Medical advancements are expanding exponentially. Our understanding of the interplay between our genetics and environment has led us to monumental breakthroughs in medical diagnostics and treatments. Some of these treatments have been harnessing the body’s powerful ability to regenerate itself.
What are the new treatments?
Stem cells, medicinal signaling cells, and mesenchymal stem cells are different names for cells that haven’t gone through the differentiation process. These cells have the potential to become any type of cell in your body, but more importantly, we are learning that these cells are able to signal your body’s current cells. These signals help your cells unlock their ability to perform their intended functions. Stem cells can be obtained from your own body (bone marrow, fat cells, dental pulp) or from screened and purified umbilical cord tissue and blood.
To understand how stem cells and other modern treatments can help with arthritis, it helps to know how the body normally repairs cellular and tissue damage. Normal cell repair involves several steps: hemostasis (stopping blood from leaking out of the vessels), inflammation (signaling your body to recruit the proper cells and peptides required to break down damaged cells and build the framework for delivering repair supplies), proliferation (replacing the damaged cells with new cells), and remodeling (maturing and rebuilding the tissues).
A dysregulated repair process causes arthritis; usually, the body gets stuck in the inflammation phase, and the destructive/inflammatory process becomes unregulated. Some of the tools your body uses to break down damaged cells (proteases) become stuck in your joint and continue to do what they were made to do; break down cells. If the proteases don’t have damaged cells to break down, they will begin to target healthy cells from healthy tissue. Your body is no longer able to replace those cells at the rate these proteases are breaking them down. This leads to tissue pain, swelling, and stiffness. Normal activities such as getting out of bed, personal hygiene, walking, and working become painful chores.
Traditional methods of treating arthritis include medications that reduce inflammation without reprogramming your body to appropriately repair damaged tissues. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) can provide temporary relief but don’t help fix the problem. NSAIDs also come with some unintended problems such as increased bleeding risk and damage to the lining of the stomach. Steroid injections can also bring some longer-term relief, but don’t help fix the problem and can actually make the arthritis worse in the long run. Steroids also come with the risks of increased infections and the same risk of damage to the stomach lining as NSAIDs.
Newer treatments include: Alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M), hyaluronic acid, and stem cell injections. A2M is a molecule that is naturally made in the body. A2M treatments involve concentrating this molecule through a process of drawing your blood, spinning and filtering it, and then injecting it into the problem joint. A2M neutralizes the proteases that are damaging the joint tissue.
Hyaluronic acid is a synthetic ‘viscosity supplement’ that helps cushion and lubricate the joint while the repair process is working. Your body’s joints have a wonderful natural cushioning and lubrication system. This gets destroyed during an overactive inflammatory phase. Until the healthy cells have been replenished, your joint is left without cushioning and lubrication. Hyaluronic acid is the substance that is the main ingredient of your natural joint fluid. Hyaluronic acid injections are a proven beneficial treatment for joint pain.
A couple of months after an A2M injection (this gives the A2M time to neutralize the proteases), an injection of stem cells can reset your natural joint cells to engage in the normal cell repair process. At the same time, a hyaluronic acid supplement is injected into the joint to provide a cushion and lubrication for the joint while the stem cells start to work. The stem cells signal your body’s current repair system to reset and start the process from the beginning with a short inflammatory response and then moving onto the proliferation and remodeling phases. Over the next weeks, your body puts the repair process into action.
The end result is healthy joint tissue. A2M has neutralized the destructive process from dysfunctional inflammation. Hyaluronic acid provided a cushion for your joints while your body heals. Stem cells reprogrammed your existing cells into effectively performing their jobs. Many people have benefited from this new technology and have been able to return to doing the things in life that they enjoyed before arthritis limited their activities.