Stem cell therapy has been saving lives for quite some time now, and modern breakthroughs continue to be discovered and developed these days. Zach Gurick explores the most exciting regenerative innovations today with stem cell expert Dr. Joy Kong. She explains how stem cell treatments can help tap into the body’s natural ability to heal itself, ultimately addressing various chronic diseases and conditions. Dr. Joy also shares how she contributes to stem cell advancements by building an online academy for medical practitioners and creating her very own line of skincare products.
The information presented in Fully Alive is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before making changes to your health regimen. Guests’ opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the podcast host, production team, or sponsors.
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How Stem Cell Can Change Your Life With Dr. Joy Kong
Welcome back to Fully Alive, where we are unlocking the secrets to your healthier, happier, and longer life. We’re diving into one of the most exciting frontiers of modern medicine, regenerative therapies, and stem cell innovations. My guest is Dr. Joy Kong, and she’s a triple board-certified physician, which means she’s really smart. She’s an author, an educator, and a pioneer in the field of stem cell therapies.
Dr. Kong has dedicated her career to advancing integrative approaches to healing. She’s blending cutting-edge science with a deep understanding of the body’s innate capacity to regenerate itself. She’s also the founder of a company called Chara Biologics and creator of innovative stem cell formulations and skincare, and leads an online academy certifying physicians worldwide in regenerative protocols. Dr. Joy is also the host of The Dr. Joy Kong Podcast. She’s also the author of a memoir called Tiger of Beijing, which chronicles her remarkable journey from China to becoming one of today’s most influential voices in regenerative medicine.
In this conversation, we’re going to explore the latest breakthroughs in stem cell research and what they mean for everyday health and longevity, how integrative therapies can also work together with stem cells for optimal results, and her inspiring personal story of overcoming obstacles and pioneering new paths in medicine. If you’ve ever wondered about the future of regenerative therapies or how you might benefit from them, then you’re going to love this conversation with Dr. Joy Kong. Let’s dive in.
Dr. Joy, thank you so much for joining us. It’s such a privilege to have you on the show. I’m truly honored that you’re joining us here on the show. I’ve been looking forward to this conversation ever since we met briefly about a month ago. I’m super excited for myself to learn from you, but also for our audience. Thank you for taking the time to be with us.
Thank you so much, Zach. I’m excited to speak with you and help people live better.
Dr. Joy Kong Of Kara Biologics
You’re truly an inspiration. The work that you’re doing is revolutionary and is impacting the world in amazing ways, and impacting lives. Thank you for the work you’ve done. Maybe we could start with your amazing personal story. I know you’ve written a memoir, Tiger of Beijing. You’ve had this amazing journey of immigrating to the US from China. You wrote this memoir about those first few years. Could you tell us a little bit about that story and that journey, what that was like, and what led you to write the memoir?
The first half or first third of the book was set in China. I was twenty years old, and the book started with my visa rejection in front of an American embassy. You guys did not want me to come. It’s not because I wasn’t smart or I wasn’t accomplished enough. It was because I did not have a good affidavit support that all people who are coming to America from another country require somebody who is living or working in America to sign an affidavit saying that if you do become destitute and with no resources, this person is going to help you.
It was very difficult to find a person who was willing to write that piece of paper. The only people I knew from my family were my mom’s students. That wasn’t convincing enough. The American embassy or the consulate said, “Why should your mom’s student help you?” I was rejected. The journey started from there. What do you do when you have a big dream and the people on the other side say, “No, your dream is not happening. What do you do? Do you give up or do you keep going for it?”
I decided, “Who are they to tell me no? This is where I belong. I’m going to give it my best. If I cannot, that’s fine, but I’m never going to let that happen because I didn’t try hard enough.” I decided to take a leave of absence from my college. I was studying architecture. I was like, “Let me do this full-time, and see if I can leave.” All my friends thought I was nuts because they said, “You don’t know if you can leave. It is next impossible to leave. First of all, why are you trying? Second of all, you got rejected. Why don’t you keep working or keep studying architecture? In case you cannot get to America, at least you will finish your college, and you will have a profession.”
I said, “No, I’m all in. I would take a year’s leave of absence. If I cannot go, I’ll come back. I’m not going to try to do two things all at once. I’m not interested.” That’s when I tried to see what I could do to find somebody willing to write an affidavit support. That wasn’t easy, but I was upset because I had no resources. That’s how I was born. I was born in a sea of people with no money, and my family had no connections. That was my circumstance.
What do you do? I decided that I was going to know somebody. I picked up the yellow pages of Beijing, and I started flipping to the page of the best hotels in Beijing, and I started calling different rooms randomly. That was the beginning of my story because I was mad. It was the anger that was driving this irrational action. Who knows if it’s that irrational? Obviously, it got me here. Whatever was happening, it was not a straight line. That’s what I talked about in the book. What happened when I called all these random rooms?
There was a lot of interesting conversation.
