Hip Replacement Alternative
By Amy Price PhD
My husband underwent adult stem cell therapy in hopes of staving off hip replacement. The technique in the USA was in the early stages and his hip degeneration was acute. In the end he underwent bilateral hip resurfacing in the UK. The procedure was successful and gave him his life back. The UK surgeons were most interested in stem cell therapy and they were working on getting stem cells federally funded particularly for revision surgery which happens when the artificial hip wears out after about fifteen years.
It was exciting to learn about six hip patients who underwent a very creative stem cell procedure in Spire Hospital, Southhampton UK. This procedure could prevent thousands of people from needing to have an artificial hip fitted.
Here is a short breakdown on how they are doing this. Surgeons are using the patient’s own stem cells to rejuvenate the affected bone and donor bone to speed the process. The stem cells are extracted from the patient’s pelvis, purified and cultured in an organic mixture that promotes growth. When the cells had multiplied they were mixed with cleaned, ground-up hip bone from other patients who had hips replaced.Surgeon then excised dead tissue from the ball of the hip and filled the cavity with the mixture of stem cells and donated bone.
Professor Richard Oreffo of Southampton University explains that stem cells send out chemical signals to attract blood vessels. “Bone is a living vibrant tissue. These stem cells generate new tissue and drive new blood vessel formation to bring in nutrients,” he said.
Dr Dunlop is hopeful that this therapy will fix the hip for life. Early reports look promising with good results in 5 out of 6 study participants. The television footage on this was stunning. One patient who had his procedure a year ago looked like he had never experienced a hip problem.
Scientists and doctors are working together to expand this study and to explore the viability of using artificial bone. This would eliminate the problem of donor generated deficits being passed on although I suspect those already in need of new body parts are happy to take their chances.
This news is hot on the heels of research by scientists in New Jersey USA who have successfully isolated nerve growth factors in mesynchemal stem cells and grown them out as published in the latest issue of the Journal of Neurochemisty. Cell biology and Genetic engineering advances may soon provide real answers for those with untreatable neurodegenerative conditions and even those who have sustained brain injury.
Scientist and doctor teams are now considering how this therapy could be applied to other degenerative conditions.
Thanks for the info. I would like to look into this and give it a try. My surgeon I just met with wants to do the total hip replacement, I guess my xray looks like bone on bone. Can the cell therapy help that? Thanks, Randy
Hi Randy,
I am not sure how far the cell therapy has advanced in the USA for hips that are bone on bone but I will forward your comment on. In the UK they were bone on bone which is why the bone mix was used however the procedure they use is more invasive than the American model where I believe they layer the treatments. It is all in experimental stages but definitely something to consider before replacement. Having said this my husband is doing excellent with the resurfaced hips…they have given him his life back
Where in New Jersey or in the USA is this type of treatment being offered?
Thanks
It is now Nov 2011.
My orthopedic surgeon says I need both hips replaced. Of course I am trying to avoid the surgery, but my pain has worsened to the point where it is difficult to walk. I tried the adult stem cell treatments at the Centeno Schultz Clinic in Denver, Colorado. They did not work. However, they did not mix donor bone in the process. I would like to look into this treatment in the UK. Please advise.
Thank you!
It is tragic the Colorado stem cells did not work for you. Have you tried communicating with them directly to see if they have refined their techniques so they could help you now?
I have communicated with several cell scientists on your behalf and reviewed for progress on the donor bone stem cell mix. It would be a waste of resources for you to try this as the long term follow up results are not there. What they are finding is the regulatory genomic signals of the cells grown in culture may not match those at the site.
Another scientist relayed “My understanding also is that total hip replacement does quite well as a result of recent advances in engineering. My understanding is further that this cell, scaffold mix is not a recognized clinical entity, not approved by the FDA and as it holds human cells presents the patient with an increased chance of being infected with Aids, Herpes,Hepatitis, Mersa, etc, and ,may induce autoimmune disease, Since allogenic stem cells which do not carry the same risks are also implanted, the risks increase dramatically, as these may result in hyperplasia, which may have destroyed the hip in the first place, oncogenic transformation, infection in the trojan horse of the stem cell. No study shows convincing evidence that this mix provides any benefit and I would advise the patient to simply have her hip replacement sans any living tissue.
