The rate in which athletes recover today is remarkable. Players are in surgery one week and competing the next. The future of sports medicine won't just focus on short term procedures that fix an injury, the new sports medicine will focus on preservation. In a few short years stem cells will be injected in the joints, cartilage, and tendons in athletes as a way to maintain their health and prolong their careers. Over time their joints weaken and their cartilage and tendons wear down, but an injection of stem cells will fix that problem and prevent it from happening. In injuries such as a torn ACL or a torn rotator cuff stem cells would help regenerate tissue and fix the damaged tissue whereas if no stem cell shot is given it would be unlikely that the damaged tissue would repair itself. Some athletes have even already had their own stem cells frozen in case the day comes when they will be able to use this technology to help themselves heal faster. With this advance in medicine there is also a down fall. Athletes could use stem cells in the same way that steroids are used. The injected cells would help the body regenerate its cells faster which is what steroids do, this allows the athlete to train harder and gain muscle mass. With the stem cells it would also be almost undetectable because they would be using their own cells it would be as if there was nothing unnatural about it.
Hm.. I have a spinal cord injury and it is always complicated where the line for stem cells use should be drawn. It could unveil numerous cures for health yet could also unleash unimaginable abuse and temptation. When is it right to interrupt nature, to be good at a sport? I think that the preservation should come from the athlete from the beginning.
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