Regenerative Medicine Institute, RMI Health for short, which runs a state-of-the-art laboratory and clinic in Costa Rica. "We are a longevity-based company," she explains. "Our goal and our aim is to slow down and reverse the ageing process at the cellular level."

RMI Health's clients tend to be entrepreneurs and business people, the kind with enough wealth to throw at the humdrum problems of ageing — the aching knees, the lowered energy or even libido. "They are high-net-worth individuals who are seeking an alternative to traditional healthcare, in order to approach ageing and health span from a different perspective," says Herrera. "They work hard, they play hard, they travel, they live life, and it’s starting to catch up with them. Stress can do a number on our bodies."

Packages at RMI Health begin in the range of $10,000 (£7,500). The potential key to reversing ageing "at a cellular level" is stem cells - the body's building blocks that function as an internal repair system. In adults, stem cells are primarily produced by our bone marrow. But as we age, their ability to regenerate inevitably declines, and the body’s ability to repair itself along with it.

Practices familiar to the NHS