Source: Healthline
A stem cell-based medication has done well in phase II trials. There’s hope it can be a future drug for people with RA.
Source: Boston Globe
With a painful shot in October that left him unable to bend his prized arm for days, Red Sox lefthander Drew Pomeranz joined what he and others hope is a transformative development in sports medicine.
Source: CBS Boston
Arthritis is usually thought to affect older people, but young adults can suffer from it, too. Dr. Mallika Marshall moderated a panel Thursday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital on regenerative medicine, specifically looking at innovative ways to treat young patients with arthritis. One such treatment uses stems cells harvested from umbilical cords.
Source: Gulf Coast News Today
There was a time when, for those dealing with a sports injury or arthritic pain, their only option was an invasive surgical procedure with an often painful recovery. For many, surgery is still the only option, but for others, replacement therapies such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and bone marrow aspirate (BMA) are becoming increasingly common.
Source: NJ.com
Across the United States, the number of neck and back pain sufferers is increasing, steadily pushing doctors to identify out-of-the-box solutions to treat spine conditions that don’t require surgery. In recent years, one of the most predominant breakthroughs within the orthopedic industry is a nonsurgical treatment called stem cell therapy.
Source: The Charlotte Observer
In Charlotte, a few orthopedic practitioners, who offered PRP even before that Steelers moment, have been low-key about it, careful not to over-promise on results. But in the past year and a half, PRP – and a newer injection therapy using stem cells – have taken on a higher profile in Charlotte.
Source: Healio
Among patients with atraumatic rotator cuff tears, shoulder activity was not associated with severity of the tear, but was affected by patients’ age, sex and occupation, according to study results.
Researchers prospectively enrolled patients with an atraumatic rotator cuff tear on MRI in the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network shoulder study of nonoperative treatment. Patients were asked to complete a previously validated shoulder activity scale; 434 patients completed the scale and were included in the analysis. Mean patient age was 62.7 years.
The researchers performed a regression analysis to assess the association of shoulder activity level to rotator cuff tear characteristics, including tendon involvement and traction, as well as patient factors such as age, sex, smoking and occupation.
Shoulder activity was not associated with severity of the rotator cuff tear, according to the researchers. However, shoulder activity was negatively associated with age and female sex. According to the regression model, 69-year-old patients with rotator cuff tears were 1.5 points less active on the 20-point scale vs. identical 56-year-old patients; female patients were 1.6 points less active vs. similar male patients. Occupation was also a significant predictor of shoulder activity level, with unemployed patients predicted to be 4.8 points less active compared with employed patients.