Minimally Invasive Joint Surgery: A Bad Idea
Revolutionary Treatment? Stem cell therapy for the treatment of orthopedic conditions is gaining popularity and acceptance. This is a mixed blessing. Patients are better informed about how stem cell therapy can help them, but, there is also a lot of misinformation and creative marketing out there that patients need to be aware of. For example, I recently saw an ad […]
Yet Another Reason to Avoid Joint Surgeries
Stem cell treatment is an alternative to joint surgeries. In the past we have discussed the many reasons to avoid joint surgery. These reasons include: increased costs, unnecessary risks, long recovery periods, and suboptimal outcomes. Over the past several years, and especially the last 2 years, the evidence supporting the widespread use of joint surgeries has been questioned. This article […]
Spinal Fusions: Necessary Treatment?
Two decades ago lumbar spinal fusions were relatively rare. Most surgeries of the lumbar spine involved a decompressive laminectomy (removal of bone) without a fusion. But, over that time span, the rate of spinal fusions in the USA has increased at an alarming rate: a fifteen-fold increase between 2002 and 2007 alone. Now, almost half of all lumbar spine surgeries […]
Treating Multiple Sclerosis With Stem Cells
Encouraging, positive results of a clinical trial using a new stem cell therapy to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are about to be presented next week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. This is a phase I clinical trial performed at the Tisch MS Research Center of New York. Phase I clinical trials are designed to determine […]
The Amniotic “Stem Cell Therapy” Scam – Part II
Another week…another sales rep coming to my office to market a new amniotic membrane/ fluid injection product. It seems these days that there is a new product coming to the market almost every month, and a new marketing gimmick associated with it. The old gimmick is marketing these treatments as “stem cell therapy” when is not. The newest gimmick […]