Intra Articular Growth Hormone (IAGH)

[Sam]

Has anybody had IAGH injections.  A DR. Alan Dunn performs them?  They are growth hormone injections. http://www.iagh.com/  I appreciate any info on the subject.

[muffy]

Spoke to Doctor Dunn, out of Florida. Says his system works for many. Have not talked to any of his patients. Guess can be the next step.

[Jack_Mark]

yes, so where are the patients ?

They may no longer visit a sdite like this. Does anybody know one ?

Jack Mark

[Jack_Mark]

yes, so where are the patients ?

They may no longer visit a site like this. Does anybody know one ?

Jack Mark

[BluJay]

Hi there,

Am now asking the same question;  came accross this website:  www.arthritisusa.net and found a Dr. Farschian who is doing exactly what this Dr. Dunn is doing;  I looked for more info on the topic via the internet and found Dr. Dunn's web-site as well;  as far as I can tell, these are the only 2 doctors doing such a thing;  I think what gets me is if this procedure is the "miracle" it seems to be, why aren't we all doing it?  I got so excited when I first read the web-site because I thought I found the answer ( i have osteoarthritis and am slated for tkr sometime in near future and i do NOT want to go down that road);  of course, i also don't want to spend close to the $10,000 it's going to cost me to go to the US and pay for these injections.  anyway, the best info I could come up with so far is that this Dr. Farschian IS licensed and has been since 1999;  he's had no disciplinary action taken against him;  otherwise, i cannot for the life of me find any stats anywhere as to success rate nor has anyone yet responded to my recent posts about this therapy as well;  i see it was 2002 when you posted...are you still around?  get back to me and let's see if we can find out more info....or did you end up trying it?  let me know if you still post on this site...would love to hear more...
thanks much!
Janey

[rob8647932]

I have gone thru the IAGH injections from Dr. Allan Dunn in Miami, FL. I had 2 defects in my left knee. All these were grade 4 and both healed. I would say my knee was a 2 (10 being great) before the procedure and 7.5 to 8 after the procedure. The rehab is similar to the ACI genzyme but much quicker to heal. It takes ~ 6 months to heal vs. 12-18 mths. with ACI.

Rob Wilson

[john_lecroy]

I have been targeting to have IAGH for my knee for months -- Dr. Dunn's staff is friendly, but honestly, it's been very discouraging just trying to get an appointment. Had all the prelim lab work and MRI, but they are evidently too busy.  i'm counting on the procedure to treat degeneration of the joint since the miniscus was removed long ago.  The is also a general practice physician in Miami who does HGH injections, but does not do the prelim arthroscopic clean-up and does not sound rigorous in understanding the subtleties of effective IAGH treatment.

[BHI]

I am working with Dr. Dunn.  You can not rush into his office and expect everything to be completed in a day.  I spoke to five patients with knee problems.  They were 100 % satifyed.  I met them at the hotel we stayed at near his office.

I do not know anyone else who does this therapy full time.  All others seem to think they can do it.  If it is not the doctors main focus then find someone else.

[wonderworm]

After multiple knee injuries over many years, I had a failed ACI (Chondrocyte Inplantation) in my trochlea which caused me alot of pain.   Then I did some searching and found a Prolotherapy Doctor in Texas who gave me biweekly IAGH injections.  I didn't notice much of a difference at the time, but now 6 months later, the sharp pains that I felt when I would extend my leg have pretty much dissapeared.  Was it the IAGH, or just healing time, or was it the other stuff I was taking at the time?  Noone knows for sure.

   I don't think it did any miracles like fill in my cartilage defect because I can still feel my knee crackle as it goes over the divits in my cartilage and I can feel my kneecap catch on the lip of my hole in my Trochlea (just like before my IAGH appointments), but maybe I now have a slight covering of cartilage over the main defect area.  There's no definite answer however, unless I have a scope procedure to actually see if cartilage has regrown some. 

Also, for the record I was also taking 1.5g of Chondroitin and 1.5g of glucosamine twice daily during this test period.  Previous to this, my knee was always inflamed and had a much higher temperature than my good knee.  The IAGH did not seem to substantially affect my daily inflammation that much, but I did find a simple solution that worked wonders in removing my nagging daily inflammation once and for all.  Basically, I just added 1.5g of MSM powder to my twice daily knee cocktails and almost immediately the inflammation and heat in my knee began to fade away!!  If anyone has similar problems with chonic knee inflammation, I highly recommend high doses of MSM, out of all the ingredients/treatments mentioned above, its effect was the most promonent for me.

[oscartherat]

How many injections does Dr. Dunn advise you get of the IAGH and what are the costs per injection? Promising that all the patients you met were satisfied.  Would you say it was worth the hassle, especially given the alternative of possible knee replacement?

Also, I did not think that Prolotherapy and the IAGH injections were considered the same procedure?

[Jack_Mark]

I am most suspicious about a couple of the responses.

No email address, one single post etc (though this isn't necessarily 100% proof of course).

It isn't unreasonable to find out a bit more about positive results before one starts spending big money, so, again, where are the success stories ?
 

Regards,

Jack Mark

[dognocat]

I am 23 and had chrondromalia caused by maltracking. It was causing significant sharp pain. I was going to a prolotherapist in Irvine, CA and after two "Chondroplasty" injections of HGH under the articular cartilage the sharp pain was gone. This process took two to three weeks.

[Gnarus]

I know this is a dead post but according to Dr. Juilo Fernandes, an orthopaedic research specialist down in Montreal, this procedure is worthless.  He's the last OS to get into my knee.  So in futur references for others, here is what he had to say about this procedure:

He said that the chondrocyte just didn’t have the receptors for the HGH.  That HGH could grow anything but cartilage.  I asked if it could help with the pain or if it could help regenerate pseudo cartilage, he said he didn’t know.  I then offered him to take a look at some of the references I had found, but he refused.  He also added that HGH sides effect were too much of a risk.  I imagine taking anti-inflammatory pills everyday for the rest of my life is better.

This doctor said to be an orthopaedic research specialist.  Yet he was so closed minded, just like all the OSs I saw in the past for that matter.  After asking about 3 different treatments with more than enough references and real life treated cases at hand, he sadly said “I’m not familiar with those” or “I don’t believe in that so I won’t help you”.  When asked why not, he simply replied that he wouldn’t help, again and again.

Yep, I’m looking at nothing else than scrapping and drilling every two years or so until I turn 40ish, I’m 30 with 7 AS so far.  I don’t want to imagine what it will be like when I turn 50, ouch!  ;o)

[rob8647932]

I am a patient of Dr. Dunn and can attest to the fact that the debridement surgery plus a series of HGH knee injections have made may knee go from a 2 to a 7.5. Not bad eh??

Call me if you want. 330-212-4101.

Rob

[Gnarus]

You're not the first to make these claims.  In fact, during my visit, I had with me some patient testimonials about this, I also had several hardcore references.  My idea was to make him see that if nothing else is available to me, maybe he could try this procedure with me, what do I have to lose right?  Lazy ignorant government doctors.

Nevertheless, thanks for your reply, I have no problem believing you, I have several study regarding GH in my pockets…so sad I can’t find a Doc near by who feels the same.