Top 40 Regenexx Blogs of 2013
Every year I like to pick out the best blogs of the year. Why 40? Just because there used to be a “Top 40” pop song list (maybe there still is?). Some of these blogs were fun to write, others revealed some new piece of critical information lost in the media shuffle, and some marked our progress in research and patient care. I’ll be tweeting these through the new year to give people a chance to discover the ones they may have missed:
1. Regenexx Registry Downloads – We run the world’s largest registry of orthopedic stem cell patients in the world and the end of 2013 marked the half-way point in reporting all of our 2013 registry data. More will follow in the new year! See Knee Regenexx-SD, Knee Regenexx-AD, Hand, and Hip.
2. Does Meniscus Surgery Work? A Quartet of Studies Says It’s No Better than Fake Surgery or PT – Yet another revelation that traditional orthopedic surgery is failing to live up to what we thought it could help.
3. Stem Cell Rap Song – This is our Fellow, Dr. Pitts, busting out a rap on Regenexx!
4. New Regenexx Difference Video – Want to see why we’re different, check out this video!
5. Hip Labrum Surgery? A Quartet of New Studies Questions Why We Should Pay Attention to Labral Tears – Hip labral tear surgery has become the hottest orthopedics trend in the past 5 years, but should we be operating on labral tears and hip impingement at all?
6. Newly Discovered ALL Ligament May Explain why Some ACL Injures can’t be Fixed – Who knew there was a new knee ligament yet to be discovered?
7. More Issues Mount with Stem cell Drugs: Another Paper Shows that Someone Else’s Stem Cells Activate Your Immune System in a Bad Way – Using a vial of someone else’s stem cells may mean that the cells you get, get destroyed by your immune system!
8. Spine Fusion-o-mania: Is there a Low Back Surgery Success Rate Anymore? – Why are we surgically fusing low backs with wild abandon when the results just aren’t great in many patients?
9. Knee Stem cell Injections: Is Convenience Winning Out Over Science? – Some doctors take bone marrow from below the knee; is this the best place to get it or just the most convenient thing for the doctor?
10. Yet Another Study Shows Inferior Bone Properties of Adipose MSCs: The Tail Continues to Wag the Dog – Fat stem cells continue to under perform bone marrow stem cells for orthopedic applications.
11. ACL Surgery Alternative: New Regenexx-ACL Video – Can ACL tears be fixed through an exacting stem cell injection?
12. War on the Declaration of Helsinki – Why are some scientists attacking the basis for ethics in research?
13. Regenexx Research and Discovery Stem Cell Research Lab Receives it’s Dedication Plaque – Our dedication to advancing orthopedic stem cell use gets it’s “Dedication”!
14. Problems in the World of Mass Manufactured Stem cells: Is Pharma Gearing Up to Sell Cellular Junk? – Is Pharma over growing stem cells to be used as drugs and making them less potent to buff up it’s spreadsheets?
15. Krill Oil vs. Fish Oil for Arthritis and Health: A Review of the Science – What’s better for your arthritis, oil from crusty crustaceans or from fishy fish?
16. Regenexx Publishes New Thumb Arthritis Study – We publish yet another leading study on how stem cells can be used to help patients with thumb arthritis.
17. Knee Replacement Recovery: Lots of Persistent Pain in Knee and Hip Replacement Patients – Who knew many patients who had a knee replacement still had significant knee pain?
18. Meniscus Surgery Side Effects: How Long Have We Known that Removing the Knee Meniscus was a Dumb Idea? – Have we really known since the 1940’s that taking out parts of the meniscus would advance arthritis?
19. Hip Arthroscopy Side Effects: The Portal Syndrome Solved – This year we saw several patients with pain from hip arthroscopy portals. What was causing it?
20. Updated Fat Stem cell Infographic– I updated the research up to 2013 on fat stem cells; it’s still pretty bad for orthopedic fat stem cell use.
21. Did the Whole Concept of Hip Arthroscopy for Impingement just get Wrecked by a Single Research paper? Hip arthroscopy has been hot, but what if those bone spurs that are being removed actually helped protect against the progression of hip arthritis?
22. Carpal Tunnel Surgery Recovery: Does Cutting the Ligament Have Consequences? – Can we cut an important ligament in the wrist to help carpal tunnel syndrome without consequences? Not so much…
23. Knee Meniscus Repair: The Great White Whale – Are any meniscus tears really repaired with surgery, or is this just a fiction for most patients?
24. New Study: Regenexx-C Safety Paper is the Best of the Best in Published Stem cell Papers for Arthritis – Our big safety study for cultured stem cells used to treat arthritis was named the best study of it’s kind by an independent meta-analysis!
25. Cortisone Shot Side Effects: Spread the Word! – Cortisone shots in joints are nasty. So spread the word so that patients stop getting injections that can hurt their joints!
26. Ankle Surgery Alternative: Using Interventional Orthopedics to Treat Cartilage and Bone Lesions – Is treating ankle arthritis as simple as a blind injection of magic stem cells somewhere in the vicinity of the ankle joint or does it take a sophisticated approach to treating both the bone and joint with exacting image guided injections?
27. A Better Platelet Rich Plasma: New Regenexx SCP Video – Can we make a better PRP? Can we make a cute video to explain the differences?
28. Regenexx-SD Stem cell Knee and Hip Replacement Alternative Data vs. Surgery – Our Chicago network doctor does research without us knowing and compares his Regenexx-SD results with his old knee and hip replacement registry data.
29. Should You Find a Motrin Alternative? Over the Counter NSAID Risks and Statins – While everybody loves popping a Motrin now and then, is this dangerous?
30. A Hole in Cartilage causes Bone to React and Stretch the Cartilage Resulting in Arthritis – We all know arthritis is caused by lost cartilage, but is it really caused by how the bone reacts to the lost cartilage?
31. Low Back Pain Infection? More Evidence that Common Back Pain in Some Patients May be Caused by Bacteria – Is your back pain caused by a persistent infection of the spine?
32. Stem Cells Help Prevent Arthritis or How to Turn the Bad Pac Man Cells into Good Guys – New study shows that stem cells may work by blocking bad macrophage pac man cells from eating up your good cartilage.
33. Official Photos from the Vatican Stem Cell Conference – I was honored to speak at the Vatican for the second time…photos from Rome.
34. New Study: Only Half of those with Arthritis Reported Significant Improvement after a Hip or Knee Placement Surgery – How well do hip and knee replacement surgeries really work? According to this study, not so well.
35. Should You Get a Steroid Epidural Injection? Are steroid epidurals causing fractures in middle aged and elderly women?
36. Plastics Linked to Arthritis: Common Plastics and Waterproofing Agents linked to Arthritis in Women – Plastics are everywhere, are some of them making your arthritis worse?
37. New Orthopedics 2.0 Book is Out! The 2nd Edition is Bigger and Better! – This year we put out a second edition of our book. Version 3 should be out in just a few short months!
38. More Knee Replacement Problems Surface: Those with the Most Severe Arthritis Have Poorer Outcomes – Most patients who get knee replacements have severe arthritis, but what if these patients were the least likely to respond to the surgery?
39. Hip Resurfacing Problems: Maker Knew of 40% 5 Year Failure Rate for Metal on Metal Implant – Metal on metal hip resurfacing continued to implode in 2013.
40. Celebrex Side Effects: Rewrite of Commercial Noting Accurate Side Effects – What if big Pharma made accurate commercials that disclosed the risks as part of the message? I redo the Celebrex commercial and it isn’t pretty.
….Top 40 Regenexx Blogs of 2013, and out!
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NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.