The 'Legal' Life Hack Everyone's Talking About | Dr Joy Kong

Hello legends. So my next guest has been referred to as the tiger of Beijing. Take a look at this. >> Really, we're talking about birth tissue derived stem cells because in this country, embryionic stem cells is not legal. Fetal stem cells is not legal. But young cells from the birth tissue which usually are tossed away when the new baby is born, those tissues contain really really potent and and young stem cells and those can be harvested. So usually those will be the sources that comes from somebody else. So okay, I was I've certainly learned something new. Let's go and meet Dr. Kong. >> [music] [music] >> Dr. Kong, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you so much, Chris. Great to see you. >> Yes, thank you. What time is it? Are you in LA? >> Yes, it's 7:55 a.m. >> I'm sorry. [laughter] >> Yes. Thank you for joining us. Um, wow, what a fascinating history. So, Joy, have you read um uh Wild Swans? Um I is it Jean Jean Chang I believe wrote it. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think you know I think I did. That was a long time ago. Yeah I did. >> Yeah it was the same for me but it had quite a profound effect on me >> years ago. It was um friends at home. It it's three generations of women under chairman Mao and uh you know it was it was it that cultural revolution it's quite an eyeopener. >> Mhm. >> Dr. >> Well, I call the tail end of it. I I you know I I I'm sure I uh it impacted my life but I was born um in the middle of that cultural revolution. So um my first five years that's when that was going on. So I wouldn't say, you know, I experienced it as someone that's more conscious about the social environment, but um yeah, China has gone through a, you know, seismic change since then, for sure. >> Yes, absolutely. Well, they al always said, "Let sleeping China lie, for when she awakes, the whole world will know." Um >> Yes. So, um, friends at home, I'm just going to read off off my screen here because I want to get this right. Dr. Kong is a UCLA trained triple board certified physician specializing in stem cell therapy, peptide therapy, and in integrative medicine. um a published researcher and a podcast host and has been recognized as top doctor of the year in stem cell therapy, stem cell doctor of the decade and her podcast won best physician public education uh podcast this year. Her memoir Tiger of Beijing was named 2020 book of the year. Congratulations, Dr. Kong, and uh quite a journey. >> Thank you, Chris. Yeah, it certainly has been. >> Yeah. >> So, uh how did you come to be in China and now you're in LA? >> Well, part of that journey was documented in this memoir because that was quite a dramatic beginning because in my book, it started with my visa rejection. So there's a whole lot of story before the visa but the book started with the rejection. Um so it took um well it it took me eight months after the rejection to actually land in San Francisco. And that's a really really interesting story. But um once in San Francisco I encountered another obstacle in life and having to overcome that and be free um as a person. That that was the second part of the book. And then from there I decided to study biology because I was fascinated with the human life uh or or life itself, the mystery and and how everything works. And then from there I decided to become a doctor. Um I at first I thought I wanted to be a professor. My parents are teachers and my dad's a professor. I grew up on the university campus and that's really what uh what I wanted to do just to be in the learning environment and uh uh be teaching and learning. But what I realized was that medicine engages so many parts of my brain that creates this incredible satisfaction where I connect with humans and I use science and I use technology, you know, the different devices and tools um which can either detect condition problems or uh treat certain conditions and then um and then I have to understand right the human psychology ology, the the sociology, it really brings together different parts of um of our world. So to me that was the ultimate you know uh alchemy where I can bring everything together. [clears throat] Um, so I actually, um, love the brain, which was why initially I went into psychiatry because I wanted to kind of crack the the the last frontier of medicine. I was having a good time because I loved mental health and and even aberrations in mental health. That was fascinating. But what I saw was a lack of um kind of a more um a wiser or a more mature way of looking at the body because people are going in way too granular. All of a sudden, all we can think about is receptors and and uh um you know different molecules interacting with each other on a very granular level forgetting that the entire body is interacting with each other. The entire system are cross-alking but modern medicine is not quite taking into that into account. uh it got so down to the basics that it lost a forest. Uh it was and to me that was a a form of immaturity when you have lost the big picture. Coming from China, we didn't have