KNEE ARTHRITIS - General principles of managing Osteoarthritis of the knee :
Cartilege regeneration - - Posted by Jack_Mark (Jack_Mark), 6 March 2003
Here is an interesting article about cartilege regeneration : http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s777334.htm
I would be most interested in keeping this particular thread alive i.e. what is new about this subject ? So please do share your experiences.
My personal story is that I have 'bone on bone' in one of my knees, have been taking glucosamine and choindroitin without positive results.
I have just now started on capsules containing deer's antlers (which so I understand is equivalent to glucosamine and choindroitin).
But ..............., I am hoping for the time to come that the gene research mentioned in the deer article is successfull.
It looks to me that any benefit in taking glucosamin and choindroitin may be negated by one putting pressure on the knee and thus negating any possible regenation of the cartilege.
There is a doctor in the US who claims to have obtained success with cartilege regeneration by injecting HGH (Human Growth Hormone). One of his suggestions is to do the very thing I mentioned above i.e. to keep one's weight off one's knees for a period of I think three months to give the cartilege a chance to regenerate.
I would love to hear from someone who has had success with HGH treatment.
Jack Mark
Email : jmark1@bigpond.net.au
Posted by aubrey (aubrey), 13 April 2003
well jack mark, i don't know if i can help you, but i'll tell you a little why i'm here.
i've just been put on glucosamine by my os as a last ditch effort to ease the pain in my knee. i've been out of work for over a year due to an acl / meniscus reconstruction with every complication you can imagine. for the degenerated cartilage i have had a series of injections called viscosupplementation which did little and now am taking 1.500mg glucosamine a day. i'm hoping this helps some. i will be going back to work on 22 april. at my job i'm on my feet a lot and i do tons of stair climbing. my doctors are going to inform my boss of limitations and restrictions and hopefully will get my office put on the 1st floor (i'm now on the 5th).
i hope your theory of negating the effectiveness of glucosamine by putting pressure on the joint is wrong, because i won't have the luxury of being off my feet (like most).
i wish you the best and hope to hear that you have improved with your new treatment.
aubrey
Posted by Sam (Sam), 6 August 2003
Jack_Mark,
I looked into the IAGH hormone. It seems that the results are more from not putting weight on the knee for a long period of time than from the injections. You have to ask yourself "why is Dr. Dunn the only Dr. offering this treatment?" I am curious since you are not from the USA. Have you ever heard about Salucartilage? It is a man made polymer to replace human cartilage. Web site is : http://www.salumedica.com/
Sam
Posted by caroline_f_98 (caroline_f_98), 19 January 2004
This might be a bit late but did you try fish oil? I work in the area and it's proven to repair damages cartilage. If you do a search on google for 'Bruce Caterson and Omega 3'
Posted by dm (dm), 19 January 2004
You might be interested in the collagen meniscus implant. It's not currently available in the us, but it's being done in europe. Here's the manufacturer's site
http://www.regenbio.com/
They use the collagen meniscus implant as a scaffold to get the meniscus cells to grow into it and eventually become a new meniscus.
They anticipate hoping for approval to do this in the US in 2005/6. They've got clinical trials going, and say they plan to file for FDA approval late this year.
Posted by BluJay (BluJay), 30 March 2004
Hi there,
I posted in the "General" knee questions the same thing regarding HGH injections; looks like I may have posted to the wrong place because I didn't get any replies (except from one woman asking me to let her know what I find out as it seemed interesting to her too). Which is what I'm noticing, that there's not much knowledge about this topic. Well, here I am again, asking about this Dr. Dunn (and I found another Florida doctor, Dr. Faraschian) and what seems to be this "miracle" set of injections that will regenerate cartilage!! I have severe Osteoarthritis; i'm bone on bone and feel myself getting worse each day. The web-site for Dr. faraschian is www.arthritisusa.net if you care to take a look; I'm interested in trying this method as the claim is no "down time", no need for extensive re-hab (ACI surgery is apparently 12-24 months of extensive physio, etc. before you're really ok); they also claim it's permanent...can this miracle cure really be? I've checked Dr. Farschian's credentials; hes' legit, ie as per the Florida Medical License Bureau, he's on their list and has been since 1999 with no disciplinary action taken against him; that's what they said when I called; I guess that means that if people were being "taken" for a ride, I'm sure someone would have reported him....? Anyway, my next step is the Library, where I will research the Medical Periodicals and see what scientific research they have on the topic; I can keep posting whatever info I find, but I would really appreciate if anyone has anything further to add about what seems to be (for my problem anyway), an amazing treatment that could give me some of my "life" back (god I miss dancing!!!)...so any more news would be greatly appreciated....
thans muchos
Janey (from CAnada)
Posted by lastchance (lastchance), 9 January 2005
Just to add to the Collagen Meniscus Implant info from a previous post, they aren't that succussful, im from australia and this op has available here a few years now, i had 2 last year and they both failed, im trying for my third which i had on the 5th of jan.. ill keep my results posted because if this one works then i guess a lot of sufferers would be interested, even though it involves an intense and painful rehab. Make sure you explore all your options, as for the Dr. Dunn info.. my doctor has suggested Omega 3 but im not sure if it works.
Updated Fri Jan 9 2009