Regenerative Orthopedics
Regenerative Orthopedics is a new trend in medical thinking. It is not only a paradigm shift, but also points towards the direction that medicine is likely to take in future. It is quite possible that in future all treatments will be based on regenerative medicine. So far all treatments have been based on
- Drugs :
Whether plant derived or chemicals, usually these drugs were not curative but alleviative, accompanied with minor but sometimes major side effects. This also leads to propaganda against modern medicine in some quarters that Allopathy suppresses symptoms & does not cure. Most often the example of diabetes was cited that there is no cure but you have to take medicine for whole life. This gave rise to some strange �terminology� like painkiller. One can lessen pain or alleviate it, but pain is not an organism that can be killed.
It is well known that a system of exercise has been claiming that they can cure everything including cancers with exercise. To the credit of modern medicine, Allopaths have always refrained from making non evidence based claims. - Surgery :
Surgery is a major part of modern medicine. Lots of people have benefitted from it & lots of lives have been saved by surgeons worldwide. But still, the very word surgery has been associated with fear & apprehension, in spite of tremendous advances in anaesthesiology. And, no doubt surgery can be expensive at times.
But all this is set to change with regenerative medicine, or in our case regenerative orthopedics.
As the name indicates, Regenerative Orthopedics aims to replace a diseased or traumatized cell with a healthy cell. This can be achieved in following ways :-
- Prolotherapy
- Plateletrich Plasma (P.R.P.) Therapy
- Stemcell Therapy
Recently an International conference was held in Mumbai (IBOM-2014). This International Biological Orthopedic Meeting; was attended by Over 120 leading practitioners of this art From Allover World. Platelet rich Plasma Therapy(PRP Therapy) is now being Practiced Allover the World with Good Results.Doctors compared Their results in various conditions.It was also discussed how to prepare a good P.R.P. TOPNOTCH professional Sportsperson like Tiger Woods & Maria Sharpova have benefited by this therapy.Many papers were presented about benefits of PRP Therapy in Osteoarthritis A.V.N. Stem cells - Many doctors presented their excellent results using STEM CELL THERAPY. But there is a word of caution.Still the dosage has not been standardized & long term results are awaited.but no doubt Medical community is buzzing with excitement over this new Therapy & its wide scope. For more details please click on the links given below
Prolotherapy was discovered & propagated by - HACKET & HEMWALL. This is basically concerned with healing & regeneration of ligaments, muscles & tendons. A damaged, weakened or torn structure is amenable to this therapy. Here, a substance called as proliferant is injected at the site of damage. The proliferant causes inflammation leading to fibroplast growth, which leads to healing with new fibroblastic cells.
Platelets are cells found in blood. Platelets are coated with factors called “growth factors”, which enhance healing in body. If any structure is damaged in body platelets are rushed to that part, where they release growth factors and hence result in healing. In prp Therapy, blood is withdrawn from a vein & centrifuged. This results in a plateletrich plasma concentrate. The platelet concentration is increased 4-5 times. Thus, the ability of platelets to bring about natural healing is substantially enhanced. This concentrate is injected into desired area. Result is healing & regeneration caused by the body’s own resources.
Stem Cell Therapy is the latest and most advanced form of Regenerative Orthopedics. For long time, the scientists have known that some organisms like star fish & some lizards have the ability to re-grow there lost body parts. Even human beings have this ability i.e. we can re-grow blood, hair and nails. This much was known but what we did not know earlier was how it is brought about. Canadian Scientists about 50 yrs ago discovered that body has a type of cell called “stemcell” which can potentially grow into any body part. This discovery caused revolution in the world of medicine, opening possibilities of so far unthinkable treatments.
We have to go to womb to understand this a little better. We have long known that sperm from father & ovum of mother unite to form a single cell called zygote. This zygote divides into two cells. The two multiply into four and this process of multiplication carries on till one day, hey presto! We have a whole baby. These cells in womb in early stages are called stemcells. They have the ability to multiply endlessly & grow into 200 types of specialized cells in an adult.
This much we have known for longtime, but only recently we discovered that stemcells are stored in some parts of body for whole life. This understanding leaded to a flurry of activity in medical labs. We have a new branch of medicine called REGENERATIVE MEDICINE. Already scientists in various parts of world are treating diseases so far considered incurable with this therapy. Diseases like Muscular Dystrophies, Diabetes (Especially Type-One), OSTEOGENESIS IMPERFECTA, AVASCULAR NECROSIS, CIRRHOSIS Of LIVER, STROKE & many more have become treatable because of stemcells.
The procedure of this therapy is also not complicated. We know lots of stemcells are stored in bone marrow. A needle is inserted into iliac crest (easily accessible bone) and 60 to 100 ml. of marrow is aspirated. Procedure carried out in o.t. under aseptic conditions using sedation and local anesthesia. The aspirate is sent to stemcell lab, where stemcells are isolated and grown in lab to any desired no. These stemcells are introduced into desired body part by im or iv or INTATHECAL ROUTE. By this method, not only new cells but new tissues or even new organs can be formed.
PRP & Stemcells can also be used in conjunction with Prolotherapy or separately.
Diseases Which Can Be Treated By Stemcells
- Cardiovascular
- Liver Disorders
- Cardiomyopathy
- Liver Cirrhosis.
- Heart Failure
- Buerger’S Disease
- Bone Disorders
- Neuromuscular Disorders
- Achondroplasia A.L.S.
- Osteoarthritis
- Alzheimer’S Disease
- Nonunion Of Fracture. Autism
- Osteogenesis Imperfecta
- Cerebral Palsy.
- Kidney Disorders
- Muliple Sclerosis
- Chronic Renal Failure
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Lung Disease
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmomary Disease (Copd) Stroke
- Diabetes Parkinsons Disease
- Eye Disorders
- Antiageing
- Macular Degeneration.
- Retinitis Pigmentosa
- Corneal Ulcer.
- Baldness
- Some Cancers.
The scope of stemcell therapy is to say the least limitless. But a patient should first undergo sufficient conventional treatment. If he/she is unsatisfied with those results than only stemcells should be offered.
Stem-cell therapy has given hope in diseases hitherto considered untreatable. There are two types of stem-cell, currently in use
- Adult Stem-cells derived from bone marrow or Fat.
- Umbilical stem-cells derived from Wharton's jelly in Umbilical cord.
- Embryonic Stem-cells are no longer in use because of Ethical & Moral Issues
Many doctors presented their experience with this mode of therapy both National &International.Still dosage issues need to be resolved.