the language for the granular stuff because we didn't have the instrument and we just you know throughout history we didn't we didn't get to that point. But modern medicine is giving you language for such um intricate details which can be very powerful but then it doesn't um utilize the system approach and traditional forms of medicine that's all they do Chinese medicine the Indian you know aya etc are focusing on the ground the the the bigger picture and how different organs may be interacting with each other how different herbs are interacting acting with the body. So, and each herb can have thousands of compounds. So, how is that creating an effect when you have all these organs and and thousands of compounds all trying to uh talk to each other? So, it became be becomes very complex and that is uh overwhelming for modern medicine because how do you deal with this complexity? So it would rather just ignore the complexity and go straight into the the [clears throat] the low like a very um uh basic details. And so my intuition is always to combine the two. I mean not just me you know there are a lot of people that have been talking about east west integration for a long time but I saw the need and I I know how well Chinese medicine worked. You know, I spent my first 20 years in China. My mom's life was saved by Chinese medicine when she was about to die when she was really dying from um multiple myoma, you know, a form of very severe um blood disorder and and a form of cancer. So that um uh philosophy of wanting to bring different things together so we can take care of the trees but also uh understand the forest was uh was what drove me to this new branch of medicine called functional medicine or integrative medicine, holistic medicine, anti-aging medicine. They're all talking about the same thing. Alternative medicine is all about looking at the intricacy of the human body and not forgetting different relationships. Some relationships are as simple as different vitamins. We have numerous vitamins in our body and how are they um interacting with different organs sometimes at the same time. Um and and so if you don't have one, all these different symptoms are affected. So that's like a a basic example of how one thing can tie different systems together. And unfortunately, the conventional form of medicine is not looking at that. So to me, intellectually we need to practice this new form of medicine. And um once I got into that uh holistic realm, that's when I encountered stem cell therapy. And to me, that was a huge aha moment that I would never never veer away from because what I saw was the most holistic approach you can imagine. is using the intelligence that made us and allow that to talk to your entire body to all your organs and to promote repair because what can make you can make you new again. So um that's kind of my journey into stem cells. That's why now I'm focusing so much on stem cells. Of course exoomes is an offshoot of stem cell therapy. Um, and then peptides, we can target different organs. That's a kind of a different branch, but this is all tapping into the the secrets, the codes that nature has. Yeah, >> absolutely. Yes. We're really behind uh here in the west with medicine. I studied um psychology, sociology, biology, then youth work and then social work. And the whole kind of emphasis there is on holistic practice, you know, factoring everyone's social circumstance, their psychology, their physical health, diet, all this kind of stuff. And yet if you go to an English doctor, all they're really trained to do is just prescribe you a pill just like immediately. Or if it's worse, they send you a surgeon that's just like, "Yeah, I'll operate. What when do you when do you want it?" There's there's no kind of, you know, how are you living your life? >> Decision. >> Yeah. I I'm guessing it's probably a bit the same in the States, in the mainstream, is it? >> Oh, yeah. If you are going to your doctor that's all based on insurance coverage, I'm afraid that's what you're gonna get. >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm fascinated. Um it's I played a little clip from your YouTube at the beginning there. Do I understand that the stem cells come from the placenta when a when a baby's born? >> Well, we actually have stem cells throughout our body right now as we speak. So in initially of course it came from the sort of I mean the fertilized egg um and from that egg there's all this cell differentiation which means gaining function [clears throat] while you gain function you lose potentials. So the cells are uh evolving to form eventually form organs right forming structures. So in your organ let's say your liver there is uh the liver working cell but there's also the liver stem cell and that stem cell has lost so much potential has gained so much specialization that all it can differentiate into is a liver cell but the rest of but if you go upstream there could be other cell types. So there are a lot there are probably a you know thousand differentiation or a thousand variations of stem cells within the human body um all the way down to