That was the book. Eventually, I met somebody, an American, and I came to America, and then I faced another challenge. That’s a different set of challenges. As a young woman, being stuck in a relationship that was not good for a person’s soul. How do you triumph over that? When at 20 or 21 years old, I was very young, how do you even navigate a terrain where the person on one hand tells you they love you so much that you’re more important than anything else in the world. On the other hand, he is hurting you all the time.
He was doing things that did not feel right. What do you do? They’re confusing because nobody has taken a lesson on that. Certainly, my mom didn’t teach me what to look for. Eventually, the drive to be free and be my own person allowed me to break free. That’s the story. How to get to where you need to be and how to break from shackles. That’s the tiger spirit that I feel is in all of us. If you’re alive, you’ve got the tiger in you. A lot of people may not recognize it and could not bring that forth, but they have it. It’s a matter of recognizing your power.
Getting Into The World Of Stem Cells
That’s an amazing story and an amazing journey. Thank you for sharing that. What amazing resilience that has led to in your life. That’s a big shift, though. You’re studying architecture. Now you’re one of the world’s leading stem cell experts, so that’s different there. What part of that journey led you into the work that you’re doing now with regenerative medicine and stem cells, and how did that shift transpire?
When I went to the US, I was wide open about what I wanted to pursue. I could do anything. I could become an actress or a journalist, which I almost became a journalist, but then my love of science triumphed. I decided that I love life, the mystery of life. How do we make this happen? How did the cells know? How did they form organs? I want to understand. It’s that drive that got me into medicine. In medicine, another thing that fascinates me is that the brain and consciousness.
I went into psychiatry because it was the last frontier. While working as a psychiatrist, if you count residency, I worked as a psychiatrist for eleven years. I saw a lot of patients, and most of them are poor. They did not have many resources to the point where they didn’t even have money to go see a primary care doctor. They barely had bus money to come see me. That’s how bad it was. I was functioning not only as a psychiatrist, but also as their primary care doctor.
How do you get them to do well with their health? The best way is to prevent them from getting sick. Also, if they are sick, what are the ways that can get them better besides medication? There must be a more holistic way of addressing health, which is how I grew up. It’s because we had full access to Chinese medicine there. If you go to a hospital, there’s a Chinese medicine department. You can choose to go see a Western medicine doctor or a Chinese medicine doctor. Sometimes it’s better to see a Chinese medicine doctor. Sometimes it’s better to see a Western doctor. It doesn’t matter.
Sometimes one works better than the other. Chinese medicine stresses a holistic approach. What is holism? It’s about looking at the body as a whole, that everything affects each other. If you deny that fact, you’re denying how life works. I knew everything affected each other. We’ve known that for thousands and thousands of years since human existence. If Western medicine is denying that fact, then it’s been short-sighted, then it’s misguided. I would not stand for that.
Even during medical school, I went to UCLA medical school. One of the top five medical schools in the country. I was not happy with the single-mindedness without recognizing all that goes into human health. Something as simple as nutrition is pretty much ignored by UCLA. I did take an elective called East-West medicine. They had enough new things to offer, so there is one elective you can take, but that’s me wanting to take it. Most students do not take that elective.
Knowing that I love a holistic approach to health and knowing my own inadequacy because of the lack of training, I had to learn on my own. I started going to training seminars or integrated doctor gatherings, and conferences. During that process, I was able to encounter other doctors, including somebody who was doing stem cells. That was a shocker. I was having a conversation. The doctor said, “I used stem cells to treat this autistic kid and look at the results.” I said, “What? You are using stem cells? What do you mean? I thought they’re still doing research.” This is 2015, I think. They’ve been doing stem cells for decades.
Here I was, a well-trained physician, having no idea that it was already being used, and there was so much misinformation. Even this morning, there was a podcaster who was thinking about interviewing me and then came back with all these concerns. “I thought you could not use other people’s stem cells in us. It’s illegal in the US. This is mind-boggling. This is still going on.” You will think a podcaster, especially in the realm of health, may know a little bit better, may know a little bit more. The prejudice and the misinformation are so strong and shocking. After all these years, after having talked until my face is blue, telling people why it is legal, how I’ve been doing it for nine years, the myths persist.
I’m so glad I can be here and get the truth out. Let’s get the work straight. Anyhow, I found out that you can indeed do stem cell therapy. It’s not only that you can do it, but it also works. It worked for a lot of people. I could not believe it because the first doctor showed me how he was able to bring about these changes in this little autistic kid, the kind of changes that I couldn’t make happen. I didn’t have the tools. I have some medications, either stimulating the little kid like a stimulant, or I can use some antidepressants if they’re depressed.
I can use sedatives to calm them down. That’s a nice way of saying it. Really, to almost knock them out in a sense, because we want these kids to shut up basically. You could see that the parents are frustrated. The doctor was frustrated. I went to Cedars. I see how they were functioning. I see how they were dealing with the kids. They would like to get the kids to shut up. Stop disrupting. The kids are barely drowsy.
