Stem Cells

Bone Marrow Improves Healing With ACL Grafts

— MRI confirms better outcomes than with allograft alone in randomized study by Ed Susman, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today December 4, 2020 Patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with allografts appeared to heal more quickly when injections of bone marrow aspirate were included, according to a randomized trial. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at […]

Regenerative potential of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis and chondral defects: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Maheshwer B, Polce EM, Paul K, et al Arthroscopy|June 3, 2020 The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis analyzing the impacts of mesenchymal stem cells on cartilage regeneration and patient-reported pain and function. This study was performed according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines […]

Clinicians at Stem Cell Clinics Often Lack Credentials

Ellie Kincaid June 25, 2019 Many clinicians at centers that offer stem cell interventions without solid evidence for their effectiveness are not physicians, or are physicians practicing beyond the scope of their formal training, according to a research letter published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Zubin Master, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, […]

The Birth-Tissue Profiteers

How well-meaning donations end up fueling an unproven, virtually unregulated $2 billion stem cell industry. by Caroline Chen May 7, 2019 Their shoulders and backs and knees were giving out. Pills and steroid injections hadn’t eased their pain. They were scared of surgery. So, one afternoon last October, two dozen men and women, many of […]

The Role of Orthobiologics in the Management of Osteoarthritis and Focal Cartilage Defects

Benjamin J. Sherman, DO; Jorge Chahla, MD, PhD; Jason Glowney, MD; Rachel M. Frank, MD Orthopedics. 2019;42(2):66-73https://doi.org/10.3928/01477447-20190225-02 Posted March 21, 2019 Abstract Individuals with osteoarthritis have a diminished quality of life, and the condition is a major cause of disability. Newer biologic treatments have been developed that are believed to modify disease progression. These predominantly […]

FDA Sends Warning About Unapproved Stem Cell Products

FDA sends warning to company for marketing dangerous unapproved stem cell products that put patients at risk and puts other stem cell firms, providers on notice Genetech, Inc. warned about umbilical cord blood-derived cellular products distributed by Liveyon, LLC. FDA is also sending letters to other firms and providers offering stem cell treatments notifying them […]

Implants ‘made of your own cells’ could end back pain

Published Monday 26 November 2018 By Maria Cohut Back and neck pain are often the result of the progressive damage of the discs that separate the spinal vertebrae. Thanks to new multidisciplinary research, we may soon have a better solution to this problem: bioengineered discs grown out of a person’s own cells. Intervertebral disc degeneration […]

Unproven but Profitable: The Boom in US Stem Cell Clinics

September 19, 2018 Rita Rubin, MA JAMA. Published online September 19, 2018. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.13861 Stanford orthopedic surgeon Jason Dragoo, MD, is conducting 4 randomized clinical trials of the use of autologous stem cells to treat knee osteoarthritis. Interest in the trials seems high—nearly 100 people inquire about them daily, Dragoo says—but he recognizes that some patients might […]

Respect the Needle in Osteoarthritis

Patients may be experiencing placebo effect, but it’s still an effect, rheumatologist says by John Gever, Managing Editor, MedPage Today April 19, 2018 CHICAGO — In dealing with osteoarthritis, both patients and their physicians often have a hard time understanding what to make of novel “cures” such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP), stem cell treatments, and […]

Electroacupuncture Promotes Central Nervous System‐Dependent Release of Mesenchymal Stem Cells – Full Text Article

Tatiana E. Salazar Stem Cells 2017;35:1303–1315 Abstract Electroacupuncture (EA) performed in rats and humans using limb acupuncture sites, LI‐4 and LI‐11, and GV‐14 and GV‐20 (humans) and Bai‐hui (rats) increased functional connectivity between the anterior hypothalamus and the amygdala and mobilized mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the systemic circulation. In human subjects, the source of […]

Exploiting science? A systematic analysis of complementary and alternative medicine clinic websites’ marketing of stem cell therapies – Ful Text Article

BMJ Open. 2018; 8(2): e019414. Published online 2018 Feb 28. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019414 PMCID: PMC5855243 PMID: 29490963 Blake Murdoch Abstract Objective To identify the frequency and qualitative characteristics of stem cell-related marketing claims made on websites of clinics featuring common types of complementary and alternative medicine practitioners. The involvement of complementary and alternative medicine practitioners in […]

Stem cell knee injection shown to regenerate meniscus, reduce pain

Vangsness C. J Bone Joint Surg. 2014;doi: 10.2106/JBJS.M.00058 January 24, 2014 Results of a randomized, double-blind controlled study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery supported the use of human mesenchymal stem cell for meniscal regeneration and the control of knee pain. “There was evidence of meniscus regeneration and improvement in knee pain following […]