A third states perhaps with human stem cell treatment there could be a placebo effect if the patient engages in overseas health tourism, but we are seeing better results in animals and these are not translating to long term results in people. Further to this if something bad happens overseas imternational law is expensive and difficult to enforce and this person may be rejected/refused by their own health care insurance upon return. Perhaps this could be explained like putting an unauthourised part on a computer or car and voiding the warranty. I advise if they want treatment to only go to an NIH recognised center where they will be cared for, followed up and those holding the trials will absorb the costs of treatment and follow up. It would be best to get in a phase 2 or 3 trial as phase 1 triaal are for safety only. Try http://clinicaltrials.gov and put stem cells and hip replacement as search terms. These also find Non-USA trials .
All are hoping to get past the barriers to efficacy with stem cells and other forms of regenerative medicine but the consensus is that the cells are not ready for human use yet as far as effectiveness is concerned particularly for large areas such as a hip joint. I spoke with policy makers and evidence based medicine leaders. They shared the studies out of Colorado are neither robust or objective in their opinions and were particularly concerned about a safety study put out by that group.
Lastly my husband and 6 people I know in the immediate area all had stem cell treatment but it did not work for them. They were excited and motivated by seeing the testimonials on UTUBE and stem cell company websites. It would be great if these companies would do objective unbiased studies against regular standard of care even if they feel they can not afford to do FDA trials. My husband ended up with an infection which they think this may have led to problems with his blood and immune system. He was on antibiotics for a long time and these also carry their own risks. It is only this year that that these values have returned to normal levels. He ended up having both hips resurfaced and he is doing great.The resurfsaced hips gave him his life back as he became unable to walk without assistance, was in constant pain and his muscles atrophied because he couldn’t be active. This had a negative effect on his quality of life and resilience plus it was taking very large amounts of drugs to control the pain. He was very afraid to have this done and really wanted the cells to work, we all did. If I had to do this over again I would have insisted he get the hips resurfaced right away. The only downside is there are scars and he sets off airport metal detectors. His recovery according to him was less painful than what he faced everday with the hips.
I hope this gives you some information to consider and I wish you the very best with your treatment and recovery, It is a tough place to be in, please let us know what ends up working for you.
“The only downside is that there are some scars, and he sets off metal detectors..”. Think. The only downside was a risk of a fatal response in the second surgery which was unnecessary but for the stem cell hype. To date, stem cells have provided no therapeutic advance in joints. brian, kidneys of any other organ apart from the hematopoietic system. It wasnt like they were discovered yesterday, adult human stem cells were discovered 45 years ago and have not accomplished any validated therapeutic advance. They pose risks of infecion and neoplasia, autoimmune disease and death. Sounds good and sells well but stem cell sellers know as well as I do that these cells have been, are and forever shall be useless. The stem cell industry is a criminal racket, and shall be prosecuteed as such under the clear terms of the RICO act of the Unites States of America.
I am glad your husband survived. Others have not been as fortunate.
Dr. English,
Thank you for your post I see according to Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&sugexp=ppwl&cp=20&gs_id=28&xhr=t&q=Denis+English,+cells&tok=giiyCBLrmG3eCc0ebC3WEw&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1536&bih=781&wrapid=tljp1321208377162038&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws that you have some considerable long term expertise in this field .
You are correct, it is strange but he had a horrific experience and I must have blocked this out because it was so painful to remember. Actually my husband was in intensive care. He needed oxygen and multiple blood transfusions and I will never forget the horrible screams of agony because even high dosage injectable pain meds did not work due to drug tolerance as there was so much time between when he should have had the surgery and choosing to wait it out to see if the stem cells would work instead. . I urge people everywhere that if you need the surgery just do it!
The medical personel did say it may be connected but were not specific. It was tragic because his diabetes worsened considerably and in the months preceding surgery he was not able to exercise or even walk more than a few feet . I hope it has not shortened his life. Would you have any links to research papers or clinical experience you could share that could shed light on this?
I would really like to see regenerative science grow. . I have seen reports where people have died even in the USA but I guess I wondered if it was the cells or because they were already very sick and vulnerable. In fact some report there is an anti inflammatory effect from stem cells so that can be healing and that they are very safe as long as they are not cultured for too long before they are reinjected. I hope it is not like the study on anti oxidants where they did a Cochrane review and meta analysis of all studies and it was found with a combined number of particpants 230,000 that antioxidant pills do not reduce your chance of dying but rather increase it significantly. In an 18,000 person lung cancer trial where antioxidants were given the trial was halted as the participants were 46% more likely to die from lung cancer! (cited in Bad Science by Ben Goldacre,2006) We would all benefit from some expert opinion.