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As rock legend Ozzy Osbourne has turned to stem cell therapy, some experts caution that it’s not for everyone.

At the start of his latest episode of “Ozzy Speaks” on SiriusXM with Billy Morrison, Osbourne revealed that he recently returned from a follow-up appointment “after having some stem cells put in me.”

The rocker also had a previous treatment approximately three months ago, as he stated in the episode.

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“The thing is, you have it, and you go, ‘I don’t feel that great,’ but I don’t know what it would be like if I didn’t have it,” Osbourne said.

In the past several years, the musician has struggled with several serious medical problems that have impacted his mobility, including Parkinson’s disease, per a report.

After he first started stem cell treatment in 2020, he wanted “to be a part of the world again,” his daughter Kelly Osbourne said in a report at the time.

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“Seeing, after one treatment of stem cell, what has happened and the progress that he’s made is mind-blowing,” she added.

Fox News Digital reached out Ozzy Osbourne for comment. 

Below is an overview of the treatment — and what to know about the risks and benefits.

What are stem cells?

Stem cells are found in almost every tissue in the body, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

Some stem cells repair tissues after injury, while others have the potential to become different types of cells, such as brain cells, muscle cells in the heart or bone cells.

“We routinely use cellular therapies, including stem cells, to treat cancers of the blood and bone marrow,” Dr. Mikkael Sekeres, chief of the division of hematology of Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami, told Fox News Digital.

Some stem cells repair tissues after injury — while others have the potential to become different types of cells, such as brain cells, muscle cells in the heart or bone cells. (iStock)

“The theory is, we can give high doses of chemotherapy to people who have these cancers to eliminate the cancer, but those therapies may have such a high dose that we could wipe out the healthy cells in the bone marrow,” he said.

Alternatively, the doctor went on, experts can “rescue” the bone marrow by giving stem cells to a patient from a healthy donor.

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Another advantage is that the healthy donor stem cells will produce a new immune system to attack and eliminate any remaining cancer, Sekeres added.

“Use of stem cells in this way has saved tens of thousands of lives,” he noted.

Therapies ‘largely experimental’

Stem cell therapies are only approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain cancers of the blood and immune system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

In 2023, the FDA also approved a cord blood-based cell therapy to decrease the risk of infection after stem cell transplants.

Ozzy Osbourne is seen for the first time in this image since announcing he was canceling his tour due to medical concerns. (MEGA for Fox News Digital)

“Stem cell therapy given for other reasons is largely experimental and unproven,” Sekeres noted.

Despite its potential benefits, stem cell therapy isn’t considered a “silver bullet” for Parkinson’s disease treatment, according to Dr. Michael S. Okun, a Florida-based medical advisor to the Parkinson’s Foundation. 

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“Though there have been many advances in stem cell technology, the realization that Parkinson’s is a disease of more than just dopamine underscores the importance of multidisciplinary treatment,” Okun, who is also the executive director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases University of Florida Health in Gainesville, Florida, told Fox News Digital.

All stem cell products require the FDA’s approval, according to the agency’s website.

“Folks interested in Parkinson’s stem cell therapy should be cautious if ever offered a treatment,” Okun said.

Despite its potential benefits, stem cell therapy isn’t considered a “silver bullet” for Parkinson’s disease treatment, a doctor warned.  (iStock)

“We recommend requesting a copy of the institutional review board approval, which is a document verifying that investigators have been authorized to perform research in a human population.”

(An institutional review board ensures ethical treatment of research subjects.)

“Since stem cell therapy is still investigational, you should never be charged to participate in a research trial,” Okun noted.

“Folks interested in Parkinson’s stem cell therapy should be cautious if ever offered a treatment.”

“There is a large market for ‘stem cell tourism,’ in which people may be charged large sums of money, and in some cases irreversible side effects may follow a transplant.”

Potential adverse side effects

One type of stem cell therapy is a stem cell transplant, which involves infusing another person’s stem cells into the recipient’s body.

Sometimes these stem cells come from the bone marrow, which is known as a bone marrow transplant, according to experts.

In other cases, they are harvested from a baby’s umbilical cord, which is known as a cord blood transplant.

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Some people may experience symptoms of rejection if their immune system recognizes the donor stem cells as “foreign” and starts to attack them.

Acute symptoms may include an itchy rash, diarrhea, general malaise, shortness of breath and yellowing of the eyes, according to the National Health Service.

All stem cell products require the FDA’s approval, according to the agency’s website. (iStock)

Longer-term complications may include infertility, various cancers, cataracts, bone or muscle weakness, and damage to certain organs, such as the liver, kidney, lung or heart, per the National Cancer Institute’s website.

