How Much Does Internet Marketers Make From NaturalHeightIncrease.Com Selling A Grow Taller E-Product?

Me: I felt that I should take some time today to show the readers just how much money the internet marketers make online selling E-Products and E-Books on creating a few sales pages selling grow taller and height increase products.

This post was found after I typed in “Height Increase Niche” into Google and the result showed a discussion post which was on the WarriorForum.com, which is the #1 discussion board and forum on the internet for internet marketers to peddle their stuff and sell to people. (link HERE)

What is amazing was that this is from 2009, and from just 1 month of being uploaded, from April 29 to May 21, it had made $275. It gets about 30-40 unique visitors a day from back then selling the E-product “Grow Taller 4 Idiots”. By August 24, it had made $338. The poster goes by the name of Sasha from New Delhi, India. He was trying to sell his website and looking for a few hundred for it.

What is absolutely amazing is that this website NaturalHeightIncrease.Com selling the E-product has almost the exact same name as my website. I once had to compete against this website for traffic and it was beating me on “key words” and “key phrases“. Only recently have I been able to overcome the SEO tricks it was implementing to rank higher on Google by writing high levels of content.

Note: Everything below this message is what the poster put up on the Warrior Forums Board.

>>> Conduit Style Review Blog in Height Increase Niche; $100/month! <<<
Superb Blog in Height Increase Niche that made $424+$55 Since May 21!

Updated: At the time of the listing, the site had made $275 since May 21. After several sales, the total revenue from the website stands at $424 in a little over three months.

That’s more than $140/month.

URL: www.naturalheightincrease.com

A Few Statistics:

Domain Registered Since: 29 April 2009

On Page #1 of Google for Search Term: “Natural Height Increase“, and “Miracle Growth Arginine”

Inlinks: 39 Inlinks from External Sites As Per Yahoo Search Explorer

See Screenshot

Daily Traffic – 30-40 Uniques (and Increasing!)

See Screenshot

Total Revenue: $275 since May – approximately $100/month!

Update: Total revenue as of 24 August is $338. Please see screenshots in posts below for confirmation.

I promote an ebook called Grow Taller 4 Idiots (Gt4Idiots) primarily.

See Screenshot

The Site:

Design

Custom Artisteer design. Site has a stock photograph that was bought from Fotolia for $1 – you get it for free.

Promotion Techniques

I’ve been lazy on the promotion. I’ve basically submitted articles to some article directories (including EZine) completed a few of Angela’s backlinks, a few blog comments – nothing all out or full fledged that would take this site to its limits.

I’ve never paid for any traffic. Nor have I spent any money on promotion (bookmarking, etc.) All the traffic is free and organic, with a few type-ins thrown in.

You could increase the traffic manifold by doing a simple directory/social bookmarking campaign, or even by completing Angela’s backlink packets.

Content

All the content is unique, hand written. There are 20+ pages on the site, including reviews of most popular products.

Why Am I Selling This

When I started building this website, I was new to the world of IM, to be very honest. I essentially experimented with this site: seeing what all worked, what didn’t.

Ever since, I’ve quadrupled my efforts at IM. That, and my existing domain business has kept me more than busy to devote enough attention to this site. I like to devote my time to even more lucrative niches, and to domaining, and hence, this site suffers.

Price:

Keeping in mind the custom theme, unique content, SERPs, traffic, and existing revenue, BIN for this website is:

$700 Only!

Please Start Your Bids from: $150

That’s for a website pulling in more than $100/month through completely legitimate, white hat traffic.

BIN: $700
Please Start Offers From: $150
Edit: Auction Goes on Until Aug 31, 2009. Highest Bidder gets it.
Current high bid: $350

I haven’t been a member of WF too long, and I certainly haven’t been very active here either. However, if anyone wants to verify my credentials as a seller, you can look me up at both DNForum.com and NamePros.com – the two top domain forums. I got by the same username there.

New Proposed Height Increase Method Using BMPs And Extracorporeal Shock Wave Treatment, ESWT

When I wrote a post last time where I created a proposed method to possibly increase height using BMP injections into the intervertebral disks in the back entitled “New Proposed Height Increase Method Using PEMF, BMP-7, BMP-6, And TGF-Beta3” my biggest issue was wondering how we could possibly get the BMP inside into the disks and get them to start the cell proliferation since the disks were surrounded by the annulus fibrosus.

