HusseyStalker598
De BISAWiki
Therefore, since we know half the world are talking about cellulite, what exactly is it, what causes it, how can you grade it and it is there any treatment out there for the condition. To begin with, many may be surprised to understand that the term cellulite is simply not a medical term and there's some dispute about the etiology of the condition. Many people claim that French and Italian doctors used the term cellulitis over one hundred years ago to describe a condition of fats located under women's skin, that provide a dimpled or peau d'orange appearance. The problem was extremely common and most physicians of the period considered it to be normal and were interested in the fact that Felix Hoffman had just invented Aspirin. The decades passed, the planet went to war twice and conventional medicine was not interested in treating a condition, which did not reflect an underlying illness.
Even in the early seventies, when Martin Luther King cleared his throat and addressed one fourth of a million people by the Lincoln Memorial, the problem was still largely unheard of. However, all that was about to change in 1973, when Ny beauty salon owner Nicole Ronsard wrote her book 'Cellulite, Those Lumps, Bumps and Bulges you could not lose before'. In that year, fat should have began to bug the conscience of coastal America because the New York Times best seller non-fiction list best seller for that month was Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution.
In that year, Ireland joined the most popular Market and the comely maidens at the crossroads danced to David Cassidy, but in America the game was up....the problem cellulite was now outside and the world would not be the same again! Even worse, as more and more women found out that they too had these lumpy deposits all over their bodies, many charlatan doctors and fly by night companies started offering all kinds of dubious cures and preyed them upon their insecurities. One Italian chemist called Gianfranco Merizzi invented a new tablet that contained ginko, soya, omega-3 fatty acids, evening primrose oil, bioflavins, and lots of of the other normal suspects with a promise that it would cure the dreaded condition. The CEO of the company, Rexall even went on CNBC in March 1999 claiming 90% rate of success for their product. Obviously, they could not provide any scientific evidence to validate their results when challenged.
Another company, Relax-Cizor, then appeared available on the market with a type of new cellulite machine, using iontophoresis paddles and Faraday current to remove the offending dimples. It had not been long before they ran foul of the FDA who charged all of them with fraudulent advertising. They forgot to say that the machine also was accountable for inducing hernias, creating abnormal cardiac rhythms, and inducing miscarriages. The device was apparently repackaged and then sold in Europe where laws are thought not as stringent. It never ceases to amaze me how these businesses can flourish about this side of the big pond and nobody seems to inquire further whenever they use eighteenth century terminology like Faraday current or iontophoresis to explain a simple thing like electromagnetism or electricity. Imagine trying to sell the latest pc to someone using Pascal or Babbage terminology. It is fair to say most people would immediately recognise the spoof!
However, it was not the case with cellulite because nobody had bothered to scientifically evaluate just what the problem was. Believe it nor not, it took until 1996, for Dr. Neil Solomon in the Johns Hopkins University to look more closely at the phenomena of cellulite. In a paper of the period, this doctor concluded that under the microscope cellulite looked just like ordinary fat. In 1998, some researchers in the Rockefeller Institute examined the problem more closely plus they concluded that there wasn't any significant difference between your appearance or purpose of fatty tissue or the regional blood flow between individuals who had cellulite and people who did not. They also stated that there was some characteristic within female skin that built them into more prone to developing the problem.
Meanwhile, because the new wonder pill Viagra hit the world market, the sale of miracle creams containing caffeine, green tea, theophylline and theobromine from cocoa continued and one company even produced a tablet that promised to consider away cellulite while the patient slept. Things went in the sublime towards the surreal as another company promised to remove the cellulitic condition by wrapping their clients in a type of snap wrap that caused water loss by perspiration and compression of the swollen tissues. The product was marketed through television and it caused the U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to consider notice and convey regulations and guidelines for that advertising of cellulitic products. The quickly realised that they needed to be more scientific within their approach plus they quickly produced literature proclaiming that caffeine used topically had the ability to reduce fat content in cells by blocking an enzyme that inhibits fat breakdown. Because the pace quickened, others claimed that an alkaloid in cocoa called theobromine could penetrate towards the subcutaneous fat layer and help stimulate the discharge of stored fat. Into this new age of scientific enlightenment came other prophets who claimed that horse chestnut contained a chemical called aescin, that could reinforce the effectiveness of veins, support circulation and prevent swelling. Despite the rash of scientific opportunism, there was little available on the market that could really reduce the cellulitic condition. It didn't take a genius to realise that it would require more than tablets to remove those stubborn fibrous bands of tissue.
