Mesotherapy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Mesotherapy (from Greek mesos, "middle", and therapy from Greek therapeia, "to treat medically") is a non-surgical cosmetic medicine specialty. Mesotherapy treatments employ the technique of multiple micro injections of pharmaceutical and homeopathic medications, standardized natural plant extracts and vitamins into the mesoderm. Mesotherapy injections target adipose fat cells, rejuvenate collagen, and stimulate new hyaluronic acid support of the mesoderm extracellular matrix (ECM).

Worldwide, Mesotherapy is a branch of medicine called homotoxicology which induces the body to stimulate its own healing processes in order to treat medical problems and ailments. It can be used for general medical conditions and pain management.

1 Usage
2 History
3 Criticism
4 External links

[edit] Usage

Mesotherapy is popular in the United States and one of the most requested non-surgical cosmetic procedures for cellulite treatment, liposculpting and body contouring, facial rejuvenation treatments and weight loss. Physicians specializing in non-surgical cosmetic medicine or operating medical spas are the most common practitoners. There are numerous cocktails of medications and homeopathic preparations manufactured by FDA-licensed compounding pharmacies that are used in Mesotherapy including:

Phosphatidylcholine, Phosphatidylcholine combined with deoxycholic acid, T3-T4 thyroid, Isoproterenol,Aminophylline,Pentoxyfillin, Aminophylline,L-Carnitine,L-Arginine, Hyaluronidase, Collagenase,Yohimbe, Lymphomyosot, Co-enzyme cofactors, DMAE, Di-Methyl Amino Ethynol, Glutathione, Tretinoin, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Vitamin C, Procaine, Lidocaine,Ginkgo biloba, Mellilotus, c-adenosine monophosphate, multiple vitamins, and trace mineral elements.

Other medications and herbal preparations may include Piruvator Sodico,TIMOMODULINA, Sodium Bicarbonate, 17 Beta EstradiolTiratricol,Procaine,Mesocaine Artichoke ,Trissilinol, Caffeine,Buflomedil,Ioimbina,Rutina + Mellilotus, Alcachofra-Artichoke,Pentoxifiline,Benzopirone, G.A.G,Piruvator Sodico, and TIMOMODULINA.

There are published studies in the American Journal of Mesotherapy (United States) and Mesoterapie (France) on the clinical treatments and effects of these medications. Numerous cocktails of combined chemical compounds on the body have been published in Europe and South America for several years. There is no conclusive research proof that these chemical compounds work to target adipose (fat cells) specifically. Leading mesotherapists throughout the world have documented effective and significant clinical outcomes in their respective clients clinical treatments and medical records.

[edit] History

Dr. Michel Pistor (1924-2003) performed clinical research and founded the field of mesotherapy. Multi-national research in intradermal therapy culminated with Pistor's work from 1948 to 1952 in human mesotherapy treatments. The French press coined the term Mesotherapy in 1958. The French Academy of Medicine recognized Mesotherapy as a Specialty of Medicine in 1987. Popular throughout European countries and South America, mesotherapy is practiced by approximately 18,000 physicians worldwide. Popularized in the United States during the late 1990s, Mesotherapy is now the fastest growing aesthetic medicine specialty.

[edit] Criticism

Mesotherapy treatments have been safely performed throughout Europe, South America, and more recently the United States for over fifty years. Unlike liposuction and other cosmetic surgery procedures, there has never been a patient death associated with mesotherapy. The American Journal of Mesotherapy has emerged in the past year with evidence-based research supporting the clinical efficacy and effectiveness of mesotherapy treatments. The American Board of Mesotherapy provides specialty board certification in Mesotherapy. Standards of training, clinical experience and skill are required for completion of this certification.

Quality physician training programs have emerged throughout the United States. Some of the better known training programs have included, in alphabetical order, Doctors Bissoon, Chubaty, Jennings, Kalil, Le Coz, Magaziner and Greenberg, Pitera, and Rittes.

Despite the foregoing emergence of a new cosmetic medicine specialty, there are skeptics who state their concerns:

Physicians in North America are concerned about the efficacy and safety of mesotherapy, arguing that a lack of scientific study makes mesotherapy a fad with potentially dangerous side effects. "There is simply no data, no science and no information, to my knowledge, that mesotherapy works," according to Rod Rohrich, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a position statement not endorsing mesotherapy because to date, there has been no established mechanism of action, demonstrated efficacy, or established safety profile with any of the drugs used in mesotherapy. The FDA cannot control the use of practitioners injecting various mixtures into patient's bodies because this practice falls under the jurisdiction of state medical boards. Dr. Robin Ashinoff, speaking for the American Academy of Dermatology, says "A simple injection is giving people false hope. Everybody's looking for a quick fix. But there is no quick fix for fat or fat deposits or for cellulite." The American Society for Dermatologic Surgeryinformed its members in February 2005 that "further study is warranted before this technique can be endorsed." It is currently banned in a number of South American countries.