pluropotent stem cells. So these are cells that can become anything in the body. So all these are coexisting in the body. So what do you want to tap into when you are going more upstream when the cells were still younger in its kind of evolutionary age that means it has more potential it can become more things uh then the signals they sent will have certain ramifications is more upstream so where do we intercept uh that's the art of stem cell therapy so we can use early birth tissue as a source for stem cells and these are more upstream. So from the emble cord or placenta a lot of these cells were trapped in the early embryo and fetus development. So they have retained a lot of the characteristics of the embryionic stem cells of the early much earlier generations and you can use those and that will give you greater variety of signals to trigger more upstream regeneration. >> Wow. Uh so a question Joy ha has do you think that stem cell um what's the words for it when you have the stem cell therapy? >> Um do you think it's become more popular because of Joe Rogan? >> Joe Rogan helped Tony Robbins helped. uh these two are really are a front of the stem cell uh medicine because they have such huge influence and they have personally received benefits. I mean these are people who have access to everything right anything that's available and when they've tried everything and and nothing had quite got them to where they want to be and then stem cells created such fast and drastic improvement. Yeah, of course they're excited. They want to spread the word. So, absolutely. Tony Robbins [clears throat] wrote the book Life Force and I actually critiqued it on YouTube. I had a few videos I I critiqued the the um the chapters on stem cell therapy. So, there were there were some some mistakes in the in in the chapters written by you know doctor that Tony Robbins invited. So my problem with the field is that there's a lot of misinformation partially from doctors just going ahead and doing stem cell therapy without a good foundation of the knowledge of what kind of cells they are, how they function. So if you don't have the fundamental knowledge you know in in a solid place then you will say things that are not based on really on scientific uh foundation. So so that's my problem with it and which is why I founded an academy American academy of integrated cell therapy. We've been providing training since 2018 and uh we have started doing certification trainings specifically really to get doctors to be fully proficient and not just getting bits and pieces from here and there and from from reps of stem cell companies. uh maybe they they read an art article or two but no you know be a lot more uh of a true physician right true pioneer. So you want to understand um a much greater variety of of research results so that you can speak intelligently. Yeah. So so that's kind of one of my missions which is education. So going back to wanting to be a professor. So I'm uh in a sense uh you know fulfill that. Anyhow I I'm actually confusious descendant. I'm you know 73rd generation. So wanting to teach, wanting to to you know kind of pass down the knowledge has I guess is in my bones. [laughter] >> You're actually a descendant of Confucious. >> Yeah. 73rd generation. Yes. >> Oh wow. >> In a long time. 2500 years ago. >> That's fascinating. Yes. >> Yeah. >> I used to live in um Hong Kong and China. >> Oh. >> And I loved the Confucious stuff. I worked on a nightclub in in Hong Kong and um it was all run by the the the local triads, >> but >> but they had this real sense of like they would do things in a real certain way. So on the very first day there when the boss found out that I just moved into a an apartment and there was nothing in it, he just went up to the till in in the club, took out I don't know 5,000 Hong Kong dollars and uh he he he just gave it to me and then I >> Oh wow. I'm doing the research and it says Confucious says uh boss boss must look after employer in return employer looks after the boss. So yeah. >> Oh you mean employee? >> Yeah employee. Yeah. Sorry. >> Yes. Wow. Confucious said that. [laughter] >> Yeah. It's it's like a sort of you know unwritten law. I I I suppose >> that's wonderful. That's wonderful because the west is always um a lot of time questioning right if you don't know God you know how can you behave well how can you know the rules of being a decent human um China has a different system and it's a lot is about human decency about doing the right thing so so even without this particular entity of an all- knowing god um you understand that there's a a nature of human existence. There's a natural way. So like Dowoism, the way and and that's the rule of how a human should interact with its you know its peers and how it should uh yeah function as a decent human being. So yes um they have uh you know various various uh you know sayings and and uh and and these uh kind of standards that we try to live by. >> Yes. We talk about this a lot on this show. I think my my friends out there we're kind of of the opinion that religion isn't really like knowing God. um that really God is no nosis and knowing knowing right from wrong and we call it in in ancient England we called it natural law >> and we actually have a sort of um constitution in England even though it's been sort of walked over in in recent times but >> the constitution essentially is just do the right thing, you know, don't don't harm other people um unless they're going to commit you harm and all this kind of stuff. So, >> yes, fascinating. Um >> I met Tony Robbins >> just Have you met him? >> Yes, definitely. I um actually just came back from Fiji uh to his live and wealth mastery, but he wasn't there, but I was in other events where he was there. We were we we spoke. Yes. >> Yeah. He's quite quite a character. Hey. