by Stemedix | Feb 12, 2024 | Age Management, Health Awareness, Osteoarthritis, Pain Management, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell Therapy
The National Library of Medicine states that 10% of people over 55 in the United States have disabling knee osteoarthritis. If you are one of these people, finding the right treatment can be challenging, especially if you don’t want to become dependent on pain medications or go through an invasive knee surgery.
For some, surgery can be the only option, but for many others, some management strategies and less invasive options could offer relief from symptoms.
What Is Knee Osteoarthritis? Understanding the Symptoms and Causes
Osteoarthritis of the knee occurs when the cartilage in your knee joint starts to break down. This causes the bones to rub together, leading to stiffness, swelling, and pain that can interfere with your life.
Women are more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis, as are people over the age of 40, but genetics and other factors can cause it in younger people.
Pain is the most common symptom of this condition, but there are other signs, including:
- A puffy or swollen knee
- Hearing a grinding or cracking noise when you move
- Knee stiffness
- Knee that locks up or feels stuck
- Knee that feels wobbly
There can be many causes of knee osteoarthritis. Having a body mass index of 30 or more puts pressure on your knees and can cause inflammation. This inflammation can lead to arthritis or make existing arthritis worse.
You can also develop this condition if you suffer a knee injury or have a prior knee injury. If you have close relatives who’ve had knee osteoarthritis, you’re also more likely to struggle with this problem.
If you frequently put stress on your knees, whether by playing sports or as a result of your job, you can also develop osteoarthritis in your knee.
Treating Knee Osteoarthritis
If you have signs of osteoarthritis, there are a number of treatment options you can talk to your doctor about.
Maintaining a Healthy Weight
If you have risk factors that can increase your chances of developing knee osteoarthritis or if you already have the condition, ensuring your weight is healthy is vital. The Arthritis Foundation states that being just 10 pounds overweight can put 15 to 50 pounds of extra weight on your knees. That makes the development of osteoarthritis more likely.
Losing weight allows you to reduce some of that strain on your knee joints. Aside from that, losing weight also helps reduce inflammation throughout the body, which can help with arthritis.
Getting Regular Exercise
Those who have knee osteoarthritis can also benefit from getting regular exercise. It can help you lose weight, increase your mobility, and build up muscle strength to support your knee joints.
It is important to choose low-impact aerobics options that are suitable for your health level. These can include:
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Yoga
- Stretching
- Walking
Riding a stationary bike can be very helpful for maintaining strength in the hamstring muscle groups without putting extra pressure on your knee. It’s best to have a doctor or physical therapist at your side to help you put together an exercise plan.
Using Medications for Pain and Swelling Relief
For people who are dealing with a lot of pain and swelling, one option is to turn to medications. Over-the-counter painkillers are one option, and many of them offer anti-inflammatory properties that help with the swelling that might be impeding you from moving freely.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, as well as acetaminophen for those who can’t take NSAIDs, can be helpful for osteoarthritis pain.
If these aren’t effective, there are prescription options your doctor could recommend. These may include opioids and even injectable steroids for people with severe inflammation.
Prescription medications can cause side effects. Because they don’t actually do anything to heal your body and only help you manage the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, the moment you stop taking them, the pain and inflammation will usually return.
Turning to Regenerative Medicine
One promising option for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis is regenerative medicine. It is a field of medicine that strives to harness the body’s natural healing powers to make them work in the areas where you need them most. There are a number of treatments, including platelet-rich plasma therapy and stem cell therapy.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses the platelets in your blood, which have clotting abilities and can stimulate many healing processes.
By separating the platelets from the other components in your blood, like white blood cells, red blood cells, and more, and concentrating them in the liquid portion of your blood, you can give the treatment area a boost of growth factors. These growth factors encourage the healing process.
Stem cell therapy uses stem cells gathered from your fat or bone marrow to stimulate the regeneration of damaged tissue. Stem cells have endless regenerative powers, and they’re able to transform into the exact type of cells you need.
