January 2015

After this past summer’s ALS ice-bucket challenge took the world by storm, many more people than ever are aware of this fatal neurodegenerative disease. According to the ALS Association, the effort resulted in raising over $100 million, an astonishing 3500% increase over the year before, for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, named for the famed NY Yankees first baseman who succumbed to ALS just shy of his 38^th birthday. The challenge raised not just money but visibility to help find treatments and a cure for ALS.

Research shows that professional football players may be at a higher risk of death from diseases that damage the cells in the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and ALS compared to the general U.S. population. A study of 3,439 players with an average age of 57 from the National Football League with at least five playing seasons from 1959-1988, found that professional football players were three times more likely to die as a result of diseases that damage brain cells compared to the general population. A player’s risk of death from Alzheimer’s disease or ALS was almost four times higher than the general population[i]

Deflate-gate notwithstanding, an estimated 100 million plus viewers will tune it to see the 49^th Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 1. However, most may not be aware of the strides being made off the field in terms of stem cell treatments for sports-related injuries.

Reports of high-profile athletes undergoing stem cell procedures have garnered lots of publicity. But the reality is the role of regenerative medicine in the treatment of sports-related injuries is steadily gaining traction. For good reason. 

There are more than 772 adult stem cell clinical trials approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that are currently being conducted and many of them involve investigations of relevance to injuries of bone, cartilage, tendons or skeletal muscle, therefore having implications for sports-related injuries.