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I went I went to his um awaken the giant within seminar about >> Oh, unleash the power within. Yeah, >> that's the one. It was >> humongous uh event. 16 20,000 people. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. The one I went to is probably a bit smaller than that, but he taught us the firewalk which was just >> Oh, you did that? >> Yeah. I I did it and then I um I used to do it quite a lot. I used to teach people how to how to do it. But I still kind of use that psychology. If I'm ever in a um a challenging situation, I'm just and change your mindset. Do it. >> Wow. Nice. Nice. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I mean, Joe Rogan, he's kind of like the man, isn't he, with that that kind of stuff. He takes his health and fitness seriously. Um >> yeah. So I think you know and I I wish all the doctors do that right. So I myself I practice what I preach and it's very important. So I don't put junk in my body and I exercise. The only thing I'm not doing very well on is sleep. But there are some basic tenants of um what you can do to enhance your health. So, so the foundation has to be to to to be respected that will be nutrition, movement, sleep and then mindset. How you can modulate your your interaction with the world and not be taken down in a sense by by things that may not be happening your way. [laughter] And that's a constant, you know, constant battle. Um so and for people who have gone through difficulties like I have I mean it's not like I had a traumatic childhood yes were there trauma yes but um I'm very much about agency about taking responsibilities and not wallowing in our sufferings um I am very much about looking forward and you know I kind of dust off uh I get a little bit of a warrior mindset and that's why the tiger um the tiger is not going to be pouting and and you know be be [laughter] always moping um tigers strategizing and thinking ahead and so that's the spirit that I want to share and maybe awaken in other people and that's one reason I wrote my book and I think the fact that I wrote it as a memoir made it just a little bit more potent for people because if I had written it as a novel like I first was um was going to do it would have diluted the power in it because it it would be a fiction. This one I'm exposing myself more which I doesn't really matter to me. Um you know this is not about me. This is about human resilience and what people can can really gather. So by showing the world this actually happened. This is real and this is how I overcame it despite being sometimes felt like I was being crushed but coming out a winner and from that I think I can inspire people which I have um I've met so many people who came to me men women different backgrounds been inspired by the story and it really resonated which is just just incredible um yeah and is with the same spirit that I I'm bringing to my work like my work in a not very friendly environment when it comes to regenerative medicine because we are breaking tradition. We are moving ahead in a way that is not embraced and welcome by uh the status quo. So there's a lot of um u suppression you either outward or or a a more subtle level of suppression. On the surface maybe the governing body says oh no we support it. We want this to you know to be uh to to thrive this new branch of medicine. We just want it to be more responsible and and more monitored. But in actuality a lot of times that has killed innovation and it has killed companies. So um and then it has effectively stopped a lot of doctors from getting the word out even to this point. People still think that stem cell therapy is illegal in the US. I mean where did that rhetoric come from? How did that even become a thing? That 10 years later, I've been doing this for 10 years, that's still a prevalent notion that somehow you can only go overseas to get treatment. So, what's the result? A lot of people don't have the resources to go overseas or they don't have the impetus that, you know, it's a huge thing. They have to make the arrangement to do it. A lot of them do, but they're missing the opportunity that it could be in their city next door. a doctor is actually providing the treatment legally and what a travesty that people have no ideas and when a lot of times even these till this day I may be going to biohacking conference right the these are biohackers