Regenerative medicine offers the chance to decrease inflammation in the area, allowing blood to flow more freely and bring with it oxygen and nutrients. Less inflammation can also mean less pain because you aren’t putting as much pressure on nearby nerves.
Another benefit of regenerative medicine is that it is minimally invasive, so you don’t have to worry about a long recovery period. Most people are good candidates for this type of procedure as well.
Choosing Surgery
In severe cases, surgery may be the only way to treat knee osteoarthritis. You can get arthroscopic surgery, which is less invasive because it uses an arthroscope. This is a small camera that guides the surgeon in repairing the damaged area.
A total knee replacement can be another option. It can be done as minimally invasive or open surgery, depending on your overall health.
Stem cell therapy can still apply as a post-surgery option to help speed up recovery and manage inflammation and pain during the healing process.
Getting Relief from Knee Osteoarthritis Symptoms
If you are struggling with knee osteoarthritis, getting relief from the inflammation and pain can mean considering all available treatment options. By turning to your doctor, you can make sure you have the best chance of achieving the help you deserve.
by admin | Feb 8, 2024 | Spinal Cord Injury, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Spinal cord injury is one of the most complicated and serious pathological impairments affecting the central nervous system. Since the human body is unable to regenerate and repair the spinal cord after injury, there is a high likelihood of suffering permanent damage and disability.
Often compounding the issue of SCI, secondary events occurring after the initial injury to the spinal cord significantly reduce cell migration and axonal regrowth and limit repair and regeneration.
Recently, transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been shown to promote the repair of injured spinal cord tissues in animal models. However, as Qu and Zhang highlight in this review, there remain many unanswered questions that are essential for improving the effects of this MSC therapy. As such, the authors focus this review on recent information about the behavior and function of MSCs in SCI, the function of biomaterials to direct the behavior of MSCs, and the attempt to emphasize combinational strategies such as tissue engineering for functional improvements of SCI.
There are studies showing that the migratory and homing capacities of MSCs are closely related to their engraftment and regeneration ability. Considering this, the authors highlight the importance of having MSCs migrate and integrate into host spinal cord tissue. Since MSC homing toward injured tissue is not an efficient process, and to ensure a more effective stem cell therapy outcome, it is important that these transplanted cells be introduced in a way that increases the migratory potential of healthy MSCs to the site of injured tissue.
Additionally, while transplanted cells have been identified adjacent to neurons after SCI, the surviving number of grafted and differentiated neurons was too small to be considered to contribute to functional recovery after SCI. However, data suggests that the ability of MSCs to secrete soluble factors or vesicles rather than engrafting and transdifferentiating might serve an important role in SCI repair.
The authors also point to studies that indicate MSC implantation could promote a therapeutic effect and functional recovery in experimental SCI animal models. The authors believe that this is a result of MSCs ability to differentiate into specialized neuronal and glial cell lineages after transplantation. While MSC transplantation has not yet been proven to be an effective and reliable therapy for SCI, additional studies need to be done before the therapy is utilized in clinical applications.
MSCs respond to the local environment in multiple ways and represent the most promising exosomes for neuropathic applications. Qu and Zhang conclude this review by calling for more intensive studies examining the potential benefits of combining MSCs with nerve tissue-engineered scaffolds to direct cell behaviors after SCI, including growth, migration, and differentiation.
Source: “Roles of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Spinal Cord Injury – Hindawi.” https://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2017/5251313/.
by admin | Feb 8, 2024 | Osteoarthritis, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and occurs as a result of the protective cartilage, found on the ends of the bones, degenerates over time. While OA can occur in any joint, it is most commonly found to occur in the hands, hips, spine, and knee.
An estimated 365 million people worldwide are currently living with some form of knee OA. Although there have been improvements in conventional treatment methods that have shown some benefit, there is no therapy or drug that can prevent or treat the development of OA in the knee.
Recent phase I/II trials using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue have demonstrated the feasibility, safety, and clinical and structural improvements in focal or diffuse disease.
