Posted on 06/29/2008 2:21:03 PM PDT by Coleus
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Q. Will stem cells eventually play a role in relieving ankle or foot pain?
A. I was once told that all the metal and plastic inserts we are using in orthopedic surgery would be laughed at in 20 years, similar to the way we look at wooden teeth now. This is because the goal of medicine is to regenerate ourselves. Tissue engineering and work with stem cells are actually giving us that opportunity.
In orthopedics, the problem with cartilage, the translucent rubbery material that covers and protects the ends of bone, is that it doesn’t want to regenerate. We can get bone to regenerate, but not cartilage in the same way. When cartilage is damaged, the body often attempts to repair it with weaker fibrocartilage, but this is not as durable as the original cartilage. However, we are now actively at work in the laboratory looking to use adult stem cells to repair damaged cartilage, restore surface geometry and function, eliminate pain and delay or prevent further joint destruction.
Research is also being carried out using small molecules that can be used as drugs to stimulate cellular signaling pathways to trigger local cartilage cells to turn on and create more cartilage. We are in the early stages with this exciting research, but as we gain a better understanding of the fundamental biology and the mechanics of the foot and ankle, I expect that we will be very advanced in the next 10 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at health.nytimes.com ...
When they make a humerus radius and ulna give me a holler.
I could use a new ankle.
I am glad that the interviewee made it clear that ADULT stem cells would be used to address this.
I read this as “the Cankle.”
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