My new proposed method has found a way to get around that difficulty by using this newly discovered method of Extracorporeal shockwave treatment  ESWT. Since the annulus fibrosus is made of the same type of material as the achilles tendon, which is collagenous fibers, the shockwaves can get the nucleus of the fibers to increase the expression of IGF-1 and TGF-Beta 1 while at the same time transmitting the BMP from the gauze to seep into the collagen  fibrils and reach the middle gelatinous area.

Overall this is one of the best ideas I have come up with so far since I can’t see any technical issues with this method. In my mind, this technique should work to create at least a height increase of at least 1 cm.

Of course the difficulty would be in finding where we can get the equipment to send around 3000 impulses of shockwave at intensity around 0.2 mJ/mm^2 at a 2-3 day interval blocks.

Increase Height And Grow Taller Using Extracorporeal ShockWave Treatment, ESWT Part III

Me: This is just even more evidence and studies which goes deeper in the research to find how relevant the ESWT method might be in allowing bones to increase in length.

From study 1…

From the introduction of the PDF paper the authors note that loading, LIPUS, and PEMF has not bee very effective by stating…” Biophysical stimuli such as mechanical vibration, ultrasound, and pulsed electromagnetic fields have been suggested as an alternative treatment, but these stimuli seem to have too little effect on bone remodeling and bone architecture 1-4. Another potentially useful biophysical intervention that has proven effective for acute fractures 5 and nonunions 6-8 is treatment with extracorporeal shock waves” This states right off the bat that ESWT may be better than the other stuff we have researched so far. The treatment did lead to some skin redness and bleeding. We see an increase in bone formation, trabecular bone volume, and other bone properties. It seems the ESWT has some form of analgesic effect so an increase in energy flux density which is gradual may actually help the pain sensitivity. the conclusion they see is…”In conclusion, a single treatment with unfocused extracorporeal shock waves can increase bone turnover and improve the cancellous and cortical bone architecture as well as the mechanical properties of the treated area. In this experimental setup, extracorporeal shock waves caused damage in the bone marrow, which resulted in hyperplasia and hypertrophy of adipocytes in the bone marrow but did not induce microfractures in the bone or periosteal damage.”

From study 2…

The researchers decided to try out applying ESW therapy as a noninvasive, inexpensive, and rapid method for stimulating cambium cell proliferation, and combining these cells with a bioactive scaffold for bone growth. The cambium cells are part of the periosteum called osteoprogenitor cells. Just one dosage of the ESWT managed to get the cambium cells and overal bone thickness to increase as well as the callus size.

From study 3…

These researchers showed that not only does ESWT cause osteogenesis but also can regenerate fibrocartilage and remodel the  bone to tendon junction in joints.

From the Journal of Bone and And Joint Surgery study article link HERE…

Unfocused Extracorporeal Shock Waves Induce Anabolic Effects in Rat Bone

By O.P. van der Jagt, MD, T.M. Piscaer, MD, W. Schaden, J. Li, PhD, N. Kops, H. Jahr, PhD, J.C. van der Linden, PhD,
J.H. Waarsing, PhD, J.A.N. Verhaar, MD, PhD, M. de Jong, PhD, and H. Weinans, PhD

Investigation performed at the Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Background:

Extracorporeal shock waves are known to stimulate the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells toward osteoprogenitors and induce the expression of osteogenic-related growth hormones. The aim of this study was to investigate if and how extracorporeal shock waves affected new bone formation, bone microarchitecture, and the mechanical properties of bone in a healthy rat model, in order to evaluate whether extracorporeal shock wave therapy might be a potential treatment for osteoporosis.

Methods:

Thirteen rats received 1000 electrohydraulically generated unfocused extracorporeal shock waves to the right tibia. The contralateral, left tibia was not treated and served as a control. At two, seven, twenty-one, and forty-nine days after administration of the shock waves, in vivo single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanning was performed to measure new bone formation on the basis of uptake of technetium-labeled methylene diphosphonate (99m Tc-MDP) (n = 6). Prior to and forty-nine days after the extracorporeal shock wave therapy, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scans were made to examine the architectural bone changes. In addition, mechanical testing, microcrack, and histological analyses were performed.

Results:

Extracorporeal shock waves induced a strong increase in 99m Tc-MDP uptake in the treated tibia compared with the uptake in the untreated, control tibia. Micro-CT analysis showed that extracorporeal shock waves stimulated increases in both trabecular and cortical volume, which resulted in higher bone stiffness compared with that of the control tibiae. Histological analysis showed intramedullary soft-tissue damage and de novo bone with active osteoblasts and osteoid in the bone marrow of the legs treated with extracorporeal shock waves. Microcrack analysis showed no differences between the treated and control legs.

