Have you wondered how athletes nowadays continue to perform at the highest level well into their 30s? Well, the secret for the success of some of these age-defying, seemingly inhuman individuals is Stem Cell Therapy.
Stem Cell Therapy is a cutting-edge procedure in medicine that helps athletes minimize their recovery period after strains or injuries and helps them return to action quickly. These stem cells, which are collected from a healthy body, are then injected into the athletes’ bodies, to help repair the damaged cells. They target inflammation and can treat diseased cells in the body as well.
Some of the biggest athletes around the world have sworn by this treatment. Portugal talisman Cristiano Ronaldo tore his hamstring in 2016 while playing for Real Madrid but miraculously returned to action in just 3 weeks. At 37, Ronaldo finished an astonishing third in the Golden Boot race with 18 goals for Manchester United in the 2021/22 Premier League season, proving that he belongs right amongst the best of the best. It is almost a given that he would not be able to produce such earth shattering numbers for his age if not for stem cell therapy.
Rafael Nadal, who recently separated himself from the rest as the all time leader in Men’s Grand Slam Wins, is also a disciple of this biological philosophy. He has had multiple knee and back injuries over the years and yet the Spaniard is still at the helm of global tennis. Lebron James however is the best testament to the wonders that stem cells can do for an athlete. In his 19th season in the grueling NBA, he averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in 56 regular season games. He was arguably the most entertaining player to watch this season and he couldn’t have done it without enhancing his body to push the limits of athletic longevity.
This brings us to the question, is this therapy ethical? Mike Tyson unretired from boxing, one of the most intense sports in the world, aged 54. Surely athletes who weren’t around at a time where this therapy was invented must feel hard done by. One can only imagine what Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali would have gone on to do if they could have prolonged their careers by four or even five years. The older athletes who continue playing are also denying younger athletes opportunities to compete and win championships at the highest level.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) have put guidelines in place to prohibit technology doping, so as to ban technologies that are “performance enhancing.” We are at an interesting point in time where we will see the the athletes we know pushed to the absolute limit and only time will tell how the sports we love will look five or ten years from now.
Photo : Screenshot from YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKmaNoGQ_Ak)
