Urlacher Sought Experimental Treatment On Knee Injury

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 22, 2012 2:15PM

Tribune columnist Mike Mulligan has an interesting column today about the most watched knee injury belonging to a Chicago athlete: Brian Urlacher’s ailing knee.

Mulligan writes Urlacher went to Europe in late May or early June to possibly have experimental Regenokine therapy on his knee. Regenokine treatment uses the body’s own blood to help fight osteoarthritis in the joints and lower back pain, among other ailments. Here’s how Jonah Lerner describes the process in an April article for Grantland.

The procedure begins with the removal of a small cup of blood from a patient, which is then incubated at a slightly elevated temperature. (The goal is to give the blood a fever.) The liquid is then spun in a centrifuge until it's separated into its constituent parts. The heavy red blood cells accumulate in the bottom layer, a layer of crimson crud at the bottom of the plastic tube. The relevant fluid is the middle yellowish layer — it looks like viscous urine — which is dense with agents that, at least in theory, can accelerate the natural healing mechanisms of the body. "The inflammatory response is normally part of the recovery process," says Chris Renna, one of the only American doctors administering Regenokine. "But sometimes the body can't turn the inflammation off, and that's when you get chronic pain and arthritic degeneration. The goal of Regenokine is to stop that response so your body can begin getting better."

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is the most vocal proponent of Regenokine and recommended the treatment to New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Mulligan and Lerner both cited Pope John Paul II and agent Ari Emanuel (Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother) as people who traveled to Germany to undergo Regenokine treatment. It isn’t available in the U.S. because the Food and Drug Administration mandates all human tissues can only be “minimally manipulated” or else they’re considered a drug and subject to tighter regulations; the FDA has yet to determine what “minimal manipulation” means with regards to biologics.

Neither Urlacher nor the Bears would speak about whether Urlacher traveled to Germany to meet with Dr. Peter Wehling, regarded as the driving force behind Regenokine. Mulligan wrote that he understood why Urlacher would want to seek the treatment: he’s in the final year of his contract; the Bears haven’t started negotiations on a new deal yet; and his commitment to the game of football is not in question. It also answers questions about why Urlacher waited until last week to have his knee scoped.