Conclusions:

This study shows that a single treatment with extracorporeal shock waves induces anabolic effects in both cancellous and cortical bone, leading to improved biomechanical properties. Furthermore, treatment with extracorporeal shock waves results in transient damage to the bone marrow, which might be related to the anabolic effects. After further examination and optimization, unfocused extracorporeal shock waves might enable local treatment of skeletal sites susceptible to fracture.

Clinical Relevance:

Unfocused extracorporeal shock waves might in the future be used to increase bone mass and
subsequently reduce the fracture risk.

From study 2 link HERE…

The Use of Extracorporeal Shock Wave-Stimulated Periosteal Cells for Orthotopic Bone Generation

To cite this article:
Cathal J. Kearney, Huping P. Hsu, and Myron Spector. Tissue Engineering Part A. July 2012, 18(13-14): 1500-1508. doi:10.1089/ten.tea.2011.0573.

Published in Volume: 18 Issue 13-14: July 16, 2012
Online Ahead of Print: June 4, 2012
Online Ahead of Editing: April 20, 2012

  • Full Text HTML,  Full Text PDF (1,173.6 KB),  Full Text PDF with Links (497.1 KB)

Author information

Cathal J. Kearney, Ph.D.,1,2 Huping P. Hsu, M.D.,2,3 and Myron Spector, Ph.D.1,2,3
1Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Veterans Administration Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts.
3Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Address correspondence to:
Myron Spector, Ph.D.
Department of Tissue Engineering, MS 151

VA Boston Healthcare System

150 S. Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02130

E-mail: mspector@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Received: October 12, 2011
Accepted: March 14, 2012

ABSTRACT

The cambium cells of the periosteum, which are known osteoprogenitor cells, have limited suitability for clinical applications of tissue engineering in their native state due to their low cell number (2–5 cells thick). Extracorporeal shock waves (ESWs) have been shown to cause rapid periosteal cambium cell proliferation and subsequent periosteal osteogenesis. This work investigates a novel strategy for orthotopic bone generation: applying ESW therapy as a noninvasive, inexpensive, and rapid method for stimulating cambium cell proliferation, and combining these cells with a bioactive scaffold for bone growth. ESWs applied to the rabbit medial tibia resulted in a significant 2.7-fold increase in cambium cell number and a 4-fold increase in cambium cell thickness at 4 days post-ESW. ESW-stimulated, or nontreated control, periosteal cells were elevated in situ and overlaid on an anorganic bovine bone scaffold to interrogate their ability to form bone. At 2 weeks post-surgery, there was a significant increase in all key outcome variables for the ESW-stimulated group when compared with controls: a 4-fold increase in osseous tissue in the upper half of the scaffold underlying the periosteum; a 12-fold increase in osseous tissue overlying the scaffold; and a 2-fold increase in callus size. These results successfully demonstrated the efficacy of ESW-stimulated periosteum for orthotopic bone generation.

From PubMed study 3 link HERE…

Am J Sports Med. 2008 Feb;36(2):340-7. Epub 2007 Sep 20.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in treatment of delayed bone-tendon healing.

Wang L, Qin L, Lu HB, Cheung WH, Yang H, Wong WN, Chan KM, Leung KS.

Source

Musculoskeletal Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics andTraumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is indicated for treatment of chronic injuries of soft tissues and delayed fracture healing and nonunion. No investigation has been conducted to study the effect of shock wave on delayed healing at the bone-tendon junction.

HYPOTHESIS:

Shock wave promotes osteogenesis, regeneration of fibrocartilage zone, and remodeling of healing tissue in delayed healing of bone-tendon junction surgical repair.

STUDY DESIGN:

Controlled laboratory study.

METHODS:

Twenty-eight mature rabbits were used for establishing a delayed healing model at the patella-patellar tendon complex after partial patellectomy and then divided into control and shock wave groups. In the shock wave group, a single shock wave treatment was given at week 6 postoperatively to the patella-patellar tendon healing complex. Seven samples were harvested at week 8 and 7 samples at week 12 for radiologic, densitometric, histologic, and mechanical evaluations.

RESULTS:

Radiographic measurements showed 293.4% and 185.8% more new bone formation at the patella-patellar tendon healing junction in the shock wave group at weeks 8 and 12, respectively. Significantly better bone mineral status was found in the week 12 shock wave group. Histologically, the shock wave group showed more advanced remodeling in terms of better alignment of collagen fibers and thicker and more mature regenerated fibrocartilage zone at both weeks 8 and 12. Mechanical testing showed 167.7% and 145.1% higher tensile load and strength in the shock wave group at week 8 and week 12, respectively, compared with controls.