They’re like, “Success, that’s good. No disruption anymore.” That is not a way to improve a kid’s life. I’m sorry. That’s why I did not go into child psychiatry. I thought this was too depressing. I am not going to be part of this, but then here’s a doctor who was an anesthesiologist who has no training in autism, and knew very little about autism. I had years of training. He was able to do all these things with a single infusion.
Just once.
He just did an IV infusion. What is going on with these cells? What are these cells? How could they do this? How come I have all these drugs and have all this behavioral training, but we couldn’t make enough dent? He put some IV, some cells. I was like, “What is it?” That’s what started the fascination and the inspiration. It’s not just autism. My first other patient, this lady I met, had rheumatoid arthritis.
She was telling me, “I tried all these medications and some work for a little bit, but they gave me all these side effects. I tried an IV infusion of stem cells, and the swelling in my hand went away that same day.” For years, she couldn’t put on this ring that her mom gave her. After one stem cell infusion, she put the ring back, and then she said, “I have so much energy. I have so much sex drive. This is incredible. I feel this life force.” That’s when I said, “Whatever you took, I think I want some.” Is this making you feel good? What is going on? That’s a beginning example.
Of course, I hear what it does for people with all kinds of conditions. Musculoskeletal issues are the most common situation, and that’s my first patient. Once I found out these cells work very well, I thought, “I want to be able to offer this.” My first patient was a 69-year-old man who was told by two orthopedic surgeons that he had to have bilateral knee replacement. What I did was give him IV stem cells and injected some stem cells into each of his knees. This is nine years later. He’s still walking about four miles every day. He goes to all the trade shows.
He walks a lot. He said, “I barely feel my knees.” This is after two surgeons told him, “Absolutely, you have to have a knee replacement.” Not only are his knees doing great, but the rotator cuff injury that I didn’t even know about is. The next day, he said, “I slept through the night, but I was always woken up during my sleep when I shifted my body in my bed.” The sharp pain would wake him up. After the stem cell treatment, he didn’t get woken up during his sleep, and he never did. I didn’t even know he had a real rotator cuff injury. That was a great example. I was shown the way of the power of the stem therapy.
It is so elegant that all you need to do is put the cells in the body somehow. You put it somewhere, and then they will travel to places where they’re needed, and they will send out signals to your body. Your body can heal itself. That’s why it’s regeneration. The only way you can regenerate is if your body is willing to regenerate. There are all kinds of things on it. You can say “Regenerate.” The body used to do it on its own. You need to wake the body up. That’s why regenerative medicine is so exciting, because it’s all about waking up the body. Can you imagine? Of course, I was hooked. How can I not be hooked?
Dispelling Myths About Stem Cell Therapy
The ultimate holistic medicine in treatment. Thank you for sharing that. It’s so fun to hear where people’s passions come from, how I was born, and that’s what you’re doing now, nine years later. It’s amazing and unbelievable. We’ll get into more of that as we go here. You mentioned there are a lot of myths out there, and there still are, even though you and others are sharing this message constantly. What are some of the other myths that you wish you could debunk even right now, or you wish that people knew those things?
One of the biggest ones is saying that stem cell therapy is not legal in the US. I think it came from back when they started doing embryonic stem cell research, and George W. Bush decided to ban federal funding for embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are obtained from an embryo. Fertilize the egg, starts dividing, forming a little ball. Days 5 to 7 after fertilization, that’s when the ball is forming. Inside the ball, there are all the cells called the inner cell mass, and you can grab cells from one of those, and that can form any organ and any tissue in the body.
That was embryonic stem cell research. George W. Bush said, “No more federal funding for any research that would destroy an embryo.” Of course, when you start, if you try to obtain new cells, you’re going to destroy a new embryo. If you already have an embryonic stem cell line, they didn’t ban funding for that because you’re not destroying a new embryo. That’s where the beginning of this legality or concern people have. As the therapy becomes more prevalent, so first of all, bone marrow transplant, which is a stem cell therapy. That’s the first type of stem cell therapy.
That’s all part of tissue transplant. People discover that there are stem cells everywhere in the body, and you can use them even from fat. Fat drives stem cells. It’s not the fat. It doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the fat. It’s about the blood vessel that supplies the fat. These are primitive cells, what we call mesenchymal stem cells. There are a lot of mesenchymal stem cells that can divide and differentiate to become cells of the fat, bone, muscle, tendons, etc.
It’s the mesenchymal stem cells that are lining the blood vessels that supply the fat. Those are the cells we’re trying to get. They’re getting those cells and then utilizing them. There are unbelievable core stem cells. Usually, babies are born, and the umbilical cord and placenta are tossed. Throw it in the trash. No one was using it until they realized how incredible the cells are that are in there. The FDA wanted to regulate because people were using it. The FDA wanted to protect the public. I agree that there needs to be some standard.
The FDA finally said, “The stem cell therapy, if you want to use cells, this is how we are going to regulate this. You can categorize yourself as either a section 361 or a section 351. If you’re cells are under section 361, that means these are considered tissue because then you don’t have to go through a drug study, but you have to fulfill two criteria. One is minimal manipulation. That means you can use no enzymes, chemicals, or you do not grow the cells in a tissue culture. That’s minimally manipulated.
