Could Stem Cells Have Helped Treat Robbie Coltrane’s Osteoarthritis?

Robbie Coltrane, best known for playing Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, suffered from Osteoarthritis for years before he died in 2022. The disease caused a loss of his mobility. Could stem cells have helped treat Robbie Coltrane’s osteoarthritis?

OA Stole His Quality of Life

Robbie admitted in a 2016 interview that he was in “constant pain.” It also affected his mobility, so he used a walking stick. Eventually, he needed a wheelchair to get around two years before he died.

During an exploratory knee surgery, he was told there was no cartilage in his knees. His knees were bone-on-bone. Robbie also suffered from diabetes and obesity and was in his seventies.

Explaining Osteoarthritis

Arthritis is a commonly used term for inflamed joints. Osteoarthritis, which is caused by joint wear and tear, is the most common form of arthritis. It can affect any weight-bearing joint, including the legs, arms, and spine joints, but can also affect the great toes, thumbs, fingers, and neck.

A healthy knee joint has a firm, rubbery padding called cartilage that absorbs the shock of jumping and running. Cartilage is flexible and changes shape to protect the end of the bones from friction.

With osteoarthritis, the cartilage becomes less flexible and loses its elasticity. The knee feels stiff, causing you to walk stiffly, and the cartilage wears away under the stress. Eventually, the ligaments and tendons stretch and the knee becomes painful. Once the cartilage wears down, the bones that make up your knee rub together.

Robbie Coltrane’s knees had no cartilage and were bone on bone when he died.

Osteoarthritis Causes

Some conditions make you more susceptible to osteoarthritis.

Obesity—The more weight you carry, the more damage you can do to your knees, spine, and hips. The pressure on your knees increases by four pounds for every extra pound. So, if you are fifty pounds overweight, your knees are experiencing two hundred more pounds of pressure! Losing weight will lighten the pressure on your knees and decrease your chances of having osteoarthritis.

Diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

Knee Injuries – Injuring your knees or breaking a leg bone near the knee joint earlier in life puts you at a higher risk for osteoarthritis.

Heredity – You can be born with a defective cartilage gene or no cartilage gene. Both will increase the likelihood of getting osteoarthritis. In this case, the knee joint will deteriorate more rapidly.

Being female, women have a higher incidence of osteoarthritis than men do.

Miscellaneous Diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (the second most common type of arthritis), increased growth hormone, or too much iron in the blood, also put people at greater risk for osteoarthritis.

Symptoms of Osteoarthritis

Everyone’s OA Symptoms are different.

• The loss of flexibility leads to a poorer range of motion (ROM).
• Grating feelings or sensations can include crackling or popping sounds during joint movement.
• Bone spurs are small pieces of bone that break off and lodge in the joint. They feel like lumps under the skin.
• Swelling is caused by inflammation of the soft tissue.
• Stiff joints, especially when not used, such as in the early morning or the evening.
• Tenderness when light pressure is applied to the knee joint.
• Knee pain while moving or at rest.

Current Treatments

Physicians treating Robbie’s osteoarthritis would have based his treatment regime on its severity, age, current activities, the location of his osteoarthritis (in his case, both knees), what he did for a living, his medical history, and his current health.

Over-the-counter medications like Tylenol, Motrin, and Naproxen are frequently prescribed for pain and inflammation. When these medications don’t help, the doctor might order prescription anti-inflammatories or medicated gels, sprays, or creams that can be applied to the joint to reduce pain.

Steroid injections are often given when prior treatments don’t alleviate the pain. Diabetics may not be given steroids as they increase blood sugar. This could have been true in Robbie’s case.
Often, doctors combine OTC meds with physical therapy to improve the range of motion and strengthen the joint. Ice or heat, along with pain medications, may also be used to help alleviate pain.

If the joint is swollen, fluid may need to be removed. To increase mobility, assistive devices such as canes, walkers, and wheelchairs may be used. If none of the above work, your physician may suggest surgery.

Treating Osteoarthritis with Stem Cells

Osteoarthritis stem cell treatments are given as a complementary treatment while you continue to use your current treatment regimen. Stem cells will not cure OA, but they help relieve pain in most cases.

You can get donor stem cells or autologous stem cells from your body. Stem cells can be injected into the osteoarthritic knee or infused through a blood transfusion. Using the stem cells made in your body (autologous) is safer because it eliminates the chance of rejection and decreases the odds of infection from an anonymous donor.

Once the stem cells are in your bloodstream, they travel to affected areas and boost your production. They regenerate bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons while decreasing inflammation. They also rejuvenate the joint and aid in increasing its movement, reducing pain and swelling.

Are you tired of osteoarthritis pain and swelling? Do you want to increase your mobility and improve your quality of life? Our medical experts at ProgenCell are experienced in stem cell therapy. We offer the exact stem cell treatments you can get in the United States at a fraction of the cost. We accept most U.S. insurance.

Fill out the evaluation form, and let us help you ease the symptoms of Osteoarthritis!