Way back in the day when lasers were first developed, as well as today, any procedure that had the word “laser” in it’s title automatically became a better procedure even if it was not. In some cases the laser did in fact offer better results, but more often than not, it simply attracted more attention, and bestowed on that procedure an unwarranted quality which was presumed to be better. Not so. Marketing of anything that had that word in it, became the new standard of excellence. This is and was much to do about nothing, and quite frankly, very misleading. To this day we still see it, for example: Laser Liposuction. To date no one has shown conclusively that liposuction done with a laser is any better than traditional, small cannula , tumescent liposuction. But still, because of that word “laser”, the lay public assumes it must be better. This attitude is likely never to change.
So what about these two new words: stem cell? Mark my words (and please let everyone know that you heard it here first) these new words are about to become the new “laser”. Why? Well first of all, not a week passes that we don’t hear something about stem cells and the human condition. It’s very futuristic, just like lasers were in the beginning. The process is almost magical, in so much as these cells can fix the broken ones, and do so without us knowing how they do it. They just know. In California they are already advertising for the Stem Cell Face Lift. This is not the truth yet, but pretty close. Soon every thing will be pre-empted with these words: Stem Cell Face Lift, Stem Cell Liposuction, Stem Cell Skin Resurfacing, etc., etc.
The sad part is that these cells WILL be the new frontier in all areas of medicine and surgery, however, the marketing folks with make it more than what it is, and much as they did with lasers, bestow on not so great a procedure, an enhanced validity that is not warranted. How about Stem Cell Snake Oil?
