|
Prolotherapy: Does It Affect Hormone
Levels and Other Laboratory tests?
Ross Hauser,
M.D.
From time to time here at
Caring Medical, patients ask us how the dextrose
Prolotherapy will
affect such things as blood sugar levels,
blood pH, hormone levels, and
inflammation markers. Logical thinking would suggest that since Prolotherapy causes an
inflammatory response in the localized area of
injection that you may see a rise in such levels as C-reactive protein
(CRP) and Sedimentation Rate. Due to the stress response in the body
after having a lot of injections, you would think that hormone levels
may also rise. Because dextrose is absorbed readily by the body tissue,
we felt that blood sugar levels would not likely be directly affected by
dextrose Prolotherapy. To know the answers to these questions for sure,
we did a little in-office research.
We treated a volunteer 25 year old male patient with a history of knee
and back pain, with Prolotherapy to his knee using dextrose Prolotherapy
with HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and
glucosamine, and Prolotherapy to his
back using a strong solution of 15% dextrose Prolotherapy and Sodium
Morrhuate. A total of 110cc of fluid was injected during this treatment,
which provided 17 grams of sugar (or 68 calories). Just to make this
relative, a piece of bread contains about 70 calories. Prior to the
treatment, blood was drawn on the patient to check his initial levels of
IGF-1 (insulin like growth factors), C-reactive Protein, Sedimentation
Rate, blood pH, blood sugar (glucose) levels. (Unfortunately, the lab
lost his initial Sedimentation Rate.)
We then checked his lab parameters 1 hour post Prolotherapy, 1 day post
Prolotherapy, and 2 days post Prolotherapy. The patient was in a
non-fasting state at the time of each blood draw. Here is a summary of
his results:
Laboratory Tests
of a 25 year-old male pre and post Prolotherapy treatment.
|
|
Normal
values |
Pre
prolo |
1 hr
post prolo |
1 day
post prolo |
2 days
post prolo |
|
IGF-1 in
ng/ml |
126-382 |
171 |
155 |
207 |
197 |
|
CRP in
mg/dL |
< 0.8 |
0.12 |
0.14 |
0.58 |
0.46 |
|
Sed Rate
mm/h |
<
15 |
n/a* |
n/a* |
3 |
4 |
|
Blood pH |
7.42-7.440 |
7.442 |
7.433 |
7.430 |
7.426 |
|
Glucose,
non-fasting in mg/dL |
80-139 |
112 |
83 |
99 |
121 |
*lab error
Results:
Blood Glucose: The dextrose given
to patients in the Prolotherapy injections does not affect blood sugar
levels, so those with diabetes should not worry about adjusting their
medications on the day of Prolotherapy treatment. In our clinical
experience, the most we have ever seen blood sugar levels rise within
two hours after Prolotherapy treatments is 20 points, which is
insignificant.
Inflammatory response labs: This
patient showed a small rise in C-reactive protein levels over the course
of treatment. We typically only occasionally see small rises in the CRP
or Sedimentation Rates a day or two after Prolotherapy. We had no
pre-sedimentation rate to compare to in this case, but most likely it
was within the normal range.
Growth hormone levels: Typically clients with cartilage degeneration
in their joints will receive 2 IU of
human growth
hormone (HGH) in their Prolotherapy
treatments at our office. HGH stimulates the liver to make IGF-1
(insulin-like growth factors) which is responsible for many of the
biological effects of HGH. From this study, HGH injected into the knee
did not affect IGF-1 levels in the blood. In our clinical experience, we
have never seen HGH injections used in Prolotherapy show up as increased
levels in the blood. This is particularly important for athlete
patients.
pH levels: Of interest, is that this patient showed a decrease in
blood pH over time over each successive day. In our experience, we find
that pain that is really severe often alkalinizes the blood, so in this
case, it is probable that the person was getting pain relief and thus
his subsequent
blood pH levels would likely be back into the normal
range after Prolotherapy.
Summary: The above laboratory tests reveal that Prolotherapy had no
major effect on any of the laboratory tests that we studied.
|
Our
Prolotherapy Books - 
POWER
OVER PAIN