You can use the cell for the same purpose as how the cells were functioning in the donor’s body, and you put it in the recipient, and it’s doing the same thing. Now it is considered a tissue transplant. A lot of companies were providing minimally manipulated products to physicians, and the physicians are physicians. We do all kinds of things. We do what we do. Sometimes physicians will put cells into places like the intravenous route, and there’s nowhere that says that this is illegal. However, if the company cannot promote using the cells for all these purposes, for all these different conditions, because the moment you start to talk about different conditions, you start talking about treating something.
Now the FDA says, “Now you made it a drug. Now, if you’re talking about treating any particular condition, there better be drug studies.” That’s where you’re going to bring your product into section 361. This is on the manufacturer’s side. There is nothing, as far as law, that says stem cell therapy is either legal or illegal. Simply, there’s no law. The Senate hasn’t passed any law. There’s nothing in it, just like a lot of things, ozone therapy or some other integrative therapy. There’s no law that’s banning it.
“This is terrible. We cannot allow this.” You ban something. It’s not banned. It doesn’t say it’s illegal, but you will not find any place that says it’s legal, except for now, in different states. You start to see different states where it pops. The marijuana, the progression. Some states start popping, “It’s illegal here, it’s legal there.” It’s the same thing. Stem cell therapy first became legal in Texas. Texas is always the more bold group. They passed a law because one of the senators’ sons was saved by stem cells.
It’s called Charlie’s Law. Texas passed a law saying, “Yes, it’s legal to do stem cell therapy.” This said the word legal, and then they added some more parameters. You have to be associated with the a university or some institution. Those are added parameters. Texas is the first. You’ve got different states like Utah, Nevada, California, and I think North Carolina.
In California, where I’m practicing, all you have to do is put this placard prominently in your clinic that says, “This provider is providing you a stem cell therapy,” which is not FDA approved, and you have consulted with your primary care doctor. That’s it. You just have to put that on there, and you can do what you do and what you believe is right for patients. California is like that. Utah is the most liberal as far as who can do it, etc. The newest one is Florida, a few months ago. These places tell you, “This is legal.” In the Florida law, it specifically says, “It is legal in Florida regardless of what the FDA says, and it’s actually in the law.”
I think it even encourages people to use it. It’s amazing.
It saved the state a lot of money. People can stay healthier.
Working With Stem Cell Manufacturers
There you go. I know that you’re providing these therapies. You are also producing the stem cells or manufacturing the stems. Are you using mesenchymal stem cells?
I thought about going into manufacturing, but it is a bigger undertaking. What I have done is to work with manufacturers that I trust, whom I have inspected myself in person. I know how they operate and that they have integrity. I contract with them to manufacture my special blend of cells. I have this special formula that combines cells from different compartments of the local cord, which can harness cells with different characteristics.
Just because it’s from the same tissue, different compartments of the tissue have different cells. Even if they’re all called MSCs, it doesn’t mean that all the MSCs are the same. Something from the amniotic membrane wrapping around the cord versus the core tissue that’s protecting the cord versus what’s flowing through the cord blood, they’re all different. That’s the only one in the world that’s bringing all of them together. I contract manufacture my special product, and then we distribute it to doctors throughout the country.
Just so our audience can understand, these are mesenchymal stem cells from the umbilical cord, or, as you said, the amniotic fluid or the cord blood itself. They’re zero-day-old stem cells, and you have a special blend of them. We all have stem cells, but one of the hallmarks of aging is this stem cell exhaustion. Our stem cells run out over time. You’re injecting fresh ones.
Even though they collected the cells at the same time as the baby, the cells in the umbilical cord are younger than the baby’s stem cells because they were trapped when the embryo was still forming. They’re actually way back. They go back further. A lot of the markers that are still manifesting in the umbilical cord stem cells have been lost in the baby. That’s why it’s so potent. It’s closer to the embryonic state, but it’s not so close that it can cause uncontrolled growth, which is called teratoma. That’s a risk, the embryonic stem cell therapy phases. Also, the induced pluripotent stem cells. It’s very exciting, but it still has the chance of causing these tumors from forming. It has the best of both worlds. It’s young, but not so young that it goes haywire.
Common Ailments Treated With Stem Cell Therapy
This is the ultimate treatment then of mesenchymal stem cells. I know if you talk about treating certain things, then that becomes a drug, and that goes to FDA approvals. What kinds of things do people come to your clinic? What ailments or conditions do you see most clients come in and have success with treating?
Just about everything under the sun. A lot of people are seeking help and not getting enough help. Some are desperate. Probably 80% of our patients have a serious medical condition, and they want to get it. They’ve tried everything. Another 20% are healthy. They want to stay healthy and be vibrant, and live a long time. For people who have illnesses, musculoskeletal issues are the most common. For a lot of doctors, that’s all they do. They want to treat musculoskeletal issues. We do that as well.