CONCLUSION:

Extracorporeal shock wave promotes osteogenesis, regeneration of fibrocartilage zone, and remodeling in the delayed bone-to-tendon healing junction in rabbits.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE:

These results provide a foundation for future clinical studies toward establishment of clinical indication for treatment of delayed bone-to-tendon junction healing.

PMID: 17885225   [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Increase Height And Grow Taller Using Extracorporeal ShockWave Treatment, ESWT Part II

Me: I wanted to go deeper in the research for this method because it looks very promising as another tool. In my opinion, it might be better than LIPUS in helping achieve height increase.

From study 1…

The researchers tried the application of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) to get bones to growth and form. There was 4000 impulses of the shock waves used on one of the hind legs of 13 rabbits. The other is not treated with rESWT as the control. after a week the shockwaves were doen again. What they found was that the rESWT significantly increase new bone formation at all time points throughout the study’s time period. It is interesting that the rate of bone formation was at the maximum at 4 weeks. The most amazing thing was the the location of the long bone which was closest to the shock wave application was where the most bone formation was found. It seems that the ESWT induced osteogenesis is dosage dependent. The best thing is that so trauma like hemmorhage or microfractures were found. The researchers conclude with “This is the first study demonstrating low-energy radial shock waves to induce new bone formation in vivo. Based on our results, repetition of ESWT in 6-week intervals can be recommended.”

From study 2…

The researchers found that using ESWT was safe and a great alternative for fracture/ non union healing. It seemed to work better for tropic nonunions (with calluses) than atropic nonunions (without calluses). The study dosage is …”The shock waves were applied in 3-5 sessions of 2500 to 3000 impulses each given at 0.25-0.84 mJ/mm2, at intervals of 48-72 hours between sessions. A maximum of 3 cycles of treatment was given, at 3-month intervals.” The healing reduced the time needed for a large percentage but a smaller percentage did not see any healing.

From study 3...

This is another study which comfirms that ESWT is amazing. It has been used to heal achilles tendinitis and the researchers in this study wanted to shows that it heals the tendinitis by increasing the expression of TGF-Beta1 and IGF-1. The study varied the impulse dosage from 0, 200, 500, and 1000 impulses. The optimal dosage for the mice in the study was around 200 impulse at around 0.2 mJ/mm^2. Through out the entire study the expression of IGF-1 was elevated dramatically. It seems to show that cell proliferation, cell hypertrophy, and tissue regeneration were all effects. There was also a proliferation of tenocytes and neovascularization (new blood vessels).

From ScienceDirect.com study link HERE…

Radial Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (rESWT) Induces New Bone Formation in vivo: Results of an Animal Study in Rabbits

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate if radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) induces new bone formation and to study the time course of ESWT-induced osteogenesis. A total of 4000 impulses of radial shock waves (0.16 mJ/mm²) were applied to one hind leg of 13 New Zealand white rabbits with the contralateral side used for control. Treatment was repeated after 7 days. Fluorochrome sequence labeling of new bone formation was performed by subcutaneous injection of tetracycline, calcein green, alizarin red and calcein blue. Animals were sacrificed 2 weeks (n = 4), 4 weeks (n = 4) and 6 weeks (n = 5) after the first rESWT and bone sections were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. Deposits of fluorochromes were classified and analyzed for significance with the Fisher exact test. rESWT significantly increased new bone formation at all time points over the 6-week study period. Intensity of ossification reached a peak after 4 weeks and declined at the end of the study. New bone formation was significantly higher and persisted longer at the ventral cortex, which was located in the direction to the shock wave device, compared with the dorsal cortex, emphasizing the dose-dependent process of ESWT-induced osteogenesis. No traumata, such as hemorrhage, periosteal detachment or microfractures, were observed by histologic and radiologic assessment. This is the first study demonstrating low-energy radial shock waves to induce new bone formation in vivo. Based on our results, repetition of ESWT in 6-week intervals can be recommended. Application to bone regions at increased fracture risk (e.g., in osteoporosis) are possible clinical indications.

