One semester of college tuition or a year of Topical Toenail Treatment?

The makers of Jublia wagered about 4.5 million dollars on a super bowl ad pitching a topical cure for nail fungus. The cure rate is about 17% The only problem with the drug is that a 48 week course costs about $8500, That equates to a semester of college tuition at an in state school for trying to take care of toenail fungus. Treatment requires a more comprehensive plan than simply applying a topical . You have to keep the environment in your shoes dry as well as your feet.by our shoes need a disinfection agent as well. Lysol is not considered acceptable because of the toxicity to the skin.You also ideally need a catalyst to make it possible for a topical to do the job. Laser treatments and oral medications are two strategies to help a topical do the job. Over the counter medications may not be as effective but they are a fraction of the cost of the 17% cure rate that Jublia boasts.

How Regenerative Medicine May Prevent Bigger Injuries

Part of the cycle of injury is getting back too early. Just look at RGIII and his ACL. Beckam tore his achilles before the World Cup in 2010 but it was probably not due to one play. Repetitive injury sets up bigger injuries. on smaller scale I have had a micro tear in my own achilles that I recently injected with amnion cells that contain growth factors to speed up healing. This is especially important for aging athletes. After the injection I worked on strengthening the area around the achilles with balance exercise in you practice and kept up my cardio with a boxing class. i had a full speed game last weekend and my achilles held up fine. i am now going to be more careful about playing two games in a row hard. I don't think the injection was a magic bullet but I do believe it set up the healing cascade.

"Fighting Weight"

Most of us our concerned when we gain weight. Perhaps more important is our percent body fat. As we age we gain more visceral fat around our organs and more intermuscular fat Fat percentage is traditionally measured with calipers on skin folds around your lovers's handles and a few other locations. Testing reliability can be an issue.New impedance technology measures extracellular water. This allows more accurate, repeatable testing. You can even compare the fat percentage in one leg compared to the other. Ideal body fat pecentage for athletic women is 14-20%. Male athletes have a lower target 6-13%. After learning I was pre diabetic I decided to have my heart checked out and fat percentage taken. The heart is what kills many diabetics. My EkG checked out and and a cardiologist only picked up a murmur. My friend Paul at SandandSteelfitness measured my fat percentage at 9.8 which was a relief. So for now I'm going to watch the added sugar, take the salmon choice more often than the steak and keep taking my boxing class to keep my " fighting weight".

Treating my Achilles Tendon With Amnion Cells

Regenerative medicine is fairly new to sports medicine.Amnion tissue contains proteins that have anti-inflammatory proteins and growth factors.The cells have little imumogenic activity which means there is no issue with rejection. I've been battling my own achilles tendonosis injury for some time trying lasers yoga and compression sleeves. Amnion tissue is also considered immune privileged because it does not have factors which could be rejected. I used guidance with ultrasound to localize the area which was injured. So far so good . Played soccer once last week and ran easy once over the weekend. The repetition of game speed will determine how effective the shot was for me in the end. Anyone that tells you any different is selling false hope. You can find out more information about receiving this treatment at Arlington Foot and Ankle.

Denial and Your Health

I recently had my hemoglobin A1C tested and it came up 6.2 which puts me squarely in a pre diabetes category. The NIH considers pre-diabetes between 5.7-6.4%. This means your chances of acquiring type 2 diabetes go up significantly over the next decade unless you do something to lower the chances. I mentioned my level to Gary Hall Jr. who is no stranger to exercise and diabetes. He turned adversity into a gold medal swimming. He proffered maybe a bit more exercise. Those that know me know I am pretty regular with exercise but during the work week but it is sometimes regulated to a bike commute totaling 5 miles so maybe trying to get to the gym for a more focused workout a little more ofter in the workweek for 2015. I decided to lose the carbs in the morning , try to skip or reduce the sugar in my coffee decrease my go to pasta frequency and cut back on the ice-cream and chocolate chip cookies. Best to own your health rather than hide from it.