1.3.6. Degeneration - Replacement

Summary: The text discusses the limitations of modern regenerative medicine, particularly in the context of knee osteoarthritis, highlighting its mechanistic approach that often ignores the body's natural healing processes. It contrasts this with the understanding that the body is not a machine and that the wear and tear theory of osteoarthritis is not the only explanation. The text suggests that the body's natural regenerative capabilities are overlooked in favor of artificial replacements and symptom management.

Okay. So we look at the process of regeneration from a point of view of how it happens. But now if you think about our modern medicine, especially what's so-called regenerative medicine, this natural process is pretty much ignored. Because when you think about regenerative medicine, what they do is at best, they will be trying to inject stem cells but commonly, it will be using replacements, some kind of artificial replacements for the most common in this example is replacement of the knee. So -- but why this -- what is happening? This is because again of this mechanistic understanding of the how body operates and works. So in the case of the knee osteoarthritis, the common, you know, exceptional understanding of knee arthritis that this is a condition as a result of wear and tear. It happens over the time. And there is nothing you can do about it. So the whole body is pretty much a clockwork. And because there is so much friction and there is so much pounding on the knee, so there's only one way to go for the cartilage. This is the protective cover on the surface of the bone there is one way to go, which is to deteriorate. So it makes logical sense to replace it. Well, first, you will be obviously taking a lot of anti-inflammatory drugs, but then later on, the only choice would be replacement.