From study 2 link HERE…

Effects of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy on Fracture Nonunions

Maria Chiara Vulpiani, MD, Mario Vetrano, MD, Federica Conforti, MD, Lucia Minutolo, MD, Donatella
Trischitta, MD, John P. Furia, MD, and Andrea Ferretti, MD

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on the treatment of nonunions. As part of a prospective study, we included 143 patients (average age, 41.4 years) with a diagnosis of nonunion (mean, 14.1 months; range, 6-84 months). High-energy shock wave treatment was applied using electromagnetic shock wave generators. The shock waves were applied in 3-5 sessions of
2500 to 3000 impulses each given at 0.25-0.84 mJ/mm2, at intervals of 48-72 hours between sessions. A maximum of 3 cycles of treatment was given, at 3-month intervals. The patients were followed during a 12-month period until fracture healing or, in case of failure, until another therapy was adopted. Complete healing was observed in 80 of 143 cases (55.9%) at an average time of 7.6 months (range, 2-24 months). Partial healing occurred in 41 cases (28.7%) and no healing was observed in 22 cases (15.4%). Patients with trophic nonunions had a better success rate than patients with atrophic nonunions (P<.05). The results show ESWT is a safe and effective treatment for nonunions. ESWT is more effective for trophic nonunions than atrophic nonunion

From the Journal Of Orthopaedic Research website study 3 link HERE…

Extracorporeal shock waves promote healing of collagenase-induced Achilles tendinitis and increase TGF-b1 and IGF-I expression

Yeung-Jen Chen a, Ching-Jen Wang b, Kuender D. Yang c, Yur-Ren Kuo d, Hui-Chen Huang c, Yu-Ting Huang c, Yi-Chih Sun c, Feng-Sheng Wang
c,*

  • a Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Chang Gung University, Linkou, Taiwan
  • b Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • c Department of Medical Research, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 123 Ta-Pei Road, Niao-Sung, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan
  • d Department of Trauma, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Received 28 April 2003; accepted 20 October 2003

Abstract

Extracorporeal shock waves (ESW) have recently been used in resolving tendinitis. However, mechanisms by which ESW promote tendon repair is not fully understood. In this study, we reported that an optimal ESW treatment promoted healing of Achilles tendintis by inducing TGF-b1 and IGF-I. Rats with the collagenease-induced Achilles tendinitis were given a single ESW treatment (0.16 mJ/mm2 energy flux density) with 0, 200, 500 and 1000 impulses. Achilles tendons were subjected to biomechanical (load to failure and stiffness), biochemical properties (DNA, glycosaminoglycan and hydroxyproline content) and histological
assessment. ESW with 200 impulses restored biomechanical and biochemical characteristics of healing tendons 12 weeks after treatment. However, ESW treatments with 500 and 1000 impulses elicited inhibitory effects on tendinitis repair. Histological observation demonstrated that ESW treatment resolved edema, swelling, and inflammatory cell infiltration in injured tendons.  Lesion site underwent intensive tenocyte proliferation, neovascularization and progressive tendon tissue regeneration. Tenocytes at
the hypertrophied cellular tissue and newly developed tendon tissue expressed strong proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) after ESW treatment, suggesting that physical ESW could increase the mitogenic responses of tendons. Moreover, the proliferation of
tenocytes adjunct to hypertrophied cell aggregate and newly formed tendon tissue coincided with intensive TGF-b1 and IGF-I expression. Increasing TGF-b1 expression was noted in the early stage of tendon repair, and elevated IGF-I expression was persisted
throughout the healing period. Together, low-energy shock wave effectively promoted tendon healing. TGF-b1 and IGF-I played important roles in mediating ESW-stimulated cell proliferation and tissue regeneration of tendon.

 2003 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increase Height And Grow Taller Using Extracorporeal ShockWave Treatment, ESWT (Important)

Me: For me this is quite possibly the biggest find I have encountered in a long time and a major breakthrough. I know that the LIPUS technology used low intensity pulsed sound waves but this approach is the exact opposite, which uses high intensity shockwaves to get bones to heal. The amount of research and information out there is very high and it’s application for bone remodeling is high as well.

From study 1…

What we are seeing is that the ESWT technology has been around and acknowledged by medical professionals for at least 2 decades. This study shows that just like the PEMF and LIPUS technology, it can cause bone fractures or non-unions to heal together. The amount of high intensity pulsed wave is 6000 at 28kV in one session. A amall sample of blood was taken to test for NO level, TGF-Beta 1, VEGF, and BMP2, as well as calcium, alkaline phosphatase, calcitonin, and parathyroid hormone during 5 time zones, before the treatment, 1 day afterwards, and 1,3,and 6 months afterwards. In over 3/4th of the patients, there was union of the fracture. It seems that shockwaves caused an increase in the NO level and other osteogenic growth factors.

From study 2...

