Could Stem Cells Be Used To Treat Cartilage Damage?

CBS Pittsburgh (con't)

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) How about re-growing your own cartilage and tissue with your own stem cells?

More and more doctors are offering this to patients with damaged joints.

Bob Teagarden was used to running up to 40 miles a week, but he was in pain.

I had a tightness in the middle of my foot, he said.

He thought he had a stress fracture. But, he actually needed surgery for worn away cartilage in his ankle.

I was mad. I was mad and frustrated because I thought I was going to run a fast half-marathon, he said. At that point, I thought I was pretty much done running. I thought that was the end of my running career.

His doctor proposed taking stem cells from bone marrow in his hip, and putting them into the hole, or defect, in the cartilage. The idea is to grow new tissue there. One of the biggest challenges is keeping those cells in place so that tissue has a chance to grow.

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Could Stem Cells Be Used To Treat Cartilage Damage?