Posted on 08/21/2006 6:53:19 PM PDT by markomalley
WASHINGTON -- Doctors are testing new ways to spur cartilage to regrow in damaged knees, from implanted "cartilage plugs" to injections of bone-marrow stem cells.
The need is huge. Knees are the joint most likely to go bad, and the cartilage that cushions them has only a limited natural ability to repair itself.
The question is how to unlock that ability and give it a boost.
The potential new options are being tried first in people who injured their knees and thus need small amounts of cartilage to regrow. But if they truly work, the techniques one day might offer hope for arthritis sufferers, too, whose cartilage over time completely erodes.
Most eagerly anticipated: the first clinical trial using stem cells from donated bone marrow to try to regenerate the knee's shock absorber, a cartilage pad called the meniscus.
Meniscus injuries are common, and not just among young athletes. Because the pad weakens with age, a simple wrong step can leave an older person with the painful tear. About 800,000 Americans a year have part of the meniscus surgically removed, to relieve pain when jagged edges won't heal.
Stem cells are building blocks for tissue. Mesenchymal stem cells are a type of adult stem cell that live in the bone marrow and can transform into cartilage-forming cells called chondrocytes. Mixing these stem cells with a knee-lubricating fluid helped the meniscus regrow in goats. Will it work in people?
Researchers enrolled 55 patients who had about half their meniscus removed. About a week after that surgery, each participant received a single injection - either a dummy shot or one containing millions of mesenchymal stem cells.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Still yet, once again, good results for the use of adult stem cells (vice nothing--???-- for embryonic ones)
When will they get the message???
pro-life, adult stem cell ping??
This is good news indeed.
I could use some new joints......the original equipment is getting a bit worn and painful....
I just might call my orthopedic surgeon and ask if there are any research studies underway in Boston,New Haven,NYC,etc using adult stem cells.
This is great news! I really need cartilage in both of my knees.
I want to volunteer!
ping
This is incredible. I'm only in my late 20's, but a decade of hard sports has left me aching in the knees everyday.
its like new snake oil
Certain segments of society don't want to hear anything about adult stem cells. They're in hot pursuit of another profit center for Planned Parenthood.
Two new disks for my back, please. Are they made of cartilage?
My friend does the studies, and I work for a biotech.
I'll take one good joint!!!!
My Doc said I wont need a knee replacement because within 10 yts we'll be able to take a pill that grows cartilage. Hopefully this is it.
LOL......
"I work for a biotech."
I had to do a double-take, because I missed the "e." Biotech is much better, lol.
Wish insurance would cover these kinds of treatments.
"My Doc said I wont need a knee replacement because within 10 yts we'll be able to take a pill that grows cartilage."
That would be great!
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