It seems that the ESWT technology has been used quite extensively in recent years as an alternative treatment from surgery. There are success in clinical and in vitro studies. The final conclusion…”FGF-2, an important growth factor in new bone formation, was shown to be produced by human fibroblasts and osteoblasts after treatment with ESWT. These findings demonstrate that ESWT is able to cause bone healing through a molecular way by inducing growth factor synthesis.”

From study 3…

Apparently the researchers have already looked into how to increase the long bong longitudinal growth rate by “We have studied several possibilities in order to stimulate longitudinal growth by means of enhancement of the vascular supply to the growth plate through perforations, implants or electromagnetic pulses.” So they looked into make a distraction, adding implants, and trying out E&M pulses like the PEMF technology. In this specific study it is stated…”we explored the effects of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) in the same animal model, to determine a possible longitudinal bone growth stimulation“. This is huge!! It is almost very much like the noninvasive electrical device patent we looked at a month back. The performed it on 24 rabbits putting the ESW stimulation on the tibia and femur using both a mid level pulse and a high level pulse. The left limbs were treated with 2000 pulses. There doesn’t seem to be any differences in cell count, fracture formation, periosteal reaction. However the longitudinal increase was 4.1% on average for all the limbs.

From PubMed study 1 link HERE…

Nitric Oxide. 2009 Jun;20(4):298-303. Epub 2009 Mar 10.

The effects of shockwave on bone healing and systemic concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), TGF-beta1, VEGF and BMP-2 in long bone non-unions.

Wang CJ, Yang KD, Ko JY, Huang CC, Huang HY, Wang FS.

Source

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Taiwan.

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT) on bone healing and the systemic concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), TGF-beta1, VEGF and BMP-2 in long bone non-unions. Forty-two patients with 42 established non-unions of the femur and tibia were enrolled in this study. Each long bone non-union was treated with 6000 impulses of shockwave at 28 kV in a single session. Ten milliliters of peripheral blood were obtained for measurements of serum NO level and osteogenic growth factors including TGF-beta1, VEGF and BMP-2; serum levels of calcium, alkaline phosphatase, calcitonin and parathyroid hormone before treatment and at 1 day, 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment. The evaluations for bone healing included clinical assessments and serial radiographic examinations. At 6 months, bony union was radiographically confirmed in 78.6%, and persistent non-union in 21.4%. Patients with bony union showed significantly higher serum NO level, TGF-beta1, VEGF and BMP-2 at 1 month after treatment as compared to patients with persistent non-union. Shockwave-promoted bone healing was associated with significant increases in serum NO level and osteogenic growth factors. The elevations of systemic concentration of NO level and the osteogenic factors may reflect a local stimulation of shockwave in bone healing in long bone non-unions.

PMID:  19281856      [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

From study 2 link HERE…

Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery
March 2011, Volume 131, Issue 3, pp 303-309

Stimulation of bone growth factor synthesis in human osteoblasts and fibroblasts after extracorporeal shock wave application

  • Joerg Hausdorf, Birte Sievers, Marcus Schmitt-Sody, Volkmar Jansson, Markus Maier, Susanne Mayer-Wagner

Abstract

Background

Nonunion is a common problem in Orthopedic Surgery. In the recent years alternatives to the standard surgical procedures were tested clinically and in vitro. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) showed promising results in both settings. We hypothesized that in target tissue cells from nonunions like fibroblasts and osteoblasts ESWT increases the release of bone growth factors.

Methods

Fibroblasts and osteoblasts were suspended in 3 ml cryotubes and subjected to 250/500 shock waves at 25 kV using an experimental electrohydraulic lithotripter. After ESWT, cell viability was determined and cells were seeded at 1 × 105 cells in 12 well plates. After 24, 48, and 72 h cell number was determined and supernatant was frozen. The levels of growth factors FGF-2 and TGF-β1 were examined using ELISA. A control group was treated equally without receiving ESWT.

Results

After 24 h there was a significant increase in FGF-2 levels (p < 0.05) with significant correlation to the number of impulses (p < 0.05) observed. TGF-β1 showed a time-dependent increase with a peak at 48 h which was not significantly different from the control group.

Conclusions

FGF-2, an important growth factor in new bone formation, was shown to be produced by human fibroblasts and osteoblasts after treatment with ESWT. These findings demonstrate that ESWT is able to cause bone healing through a molecular way by inducing growth factor synthesis.

