Stem cells just splashed onto the stage at the World Cup in Brazil as injured Argentine soccer star Angel Di Maria got a sketchy stem cell treatment.
He will not be able to play in the World Cup semifinal game this week, but apparently he is taking every possible measure to hope to be able to play should his team make the final. I can of course understand that and Di Maria is a fantastic player.
Unfortunately, however, reportedly these efforts include a mysterious stem cell treatment.
There isn’t a whole lot known about this stem cell intervention for Di Maria, but most likely it is an autologous (self) transplant of adipose stem cells or platelet rich plasma (PRP).
Apparently Spanish player Diego Costa got the same treatment ahead of the Champions League Final.
This is the description:
“The medical procedure is used to regenerate damaged cells using the patient’s own healthy cells, with the primary object being to reduce inflammation and repair the torn muscle tissue.”
Another article mentioning Di Maria’s treatment says in its title that he’s waiting for a miracle.
I’m not convinced that such stem cell interventions have much chance to make a positive difference and use of the world “miracle” always raises red flags. There are risks to these procedures too.
A broad downside is that when superstars get such dubious stem cell therapies, they encourage many others including potentially childhood athletes facing injuries to consider doing likewise.
Well it looks like it didn’t work as he is reportedly out for the rest of the tournament (final tomorrow)
Have you seen this paper from Argentina that is not directly linked with Di Maria´s lession,… but in the path?:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0100369
Di Maria is world cup star..He is very good football player.thanks for share
Paul, There could be a connection to Cytori Therapeutics to this story. Read this: http://ir.cytori.com/files/doc_news/2014%20Press%20Releases/06182014_Cugat%20Study%20Complete.pdf
I’m curious what their team medical staff says. Each player is tremendous financial investment for the club owners. They should justify the risk if any treatment if the risk indeed exists.