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Do Opioids Cause Spinal Surgery Complications?

People with back pain, may, in many instances, suffer from terrible pain. It is typically in these patients where opioids are prescribed as a means to manage pain until surgery can be performed. As we will see in the research below, there are many setbacks to pre-surgical opioid usage. Latter in this article we will address alternatives, not only to opioid use but alternatives to the surgery you are being pain managed for. Nearly 20-29% of patients prescribed opioid pain medications misuse them and roughly 12% go on to develop an opioid addiction. An April 2023 study (1) brought light

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What causes muscle loss in aging men?

Marc Darrow, MD, JD. What causes muscle loss in men? If you have obesity and diabetes, you have known risk factors for the development of physical disability. This includes loss of muscle. A major problem we see in our practice in aging men in is sarcopenia, the progressive loss of muscle mass and strength. Researchers have put together a good amount of evidence to link obesity and diabetes as factors that will accelerate  the progression of sarcopenia, and subsequently functional muscle decline in older adults. In other research not only was obesity and diabetes cited as culprits of muscle loss

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Platelet Rich Plasma therapy for chronic low back pain

Marc Darrow, MD., JD A February 2024 study writes (1) : “For those with low back pain, autologous PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma therapy) spinal injections have demonstrated efficacy and safety as a conservative treatment option. Furthermore, compared to steroids, autologous PRP is a better therapeutic option due to its longer-lasting effectiveness, according to the research. Numerous studies have provided evidence regarding the safety and potential short- and long-term effects of platelet-rich products and PRP in the treatment of low back pain.” autologous PRP spinal injections are injections made from components of your blood. derived from you. We collect a small

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Peyronie’s disease

Marc Darrow, MD, JD. Why is your penis bent? Your doctor may have explained to you that your penis is bent because you suffer from Peyronie’s disease. This disease occurs when plaque (you can feel this as a hard lump) or scar tissue develops under the skin of your penis. When you have an erection, the bend is more noticeable. Your doctor may ask you if you recently had an injury that required catherization, or if you suffered from genital trauma through injury. Sometimes strong, vigorous sexual activity can injure the penis. Your doctor may ask you about or check

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Research on bone marrow derived stem cell therapy knee cartilage repair

Marc Darrow, MD, JD. Bone marrow aspirate concentrate stem cell therapy can work in a multi-factorial way, one of the ways stem cells help regenerate tissue is through cellular communicate. Communication is one of the key but less understood functions of stem cell therapy. In this communication aspect, newly introduced stem cells (those introduced in stem cell therapy injections) can mobilize stem cells already in your knee to jump start a new repair cycle for degenerative and acute injury damage. The subject of knee cartilage mesenchymal stem cell repair has been the subject of diverse research over the years. Let’s

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A research overview of non-surgical knee osteoarthritis treatments.

Marc Darrow, MD. JD. There are many ways to treat knee osteoarthritis. Some successful, other not. As each person represents a unique case, it is difficult top determine which treatment would be best for an individual. When I started this work in regenerative medicine more than 25 years ago, the options were mainly surgery or painkiller. But that was then, with the advent of “biomedicine” (blood and stem cell therapies), the choices have changed dramatically. From this point of view, arthroscopic surgery is now seen as the least desirable option, and knee replacement something that should be delayed as long

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