you would think that they know the latest and a lot of them do know that you can get stem cell therapy but there are still people who think it's not legal so this is tells you how entrenched these misinformation can be >> so um so I'm faced with different levels of obstacles, misinformation and systemic suppression. So, I have to use some of that tiger spirit in order to do this because if I had been always worried about what the regulation says, you know, oh, you know, how is that going to what does the malpractice insurance [clears throat] cover it? Um, oh what, you know, what what does the medical board? So if all I can think of is what if instead of what if this can really really make a huge difference in people. So if I my what ifs is focused on my own uh you know safety then I would have never saved so many lives and made such incredible differences um in just in in so many and and and bringing bringing the knowledge uh into you know so many people's lives. So I think the priority as a healer, as a doctor needs to be set straight. What I go what what I go off by, what I base my opinion by is research from around the world. So if the research has shown incredible benefits in a wide range of conditions and with so little side effects. I mean, I challenge you to go look for side effects of stem cell therapy. It's so incredibly safe. Of course, if your doctor is doing the procedure wrong and it is injecting things in places they shouldn't be injecting, that's a whole other story. But if you adhere to proper protocols and using products that are clean, that are are properly produced, then it's extraordinarily safe. So, so anyhow, if you know that you're giving something that's safe and that's potent, then it's it's up to you whether or not what you believe is right for patients and you can focus on that and do the right thing. So, yeah, that I think requires some of the tiger spirit. Yeah, I think because you've had some harsh experiences in life, you know right from wrong and you you know how to act with moral courage. >> Mhm. >> You know, >> yeah, maybe. Maybe. But I've always been like that though. >> Oh, okay. >> So, that just kind of part of my makeup. Um even when I was growing in China, growing up in China, there are so many rules and I really did not like all these artificial rules. Um because I always felt that I need to understand why there are rules around and what's the purpose. Um so I would never blindly follow. I would dissect the rules that that was imposed on me and make decision whether or not it actually makes sense. And if it doesn't make sense, just somebody's arbitrary rule or you know that the the reason for the rule is not uh for the benefit of everybody. It's only benefiting a particular number of people to me that is not a rightful rule and then that is not my rule. So by universal law then that is not a rule that I need to abide by. So I've always want to go by, you know, what's the right thing. So to me, that's a that's a the higher uh level of of rule of uh of law. Yeah. So I go by the higher law [laughter] >> like moral authority. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. Are you familiar? Um this is a guy I think he had a big influence on Anthony Robbins. Dr. Robert Young. >> Oh, yeah. >> He's um he wrote this book which I I got a signed copy from him years ago when I met him in in in England. He wrote the PH Miracle. >> Okay. Mhm. >> And um yeah, that book changed my life. the the the how can you say it was such a massive paradigm shift to me to un to be taught that our bodies have a pH level like like all living creatures plants etc. Mhm. >> Um and uh >> yeah really it really changed my life but >> yeah there there that's great yeah there so that's part of the awakening right part of the fundamental understandings and there are a lot of understandings that we've come to including you know nutrition and including you know what minerals can do for our body what about hormones and that's a huge part of anti-aging medicine so the body is very complex pH just one uh one of thousands of different factors, right? It's very important. Um but we're just, you know, beginning to, you know, kind of peel off the the mystery of the body layer by layer. Um so this is why my academy is called American Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy because I do not want people to think cell therapy is end all be all and this is all you need to to heal the body. No, the body is very complex. If you lack certain um vitamin or certain amino acids, your body can't rebuild itself. And so we have to respect that. If you you have underlying infections, these bugs are in your body. You have to somehow subdue them or get rid of them. Otherwise, you're always suffering. So the body is very very complex. Yeah. So the the integration is really key. So doctor, for those of us out out here that are sort of unaware of stem cell therapy, what what are the mechanics of it? What what do you I mean I'm I get it. You're trying to regenerate new new growth. Would I be right? >> Right. So it it's all about making the body new. So what the stem cell therapy