Marlise Wabun Wind

Regeneration introduces to the general public several amazing medical treatments already used by almost one million individuals, but virtually unknown to the majority of doctors and patients. These techniques use the patient’s own physical healing powers to create a bridge between surgery and conservative standard of care treatments for musculoskeletal injuries and arthritis. They are relatively non-invasive and comparatively inexpensive. They can heal acute and chronic tendon, ligament, and cartilage injuries -- torn meniscus, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tennis elbow among others -- as well as lessen or alleviate arthritic joint pain. C. Evert Koop, former surgeon general of the United States, and elite athletes have all benefited from these treatments. Regeneration will bring vital information about regenerative injection therapy (RIT) to the tens of millions of people who suffer from arthritis, other disabling illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries, and will offer patients a better alternative to many of the treatments and drugs currently used.

Over 20 million people in the United States have osteoarthritis, and are among the one in four Americans diagnosed yearly with some kind of musculoskeletal condition that requires medical treatment. These conditions are the leading cause of disability in the country, costing, directly or indirectly, $849 billion each year. They are also big business. In 2008 over half a million knee replacements surgeries were performed in the U.S. costing about $15,000 each. That totals 8 billion dollars spent on knee replacements alone.

The common conservative treatments for injuries and illnesses include medication, physical therapy, activity modification, bracing, and steroid and viscosupplement injections. If all these fail, medication to manage pain or surgery is the next steps. Over 500,000 knees and over 250,000 hips are replaced each year. Ninety percent of these are surgically successful, but, in up to one-third of the cases, patients are not completely satisfied with the outcome. These surgeries also leave patients with the specter, in ten to twenty years, of having to endure revision surgery which is often much less effective.

Forty-five percent of people with musculosketal problems have injuries that affect tendons and ligaments. Until the advent of regenerative injection therapy (RIT) these patients had very few alternatives. While surgery can repair some torn tendons or ligaments, it can also set the stage for or exacerbate arthritis.

Brian Shiple, D.O., a sports medicine specialist with outstanding academic and clinical credentials, has treated almost 10,000 people in the last decade using RIT. He has had a 90% success rate with every condition treated except severe arthritis. Even with the latter, he estimates that joint replacement can be avoided or delayed in at least 50% of those treated.

Marlise Wabun Wind, an author with over two million books in print worldwide, is one of the successful 50%. She first saw Dr. Shiple for ankle problems caused by repeated severe sprains. The only alternative offered by traditional medicine at that time was by ankle fusion. Now, seven years after completing her ankle treatments, she has a more stable ankle than she has had since she was 18. Dr. Shiple subsequently treated her moderately arthritic right knee, and has delayed a replacement of her severely-arthritic left knee for over five years. Having studied and written about integrative medicine for over 40 years, she is a wholehearted proponent of RIT. Two of the key Pittsburgh Steelers 2009 Super Bowl champion players -- Will Hines Ward and Troy Palomalu – who would not have been able to play in the Super Bowl without these techniques are also enthusiastic. So are many of Dr. Shiple’s patients who will relate their stories for this book.

RIT encompasses three types of treatments. The least invasive and least expensive is prolotherapy. It has been used since the 1930s. It consists of a series of injections of lidocaine or Novocain and dextrose or another irritant solution. These injections cause inflammation and a release of growth factors which trigger the body’s immune system to begin the healing cascade that can bring the patient’s body back to a condition it enjoyed in the past. The resultant pain and inflammation are not treated by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) which hamper the body’s natural healing mechanisms. The patient can see and feel a positive difference, sometimes as soon as a day or two after the injections. At most prolotherapy only requires a few days of down time, and a week away from sports training.

The second treatment is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP). This form of RIT is the one most widely used now by top athletes, and the one recently covered in the New York Times, USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications. In PRP, platelets from the patient’s own blood are separated and concentrated and then injected into the target area using ultrasound guidance to insure accurate delivery of the PRP. Platelets contain many growth factors which promote cartilage and soft tissue repair, and positively affect inflammation, bone grafting, wound healing and blood loss. PRP also contains antibacterial and antifungal properties as well as stem cells which stimulate growth of tendon and cartilage. This treatment can require three to seven days of down time, and up to six weeks away from rigorous training, although Hines Ward and Palomalu reported being back on the football field in two weeks.

The third treatment, adult Autologous Stem Cell Injections (ASCI) therapy, utilizes the patient’s bone marrow -- a rich source of stem cells -- which is harvested, centrifuged and injected into the injured areas. This method, still in its infancy, promises to be particularly advantageous in treating advanced arthritis and severely degenerated tendons and ligaments as well as chronic fractures.

RIT not only bridges a critical gap in conventional treatment; it also offers relief to people suffering from conditions that previously had little chance for a cure. Taught and practiced with ethical integrity, RIT can prove to be a major tool in the arsenal of treatments for musculoskeletal injuries, for headaches caused by muscle tension, spinal or jaw misalignments and for arthritis. Why this amazing treatment is not already more widespread and why insurance doesn’t yet pay for it -- making it “potentially” not actually less expensive both for the patient and for the health system -- is a fascinating story, one with all the elements of a medical mystery novel. The authors feel a great urgency to get this book into the hands of the millions of people who, every day, suffer from new injuries, old injuries, chronic pain and degenerative diseases that can be either alleviated or ameliorated.