All kinds of joint tendons, muscle damage. We treat people with autoimmune conditions. That’s a huge range, over 122 autoimmune conditions. Stem cell therapy has been studied in many of them with very encouraging results. The most common ones are rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, MS, and sarcoidosis. These are some of the more common. Of course, you’ve got gut issues, P2, people with Crohn’s, and ulcerative colitis. You have more metabolic-oriented conditions, like diabetes and high cholesterol.
These are all lifestyle issues, unless they’re type 1 diabetes. Even type 1 diabetes has been shown that stem cells can be helpful for. We have people with all kinds of internal organ issues. It could be heart, the history of heart attack, or atherosclerosis of the arteries. There’s a lot of great research evidence for it. People with high blood pressure, things as brain conditions. A lot of brain conditions. It could be Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS, or traumatic brain injury. We also have other internal organ issues, like the lungs, so COPD. It works very well in chemical lung injuries to help reverse a severe lung disease for a 911 responder.
Probably the first one in history where somebody got a reversal of disease when a lot of his colleagues have died in their 40s. In the pit for eight months, and failing all those particles. We’ve helped people with liver conditions, liver cirrhosis, testicular issues, and kidney issues. It’s about everything. That’s a big population that we have. We have a pediatrician on staff, and we do some amazing work with autism. It’s a very special race, a special population. That’s the major breadth.
That’s amazing. You’re using your special blend and assuming for a lot of those conditions that we talked about, you’re delivering those intravenously. It’s more of a systemic treatment, not just an injection in one particular area.
A lot of them are systemic, and even if somebody has local issues, like a bad knee, if it’s a chronic issue. It’s not because you injured it, and you want some help to repair it. If you’re fairly young, that’s fine. If you’re older and something is lingering, you probably want to bring your immune system on board to help you repair. That’s when the IV route is powerful because it communicates with your immune system. One of the places that can pass through is the spleen, which is the largest lymphoid organ in your body, and also all the peripheral lymphoid systems. It helps you revamp your immune response, and that is going to supercharge the repair of any organ.
How Many Stem Cell Therapy Sessions Do You Need
I guess one question people might be thinking about is, if you have a chronic condition, let’s say you have an autoimmune condition, how many treatments? How long? Is this over the course of many months? Is it a one-time thing, and you’re healed? How does that work typically?
I always talk about how many sessions you need. First of all, if you have something chronic that’s been causing you problems for a long time, it’s going to take some time. To think that one treatment is going to fix everything is a miracle. I’m not here to do a miracle. I don’t object to miracles. I’ve seen a fairly miraculous response, but that’s not what I count on. I don’t come here as I have stem cells and I do miracles. I don’t do that. I give you a stem cell. This is a medical treatment, and all medical treatments have a particular dose and particular frequency.
Dose and frequency are crucial factors in any medical treatment. The dose we calculate is based on the person’s body weight, age, and health issues. The frequency for most chronic illnesses, I say one session every 1 to 2 months, and we do three sessions. Let’s do three in a group at least within six months, and see how far we can push you. The person would know. The person may notice some improvement, but they know their body. They say, “I’m not quite where I want to be,” then you may need a booster.
I’ve also seen people who, after getting one treatment, are doing so well. They’re like, “I guess I’m done.” Nobody is done because we don’t live forever and look the same forever. We’re all declining, and we’re all heading towards one particular place, with the Lord. If you want to prevent the decline, of course, you can also borrow stem cells and allow them to help you be rejuvenated and stay at a younger state. If you are focusing on, “I don’t want to suffer, I don’t want to be sick,” then do three sections, and see how far we can get you.
If you’re doing well, great. You’d better address all the causes of why you got sick in the first place. If you don’t address them, if they’re still there, you’re going to get sick again. That’s why a holistic approach is important, because most doctors, unfortunately, do not find out exactly why you were sick. They are trying to do medications. They don’t know why. Sometimes there may be some causes, but most of the time we don’t know why. I know that because I’ve gone through all the classes that we taught all the illnesses. Most of the time, we don’t know why.
You do symptomatic, but we know what happened. We know which organ has problems. We know what chemicals, haywire. We can correct those chemicals. It’s very piecemeal. It’s fragmented and is in superficial in what we’re doing for patients. Stem cells can address things on a deeper level. However, it doesn’t address everything. If you’re vitamin deficient, if you don’t have enough minerals to work, or if you’re not getting maybe earth frequencies. There are so many things that are related to being alive.
Astronauts will have to have Earth frequencies in space. Otherwise, they get very sick, which is why they were mimicking. They use PMF devices to give them the Earth’s frequency so they don’t get violently sick. We need a lot of things for life to happen. You cannot just say, “I’m not going to consider it.” We focus on these chemicals we can detect, and that’s it, and call it a day. You have to address all these causes that could be undermining you. Each person has a different set of circumstances.
If you don’t know them, and you’re treating everyone the same way, unfortunately, you’re not going to fix a lot of people. That’s the key. A person has to dig into why they got sick in the first place. If you can address all those factors, then once the stem cells help your tissue to become healthier and you don’t make it sick again, now you can coast for a very long time. Enjoy your life and maybe go through the regular aging process, which some people think is also a disease, but at least you can regularly age without suffering. That’s the health break you should use. That’s a long answer.