is doing depends on what kind of cells you're using. So you're if you're using a end more um cells that can differentiate into a local tissue cell like there are um companies that will seduce seduce um will induce uh stem cells to go into certain directions by using certain signaling molecules. Let's say they they indu induce cells to become neural progenitor cells. So then they can become neurons and and that's a more targeted a treatment. But what we can do these days is that we don't have to be super specific. We can use cells that are more upstream. One has ability to differentiate into anything you want. um or two by sending signals to your tissue local organ specific stem cells that only has one direction to go which is to replenish cells of that organ. We can have cells like meenymal stem cells really good at doing that by sending signals waking up the local tissue specific stem cells and making them divide and differentiate. Now we can make new tissue. So there they're different approaches. So now even with these broader approach which is a lot of fun messenyal stem cells that's a major cell type that I utilize but there are al also other cells and that [clears throat] can be very powerful and they can work in conjunction. So one of the things I brought to the field is to combine different cell types. Um and that has not done been done very much but coming from a background of utilizing not just one herb that can have thousands of compounds but multiple herbs coming together to create this new symphony that can have a system um kind of um you know upleveling of effects. So by combining different cell types and they can go into the body and do their magic and work together, we can create some incredible regeneration um by reducing the inflammation, modulating the immune system because that that's one thing messenyal stem cells really good at is to shift the immune system to a more regenerative um tendency and then it can break down scar tissue. It can promote vascular formation. So more blood new blood supply. It can help you fight microbes. You can protect the tissue that may otherwise die due to certain damages and signaling. And it can also help kill off cancer cells and it can also deliver new energy source like mitochondria. Uh especially if you use younger cells, you're going to get younger mitochondria. So so all these are mechanisms of how the cells work. But as far as how we um utilize these stem cells, there are two broad approaches. One is to send signals so your body can repair and regenerate. The other one is to actually send cells that can become part of your body. So um hope that answers your question. >> Yes, absolutely. Um what is there one sort of procedure that people seek out more than others? Uh I think the most popular one that people are utilizing it for is for joint and soft tissue injuries and muscular skeletal problems. I call it the bread and butter of stem cell therapy. That's the most basic and the easiest. um other ones is not as common but um um that we utilize more systemic approach something like autoimmune conditions which has a lot of research evidence and then there are also a lot of evidence in helping with different organs. So in our clinic 80% of our patients actually have severe and chronic health issues and that ranges from um very difficult to treat brain issues like traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's, uh Parkinson's, MS, ALS, stroke. So all these are very uh very difficult uh issues but we have seen sometimes drastic improvements in patients and then people with all kinds of internal organ issues. We we've seen incredible results in heart, lung, liver, um kidney repair, um testicles, ovarian function. So we can help so many organs in the system and it's really because the beauty of how the cells work. I can put cells into the IV route and they know where to go because they're attracted by inflammation and injury. So they find their way to places that need their help and once they get there they will send signals that's appropriate for local damages. So that's the elegance of stem cell therapy and and it also makes it so fascinating and fun to do. So these are the yeah but we can also do targeted approaches for for example the brain. We can um inject cells into the nasal membrane. First of all, we can open up the bloodb brain barrier so more cells can through the IV route can get into the brain. But we can also inject into the nasal membrane and that'll be uptaken into the brain. We can also use exoomes which are very easy to be uh absorbed um and and by the mucosal membrane and that will be uptaken into the brain. So there there are different ways that we can access the body. It sounds in it sounds fascinating. You you sound very clever. [laughter] >> Well, you know, you're dealing with a very clever system. So, how can we, you know, utilize how it what uh works? And um yeah and another thing if you mentioned clever I thought was pretty clever when I incorporated laser into our stem cell treatment because what light can do and these laser and we can set them into different frequencies they