[건강정보] Knee cartilage stem cell regeneration, even for elderly patients

Dongbeom Heo, Director of Yoncestar Hospital

Director Huh Dong-beom of Yoncestar Hospital advised joint health management, saying, “The symptoms of knee cartilage damage are more pronounced in the season when joint pain is caused by the difference in air pressure inside and outside the body as the daily temperature difference increases repeatedly.” .

Degenerative arthritis, which appears as the cartilage tissue that protects the joint is damaged, is caused by trauma damage, structural abnormalities in the knee joint, leg (valgus), obesity, and aging.

The number of patients with degenerative arthritis (arthritis) has increased steadily every year to 4 million in 2019. According to statistics from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, women were more than twice as many as men, and women in their 50s or older with degenerative arthritis accounted for 2.5 million or 62% of the total.

“The causes of degenerative arthritis are various. In particular, obesity due to lack of exercise increases the burden on the knee due to weight gain,” said “The obesity rate in 2016,” said Dong-beom Heo, director of Yoncesta Hospital (Outpatient Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Kyunghee Medical Center). It increased from 27.7% to 28.8% in 2018, and the obesity rate is expected to increase further due to Corona 19. “The weaker the muscle strength around the knee, the faster the degenerative arthritis comes, which is why there are more female patients than males.” He explained.

These symptoms include knee pain before and after walking, pain when going up and down stairs, stiff joints when waking up in the morning, and the sound of’pumping’ as symptoms of degenerative arthritis. Each treatment method is divided.

Initially, conservative treatment is performed. Change your lifestyle through weight loss, diet, etc., and rehabilitation treatment to strengthen muscle strength. Prolo injection therapy, which helps regeneration of the damaged area, is also a representative conservative treatment method.

In the mid-term, stem cell regeneration treatment, which can expect a permanent effect by regenerating the cartilage itself, is effective. It is divided into autologous stem cell treatment using stem cells collected from the patient’s own bone marrow and cord blood stem cell treatment, which uses cord blood stem cells to regenerate cartilage.

There is an artificial joint replacement at the end. The artificial joint surgery method has also developed into a customized human bone joint using a 3D printer. It has advantages such as excellent accuracy and fast recovery.

In this regard, hospital director Huh Dong-beom said, “It is rare for patients to visit the hospital in the early stages due to degenerative arthritis, and because most of them visit the hospital in the mid- or late-stage period because they are patient, and if the cartilage remains in the terminal stage, stem cell regeneration can be performed.” In particular, “Umbilical cord blood stem cell therapy can be applied to elderly patients regardless of their ability to produce cartilage or age, and has the advantage of having a good prognosis.” “Usually, appropriate exercise suitable for the age such as walking and jogging to strengthen the muscles around the knees such as thighs. You have to do it so that arthritis can come late and you can have a healthy old age,” he advised.
Seongnam = Reporter Lee In-guk kuk15@

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