As the name suggest itself, regenerative medicines regenerate the human tissues, cells, and organs. The aim to restore the normal functioning of body. It is a method to heal and procure normal body functions through new and modern ways. The aim is to establish function that might be lost due to different factors like, aging, damage, disease, or defects. Although human body itself engineers its wounds and defects majorly but sometimes, the damage can be beyond its own natural healing process. Here comes the role of regenerative medicinal treatments.
Dr. Nhi Le, M.D., FAARM, ABAARM
Board-certified Internist
Board Certified Functional and Regenerative Medicine
Texas Medical & Wellness Clinic
Graduated: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Undergrad: University of Iowa
16 Years of experience in Internal Medicine/General Practice
10 Years of experience in wellness and anti-aging medicine
Regenerative medicines have been proved useful for many patients globally. There are certain medical conditions where the results are promising and benefitted the patient a lot. Some of these conditions include brain injury tissue repair, cardiovascular tissue repair, enhancement of body’s immune system, cell therapy, skin wounds, and organ transplant. Believe it or not but regenerative medicines are also helpful for patients with certain type of cancer and type 1 diabetics. The therapy or medicine are still being developed for many other medical conditions and soon expected with more developments globally. Some of the therapies are under clinical trials that can be proved helpful for many ailments.
Regenerative medicine or therapy is not just one process, but it actually has its own types and methods for different disease. Let’s see what exactly they are.
The first process to talk here about is “PROLOTHERAPY”. Here the term Prolo is the abbreviation for the word proliferation. This means growth and formation of new ligament tissues of weakened areas. Not just joint pains but the knee, neck, back and shoulder injuries can be cured under this process. If, you are looking for treatment for shoulder and hip regeneration then certainly this treatment is for you. The basic prolotherapy solution contains dextrose. It is combined with natural sugar and anesthetics that can be easily injected to the patient.
Next comes is PRP therapy. PRP stands for Platelet Rich Plasma. A it like prolotherapy that targets the affected site through injections for results. PRP does the same. The only difference here is, under prolotherapy the injections are given to stimulate the self-healing of tissues and in PRP the blood is drawn from the patient and then platelets and growth factors are separated from it and concentrated into a serum that later injected to the patient. The therapy can be used to cure chronic degenerative joints, tendon injuries, ligaments, and more. It is a commendable medicine for tendonitis, golf elbow, tennis elbow, and rotator cuff injuries.
Now comes the most heard STEM CELL Therapy. Almost everyone has at least heard the name of this therapy. Just like previous methods this therapy also includes injection on the affected site but here the live stem cells are injected for the cure of arthritis, degenerative disc disease, muscle tears, and joint pain.
The regenerative medicinal treatments are new to the medical field, but they are equally promising for those who are fed up with never ending and non-promising old school treatments for ligaments and joints. Whatever the reason be, you should at least talk to your doctor about these medicines.