Osteoarthritis is among the top if not actually the most common of musculoskeletal diseases in both humans and animals. Nearly every member of the older generations have complained about the loss of movement in joints, the daily pain, and the effect that these things have on everyday life. The same thing happens in animals.
At Highland Animal Clinic, one of the most common patients we saw was the older dog whose owner had recently noticed seemed stiff in the mornings, who could't jump up on the couch like he/she used to, or who limped after long walks. X-rays were taken, joints felt and stretched, and nearly every time, the diagnosis was osteoarthritis.
At least humans will complain about the pain. Many doctors prescribe analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflamatories, maybe even steroid injections, depending on how loudly a patient complains about the pain and affect of everyday life. But animals don't complain. They silently suffer and will not show symptoms until it is too painful to hide, and at this point, palliative therapies only do so much. Most patients get a hefty dose of Rimadyl, maybe Tramadol, and some laser therapy (low level light therapy) to reduce the inflammation and help with the pain. Until Cash.
Cash is a 9-year-old Chocolate Lab who has osteoarthritis in both elbows, but still tries to play like he did when he was 2. His arthritis caused him daily pain, though he rarely showed it through his smiling face and wagging tail. Being a Vet's dog, however, when the laser therapy and pain meds started to wear off, he got something new: Platelet Rich Plasma. Dr. Preston Stubbs, a local joint specialist, performed a new procedure on Cash. A large blood sample was taken, spun down, and the plasma extracted. This plasma was then injected directly into the joint space in both elbows.
The idea behind platelet therapy is that the platelets help to facilitate the stem cell mediated chondrogenesis in joints. This works through local inflammation and recruitment of stem cells for cartilage repair. Though large-scale studies have not yet been done on this treatment, significant improvement has been reported from its use in the hips and elbows of dogs. Small scale trials in humans have shown similar results.
Platelet therapy certainly worked for Cash, as he is back to running around and chasing tennis balls, pain free. Though still a relatively new concept, platelet therapy looks to be a promising treatment for one of the most common sources of pain in the aging generations. It deserves more testing and possible introduction into the arsenal of treatments used in medicine today.
For more information on platelet therapy as well as stem cell therapy, visit:
http://www.la-press.com/a-review-of-the-pathogenesis-of-osteoarthritis-and-the-use-of-intra-ar-article-a4417
Also interesting: Cornell Vet School's opinion of PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) for treatment of tendon and ligament issues:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/Zweig/projects/fortier05.cfm
This is a very interesting way to treat diseases such as osteoarthritis. Because of its success in animals, I was looking to see how it performs in humans. I came across an article that outlines platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. It discusses how it works and I found it remarkable that doctors theorize that PRP therapy may not only help with chondrogenesis, but PRP also plays a part in slowing down the development of osteoarthritis, it increases the fluidity of the joints to make movement less painful, and it may even alter proteins that deal with pain reception and therefore could reduce pain levels. If PRP could help with all of these factors, I have no doubt that it will become a popular therapy for arthritis and other painful, yet common diseases. I guess the next step would be to do more research and find more plasma for this miraculous therapy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arthritis-health.com/treatment/injections/platelet-rich-plasma-prp-therapy-arthritis