From ISMST.com study 3 link HERE…

Bone Growth Stimulation with Extracorporeal Shockwaves – Experimental Animal Model

Authors: Carlos Leal, Juan C. Lopez, Oscar E. Reyes

Institution:

Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Bosque University Orthopaedics Program, Bogota DC, Colombia

Discrepancy in limb lengths is a common orthopaedic problem arising from either shortening or overgrowth of one or more bones of the limb. Minor discrepancies due to assimetry are very common, and these differences under 20 mm are well compensated, being almost one third of the normal asimptomatic population. Differences between 20 and 50 mm cause biomechanical problems in gait, spine deformities and early osteoarthrosis due to limb malalignement. However, these discrepancies are too small to consider major surgical procedures such as lengthenings, osteotomies or epiphisiodesis. We have studied several possibilities in order to stimulate longitudinal growth by means of enhancement of the vascular supply to the growth plate through perforations, implants or electromagnetic pulses.

In the present study we explored the effects of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) in the same animal model, to determine a possible longitudinal bone growth stimulation. We based our study in the literature reports that show femoral overgrowth after shaft fractures in children. Even though this side effect has been reported by many authors like Aitken in 1940, Shapiro in 1981 and Murray in 1996, the precise mechanism of vascular and humoral stimulation is still unknown. The microfractures caused by ESWT could generate the same effects and produce longitudinal overgrowth.

We studied 24 NewZealand Rabbits of 2 months of age and 2 Kg of weight, performind ESWT stimulation on tibial and femoral shafts. The specimens were divided in two groups: One using mid level ESWT (0.2 mj/mm2) and one using high level ESWT (0.5 mj/mm2). We treated the left limbs with 2000 shockwaves under sedation, and used the contralateral femurs and tibias as controls. The specimens were followed for 12 weeks, and after sacrifice longitudinal measurements were performed with milimetrical gauges. We also studied the X Rays on every specimen in order to describe any pathological finding, and performed a histomorphometric analysis to measure celularity and vascular patterns.

Our results showed that all femurs and tibias treated with ESWT grew more than their contralateral controls, but no statistically significant differences were found in the 2 way anova analysis comparing groups (P>0.05).No radiological differences were found, and the blind analysis did not show signs of periosteal reaction, macroscopic fractures or physeal changes.

The histomorphometric analysis did not show any differences in cell counts, physeal size or vascular patterns between groups. A normalized analysis was performed in order to determine the amount of growth comparing the differences between treated bones and their contralateral controls. We found that the overall growth was of 4.11% in average for femurs, tibias and whole limbs. Our results showed a very significant effect of ESWT on growing bone, in all of our treated specimens. However the comparison between groups is not significant, probably due to biological variability. We need to validate the overgrowth effect in terms of histologic and biologic ethiology, and current studies that include bone scanning and molecular biology are being performed to determine the precise cause of this ESWT growth stimulation.

A Study On Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism And Hypergonadotropic Hypogonadism

Me: When I was doing research on the effects of  combining Gonadotropin releasing hormone analogues (GnRH-A) with human growth hormones (hGH) as a way to treat the many diverse forms of short stature, this very interesting disorder really caught my attention and I wanted to devote some time to learn more about this disorder since it might help us remove some confusion over certain issues. We know that the control and flow of the sex hormones is what can ultimately determine out final height since we have already seen how certain people without the right types of hormones or hormone receptors never even reach puberty or don’t have closed growth plates resulting in continued growth even into their 30s.

Analysis & Interpretation:

There is two main conditions we are finding with very similar names, except that one process is the opposite of the other. One is called Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism and the other is called Hypergonadotropic Hypogonadism. The prefix “hyper” has always meant “excessive” in common english terms while the prefix “hypo” means “not enough” in common english terms. From the two Wikipedia articles I have posted below, the summarize idea is that HH and HH, the hyper and the hypo, both results in hypogonadism, which is where the body doesn’t get enough hormones from the gonads, the reproductive organs. The hypogonadotropic hypogonadism sees an impaired secretion of the gonadotropins like the FSH and LH by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus of the brain. Since the endocrine system works from a top–>down approach, this will eventually lead to less sex hormones produced in the gonads of the person. The is why the 2nd term is hypogonadism.

The hypergonadotropic hypogonadism in comparison has the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus being just fine in function and releasing the neccessary amount of gonadotropins like the FSH and the LH but the problem is that the gonads can’t seem to be able to receive the gonadotropins or can’t process them correctly to release the high enough levels of gonad hormones, like the androgen and estrogen. The symptoms of hypogonadism in general is low sex drive, infertility, and not puberty signs like hair growth, etc. To treat the first type, where the brain areas don’t release enough, physicians can directly add the needed hormones using a GnRH agonist or a gonadotropin formulation. To treat the 2nd type, the physician can just add synthetic androgens as a hormone therapy to get the level of sex hormones in the body correct.

