 Poster: A snowHead
|
Found this on The Ski Channel (Via Whitelines)
Basically, a medical company (is company the right word?) in the US is using stem cells to repair ACL damage without surgery and they appear to be getting pretty good results.
| Quote: |
Stephan Drake is a 37 year old professional extreme skier, Patagonia Ambassador, and founder of DPS Skis living in Utah. Stephan makes his living from his passion and travels the world filming his extreme ski exploits throughout the year. Last March while filming a project in Alaska, Stephan experienced a complete tear of his ACL.
Stephan had seen many of his friends, who were also professional skiers, go through ACL surgery and either experienced complications or never fully came back to their previous level. Knowing there had to be a better way that was less invasive than traditional surgical treatment Stephan researched his options and found Regenexx.
Stephan had the Regenexx procedure in July of 2013 and has been maintaining his fitness with non-cutting activity during his entire recovery period. He was back on the snow this season and will be stronger than ever with all his original equipment this fall. Something he says would not have been possible had he gone the surgical route.
|
Ok, so it reads like an ad for this Regenexx company but who knows, maybe of interest...
LINKS AHOY!
The Ski Channel Article
Regenexx Homepage
* CAUTION, May contain videos of overly upbeat Americans, and snake oil - you decide.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Splat off TGR (also PM Gear boss) has been posting positive things about this sort of treatment on TGR. He seems to have wrecked himself quite comprehensively over the years
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
Richard_Sideways, Centaro is always upbeat about his Regenxx system, but long term, multiple patient studies don't exist. Anyone remember Bode Miller's "miraculous" Healing Response treatment for his ACL tear back in 2004 or 2005? Promoted big time as a solution, even by Dr. Steadman of the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail. No mention of it and the links to a page of articles he put up on the web site returns a "does not exist" Error message now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Richard_Sideways, early days, encouraging but no good evidence published in human studies for anything firm as far as I can see. "More research required" ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
They've been doing something like this in horse tendons for a while. Surprised it's taken so long in some ways
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Randomsabreur, apparently the development of the technique was delayed for a while why the FDA in the US tried to decide whether it was a surgical procedure and therefore not regulated by them, or a drug treatment and so have to comply with all the drug trials necessary for a new drug to become 'human' usable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Richard_Sideways, but the FDA does regulate devices used in surgery, ergo more confusion...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Richard_Sideways, they still do not have a clear decision from the FDA as far as I've heard. Centaro charges an arm and a leg for his stem cell treatment for cartilages (articular not meniscus). I don't think it has proved itself one way or another yet but it is an interesting development. My company are developing a stem cell delivery system, so we have quite a lot of info coming in from all over the place. There is some interesting work being done in Singapore and the Far East. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
| Richard_Sideways, Centaro is always upbeat about his Regenxx system, but long term, multiple patient studies don't exist. Anyone remember Bode Miller's "miraculous" Healing Response treatment for his ACL tear back in 2004 or 2005? Promoted big time as a solution, even by Dr. Steadman of the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail. No mention of it and the links to a page of articles he put up on the web site returns a "does not exist" Error message now. |
I remember "healing response very well" I didn't think it sounded very credible at the time. Funny, isn't it, how the "latest promotional activity by a surgeon " is never heard of again after the PR runs out.
Watch this space re "the newly discovered anterolateral ligament" or the "dynamic ACL repair as only carried out by the surgeon reporting it" they are
current favourites.
A good place to look out for them is in the Daily Mail.
Im sure they will go the way of plaited ACL's( i kid you not), double bundle ACL's, bioscaffolds for ACL's,artificial meniscus etc etc.
Sorry to be so cynical but ive spent years going to meetings hearing the usual suspects troll out their latest breakthrough but never giving us the 5 to 10 year outcomes of the techniques.
As an aside, the ACL is very good at producing healing tissue ( scar). The problem isn't a lack of cells to heal the ruptured ligament but the fact that the ligament has detached itself from the bone. So it tends to either flop into an incorrect position and heal to the ligament next to it ( the PCL) or the free end of it makes a blob of scar on the end. This is known as a cyclops lesion and it can be big enough to block movement in the knee.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Jonathan Bell, Yep, interesting that Bode had to take a whole year off as a result of knee "problems" more recently. He missed nearly 2 seasons as a result.  Quick fixes usually end up needing more work whichever way you look at it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
but I thought the anterior cruciate ligament can become twisted.. how can stem cells un twist a ligament?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ilikethesnow wrote: |
| but I thought the anterior cruciate ligament can become twisted.. how can stem cells un twist a ligament? |
It actually usually shrinks and shrivels a bit or sticks to anything nearby ( usually the posterior cruciate ligament).
Occasionally it ends up flopping around in the knee and gets a great big blob of scar on the end of it so its looks like a lollipop ( cyclops lesion)
Cyclops lesion can cause great difficulty on straightening the knee because it is quite painful to squash it as you straighten.
Cyclops usually requires a simple procedure to remove it.
So the problem with ACL is not that it is'nt incapable of producing the cells required to heal and make scar, but that the scarring is often hopeless and disorganised.
It is either in "fresh air" like a cyclops, that it heals with scar to a nearby structure which isnt where it should be attached (PCL) or that it shrinks and scars up.
There is no shortage of blood and healing cells in the ACL. The problem is the lack of organisation of the healing which is a direct result of the fact that it has detached form its anchor point.
Jonathan Bell
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