Stem cell therapy should not be viewed as a “fountain of youth,” Sekeres cautioned.

Previous research published in JAMA Network Open discovered a multi-bacterial outbreak among patients who received unapproved products that were marketed as stem cell therapies, he pointed out.

To verify that a therapy is FDA-approved, the agency recommends emailing ocod@fda.hhs.gov for information, according to its website.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for further comment. 

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. 

An orangutan in a protected Indonesian rainforest site who sustained a facial wound treated the injury himself, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports earlier this month.

The male primate chewed the leaves of a plant known for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and pain-relieving properties — then applied a paste he made from the chewed leaves to his facial wound, according to the study.

The researchers — from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany and Universitas Nasional in Indonesia — observed the orangutan, named Rakus, over the course of several weeks in the summer of 2022.

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His wound closed within five days, he noted. 

Less than a month later, it appeared to be fully healed with a barely visible scar, according to the published report. 

This is the first observed case of active wound treatment with a “known biologically active plant substance” applied by a male Sumatran orangutan in the wild.

“He began chewing the leaves without swallowing them and using his fingers to apply the plant juice from his mouth directly onto his facial wound,” the researchers noted in their published study. 

“This behavior was repeated several times.”

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“Rakus then smeared the entire wound with the plant pulp until the red flesh was fully covered with the green leaf material. He then continued feeding on this plant,” they continued.

The orangutan was observed at the Suaq Balimbing research site in Indonesia.

It is a rainforest area that is home to approximately 150 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, according to a news release.

“The behavior of the Sumatran flanged male orangutan reported here appeared to be intentional,” the researchers wrote. 

“The entire process took a considerable amount of time.”

The study authors said the animal’s facial wound likely occurred during a fight with a neighboring male. 

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Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany — one of the lead study authors — said in an email to Fox News Digital that the primate used a climbing plant called Fibraurea tinctoria.

The plant is known for its analgesic effects and is used in traditional medicine to treat conditions such as malaria.`     

When asked how Rakus knew to use that plant to treat his own wound, Laumer replied, “It is possible that wound treatment with Fibraurea tinctoria emerges through accidental individual innovation.”

She added, “Individuals may accidentally touch their wounds while feeding on Fibraurea tinctoria and thus unintentionally apply the plant’s juice to their wounds … As Fibraurea tinctoria has potent analgesic effects, Rakus may have felt an immediate pain release, causing him to repeat the behavior several times and subsequently apply solid plant matter.”

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Rakus was not born at the research site, Laumer said.

Male orangutans typically disperse over wide distances when they reach puberty to establish a new home in another area, the expert noted.

“It’s possible that orangutans at his native area showed the behavior,” Laumer said.

Dr. Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, was one of the lead study authors. (Alice Auersperg)

Similar types of self-treatment have been reported in the past with other primates.

Great apes have reportedly ingested certain plants to treat parasite infections and rubbed plant material on their skin to treat sore muscles, the researchers noted. 

“Maybe we can learn something about human medicine from them.”

A group of chimpanzees in Gabon was also observed applying insects to wounds, although “the efficiency of this behavior is still unknown,” according to a news release.

These types of observations could help humans with treating potential health conditions, the researchers said. 

The study authors said Rakus’ facial wound likely occurred during an altercation with a neighboring male.  (Saidi Agam & TNGL & KLHK & MPI & UNAS & YEL)

“So far, I have heard several reports that people have actually learned about the medicinal properties of plants through observing animals,” Laumer told Fox News Digital.

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Dr. Robin Sturtz, a veterinarian who was not involved in the study, commented on the findings.

“It’s great that they caught these images,” she told Fox News Digital, but noted that the published report is observational.

The primate used a climbing plant called Fibraurea tinctoria, the researchers said, to help a facial wound to heal. (Saidi Agam & TNGL & KLHK & MPI & UNAS & YEL)

“We need to see if it’s repeated in this or another animal,” Sturtz told Fox News Digital. 

“They are incredibly smart, though, and do learn quickly,” she added. “Maybe we can learn something about human medicine from them.”

Caroline Schuppli, one of the co-authors of the published study, noted in a news release that forms of active wound treatment are not limited to humans.

“[They] can also be found in both African and Asian great apes,” she stated. 

“It is possible that there exists a common underlying mechanism for the recognition and application of substances with medical or functional properties to wounds, and that our last common ancestor already showed similar forms of ointment behavior.”

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.