The doctor for international tennis star Rafael Nadal has told The Associated Press that he plans to inject stem cells in the players ailing back next week in Barcelona. Nadal is the 14-time Grand Slam winner who won a record ninth French Open this season.
Tennis Star Treated With Stem Cells
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Nadal’s doctor, Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, said that the player’s back pain is “typical of tennis players.” The doctor said that the stem cell treatment is designed to repair cartilage and is similar to the stem cell treatment Nadal received on his knee last year. Ruiz-Cotorro reported that the cells to be used are Nadal’s own, extracted earlier this year, and cultivated “to “produce the necessary quantity” of cells.
“When we have them we will put them in the point of pain, ” the doctor said, with the goal of “regenerating cartilage, in the midterm, and producing an anti-inflammatory effect.”
According to the press release, several NFL players and baseball players have received stem cell treatment. Nadal’s fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, center of the Chicago Bulls, received stem cell treatment on his knee in 2013. Nadal’s record of winning 14 Grand Slam titles ties him with Pete Sampras on the all-time list led by Roger Federer who had 17 victories.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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