Holy Grail of orthopedics is articular cartilage regrowth. When??

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Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
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Articular cartilage is the stuff in various joints that grinds down. It doesn't regrow, and once it's gone you get the lovely bone-on-bone fun that so many old people are intimately familiar with, leading eventually to a joint replacement.

It appears to me that the best hope for this is with stem cells, but despite googling it and a lot of researchers working on it, I can't find out a likely/possible/hopeful timeline on when this will actually happen and be rolled out en masse. Any good ideas?
 

brainhulk

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2007
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Am I understanding this right? After the 2 days or 2 weeks, you're back to square one? Why bother?

technology is a wonderful thing isn't it? Hoping that 2 weeks turns into 2 months and then 2 years with enough research
 

highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
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technology is a wonderful thing isn't it? Hoping that 2 weeks turns into 2 months and then 2 years with enough research
True but I would appreciate it now. I think the lube would help me a lot since my knee is hosed again. Can't do cardio. Going Tuesday for an evaluation.


My bro is going to a Dr in Greenville that pulled cells from his hip and injected them into his knee. He says he's better but I'd like to see before/after images to see if there's been a change. It's considered experimental so he's paid several thousand out of pocket so far.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Am I understanding this right? After the 2 days or 2 weeks, you're back to square one? Why bother?

Also, keep in mind, that's a synovial fluid supplement is differently than directly affecting the articular cartilage. It doesn't regenerate articular cartilage, but contains fluid that contains compounds that are normally present in healthy joints. It's a very temporary fix and I don't think that this will ultimately turn into the solution. It's more likely, in my opinion, that either in vitro growth techniques will be utilized from an individual's own stem cells and then implanted. The problem is implantation techniques are great right now either - they actually already do this. It's called autologous chrondrocyte implantation and it's not really a long term or life long solution.

Ultimately, in the future, I would hope an injection of an individual's own slightly differentiated stem cells into a joint would allow for one's own body to repair damage. There are a lot of difficulties with injecting stem cells at this stage for many reasons, as even better studied tissues still don't react how they're expected to sometimes with stem cell applications.
 

prism

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Oct 23, 2004
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Are there any good solutions on how to keep this cartilage intact as long as possible? I'm only 28 and I get moderate pain in my knees from weightlifting, despite good amounts of foam rolling and stretching after workouts.

I had some x-rays done and the doctor said that my knees look great, but that I likely have cartilage that is "rough" instead of smooth and can therefore cause pain when it's being stressed. The thought of this getting worse and losing the cartilage I have as I age is scary :(
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Are there any good solutions on how to keep this cartilage intact as long as possible? I'm only 28 and I get moderate pain in my knees from weightlifting, despite good amounts of foam rolling and stretching after workouts.

I had some x-rays done and the doctor said that my knees look great, but that I likely have cartilage that is "rough" instead of smooth and can therefore cause pain when it's being stressed. The thought of this getting worse and losing the cartilage I have as I age is scary :(

There are a lot of other things that can cause pain in the knee than cartilage. It's unfair of your doctor to make that assumption because it is equally likely to be something else (ligament, muscle, nerve, etc). You can also have pain in things like certain portions of the meniscus with minor damage - not necessarily fraying of the cartilage.

Unless you get an arthroscopy, there's no way your doctor can say with any confidence that it's caused by your cartilage. Prophylactically, you can take glucosamine, which can help reduce wear and tear if taken early on. It's essentially a joint supplement, but is cheap and has no real side effects (except stomach and GI problems if you take way too many pills).
 
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