Did you know there’s a single-treatment option that can help to reduce osteoarthritis pain for one year or longer, and all it requires is a bit of your own fat tissue? The London Cartilage Clinic (0207 9657268) can help – here’s how.
Did you know that as we age, many of the tissues in our bodies lose their ability to self-heal or regenerate?
I know, that's probably not news to anyone, but how about this little tidbit - our fat cells don't lose that ability as we age, and it turns out, that's a good thing.
Not only are fat cells something we all have, but we generally don't mind losing a few, and as it happens, they can do us a lot of good.
If you read the headline for this blog, then you probably already know where I'm going with this. It's a new treatment option for osteoarthritis, and it has some pretty interesting benefits over the traditional options.
I'll tell you all about it, but full disclosure, I got my information from this new case study, produced by the London Cartilage Clinic. If you would rather get all your facts straight from the source, just visit https://londoncartilage.com/fat-tissue-injections-in-the-treatment-of-osteoarthritis-case-study/ to read the full case study for yourself.
If you've read the study, know the facts, and you want to schedule yourself for treatment, you can do that too. Just click the "Book A Service" button on the top right of their website.
The whole treatment is based around MFAT, or "Micro-Fragmented Adipose Tissue," - and it's okay if you don't know what that means.
In short, it uses a tiny amount of your own fat cells, collected at the beginning of the procedure, to build a long-lasting cushion around your sore joints.
It's obviously a bit more technical than that, and there's a stage in-between taking your fat cells out, and putting them back, where they have to be processed first. It only takes about 20 minutes though, and they're really just separating them from your other cells and "micro-fragmenting" them, to make the treatment more effective.
If you're thinking, "This isn't new, I've heard of this before," well, you're right. It's not totally new, but until recently, it hadn't been very thoroughly tested to make sure it actually worked, long-term. Now, that's all changed, with this new case study.
It follows 59 patients through the entire procedure and includes details on the preparation, injection, and results, for up to 52 weeks after the initial treatment.
Spoiler alert: At the end of 52 weeks, or 1 year, the results weren't just good, they were awesome.
✓ Here's what we know.
While there are many treatment options for osteoarthritis complications, they often carry significant risks, require invasive surgery, or produce only short-term benefits. In comparison, this new MFAT technique requires only a minimally invasive procedure, may pose fewer risks than traditional surgery, and has been shown to provide relief from pain and stiffness for up to one year, or maybe even longer.
I say "maybe even longer," because the treatment was more effective than expected. While the effects could last much longer than that, we won't know until there's a new study done, with a longer timeline.
✓ So why does it work so well?
It's hard to say for certain, but researchers suggest that this new technique may surpass the traditional options, simply because it uses your own fat cells. While similar treatments exist using bone marrow or other tissues, these tissues have been shown to lose their regenerative properties with age, while fat tissues do not. It almost makes me glad I didn't lose the extra weight I gained at Christmas.
✓ Let's talk about the specifics though. What did they test for, how often, and what were the results?
The case study follows 59 patients in an attempt to determine the efficacy of MFAT injections, with a focus on changes in stiffness, pain, and overall function. Data was collected from each patient before the treatment, after it was completed, and again at 2, 6, 12, 24, and 52 weeks after the procedure.
The results speak for themselves. Every single patient showed significant improvement - and those improvements lasted for the full duration of the study.
There's only one complication the researchers found, and while it's not a deal-breaker, it is important. Although the treatment was effective for every patient - they found that it was slightly less effective for patients with a high Body Mass Index (BMI).
So, just so you know, while this new treatment is highly effective at reducing pain and stiffness, and restoring function to joints affected by osteoarthritis, it might be slightly less effective for patients that are overweight.
Honestly, if that's the biggest drawback they can find - I bet the lineup is going to stretch around the block.
Don't take my word for it though - I suggest reading the case study for yourself, or just giving the London Cartilage Clinic a call. It's only a short procedure, and the whole process is handled in-house by their own specialists.
The details are available at https://londoncartilage.com/fat-tissue-injections-in-the-treatment-of-osteoarthritis-case-study/
