Mesotherapy
Encyclopedia
Mesotherapy is a non-surgical cosmetic medicine treatment. Mesotherapy employs multiple injections of pharmaceutical and homeopathic medications, plant extracts, vitamins, and other ingredients into the subcutaneous fat. Mesotherapy injections allegedly target adipose fat cells, apparently by inducing lipolysis
, rupture and cell death among adipocyte
s.
Substances used include:
The other side of the debate is expressed by Rod Rohrich
, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas: "There is simply no data, no science and no information, to my knowledge, that mesotherapy works." The American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a position statement not endorsing mesotherapy, but this non-endorsement is the subject of some controversy. Since mesotherapy isn't a surgical treatment but, rather, a non-invasive alternative to plastic surgery, the treatment competes with plastic surgery for the same patients.
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. This is the case because the mesotherapy is considered a "procedure" by state medical boards. The FDA, on the other hand, is mandated to approve foods, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biological medical products, blood products, medical devices, radiation-emitting devices, veterinary products and cosmetics.
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 Surgery informed its members in February 2005 that "further study is warranted before this technique can be endorsed."
Many dermatologists and plastic surgeons are alarmed about the growing profile of mesotherapy. "No one says exactly what they put into the (syringe)," says Naomi Lawrence, a derma-surgeon at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. "One drug they often use, phosphatidylcholine, is unpredictable and causes extreme inflammation and swelling where injected. It is not a benign drug." USAToday 8/4/2004.
It is currently banned in a number of South American countries. Even Brazil, which is less strict than the USA in drug approvals, has banned the drug for these purposes. USAToday 8/4/2004.
In Australia, an alternative therapy salon is being investigated by the Health Department after several clients developed skin abscesses on the calves, buttocks, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, face and neck from the treatment, with one patient also developing a mycobacterial infection.
Recently the French National Agency of Health (HAS) has banned Mesotherapy as a method for removing fat deposts and declared the method as "dangerous for human health". HAS is a non-government organisation, so an approval from the French government on the ban was needed to become official. The French health ministry made an official ratification of the ban on the 13. 06. 2011 with an Ordinance №2011-382. Esthetic surgeon from France and Austria have long expressed concerns about the treatment and labelled it "a potencially dangerous procedures with no proven beneficial effect". The ban only affects the use of non-invasive lipolitic treatments with physical methods (lasers infrared light and other methods). The ban is only valid in France so far however surgeons in the USA have long been conducting studies and warning society about the dangers of Mesotherapy.
Lipolysis
Lipolysis is the breakdown of lipids and involves the hydrolysis of triglycerides into free fatty acids followed by further degradation into acetyl units by beta oxidation. The process produces Ketones, which are found in large quantities in ketosis, a metabolic state that occurs when the liver...
, rupture and cell death among adipocyte
Adipocyte
However, in some reports and textbooks, the number of fat cell increased in childhood and adolescence. The total number is constant in both obese and lean adult...
s.
Usage
There are published studies on the clinical treatments and effects of these medications and numerous cocktails of combined chemical compounds on the body have been reported 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. Cell lysis, resulting from the detergent action of deoxycholic, may account for any clinical effect.Substances used include:
- T3-T4 thyroid,
- IsoproterenolIsoproterenolIsoprenaline or isoproterenol is a medication used for the treatment of bradycardia , heart block, and rarely for asthma...
- AminophyllineAminophyllineAminophylline is a bronchodilator. It is a compound of the bronchodilator theophylline with ethylenediamine in 2:1 ratio. The ethylenediamine improves solubility, and the aminophylline is usually found as a dihydrate-Properties:...
- Pentoxifylline
- L-carnitine
- L-arginine
- HyaluronidaseHyaluronidaseThe hyaluronidases are a family of enzymes that degrade hyaluronic acid.In humans, there are six associated genes, including HYAL1, HYAL2, HYAL3, and PH-20/SPAM1.-Use as a drug:...
- Collagenase
- YohimbineYohimbineYohimbine is an alkaloid with stimulant and aphrodisiac effects found naturally in Pausinystalia yohimbe . It is also found naturally in Rauwolfia serpentina , Alchornea floribunda , along with several other active alkaloids...
- Lymphomyosot
- Co-enzyme cofactors
- DimethylethanolamineDimethylethanolamineDimethylaminoethanol, also known as DMAE or dimethylethanolamine, is an organic compound. This compound also goes by the names of N,N-dimethyl-2-aminoethanol, beta-dimethylaminoethyl alcohol, beta-hydroxyethyldimethylamine and Deanol. It is a clear, pale-yellow liquid.- Industrial uses...
- GerovitalGerovitalGerovital H3 is a controversial preparation developed during the 1950s and promoted by its advocates as an effective anti-aging treatment. During Gerovital's "jet-set" heyday, Gerovital treatments were reportedly administered to John F...
