Monday, June 15, 2009
Blood may help heal sports injuries
Over the course of time, medical science has focused on the role of blood and blood products in treating diseases. Blood letting and leeching were used to remove toxins, while transfusions have saved countless lives.
The latest chapter in this saga is currently being written in the field of sports medicine. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is an effort to harness the anti-inflammatory factors in human blood and inject them into an area of injury.
Plasma is the liquid component of blood containing red and white blood cells and platelets. It is within the platelets that clotting and growth factors exist.
PRP therapy involves removing a small amount of a patient’s own blood and filtering it to form plasma with a high concentration of platelets and subsequently the factors necessary to accelerate healing. This new solution can be injected directly into a chronically inflamed region that has not healed naturally.
Typical injuries that can be successfully treated with PRP include those that involve tendons and ligaments. The human body launches an immediate response after injury that is noted by swelling and redness. Sometimes the injury becomes persistent (chronic) as in tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis. Repetitive use injuries typically seen in baseball pitchers fit into this category. PRP jump-starts the healing mechanism in these situations.
The true test of any new treatment is based on success in clinical trials. Ideally, large numbers of patients are entered into a study and some are randomly selected to receive actual therapy such as PRP and others receive a placebo. The participants and treating physicians are not told which treatment has been used.
These studies are ongoing for PRP but initial reports indicate this may be an exciting new treatment that will help many patients while continuing a long and ancient tradition of using blood for curative purposes.
The latest chapter in this saga is currently being written in the field of sports medicine. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is an effort to harness the anti-inflammatory factors in human blood and inject them into an area of injury.
Plasma is the liquid component of blood containing red and white blood cells and platelets. It is within the platelets that clotting and growth factors exist.
PRP therapy involves removing a small amount of a patient’s own blood and filtering it to form plasma with a high concentration of platelets and subsequently the factors necessary to accelerate healing. This new solution can be injected directly into a chronically inflamed region that has not healed naturally.
Typical injuries that can be successfully treated with PRP include those that involve tendons and ligaments. The human body launches an immediate response after injury that is noted by swelling and redness. Sometimes the injury becomes persistent (chronic) as in tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis. Repetitive use injuries typically seen in baseball pitchers fit into this category. PRP jump-starts the healing mechanism in these situations.
The true test of any new treatment is based on success in clinical trials. Ideally, large numbers of patients are entered into a study and some are randomly selected to receive actual therapy such as PRP and others receive a placebo. The participants and treating physicians are not told which treatment has been used.
These studies are ongoing for PRP but initial reports indicate this may be an exciting new treatment that will help many patients while continuing a long and ancient tradition of using blood for curative purposes.
# posted by ----------------- @ 12:40 PM 