Considering the findings of these phase I/II trials, Orrego et al. conducted this study to better assess the safety and efficacy of the intra-articular injection of single or repeated umbilical cord-derived (UC) MSCs in knee OA.
The target population of this study was individuals between the ages of 40-65 with symptomatic knee pain for at least 3 months with grade 1-3 Kellgren-Lawrence radiographic changes in the targeted knee, without meniscus rupture.
The authors divided participants of this study into three specific groups, a control group which received intra-articular knee injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) at baseline and 6 months; the MCS-2 group, which received UC-MSCs at baseline and 6 months; and the MSC-1 group, who received UC-MSCs at baseline followed by placebo injection at 6 months.
At the conclusion of this study’s 12 months follow-up period, Orrego et al. found that the group with repeated UC-MSC intra-articular injections, or MCS-2, experienced significant clinical changes in total WOMAC, pain component, and VAS when compared with the control group. The authors also found that only patients in the MSC groups experienced significant amelioration of pain and disability at 6 and 12 months. The authors also reported no safety signals were detected in the experimental groups as compared with the HA controls.
Considering these findings, the authors conclude that the use of MSCs produces anti-inflammatory properties in response to tissue damage or inflammation that demonstrates suppressive effects on the maturation of dendritic cells, macrophages, Natural Killer, and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes.
While these results appear promising, the authors point out that even if all MSC trials report a good safety record and improvements in cartilage quality, the use of autologous cell therapy does come with some limitations. Among these limitations include a dramatic decline of bone precursor cells when these cells are derived from bone marrow. Studies have also shown reduced chondrogenic activity of MSCs in cultures obtained from individuals with advanced forms of OA. For these reasons, and considering the findings in this study, the authors highlight that allogeneic sources of MSCs have been shown to express superior clonogenicity, migration, and paracrine capacities.
The authors conclude that the repeated UC-MSC dose strategy utilized in this study led to a favorable safety profile and improved clinical results for the treatment of long-term pain in knee OA patients.
Source: Jose Matas, Mario Orrego, Diego Amenabar, Catalina Infante, Rafael Tapia-Limonchi, Maria Ignacia Cadiz, Francisca Alcayaga-Miranda, Paz L. González, Emilio Muse, Maroun Khoury, Fernando E. Figueroa, Francisco Espinoza, Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) for Knee Osteoarthritis: Repeated MSC Dosing Is Superior to a Single MSC Dose and to Hyaluronic Acid in a Controlled Randomized Phase I/II Trial, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, Volume 8, Issue 3, March 2019, Pages 215–224, https://doi.org/10.1002/sctm.18-0053
by Stemedix | Feb 5, 2024 | Stem Cell Therapy, Age Management, Erectile Dysfunction, Health Awareness, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell Research
In the United States, about 30 million men have some form of erectile dysfunction, according to research conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Erectile dysfunction can occur in men of any age, though it’s most common in those who are older. Despite this, it’s not a normal part of aging. There are many causes of erectile dysfunction, from emotional to physical. However, most people are unaware of a few risk factors that could affect your chances of developing this condition.
Understanding Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is a condition in which you are not able to get or maintain an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. It can be a long-term or short-term problem.
There are a few types of erectile dysfunction. One type is vascular erectile dysfunction, which results from issues with the blood vessels that send blood to the penis or the valves that hold blood. This is the most common form of erectile dysfunction.
Neurogenic erectile dysfunction occurs as a result of nerve problems that stop signals from traveling from your brain to your penis. It can occur after trauma, radiation therapy, or conditions like spinal stenosis and multiple sclerosis.
Hormonal erectile dysfunction occurs when you experience testosterone deficiencies, while psychogenic erectile dysfunction involves psychological causes.
Surprising Risk Factors for Erectile Dysfunction
Most men are aware that blood pressure issues, antidepressants, and even drinking alcohol can cause erectile dysfunction. Still, there are some surprising factors that can make your chances of dealing with this problem more likely.
1. Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing stops and restarts many times as you sleep. This irregularity leads to poor rest. Scientists have noticed that men who have sleep apnea have a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction.
The reason is not entirely clear, but it could be because the lack of sleep leads to dips in testosterone levels. Sleep apnea also restricts oxygen. Testosterone and oxygen are both crucial for maintaining healthy erections.
Sleep apnea also leads to fatigue and potentially higher stress levels, all of which impact sexual function. Scientists have found that treating obstructive sleep apnea can also help erectile dysfunction symptoms.
2. High Cholesterol
Having high blood cholesterol levels could also put you at a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction. Perhaps the most common cause is the narrowing of blood vessels, also called atherosclerosis. High cholesterol levels can make this more likely to occur.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance in the blood that your cell membranes need and that helps produce certain hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D. At high levels, however, cholesterol builds up in artery walls and causes plaque, which narrows them.
When that occurs, your penis doesn’t receive the amount of blood it needs to get and maintain an erection.
3. Cycling
Although maintaining an active lifestyle tends to help with erectile dysfunction, cycling could be causing more harm than good.
Hard bicycle seats often press on the perineum, which is the area between the scrotum and the anus, causing a compression of blood vessels. The compression makes it more difficult for the penis to get the needed blood flow.
Scientists recommend using a softer seat or taking shorter rides to prevent the problem. Make sure to speak with your doctor about this if you suspect cycling could be causing erectile dysfunction issues.
4. Canned Foods
Perhaps one of the most surprising risk factors of erectile dysfunction is the frequent eating of canned foods. Cans that hold food often contain the chemical bisphenol-A, also called BPA. BPA can affect your hormones, stimulating the production of female sex hormones and suppressing male sex hormones.
5. Certain Medications
Lots of medications have the potential to affect sexual function, especially in men. This is because they can interfere with hormone pathways.
One of these types of medications is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These medications are antidepressants that function by increasing the levels of serotonin in the body, elevating your mood. The problem is that serotonin decreases sex drive.
Blood pressure medications may also affect sexual function. Diuretics or ACE inhibitors decrease the blood flow that reaches the penis, making an erection more difficult to achieve.
Other medications that could affect sexual function are those that treat Parkinson’s disease, antihistamines, and even non-steroidal anti-inflammatory disease. It is always a good idea to speak with your doctor about the side effects of any medications you take and to work with them to find alternatives.
6. Leading a Sedentary Lifestyle
Another factor that can put you at risk of developing erectile dysfunction is leading a sedentary lifestyle. Being sedentary can cause decreased blood flow. Not leading an active life also makes it harder for your heart to function at its best.
Even moderate exercise stimulates your body to produce nitric oxide, which is a short-lasting chemical that keeps your arteries open, including the ones that allow blood to flow into your penis.
A sedentary lifestyle is associated with higher levels of fat in the body. The more fat you have, the more estrogen your body is likely to produce, which means your testosterone levels dip. It can also lead to a higher risk of developing diabetes, which impacts insulin resistance and makes the development of erectile dysfunction more likely.
Treating Erectile Dysfunction
Struggling with erectile dysfunction can affect your self-esteem, moods, and relationships. If you are dealing with this issue, it’s essential to reach out to your doctor for help.
One option that offers the chance to get relief from erectile dysfunction is regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine treatments like stem cell therapy focus on doing more than just treating the symptoms of the condition: they can help to treat the underlying problem that led to erectile dysfunction issues in the first place.
If you are dealing with erectile dysfunction, consider asking your doctor about regenerative medicine. With these minimally invasive treatments, you could allow your body to start healing itself.
by admin | Feb 1, 2024 | Psoriasis, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Characterized by scaly white or erythematous plaques, psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune dermatological disease most often appearing on the scalp, genitalia, lumbosacral area, and extensor surfaces of the limbs.
