Osteoarthritis is the commonest form of arthritis. It is a degenerative disease that affects joints of knees, joints of hip, joints of spine and hands.. Generally symptoms of osteoarthritis are pain, swelling, limitation of mobility and stiffness.
A number of risk factors that contribute to increased risk of OA such as age, sex, obesity, any sort of injury to joints, genetics and oxidative stress etc. Moreover, of all the OA, knee osteoarthritis constitutes about 85% of all them.
The following section highlights the Non-surgical treatment options.
Non-surgical treatment for osteoarthritis
In order to improve symptoms of OA, clinicians usually recommend various treatment strategies. They are medications, supportive devices, injections, physical therapy and lifestyle modifications.
Therefore, the following section lists out some of the non-surgical treatment options that can provide relief from symptoms.
- Medications: Clinicians usually recommend NSAIDs to reduce inflammation. Similarly, Acetaminophen is the most commonly prescribed drug which helps to relief symptoms of inflammation and pain.
- Injections: in patients who experience pain, inflammation and difficulty in movement, clinicians recommend corticosteroid injections to provide relief. Furthermore, Hyaluronic acid injections also aim to provide relief from pain and ease out symptoms.
- Braces: Braces are sometimes recommended to aid in improving and supporting mobility and to o prevent any further movement that can trigger damage to the joint. Additionally, it also ensures that the affected joint is in a state of immobilization.
After medications, injections and supportive devices, the other options are as follows.
The next part highlights the role of physical therapy in OA.
- Physical therapy: engaging in light to moderate exercises improves pain and mobility. Basically, physical exercises not only improve symptoms but also strengthen the joints and provide flexibility.
The important aspect of any disease or condition is lifestyle modification.
- Lifestyle modifications: weight management is one of the core part of treatment strategies. Diet is another crucial factor which helps in management of OA.
- Supplements: Certain supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin aids in restoring functions of cartilage and support joint health. Additionally, omega 3 fatty acid supplements also aid in OA improvement.
Another important therapy is prolotherapy. The below section sheds some important info about the prolotherapy.
Insights on role of Prolotherapy
Doctors usually inject injections to provide relief from chronic pain in this type of therapy in osteoarthritis. Usually, a hypertonic dextrose solution is injected into ligaments and tendons which enhance the process of angiogenesis and initiates wound healing. Thus, such type of process treats chronic pain and eases out pain in musculoskeletal conditions.
Another important point is that The Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) does not recommend the use of prolotherapy in OA due to lack of quality evidence. And the main challenges of this therapy are risk of side effects, and pain due to injection.
The next section highlights the challenges in conventional treatment.
Challenges involved in conventional treatment
Biggest Challenge in conventional treatment is that the options are more palliative than curative. Knee osteoarthritis particularly is in association with muscle weakness, so muscles strength training is essential. But the challenge is putting in extra effort in implementing exercises to strengthen muscles and staying determined for long term results.
Another challenge in OA is management of weight, since weight gain can exacerbate the condition. Moreover, the role of braces is to only provide mobility support but doesn’t provide any symptomatic relief and can cause discomfort.
Use of drugs and medications pose a risk of development of adverse effects. And moreover surgical interventions are painful and require long term rehabilitation. Post the challenges in conventional treatment strategies, let’s shift focus towards novel Regenerative medicine therapy.
Regenerative medicine – Stem cells therapy for osteoarthritis
Stem cells pose the capacity to renew self and self-regenerate into specialized types of cells. Generally, the following are the mechanisms by which stem cells ease out problems that occur due to OA.
How stem cells help osteoarthritis?
To begin with, the first one is
Proliferation of stem cells
MSCs differentiate into chondrocytes along with osteoblasts and proliferate in OA. Stem cells undergo proliferation and initiate regeneration after migration to the site of damage.
After proliferation of chondrocytes, next mechanism is regeneration of cartilage.
Cartilage regeneration or Regeneration of cartilage
After proliferation into chondrocytes and osteoblasts, stem cells stimulate formation of cartilage by replacing the damaged cartilage and initiates repair which restores normal functions.
After regeneration, let’s see how stem cells modulate immune response.
