We do not quit
Playing because
We grow old;
We grow
Old because
We quit playing.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes first half of 19th century
Last Monday, I took my first early morning, outdoor, cycling ride of the spring along the Chicago lakefront. It was a perfect morning and with so few on the bike path, I was able to let my mind wonder. I thought about this past Saturday and Sunday spent on the spring creeks of Wisconsin wading up a stream in search of the brown trout with a fly rod in hand. I thought about my on going training days in the health club where I run on the treadmill, row on the Concept 2 ergometer, and mix in some strength training. I thought about the several weeks of skiing this past winter in the fabulous powder I found in Colorado. Why the reminiscence? It’s my birthday this month.
That Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. certainly got it right. Yet everyday I read about and listen to the diabetic epidemic in the world and the associated obesity, hypertension, renal failure, vascular dysfunction, etc., etc., etc. You don’t have to be a diabetic to be a victim of all the above. There is something though you can do about it: loose weight, get fit.
While there might or could be a congenital or inherited contribution to your arthritis, and while you may have sustained a trauma, the vast majority of arthritis in the hip and knee is either caused by or worsened because of the extra weight you carry.
My professional ethos is the Musculoskeletal care of the aging athlete. Your world is weight reduction and getting fit; my world is enabling you to improve your well being through Regenerative Medicine/ Cellular Orthopedics and I have professional company. The professional company is illustrated by an article published April 17: Growth Factor May Help Arthritic Knees. In the Swedish study, Fibroblast Growth Factor was used to stimulate cartilage repair in arthritic knees. A significant difference was found when compared with placebo when Sprifermin, an agent that specifically activates fibroblast-growth-factor-3 receptors in cartilage to promote chondrogenesis, cartilage matrix formation and cartilage repair was injected at high dose. While at 12 months, the cohort receiving Sprifermin didn’t show an increased joint space, when compared to the placebo group, they didn’t loose thickness.
We do more with our Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate stem cell intervention than inject one agent though our bone marrow derived Mesenchymal Stem cell preparation certainly contains the agent used in the Swedish study. The point, while stem cells may not regenerate the joint after a yet to be determined age, there is continuing evidence that the stem cells will alter the arthritic progression.
Tags: arthritis, athletes, bone marrow, Bone Marrow Concentrate, Concentrated Stem Cell Plasma, Hip Replacement, Interventional Orthopedics, Knee, Mature Athlete, Regenerative Pain Center, stem cells