That’s super helpful. What about people who are in that 20% who want to optimize their health or prevent as much aging as possible and they’re throughout their system? How often would a healthy person have a stem cell treatment?
I myself belong in that category. I have been doing IV stem cells on myself every three months for the last nine years, and I’m 54 years old. I’m very public about my age.
You don’t look 54.
I’m trying to make a point that it’s helping you reverse things on a cellular level. When you use stem cells for rejuvenation purposes, we look at how long the cells live in your body and how long the effect lasts. Animal studies have shown that regular infusion of young animals’ stem cells, if you start giving to middle-aged animals, they live about 30% longer. It greatly extended their lifespan. Not just lifespan, they look so much better. Their fur is shinier, their spine is straighter, and they’re running around with better locomotion, and then they can recognize how to run the maze better.
Everything and all around, they are at a higher level of function. When you look at how long the cells live in the body, it is about 1 to 3 months. Their signals, which are mostly these exosomes that the cells create, will produce the effect that will last generally for another 1 to 3 months. If you always want to have some signals from the body, maybe every six months. If you always want to have some cells in the body, maybe every three months or maybe even more frequently. I’ve been doing it every three months for the last nine years.
As I accumulate my age, the aging process is also going to get faster. I’m probably going to speed it up every two months, just to counter that aging process. The more you live, all the levels are going to calm down a notch. It doesn’t matter whether you respect the biological system. Even if you’re older, because they’ve done studies on old animals, and the human equivalent age of 75 years of age, and then they show that the amount of time these animals live fully alive, and the amount of time they leave Earth is extended by times three.
Let’s say if the rats only have one month left, usually, now they have three months left. Not only do they live longer, but they also have better performance in all parameters, including their appearance. Everything is in a younger stage. You can extend the time you have on Earth. By using stem cells, not just extend the time, but also extend the quality of time.
Extending that health span and lifespan together. Even if you’re 85, and maybe you only have three years left on Earth, what the study shows is you might have nine years. You could have nine years left of healthy years. That’s amazing.
When they dissect, it’s great. You can observe. The old mice and rats look healthier, they’re performing better, and they act like a younger rat. They dissected the muscles and the brain of these animals and compared them to animals that were getting a placebo. Everything, all the parameters they were checking, reverted to the younger state, including the neurotransmitter level, the growth factor level, the senescent markers, and the toxic waste buildup. Everything was brought back to the younger state. The cells were younger cells.
Dr. Joy’s Skin Care Products
This is super exciting. I want to make sure we have a few minutes to talk about your skin care products and the creams that you’ve created. You mentioned before that you came up with this blend for yourself because you didn’t like what was out there. Can you tell us a little bit about your skin care cream that you use with the Chara Health?
Five or six years ago, I was doing stem cell therapy for my patients. I wanted them to get well. I was treating a lot of people with a lot of severe illnesses. Of course, I want to look good. I wanted to be nice to my skin. I know all this stuff is toxic. I’ve learned so much from being in this field, knowing how these chemicals are in our household, like cleaners, creams, body wash, or whatever people use. I stopped using perfume even though I love it because I know there are hormone disruptors, and they can do a lot of damage to my body.
I went to look for a non-toxic, all-natural cream. I bought very expensive Korean products. I was like, “I’m safe. I spend a lot of money.” They said it’s natural, so it’s a good product. I started using it. I didn’t notice anything different. One day, I flipped over the bottle. I was like, “Let me read these fine prints to see what exactly is in it.” I was like, “What is this? What is that?” There’s a list of all these things that are synthetic. I couldn’t believe it. Why are you using these synthetic materials if you claim that your product is all natural?
I was like, “I’m on a mission to find all-natural, but truly all-natural products.” I went to a trade show, The Natural Expo, where only natural products are exhibited. I took some samples and I put them in my drawer. I was going to use it in a month, when I finished the product I was using. By the time I took that little jar out of the drawer, ready to use, they weren’t even exposed to sunlight. They were kept in a cool place in a drawer. In the jar, the product is separated into three layers, and they have different colors. Would you put that on your face when you see a product that has separated?
No, thanks.
I was like, “I can throw this away. What is going on in this product? How come they cannot keep the product stable?” I was like, “Do I have to make this myself?” That’s where I started. I thought, “How about I put everything I love into this product? All the herbs. Different antioxidants and probiotics, but most importantly, I know about stem cells, and I know peptides. How about I put some of the most powerful ingredients into this product and make this an all-natural and powerful skin regeneration cream?”
That’s how it came about. That was in 2019. It’s almost six years. That’s a long time. That’s the only cream I would use. I would not touch anybody else’s. I freaked out when I traveled and forgot it because I feel toxins, poison. Even some of the stuff I get from these medical conferences, I get a lot of free things, and I could not touch them. When I read the ingredients, I’m like, “No, thank you.”
