Rehabilitation—Emerging Technologies, Innovative Therapies, and Future Objectives

Stem cells and other innovative intra-articular therapies for osteoarthritis: what does the future hold?

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common type of arthritis in the world, is associated with suffering due to pain, productivity loss, decreased mobility and quality of life. Systemic therapies available for OA are mostly symptom modifying and have potential gastrointestinal, renal, hepatic, and cardiac side effects. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders recently published a study showing evidence of repara...

Innovative devices for advanced heart failure: exploring the current state and future direction of device therapies.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Despite improvements in medical and device therapies for the treatment of heart failure, the incidence and prevalence of heart failure continue to increase. Given the relative stagnation in new pharmacologic therapies, considerable attention has been given in recent years to device therapies to supplement care in patients with advanced heart failure. Recent successful clinical...

BuILDINg AN INNOvATIvE FuTuRE

Stem Cell-Based Drug Therapies: A Discussion on Emerging Technologies and Future Developments

Stem cell research has opened new experimental avenues for researching the mechanisms of debilitating diseases. Moreover, due to their ability to differentiate into highly specific cells with various functions, stem cells can provide a renewable source of replacement cells or tissue to treat disease. Because of their immense promise, pharmaceutical companies are rapidly initiating the developme...

Innovative reproductive technologies: risks and responsibilities.

In view of the global burden of subfertility, efforts are required to make assisted reproduction more effective, less burdensome and more equally accessible. New reproductive technologies are frequently introduced in clinical practice without a sound evaluation of their efficacy, effectiveness and/or safety. Safety issues in this context refer both to patients (mostly women) undergoing the rele...