- GlutathioneGlutathioneGlutathione is a tripeptide that contains an unusual peptide linkage between the amine group of cysteine and the carboxyl group of the glutamate side-chain...
- TretinoinTretinoinTretinoin is the acid form of vitamin A and is also known as all-trans retinoic acid or ATRA. It is a drug commonly used to treat acne vulgaris and keratosis pilaris. It is available as a cream or gel...
- Alpha lipoic acid
- Vitamin CVitamin CVitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...
- ProcaineProcaineProcaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is used primarily to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin, and it was also used in dentistry. Owing to the ubiquity of the trade name Novocain, in some regions procaine is referred to generically as novocaine...
- LidocaineLidocaineLidocaine , Xylocaine, or lignocaine is a common local anesthetic and antiarrhythmic drug. Lidocaine is used topically to relieve itching, burning and pain from skin inflammations, injected as a dental anesthetic or as a local anesthetic for minor surgery.- History :Lidocaine, the first amino...
- Ginkgo biloba
- Melilotus
- C-adenosine monophosphateAdenosine monophosphateAdenosine monophosphate , also known as 5'-adenylic acid, is a nucleotide that is used as a monomer in RNA. It is an ester of phosphoric acid and the nucleoside adenosine. AMP consists of a phosphate group, the sugar ribose, and the nucleobase adenine...
- Multiple vitamins
- Phosphatidylcholine
- Trace mineral elements
- Carbon dioxideCarboxytherapyCarboxytherapy is a non-surgical cosmetic medicine treatment. Carboxytherapy employs injections to infuse gaseous carbon dioxide below the skin into the subcutaneous tissue through a needle. It claims to kill fat cells, stimulate blood flow, improve the skin's elasticity and reduce the appearance...
- Mesoglycan
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.Criticism
Mesotherapy treatments have been performed throughout Europe, South America, and more recently the United States for over fifty years. However physicians have expressed concern over the efficacy of mesotherapy, arguing that the treatment hasn't been studied enough to make a determination. The primary issue is that mesotherapy for the treatment of cosmetic conditions hasn't been the subject of gold standard clinical trials; however the procedure has been studied for the pain relief of other ailments, such as tendonitis, tendon calcification, dental procedures, cancer, cervicobrachialgia, arthritis, lymphedema, and venous stasis. Further, there have been case series and numerous medical papers on the mesotherapy as a cosmetic treatment, as well as studies that employ the ingredients used in mesotherapy.The other side of the debate is expressed by Rod Rohrich
Rod Rohrich
Dr. Rod J. Rohrich is a Dallas, Texas plastic surgeon and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas , holder of the Crystal Charity Ball Distinguished Chair in Plastic Surgery, holder of the Betty and Warren Woodward...
, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas: "There is simply no data, no science and no information, to my knowledge, that mesotherapy works." The American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a position statement not endorsing mesotherapy, but this non-endorsement is the subject of some controversy. Since mesotherapy isn't a surgical treatment but, rather, a non-invasive alternative to plastic surgery, the treatment competes with plastic surgery for the same patients.
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. This is the case because the mesotherapy is considered a "procedure" by state medical boards. The FDA, on the other hand, is mandated to approve foods, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biological medical products, blood products, medical devices, radiation-emitting devices, veterinary products and cosmetics.
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 Surgery informed its members in February 2005 that "further study is warranted before this technique can be endorsed."
Many dermatologists and plastic surgeons are alarmed about the growing profile of mesotherapy. "No one says exactly what they put into the (syringe)," says Naomi Lawrence, a derma-surgeon at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. "One drug they often use, phosphatidylcholine, is unpredictable and causes extreme inflammation and swelling where injected. It is not a benign drug." USAToday 8/4/2004.
It is currently banned in a number of South American countries. Even Brazil, which is less strict than the USA in drug approvals, has banned the drug for these purposes. USAToday 8/4/2004.
In Australia, an alternative therapy salon is being investigated by the Health Department after several clients developed skin abscesses on the calves, buttocks, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, face and neck from the treatment, with one patient also developing a mycobacterial infection.
Recently the French National Agency of Health (HAS) has banned Mesotherapy as a method for removing fat deposts and declared the method as "dangerous for human health". HAS is a non-government organisation, so an approval from the French government on the ban was needed to become official. The French health ministry made an official ratification of the ban on the 13. 06. 2011 with an Ordinance №2011-382. Esthetic surgeon from France and Austria have long expressed concerns about the treatment and labelled it "a potencially dangerous procedures with no proven beneficial effect". The ban only affects the use of non-invasive lipolitic treatments with physical methods (lasers infrared light and other methods). The ban is only valid in France so far however surgeons in the USA have long been conducting studies and warning society about the dangers of Mesotherapy.