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Suggest Treatment For Rheumatic Fever In A Child
Question: I am a female age 86, in good health actually. I had a heart valve replacement in 1014 because of rheumatic fever as a child. I need a knee replacement but decided it try Stem Cell Maxum to see if I might just slip the operation. I srarted taking it April 16 and already my knee has less pain. Do you think I can skip a knee operation? And how long to I have to take Stem Cell Maxum? Rhoda.
Brief Answer:
Stem Cell Maxum is not approved for knee problems- see explanation please
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for asking at healthcaremagic.
I carefully read your question and understand your concern.
There are several herbal and other medications used to help with joint issues and among them is stem cell maxum. Unfortunately the literature does not support them much as they are not found in RCT studies (big serious studies) to be effective and are not FDA approved (Food and Drug Association).
Because these products have not been long in the market and have not been studied long enough still their side effects are not clear and it is hard to find any information in official trustworthy medical sites on their expected side effects.
In your case the best way to go is that because you think you have already had some effect you can go on to use it for a while and see if the effect goes on or not. If your symptoms recur you will need to have the knee surgery done if that was recommended by your doctor. When the doctor thinks the surgery is the solution generally there is no other safe and effective ways for that condition. The knee problems in those cases are generally related to structural problems that need to be physically replaced or repaired (through the surgery) so I think you will very likely need the surgery.
Any complaint with this medication warrants interruption of the treatment and seeing your doctor.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your questions but please feel free to ask if anymore clarification is needed on this.
Kind Regards,
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
Stem Cell Maxum is not approved for knee problems- see explanation please
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for asking at healthcaremagic.
I carefully read your question and understand your concern.
There are several herbal and other medications used to help with joint issues and among them is stem cell maxum. Unfortunately the literature does not support them much as they are not found in RCT studies (big serious studies) to be effective and are not FDA approved (Food and Drug Association).
Because these products have not been long in the market and have not been studied long enough still their side effects are not clear and it is hard to find any information in official trustworthy medical sites on their expected side effects.
In your case the best way to go is that because you think you have already had some effect you can go on to use it for a while and see if the effect goes on or not. If your symptoms recur you will need to have the knee surgery done if that was recommended by your doctor. When the doctor thinks the surgery is the solution generally there is no other safe and effective ways for that condition. The knee problems in those cases are generally related to structural problems that need to be physically replaced or repaired (through the surgery) so I think you will very likely need the surgery.
Any complaint with this medication warrants interruption of the treatment and seeing your doctor.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your questions but please feel free to ask if anymore clarification is needed on this.
Kind Regards,
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Please name the herbal or other medications you refer to in your answer. Is it possible to grow cartilage in the knee? What can I take to do that?
Brief Answer:
A list provided with related explanations
Detailed Answer:
Hello again,
Thank you for the reply.
As I mentioned above, there are herbals and medications used but most of them have not been proven to be more effective than placebo (empty pill) for joint pain or are just a little more effective than placebo.
Some names that you will hear often are:
Medications: Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine that has been tried for joint problems and is found in some small studies to bring some release with pain but not strong evidence to support this effect of them.
S-adenosylmethionine is found effective to reduce pain in joint problems but is very expensive and many times difficult to be prescribed (this is thought to affect the cartilage thickness by improving it).
Herbs: devil's claw, aloe vera, Boswellia, turmeric, ginger etc, but again not sufficient reliable evidence to support their long-term safety and effectiveness. These are thought to work mostly by reducing inflammation in the body and not necessarily but directly affecting the cartilage.
I hope this answers your question but please feel free to reply in case more clarification is needed on this.
Kind regards
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
A list provided with related explanations
Detailed Answer:
Hello again,
Thank you for the reply.
As I mentioned above, there are herbals and medications used but most of them have not been proven to be more effective than placebo (empty pill) for joint pain or are just a little more effective than placebo.
Some names that you will hear often are:
Medications: Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine that has been tried for joint problems and is found in some small studies to bring some release with pain but not strong evidence to support this effect of them.
S-adenosylmethionine is found effective to reduce pain in joint problems but is very expensive and many times difficult to be prescribed (this is thought to affect the cartilage thickness by improving it).
Herbs: devil's claw, aloe vera, Boswellia, turmeric, ginger etc, but again not sufficient reliable evidence to support their long-term safety and effectiveness. These are thought to work mostly by reducing inflammation in the body and not necessarily but directly affecting the cartilage.
I hope this answers your question but please feel free to reply in case more clarification is needed on this.
Kind regards
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Finally, where can i get stem sell injections in my knee or is it possible that it would help. As you can see i am trying desperately not to have knee surgery. I was left with 2 problems after heart surgery - blind in middle of my left eye, still there, and constant vertigo that has diminished but not gone away - both probably mini-strokes. I wish that stem cells could make my knee something I can live with and make it possible not to have surgery. My last try! Is there another way other than surgery?
Brief Answer:
See few other options- stem cells are not recommended
Detailed Answer:
Hello again,
I am sorry for the complications after the heart surgery and i understand your concern and fear of other complications with another surgery.
I was also noticing that you are looking for other ways of helping with the knee and trying to avoid the knee surgery and I clearly understand why.
Osteoarthritis is a disease that causes a lot of disability in 1/3 of people older than 65 years of age. There some conservative treatment that can be tried like weight loss, exercises, physiotherapy, some steroid injections in the knee (these cause temporarily relief), oral naproxen or ibuprofen combined with paracetamol to help with pain.
Glucosamine, ginger, S adenosylmethinine can be tried also and some patients do see improvement in pain with those.
Capsaicin cream locally and acupuncture also are found to be helpful in some patients.
I am sorry I can not give you information on StemCell treatment as it is not prescribed in any official medical literature and i don't feel it is safe to advice on it based on non official sources. It might be safer to try the options I mentioned above as they are at least mentioned to be effective in some patients and see what can be a help to you. You might need to talk them with your doctor and ask what he can prescribe for you.
If the conservative treatment is not helping enough than the surgery is, unfortunately, the only effective treatment that remains.
I really hope this is helpful and brings some clarification but please feel free to reply if any more concerns on this.
Kind regards
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
See few other options- stem cells are not recommended
Detailed Answer:
Hello again,
I am sorry for the complications after the heart surgery and i understand your concern and fear of other complications with another surgery.
I was also noticing that you are looking for other ways of helping with the knee and trying to avoid the knee surgery and I clearly understand why.
Osteoarthritis is a disease that causes a lot of disability in 1/3 of people older than 65 years of age. There some conservative treatment that can be tried like weight loss, exercises, physiotherapy, some steroid injections in the knee (these cause temporarily relief), oral naproxen or ibuprofen combined with paracetamol to help with pain.
Glucosamine, ginger, S adenosylmethinine can be tried also and some patients do see improvement in pain with those.
Capsaicin cream locally and acupuncture also are found to be helpful in some patients.
I am sorry I can not give you information on StemCell treatment as it is not prescribed in any official medical literature and i don't feel it is safe to advice on it based on non official sources. It might be safer to try the options I mentioned above as they are at least mentioned to be effective in some patients and see what can be a help to you. You might need to talk them with your doctor and ask what he can prescribe for you.
If the conservative treatment is not helping enough than the surgery is, unfortunately, the only effective treatment that remains.
I really hope this is helpful and brings some clarification but please feel free to reply if any more concerns on this.
Kind regards
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Kampana
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