Around this time, another technology entered the market. It had started its earlier life in France like a deep tissue massage for horses until a company called LPG systems decided to try its impact on cellulite. The organization called the procedure, Endermologie(r) and claimed it could increase circulation by 200%, by expelling toxins and water build up while the underlying connective fibres were stretched. The product was again heavily marketed in magazines and on the TC networks. Despite many numerous studies, the clinical proof of the procedural effect remains ambiguous. One study performed in 1998, showed an average index decrease in body circumference of between 1.34 and 1.83cms. It was the same year that President Bill Clinton risked impeachment over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Regardless of this evidence, another clinically controlled trial by Collins and others, Cellulite Treatment, A Myth Or Reality. A controlled trial of two therapies Endomologie and Aminophylline cream' was published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 104:1110-1114, 1999. This research found no objective improvement in the thigh girth or thigh fat depth of 52 ladies who were measured by ultrasound. It further demonstrated that only 3 of 35 patients with aminophylline-treated legs and 10 of 35 patients with Endermologie-treated legs actually felt their cellulite appearance had actually improved. The authors figured neither of the two treatments was effective in improving the appearance of cellulite. Despite these bits of information, the Endomologie (r) procedure continues to be widely marketed and also the process has gained popularity in some quarters. My very own impression in the experience of many colleagues would be that the procedure usually takes 10 to 20 treatments to see any results and the patient has to do one or two maintenance treatments per month to maintain any beneficial effect.
Therefore, where does that leave us concerning the scientific evaluation of cellulite? There is no doubt; most doctors now agree that cellulite is more often seen in women because of hormonal reasons. The scientific rationale behind it has not been fully evaluated and a cynic would state that this conclusion isn't particularly hard to make. We know that cellulitic fat is arranged in large chambers of macromolecules which are separated by columns of collagen fibres. It doesn't take a University qualification to figure out that whenever extra fat is stuffed in to these fibrotic compartments, it will cause them to bulge out, giving the surface dimply appearance of cellulite. Scientists also know that the 'dimpling' is made worse due to underlying bloating and fibrosis caused by impaired circulation and destruction of the tissues in this area. This is the main reason that many treatments can provide a temporary solution to the problem. The effect is only temporary because in effect, cellulite is localised fat 'caught in a jail' of surrounding scarring and these fibrotic walls should be broken down before we can see a more long-term solution to the problem.
Recently, there has been two substantial alterations in the continuing war against those offending dimples. In 2003, the Lipodissolve (r) procedure was brought to the Irish market. In this procedure, phosphotidyl choline is injected straight into subcutaneous fat in order to dissolve it. It's not surprising that this method would be evaluated in order to see its impact on cellulite. In 2004, Network Lipolysis invited me being European Group Leader for the evaluation of the pharmaceutical within the treatment of cellulite. The injections are very painful as well as in my experience not always successful in treating the resilient condition. It takes multiple treatments to determine any reduction in size and the dimpling effect often remains. We've treated nearly 500 patients with this particular compound in differing areas to date and our results will soon undergo scientific evaluation as part of a European trial.
This year, a new medical device arrived, which promises to be the most interesting development to date in the battle against cellulite. This product is called the VelaSmooth (r) and also the machine has already undergone rigorous medical testing in the United States. The products functions by using a combination of bipolar Radio Frequency, Infrared light, and suction in an effort to safely and effectively re-contour your skin surface. In numerous studies in both Israel and also the United States, it appears to be the most effective treatment open to date. The device apparently works by allowing radiofrequency to heat fat tissue to some depth of 10mm and the makers claim this method increases oxygen intracellular diffusion. The infrared light part of the product heats fat under the skin to a degree of 3mm and increases skin elasticity.
The suction system is similar to Endomologie (r), in that it can manipulate and lessen the skin. The process requires two treatments a week for 5 to 6 weeks and also the effects last about 6 months before requiring a high up treatment. The total cost is about e750 for the complete package. Our clinic was selected to trial the new technology for that European market and that we shall start evaluating our produces a few months.
Where does that leave us? Personally i think it will take a mix of the above treatments to eventually solve the problem of cellulite. Like the old spaghetti westerns, we'll need technology like Velasmooth (r) to collapse the walls of the jail and a compound like Phosphotidyl Choline to dissolve the baddies contained within. The trials surrounding this mixture therapy have already begun in Canada and Italy and gradually patients are realizing medicine and doctors at last becoming interesting in working with this tenacious condition.