The connection with height increase with the two conditions is that from many genetic disorders and cases, we find that people who have no sensitivity to the sex hormones like the androgens or estrogen have often led to delayed puberty, and thus resulted in a later age for growth plate cartilage closure. There are at least 3 cases of males who had no receptors for the estrogen in their growth plates and they resulted in being very tall with the cartilage still existing in late adulthood.

From my personal analysis, it would seem that the case for tall stature can only be found with people who suffer from hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, NOT hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.  I would guess that the lack of ability to release the FSH and the LP by the hypothalamic-pituitary connection would also cause insufficient release of the growth hormones too. So it would make logical sense then that the human body which can release growth hormones but stop the process of reeleasing the testosterone and estrogens which will lead to both puberty/increased growth rate but also growth plate closure means that the person who suffers only from hypergonadotropic hypogonadism will note that they never went through the great growth spurt that their peers did in adolescent, noticed that they were more likely on the short side while young, but as they grew older, they did not stop growing completely like their peers but eventually surpasses in height of their peers in their late 20s due to their open growth plate cartilage.

From the Wikipedia article on it HERE…

Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), also known as secondary or central hypogonadism, as well as gonadotropin-releasing hormone deficiency or gonadotropin deficiency (GD), is a condition which is characterized by hypogonadism due to an impaired secretion of gonadotropins, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), by the pituitary gland in the brain, and in turn decreased gonadotropin levels and a resultant lack of sex steroid production.

Causes

The type of HH, based on its cause, may be classified as either primary or secondary. Primary HH, also called isolated HH, is responsible for only a small subset of cases of HH, and is characterized by an otherwise normal function and anatomy of the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary. It is caused by congenital syndromes such as Kallmann syndrome and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) insensitivity. Secondary HH, also known as acquired or syndromic HH, is far more common than primary HH, and is responsible for most cases of the condition. It has a multitude of different causes, including brain orpituitary tumors, pituitary apoplexy, head trauma, ingestion of certain drugs, and certain systemic diseases and syndromes.

Symptoms

Examples of symptoms of hypogonadism include delayed, reduced, or absent puberty, low libido, and infertility.

Treatment

Treatment of HH may consist of administration of either a GnRH agonist or a gonadotropin formulation in the case of primary HH and treatment of the root cause (e.g., a tumor) of the symptoms in the case of secondary HH. Alternatively, hormone replacement therapy with androgens and estrogens in males and females, respectively, may be employed.

Now let’s look at the opposite of it which is termed Hypergonadotropic Hypogonadism

From the Wikipedia article on it HERE…

Hypergonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), also known as primary or peripheral/gonadal hypogonadism, is a condition which is characterized by hypogonadism due to an impaired response of the gonads to the gonadotropins, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), and in turn a lack of sex steroid production and elevated gonadotropin levels (as an attempt of compensation by the body). HH may present as either congenital or acquired, but the majority of cases are of the former nature.

Causes

  • Chromosomal abnormalities (resulting in gonadal dysgenesis) – Turner’s syndrome, Klinefelter’s syndrome, Swyer’s syndrome, XX gonadal dysgenesis, and mosaicism.
  • Defects in the enzymes involved in the gonadal biosynthesis of the sex hormones – 17α-hydroxylase deficiency, 17,20-lyase deficiency, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase III deficiency, and lipoid congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
  • Gonadotropin resistance (e.g., due to inactivating mutations in the gonadotropin receptors) – Leydig cell hypoplasia (or insensitivity to LH) in males, FSH insensitivity in females, and LH and FSH resistance due to mutations in the GNAS gene (termed pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1A).

Acquired causes (due to damage to or dysfunction of the gonads) include gonadal torsion, vanishing/anorchia, orchitis, premature ovarian failure, ovarian resistance syndrome, trauma, surgery, autoimmunity,chemotherapy, radiation, infections (e.g., sexually-transmitted diseases), toxins (e.g., endocrine disruptors), and drugs (e.g., antiandrogens, opioids, alcohol).

Symptoms

Examples of symptoms of hypogonadism include delayed, reduced, or absent puberty, low libido, and infertility.

Treatment

Treatment of HH is usually with hormone replacement therapy, consisting of androgen and estrogen administration in males and females, respectively.