can talk to different organs but not only that they can actually make the cells more active make them give them more potentials to divide make them more mobile and also make them stick to the organ that you're shining the light on. So that is just fascinating. So I can literally I'm not going to inject into someone's heart or liver, but I can shine the light on those organs and the cells will be attracted. So this is a non-invasive way of putting cells into a particular location and and that has amplified, you know, our capabilities. >> That's incredible. What about um is there any sort of controversy around this area? Are there sort of groups out there that disagree with it? Controversy a lot of times uh come from concerns about legality. So these are some of the artificial um constraints placed on the field. And the other uh controversy is misunderstanding that people still were somehow holding on to uh circulating ideas of um of either embryos being destroyed or fetuses being destroyed asking you know is are you getting cells from aborted fetuses and I don't know anybody I don't know a single human being that does that. There are people that do that in some countries, but not in the US. I've never met anybody that that does that. It's not legal. Excuse me. So, uh, but that somehow people are still worried about it. You know, worried about we're destroying life in some way or form. And embryionic stem cells, there are cell lines that are utilizing cells from embryionic stem cells. So you have to destroy an embryo in order to get embryionic stem cells which came from day 5 to 7 after fertilization but uh it's not used in in humans is is in research in the US. So no one is using embryionic stem cells or aborted fetuses. So that's been one of the the major misconception. And um another one you know I have to emphasize is that people are worried about um promoting cancer and you have to really look at what cells you're using. If you're using your own cells which has declined in its capabilities and it in its ability to detect cancer and respond to cancer appropriately because it lost that ability. It continues to perform its function which is to help things grow. So then it will produce growth factors that can end up promoting existing cancer. But if you use younger sources like what I use from the umbilical cord, there's no evidence that it can actually promote cancer growth in the human body. So on the contrary, there's so much evidence that it's anti-cancer. So you really have to know what uh you know where these uh ideas come from and the information come from and be be discerning of what kind of cells we're talking about. >> And Dr. Joy, one um question. So for people out there who are watching or listening now, how how affordable is this to say the average person? >> Yeah, the cost has been one concern. Um the range is quite wide. So generally it can range between $5,000 to $50,000. So it's a huge range. uh and people think that they will get better prices going overseas and that's definitely not true because I've got so many patients who are looking at going overseas and who some of them have gone overseas and then coming to our clinic saying you know you have better cells better protocols and you're cheaper so um the cost is you know I try to um make sure that our cost is in the mid-range in the US and and slightly lower, you know, for the quality we provide, you know, we're really providing incredible value. So, that's always my approach. I want to give value but not sacrificing quality. So, um, if you're doing just a simple injection, like in our clinic, we we charge $5,500 for a simple joint injection. But if you want IV treatment, which I think is one of the most powerful form of therapy, I say this because I've seen it in my clinic in the past 10 years and I've trained hundreds of doctors and they tell me what happens when they provide the treatment and most of them are IV treatments. So that um in our clinic it starts at $8,500. the more cells you use. So the more products it's going to be required and the products are expensive and that um will you know start to add up the cost and if a person wants intraasal you know they want to add on different things and so you add more products more procedure you want to inject into the joints and maybe we also do sexual rejuvenation we can inject into the penis vagina enhancing sexual function we can also do aesthetic treatments so stem cells or exoomes on the face or hair uh to promote uh hair restoration and facial rejuvenation. So all these things add up. So if you want to do everything then it's going to be more expensive. Yeah. >> Yeah. Of course. Of course. Um doctor, on a a completely different note, there's obviously a lot going on in the world at the moment. What what's the sort of feeling in LA about President Trump's actions of recent? >> You mean the war? >> Yeah. The the the war and the >> I don't think you know I um [clears throat] I I'm trying to focus on healing people and educating other doctors. So I yeah I I I try not to get into the politics. Um I think the world is definitely shifting. Um some