This is its so-called CharaOmni, and you rub it on once or twice a day, and you’re applying those.
Twice a day. Use an all-natural cleanser and make sure your face is clean, and then you put a little bit on. It goes a long way. I put it on my face and neck, and then that’s it. Maybe a little on my hands because of your hands. You know the places where aging is obvious, like your face, neck, and hands. People’s hands. You get a lot of sun damage and all that stuff. That’s where I use it.
You can maybe eliminate some of the Botox and fillers and things like that because you’re using creams like this?
Yeah. It helps you release fine wrinkles and rejuvenate. I’ve had people where skin lesions even start to disappear. It’s giving you great hydration and also signals to keep your skin cells regenerated. They keep making healthy new cells for you. You’re always in a useful state.
Building Her Own Online Academy
That’s amazing. One other thing I know is that you are also training other physicians on stem cell protocols. Can you tell us a little bit about that work that you’re doing, too?
I realized that a lot of doctors are seeking information, and it’s hard to find real, reputable, unbiased information. At least when I started nine years ago, there was no textbook. I studied everything from research articles. I love the introduction sections. The introduction will give you a history. You’re putting everything together. You get an idea of how things have evolved.
I was stringing together the knowledge by absorbing from all these articles. I realized that I pretty much know more than every doctor I’ve ever encountered about stem cells. Maybe that’s a sign that I need to teach. I was invited to present at different conferences, and so I have material, and I started putting together the course about all the things I need to learn to be effective at helping my patients.
I have this vast library, and now I can show the studies to doctors and catch them up to speed on what they need to know to be the most effective. That’s how I started the American Academy of Integrated Self-Therapy. That’s where I was teaching in person, but then that became very labor-intensive. I put out an online course. Anybody can go to AAICT.org and then take the course anytime at their leisure. I realized people also want hands-on experience, and they want that connecting with a real person, and also more in-depth about exactly how to do it.
Online course, I covered a lot of the theory and the studies, a little bit on how to do the treatments, but I probably needed to do more training on exactly how to approach patient care. That’s how I started the two-day training certification course, and certifying doctors on stem cell therapy. We’ve had three events so far, and the next one is in January. It’s always in Los Angeles. It’s a two-day training course. It’s great because we’re growing fast, like significantly more and more doctors are attending. It’s good.
It’s very exciting.
We do hands-on because they’re excited, they’re very inspired, and great camaraderie as well. We learn from each other.
The Promising Future Of Stem Cell Therapy
Thank you for that amazing work and the way that you’re spreading this in such an intentional and thoughtful way as well. One last question. If you’re looking out into the future, let’s say 5 to 10 years from now, what’s on the horizon that is most exciting as you think about these regenerative stem cell therapies? What does the future of medicine even look like from your perspective? I think it’s probably a unique one.
How stem cell therapy is going to be is interesting because this is not restricted to the US. This is also all around the world. There are certain restrictions in the US. Some other countries are a little bit more open, but in the US, despite that, the number of clinics has grown significantly. The last time I heard was that, in five years, the number of stem cell clinics has quadrupled in the US.
That shows you, despite the lack of support from the governing agencies, because they’re not there to make things easy. Despite the misinformation that’s all around, they’re more because the narrative has changed from Dr. Kong, “What do you mean? What is a stem cell?” That was nine years ago. Now, to say, “Her stem cell is amazing. It works well. I have this condition, do you think this can help me in particular?” The conversation has changed. It’s like wildfire. It’s not something that anyone can stop.
People want healing. If we know there’s something that’s incredibly powerful and also incredibly safe, and conventional medicine has not offered enough hope that people are usually going to stop people from seeking healing and stop them from feeling good, you may hide the truth for some time. If they don’t know, then they don’t know where to go. Once they know, that’s it. I cannot stop it. I think of it as light shining in darkness. The darkness of medicine, the darkness of ignorance. Once the light has penetrated, that’s it.
I love that metaphor for thinking about the future. Thank you.
It’s going to be commonplace. I think everybody, probably not in the next 5, 10 years, I don’t know where the country is going politically. It seems a lot of things are in flux. We don’t know where we’re going. I think, possibly in 10, 15 years, stem cell therapy will be pretty commonplace. It’s going to be instituted in hospitals and most doctors’ practices because you can use this as a powerful way to prevent illness.
I don’t care what condition. Those chronic illnesses have inflammation as part of the foundation. If you can decrease inflammation, you can improve immune function. A lot of these conditions will go away. That’s going to be part of what doctors do. The human lifespan can be extended by 10, 15 years easily if we can implement this, or people will get sick. People will always get sick. There are going to be accidents, to be infections, there are going to be people who want to do surgery.
If you do that, you can always use stem cells to help you heal way faster and more completely. That’s going to be part of what doctors do. I get some stem cells here. I prescribe you. Right now, it seems fancy. It’s like, “Only the rich.” I need to tell you this statistic. People think that we’re waiting for the FDA to approve stem cells. Do you know how much it costs to get a drug approved and to take a drug to market?
