Posted on 05/01/2022 5:24:52 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
For patients with painful finger osteoarthritis, a nonsurgical procedure called lipofilling—in which fat obtained from another part of the body is transferred into the arthritic joints—produces lasting improvements in hand function and especially pain, suggests a study.
"Even over a long-term follow-up, the transfer of fatty tissue to arthritic fingers joints appears to provide a safe and minimally invasive alternative to conventional surgery," comments lead author Max Meyer-Marcotty, MD, Ph.D.
In the lipofilling procedure, a sample of the patient's own fatty tissue was obtained by liposuction from another part of the body: the upper thigh or hip area. Tiny volumes of fat cells—no more than one milliliter—were injected into the arthritic finger joints. Recovery was straightforward: Patients wore a splint around the treated finger and took pain relievers for a week. There were no infections or other complications.
The researchers analyzed follow-up outcomes in a total of 25 finger joints treated by lipofilling. Hand function, pain scores, and patient satisfaction were evaluated an average of 44 months (maximum 50 months) after treatment.
Assessment showed a "highly significant clear improvement" in pain score: from a median of 6 points (on a 10-point scale) before treatment to 0.5 points at follow-up. "We believe that for our patients, the reduction of pain represents the most striking and important result, which also has the most pronounced and highly significant effect," Dr. Meyer-Marcotty and colleagues write.
On functional evaluation, pinch grip strength of the treated fingers approximately doubled, from a median of 2.0 kilograms (kg) before lipofilling to 4.3 kg at follow-up. Force of fist closure and score on a standard assessment of hand function during everyday tasks also improved.
Animal studies have suggested that mesenchymal stromal cells (a type of stem cell) found in fatty tissues are capable of regenerating tissue in arthritic joints.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Very impressive indeed.
They laughed when I told them I was growing a beer gut for my own health...
No thanks. I have way too problems fat fingering the keyboard right now without adding more fat...
This could be very popular with Americans as so many of them have fat to spare. ;-)
This thread cries out for a picture!
The BIG question...will it work for knees?
“Pretty remarkable option for arthritic joints, seemingly due to normal stem cell regeneration activity.”
The Zillion $/year arthritis industry from pills to other therapies and PTs will do their best to ignore and conceal any good news on this front.
2 months ago, my wife had an arthritic hip removed and replaced with a transplant. Her recovery has been slow as they told her a billion times, it would be.
An interesting reality is the pain that radiated from her bad hip, also, made her knee, ankle and foot hurt 24/7 on the bad hip side. That pain went away before the first day post op was over. Her orthopedic surgeon said that was often a common positive result after a successful hip replacement.
She still has her arthritic fingers to deal with.
This may be a good alternative for people like her.
I’ve got bad arthritis in both hands. I’ve gotta investigate this.
“...Tiny amounts of belly fat injected into joints made joints better...”
How do I do it?
I think you need to find Jointmaker.
And if it works on knees I could jump for joy.
Medical News - bump for later...
Few people are aware that fat tissue (like that removed in liposuction) is very rich in stem cells and can be used in breast reconstruction. Not surprising that it works for joint regeneration.
“I went to this doctor. Well, he told me I swallow a lot of aggression... along with a lot of pizzas!”
bttt
Or just take turmeric everyday like I do. 😏
I’ve got bad arthritis in both hands. I’ve gotta investigate this.’
Please keep me posted. I have some 83 year old aches/pains in my various joints.
Nothing compared to my wife’s and her siblings.
She and I have the same blood type, and maybe I could donate some of my belly fat to her or her siblings.
This may not be a big winner, however, if the people in pain could lower that pain 10-25% with this system. They might opt for it.
“This could be very helpful for my mom who has had to give up her beloved piano playing because of the pain.”
My wife played piano professionally. She gave it up a few years ago due to the pain in her ears while trying to play with her arthritis.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.