Affecting an estimated 125 million people worldwide, the condition most commonly is observed in those between the ages of 15 and 25 years of age.
The most recent advancements in the development of biological treatment have revolutionized the treatment of the condition for those with moderate to severe psoriasis, achieving clear or nearly clear skin with long-term success.
However, these treatments in their current form have not been proven to cure psoriasis completely. Additionally, a growing number of those suffering from severe psoriasis are not responding to these current therapeutic treatment options.
Recently, stem cell therapy, including regulatory T-cells, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been used in patients with recalcitrant psoriasis. In this review, Naik discusses stem cell treatment options available for psoriasis.
Regulatory T-cells, or Tregs, regulate or suppress other immunocytes by modulating their responses to the endogenous environment and antigens, which helps to avoid autoimmune reactions and chronic inflammation. Several treatments for psoriasis, including many biologics currently being used, appear to increase the number of Tregs and their performance in patients with psoriasis. This finding led Naik to conclude that, despite their high cost, Treg-based therapies may have the ability to interfere with the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
MSCs have been found to have a significant role in adaptive immunity. This immune-enhancing activity typically occurs in partnership with a number of immune cells, including neutrophils, dendritic cells, monocytes, natural killer cells, macrophages, B-cells, and T-cells. While several Phase I and II studies have not demonstrated significant toxicity, the author calls for more extensive controlled trials to better understand the efficacy and long-term safety of MSCs in this application.
The favorable results observed when using hematopoietic stem cells (HSCT) in a wide range of autoimmune conditions, including lymphoma, leukemia, lupus, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis, led to interest in using these cells in patients with psoriasis. Interestingly, improvements in psoriasis have been observed in patients who have undergone allogeneic (rather than autologous) HSCT, suggesting that hematopoietic stem cells could contribute as a primary cause of psoriasis.
Naik concludes that the application of stem cells in the treatment of psoriasis raises hope for the development of a safe and effective therapy for those suffering from severe forms of the condition. While more data is required before clinical application, MSCs could be a promising therapy for the treatment of psoriasis.
Source: Naik PP. Stem cell therapy as a potential treatment option for psoriasis. An Bras Dermatol. 2022;97(4):471-477. doi:10.1016/j.abd.2021.10.002
by admin | Jan 31, 2024 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Acute and chronic pancreatitis are associated with local and systemic inflammation that is linked to a host of serious health issues. A result of the digestive juices and enzymes attacking the pancreas, pancreatitis currently has no definite treatment.
Currently, it is estimated that over 6 million people worldwide are afflicted by acute or chronic pancreatitis with the number of diagnoses appearing to be steadily increasing.
The rising interest in stem cell therapy being used to potentially treat a wide variety of other diseases has led to interest in exploring it as a way to aid in the treatment of both acute and chronic pancreatitis.
As part of this review, Chela et al. examine numerous studies using commonly used stem cells to explore their promise in the treatment of pancreatitis.
A number of studies are utilizing stem cells to repair and replace tissue damaged as a result of numerous gastrointestinal diseases, including acute and chronic pancreatitis. In the case of using stem cells, and specifically mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), to treat pancreatitis, researchers are interested in the ability of these stem cells to regenerate damaged cells and to influence the immunological and inflammatory response resulting from this condition.
A significant issue that has stymied progress in the ability of the pancreas to self-repair and regenerate when affected by pancreatitis is the perceived lack of stem cells found specifically in the tissue of the pancreas. While there has been conflicting research into whether or not stem cells exist in pancreatic tissue, the research reviewed by the authors indicates that there appears to be a tiny amount of stem cells located within pancreatic tissue.
Considering this and considering that additional research indicates that other stem cells found in the pancreas appear to originate from bone marrow (BM), the authors believe the ability of MSCs’ ability to differentiate will support the healing of the pancreas; these include stem cell sources from BM, adipose tissue, umbilical cord, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
Source: “Stem cell therapy: a potential for the perils of pancreatitis – PMC – NCBI.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7433995/.
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