A few years ago, I read an article somewhere on the Internet (I can’t remember where) about a new drug or supplement which claims to be able to trigger the “rehealing of old wounds”. (I remember this exact phraseology.) However, I can’t find anything about this now.
The article started by explaining that sometimes when you get a wound (either internal or external), a problem in your body can stop the wound from properly completing the healing process. This can lead to various other problems in your body which don’t go away.
The article then explained that the new drug or supplement is able to restart any failed wound healing processes in your body so that they can finally reach completion in a satisfactory manner.
The article explained that a side effect is that you feel some pain during the rehealing process. This is because the new drug or supplement starts by causing the failed wound healing processes to reverse along any wrong paths that they may have taken which could have lead to the botched healing.
Does anyone on this forum have any idea which drug or supplement this could be? Or could it have been a scam?
Verteporfin sourced from India, (About 80 rupees to the US$, so divide these prices below by 80, so $13 to $30 per 15 mg vial or so for India-brand verteporfin)
This is interesting not just because it it allows scar-less rehealing of wounds. But if you have a scar, (in theory) you could cut out the scar then use this drug on the newly-created wound and it would then heal without the scar. So, and effective way to remove scars…
And obviously, in the cosmetic surgery business this would be a big benefit where surgery could be done anywhere on the body with zero risk of tell-tale scars.
Interesting… I’ve not read up much on peptides. You may be right:
Are there any good scientific studies that support its use?
There seem to be some studies, many based in eastern Europe, which I’m not sure I’d trust:
This looks like a good review article on the science behind this peptide (open access paper below). It sounds promising. As I’ve said, I have little knowledge about peptide use. Perhaps people with more experience and knowledge in this area can comment on the safety profile of these as injectables in humans?
There is a current need for a therapy that can alleviate the social and economic burden that presents itself with debilitating and recurring musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries and disorders. Currently, several therapies are emerging and undergoing trials in animal models; these focus on the manipulation and administration of several growth factors implicated with healing. However, limitations include in vivo instability, reliance on biocompatible and robust carriers and restricted application procedures (local and direct). The aim of this paper is therefore to critically review the current literature surrounding the use of BPC 157, as a feasible therapy for healing and functional restoration of soft tissue damage, with a focus on tendon, ligament and skeletal muscle healing. Currently, all studies investigating BPC 157 have demonstrated consistently positive and prompt healing effects for various injury types, both traumatic and systemic and for a plethora of soft tissues. However, to date, the majority of studies have been performed on small rodent models and the efficacy of BPC 157 is yet to be confirmed in humans.
This writeup says:
Is BPC-157 Safe and Legal?
BPC-157 is not approved as a medicine by the FDA or other agencies. So you cannot buy it or sell it for medical use or human consumption legally. You can only use it for research purposes.
BPC-157 has not been tested for safety or side effects in long-term studies. But the current evidence suggests that it is well tolerated and has no toxicity when used properly. Some mild and temporary side effects that have been reported are:
For years, peptides such as BPC-157, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin have been popular among bodybuilders and athletes who are seeking to speed up healing or build muscle. The substances are being procured from compounders, a patchwork industry made up of state-licensed and FDA-registered providers, whose quality standards vary. Regulators have cracked down on their sales, and the World Anti-Doping Agency has expressly banned their use.
From the WSJ:
The Next Fountain-of-Youth Craze? Peptide Injections
As influencers share stories of physiological transformations, more people are seeking out experimental treatments: ‘If I can be a superhero and function at my absolute optimum, why wouldn’t I?’
Regarding research primarily coming from Eastern Europe, that’s my understanding as well.
A while back, wanting to learn more, I listened to a couple of podcasts on the subject, including an interview with Jean-François Tremblay, who operates a peptide supply company in Canada (“Canlab”). While it seemed that Russia (or, more accurately, the USSR) performed a fair amount of work on peptides many decades ago, I’m not aware of convincing research since then.
I think peptides are intriguing, but highly speculative. Anecdotes like those in the WSJ article make it seem like they’re the fountain of youth. Yet without modern, substantive research (i.e. double-blind placebo trials, etc.) to back it up, they could simply be effective placebos.
Additionally, I’m not aware of any standards that the companies that manufacture and supply them “for research purposes only” have to adhere to that would prove reassuring for human consumption.
Since starting this thread, I have been massively busy with various other things in my life. I have therefore only manged to get back to this now.
Thank you, everyone, very much indeed for all of your very interesting replies. To be honest, I don’t think anything that any of you have mentioned is the exact same thing that I read about a few years ago but they are all nevertheless very interesting suggestions.
Thank you, Mattca33, very much for your suggestion of BPC-157 which on paper at least seems to be the most interesting.
Another drug that looks helpful for preventing scars & scaring:
The compound losartan cream inhibits scar formation via TGF-β/Smad pathway
The role of angiotensin receptor blocker in wound healing and cutaneous fibrosis has become a hotspot in recent years. We have developed a losartan cream that is comparable to triamcinolone ointment in inhibiting scarring. Considering the effects of chitosan and asiaticoside on wound healing and scarring, we added them to the losartan cream this time and improved the formula, expecting to get a better anti-scarring effect. The effects of creams were investigated on mouse scar model with triamcinolone ointment, onion extract gel, and commercial asiaticoside cream set as positive controls. A preliminary exploration of the mechanism involved in TGF-β/Smad pathway was performed in vivo and in vitro. With all results of anti-scarring, the compound losartan cream (containing chitosan, asiaticoside, and losartan) shows the best effect, followed by the chitosan asiaticoside cream. The treatment of the compound losartan cream inhibited expression of TGF-β1, collagen, and Smads, and decreased phosphorylation of Smad in vivo. These inhibitory effects were also confirmed in vitro. Our findings indicated that the compound losartan cream could inhibit scarring via TGF-β/Smad pathway. This cream might be an effective option for scar treatment.
