Possible good news on the ACL front

[Zorro]

If this has already been posted, apologies. I picked it up off the Rebkell board. Looks very interesting.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyl...6nklXNhAXoEptwVay2vN/story.html?event=event25

 

[meyers7]

I saw that earlier today. Glad someone posted it.

 

[Icebear]

Yes, I saw this, too, meant to post it. A fascinating piece of work, medicine and engineering.

 

[VAMike23]

That's amazing stuff - hopefully a viable therapy before too long

 

[Shenandoah]

That would be a tremendous breakthrough! Let's see, do Caroline Doty and Shea Ralph have any eligibility left?
just kidding...

 

[UcMiami]

While I think this is great and a huge advance medically with implications for all joints, let me just point to some caveats -
1. This is dealing with repair and not prevention - we are still fans of WCBB and women are still around five times more likely to suffer an ACL tear than men in comparable sporting endeavors.
2. The recovery time and the immediate results of the procedure are not anticipated to change significantly from the current procedure - an ACL tear will still require 6-12 months of recovery time and the success rate is not anticipated to be significantly higher.

The anticipated improvement is long term - 10-15 years out when complications from the current procedure typically involve arthritic or other degenerative conditions in advance of people who have not had a damaged knee. The benefit so far identified is that with the new procedure those complication may not appear with the same frequency. This is great for athletes in retirement but not likely to change their career paths during their active pursuit of their sport on a professional level

 

[DobbsRover2]

So the day is saved by helpful sponges? I knew we could count on him. And this indeed will be a huge game changer for a number of sports. Still in the beginning stages with the treatment, so nothing can be said definitely about how quickly and effectively the healing will be, but it definitely sounds like the ceiling is high here.