Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter explains that regular alcohol consumption increases systemic inflammation, disrupts metabolism raising blood sugar, and impairs stem cell and platelet function—thereby undermining regenerative medicine procedures for joints. He uses a clinical anecdote to emphasize that drinking counteracts regenerative treatments.
So what does alcohol actually do to your system? Well, I had a patient yesterday who came in and wanted to do some regenerative medicine, but unfortunately, the gentleman drinks every night. So if we're drinking alcohol, that raises the amount of inflammation in our body. Of course, it impacts how we metabolize our foods and sugars and increases our blood sugar, but it also will damage the way that our stem cells and our platelets work. So, unfortunately for this gentleman, if you're going to drink a lot of alcohol, regenerative measures for your joints are not a good idea. Basically, every time we drink alcohol, we're taking one step back. We're creating more inflammation in the system, and we are basically counteracting everything that we're doing in regenerative medicine.
She Traveled from Colorado for a Different Approach to Knee Pain | Lois’ Story