I’ve heard an FDA trial can cost about $300 million. It’s a lot.
On average, to take a drug to the market, it costs about $2.1 billion. You wonder which company has that money. If they do spend that money, you don’t think they’re going to try to recoup it. A medication that got approved in December 2024 is Ryan’s Cell. This is a medication that is in mesenchymal stem cells. There’s almost no FDA approval. The FDA allows stem cells to be used to replenish or regenerate the blood system. That’s one thing the FDA says is okay to do. The other thing is this particular medication by a big company that got approved only to treat steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease in pediatrics.
It’s very specific, very narrow. Only in this pediatric population, when it’s graft-versus-host disease acutely, and the person doesn’t respond to steroids. Now you can give this Ryan Cell, this medication. Each dose, so each IV infusion is $194,000. It takes 2 times per week for 4 weeks. It’s eight times. The total cost is $1.55 million for this one course of treatment. You think you’re waiting for FDA approval. I’ve got news for you. You don’t think the price is going to go up, and you think you can afford it, then?
I was hopeful that in the future, it is going to be much less.
From a simple knee injection, we charge $5,500. IV infusion that’s up to maybe $18,000. If you do a lot of things together, you do face, hair injections, penis, vaginal rejuvenation, all these, if you add a bunch of stuff, it probably would not go above $25,000. That’s it. We have a cap. If you think this is expensive and you’re waiting for the FDA, then let’s see what happens.
Get In Touch With Dr. Joy
This has been an amazing conversation. I’m so excited about the work that you’re doing and what’s ahead as well, and how this is changing people’s lives and impacting our world. Thank you so much. I know you have your own podcast as well, the Dr. Joy Kong podcast. Is that a good place for people to find you?
Yeah. The Dr. Joy Kong Podcast and my YouTube channel. I think people will find the information on there very helpful because I go a deep dive on a lot of the subjects. How many stem cells do I need? How frequently? How soon can I see results? What are the different routes that you put the cells in the body? What’s the difference? Is stem cell legal? What about the concern of putting other people’s DNA in my body? What about using it for anti-aging purposes?
I break everything down. Of course, I can do a lot more. I only have so much energy. I’m trying to bring people content as much as I can, but even all the videos I have are about the common questions that people have about stem cell therapy. If a person can go through all the videos I have, which most of our patients have seen all my videos before they ever come to the clinic, you educate yourself on all my videos. You’ll know more about stem cell therapy than most doctors can encounter.
We can just search for Dr. Joy Kong on YouTube.
Joy Kong, MD is my YouTube channel, but my Instagram, if people want to reach me, is @Dr._Joy_Kong. They can also find me on my website, which is JoyKongMD.com. My clinic is Chara Health, and they can find that through my website.
The CharaOmni is the skincare. I’m sure a lot of people are going to be interested in that.
The website is CharaOmni.com. That’s the consumer-facing cream. I tell people, “Even if no one wants to buy it, I don’t care. I need to make this cream for myself.” I cannot stop production of this cream because I need it, but I’m willing to share. That’s the thing.
That’s nice of you.
Thank you. Let’s all stay beautiful together.
Thank you so much for all the amazing work you’re doing. It’s super inspiring. Your story, your journey, and everything that you’re doing is so inspiring, and it makes us all hopeful and excited for the future and for what’s now, too, and what’s available. I hope that more people will take advantage.
I want people to know how lucky we are.
We live at such an exciting time.
In the past, I always talked about the kings and queens. They sent out emissaries to far places to look for the Fountain of Youth, and nobody ever found it. Now we have something as close as we have to the Fountain of Youth. You don’t have to be a king or a queen. It’s accessible.
There you go. Thanks so much, Dr. Joy. It’s wonderful to be with you.
You’re so welcome, Zach. It’s been a great conversation with you.
Goodbye.
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What an amazing conversation with Dr. Joy Kong. I hope that you’re inspired and excited about what’s here, what’s possible, what’s available to us now. We talked about everything from autism and pediatrics to Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s being treated with these amazing stem cell treatments. It’s not like it’s inaccessible. It’s accessible to all of us. We can regenerate. Our bodies can regenerate.
These are mesenchymal stem cells. They’re not embryonic stem cells. They’re coming from umbilical cords. Dr. Joy is creating her own blend of these. Also, the skin care line, CharaOmni, is her skin care line. If you’re watching the video, then you see how young Dr. Joy looks. She mentioned in the episode that she’s 54. You would never guess that based on looking at her. It’s working well.
Whether we have a chronic illness or something that we need significant treatment for, maybe check this out. This can be something that can change your life. If you’re one of those 20% of people who just want to maintain and optimize their health, she’s doing this once every few months. Maybe for some of us, we could start with once a year, one time, and see how it goes.
I think that this is pioneering the future of healthcare, but the future is now, and so we don’t need to wait. I hope you enjoy that episode, and I hope that you’ll check things out at CharaOmni or go check out Dr. Joy’s podcast or her YouTube channel, Dr. Joy Kong, MD. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll see you next time on Fully Alive.