Effect of Immunomodulation
In a bid to regenerate tissue and modulate immune response, the immune system inhibits the proliferation of NK cells and inhibits the process of apoptosis. Therefore, as NK cells trigger inflammation, stem cells suppress it by releasing anti-inflammatory molecules like TGF-β and IL-10.
Next mechanism of anti-inflammation is as follows post modulation of immune response and immune system.
Reduction of inflammation or Anti-inflammatory effects
In response to damage, synovial cells release inflammatory molecules like TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1 and IL-8, along with metalloproteinase which results in inflammation. Thus, MSCs counteract the release of inflammatory cytokines and molecules by releasing anti-inflammatory molecules like TGF-β and IL-10 which promotes anti-inflammation.
- Moreover, MSC also show improvement in pain scale scores in OA. The next mechanism is about the analgesic effect of stem cells.
- MSCs inhibit the process of angiogenesis, suppresses calcification of chondrocytes and activity of osteoclasts in analgesic effect. Similarly, it provides analgesic effect by improving functional capacity and alleviating pain. Thus, in OA these are the mechanisms and role of stem cells.
The next section focuses on MAG200 stem cell therapy in osteoarthritis.
Let’s find out about the latest therapy and study findings of MAG200 therapy.
Osteoarthritis MAG200 stem cell therapy
MAG200 stem cell therapy is an injection which comprises of adipose tissue derived stem cells. Usually the doctor injects the injection of stem cells in the affected area.
Mesenchymal stem cells regenerates cartilage, reduces inflammation, suppresses pain and repairs the damaged tissue. Thus, for these reasons mesenchymal stem cell therapy is proving to be pivotal in treating OA.
For the study of MAG200 and to determine benefits, around 40 patients were enrolled in a randomized control trial. The benefits observed post the therapy are as follows-
- Firstly, after a follow-up of 12 months, patients reported 58% improvement in pain.
- Delays the progression of disease and improves function of cartilage.
- Double the improvement in quality of life.
- And enhancement of efficacy and durability on long term follow-up.
The above points highlight the advantages of MAG200 stem cell therapy.
Mesenchymal stem cells provide several advantages in the treatment of OA. They are listed below.
Positive aspects of Mesenchymal stem cell therapy and advantages
| 1. Ability to differentiate into chondrocyte and initiate repair process.
2. Prevents the process of apoptosis and degeneration. 3. Ability to modulate immune response and immune system. 4. Exerts anti-inflammatory effect. |
Therefore, these are some of the advantages.
Benefits of stem cell therapy |
|
| 1. Improvement in morning stiffness | 2. Reduction of inflammation |
| 3. Decreased dependency on NSAIDs | 4. Enhanced functional capacity |
| 5. Repair and development of cartilaginous tissue | 6. Reduces pain and improves suffering and quality of life |
Therefore, the content for stem cell treatment for osteoarthritis is summarized as follows.
Osteoarthritis Patient Success Stories
Summarizing points for the blog
OA treatment with conventional treatment options does not provide satisfactory results. However, Osteoarthritis stem cell treatment in contrast, has shown great ability in providing effective solutions.
Basically, the regenerative medicine for osteoarthritis offer benefits like redevelopment of cartilaginous tissue, improvement in mobility, and reduction of morning stiffness. Hence in the treatment of osteoarthritis, stem cells offer novel services.
Therefore, the above are the summary points for this blog and the next section focuses on frequently asked questions.
FAQs
Q: Explain osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is the commonest form of arthritis. It affects joints of knees, joints of hip, joints of spine and hands since it is a degenerative disease. The result of osteoarthritis is pain, swelling, limitation of mobility and stiffness.
Q: List out the non-surgical treatment alternatives in osteoarthritis?
In order to improve symptoms of osteoarthritis, clinicians usually recommend various non-surgical treatment strategies. They are medications, supportive devices, injections, physical therapy and lifestyle modifications.
Q: What are the benefits post stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis?
The benefits of stem cell therapy are repair of cartilaginous tissue, improvement in morning stiffness, reduction of inflammation, enhancement of functional capacity and improvement of quality of life due to reduction of pain and suffering.
Q: How do stem cells exert anti-inflammatory effect?
MSCs counteract the release of inflammatory cytokines i.e. TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1 and IL-8 and molecules by releasing anti-inflammatory molecules like TGF-β and IL-10 which promotes anti-inflammation.
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