actions are you're either in the wise category or in the unwise category. So I think worse of such is always unwise. Um so there are ways to solve problems unless you have ulterior motive that you want certain things to happen. Um you're not focused on solving problems. So um fundamentally I'm very much against war. Um I think is a result of the breakdown of human communication and decency when you cannot just talk things out. So that's kind of my general >> yeah sense. >> Forgive me for asking. It's just that obviously we get a very one-sided portrayal. >> Yeah. There's wide range of of opinions within the United States whether or not as a country it's you know decided to do something. >> Yeah. Got you. Got you. Well, doctor, it's been an absolute pleasure hosting you on the show. Um, I'd love to see what what the questions are that our friends out there have got for you and then we can uh maybe invite you back on uh to answer them. I think it's been a fascinating chat. Perhaps we can learn more about your story when we when we chat next time. >> And absolutely. >> I meant to say if you see me looking across, I wasn't being rude. I've been showing all your your websites and uh your Instagram. >> Yeah. So, just maybe give people a range of, you know, idea of what I I've worked on to bring to the world. Um, one is my clinic in Los Angeles. Um, two is that I set up a stem cell company. Like I mentioned, we have a unique stem cell formulation. So I wanted to make sure that I'm a pillar of integrity in the field uh because I've experienced so much lack of integrity in the stem cell field partially because it's a very profitable uh arena of medicine. So many people got into it and a lot of them are business people who are utilizing expertise of scientists to to you know to to start making money in the field. um at that I don't mind. But if you start to fudge your data or lie about what you're doing and not producing the best products based on science, that's what I have a problem with. I don't have any problem with people making money by bringing [clears throat] um a value to the world. But because of what I saw and how disappointed I was, that's why I started a stem cell company. And then from that an offshoot of a cosmetic company called Char Omni where I started to produce [clears throat] really amazing skin cream because I wanted to produce something that's 100% natural because I absolutely tried to live by um the the rules of being clean, right? Not inducing not introducing toxic uh material into this very sacred body that we've been given. And um so that but then I also put stem cells and um and and peptides into the formulation which makes it supercharged. And then I have an academy u training doctors. We do certification courses twice a year. And then um I um of course do my podcast uh the Dr. Joycon podcast which has been over three years and I've interviewed a lot of amazing people. I think I hope people go in uh you know check it out. So yeah. So these are some of the resources I want to make sure that that people realize that I I've been working very hard. That's for sure. >> Yeah, we can see that. I mean, we know from experience what it's like to get so many subscribers on on on YouTube. It's not easy. >> That has taken many years. >> Yeah. It's a whole It's a whole career in itself, isn't it? Just just just to do the YouTube. >> Yeah. Starting from the very first video in my living room when I my staff member asked me what is a stem cell that was the the very beginning. Yeah. >> So doctor what we're going to do we're going to put all your links friends at home we're going to uh put links for Dr. Kong's book the websites Instagram LinkedIn if if you um I mean people can approach you Dr. Kong, can't they for information? >> Yeah. So, Instagram probably is the best place. Um, just um at dr_joy Kong. Um, you people can send me messages and and uh and and follow my fun uh fun reels. [laughter] >> Yes, you've got quite a few followers on Instagram. [laughter] >> Yeah, that's the new way of dealing with life, isn't it? Is how many followers someone's got on Instagram. >> [laughter] >> I know. Isn't that interesting? >> Yeah. How times have changed. But um doctor, if you can hang around, please wait while I just play us out so I can thank you properly at the end. But if you need to shoot that that's not a problem. Um >> no, I'm I'm good. >> Wonderful. Then in that case, just to say thank you ever so much again. Friends, as I said, all the links are below. If you can like and subscribe, that would be absolutely awesome. and I should be back from Everest by the time this podcast goes out. So, can I just say a massive thank you to everybody that has um donated to help me shine a light for our struggling veterans. Um, and if you can spare £5 or five bucks, there's a link there'll be a link somewhere in the description below. Doctor, thanks ever so much again. Much love everybody. >> Thank you Chris. >> You're welcome. [music] >> Truth with things that are not real. And I really want [music] us to be real with love. Love that last in [singing] the past. I messed [music] up.