To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Osteoarthritis Caused By Imbalance In Joint Repair Processes URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/35116.htm Doctor's Guide August 15, 1997
LONDON -- August 15, 1997 -- Osteoarthritis, the most common form of joint disease, has long been considered the result of aging and wear and tear. But in an update on osteoarthritis in this week's The Lancet, researchers report that osteoarthritis now appears to be a much more complicated disorder, involving an imbalance in the processes that normally repair and maintain our joints.
The researchers, Dr. Paul Creamer and Professor Marc Hochberg of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, write that it may be possible to develop treatments that can restore the normal balance of these processes and, perhaps, halt or even reverse the damage done by osteoarthritis.
For example, scientists have found that joints affected by osteoarthritis have high concentrations of several cartilage-degrading enzymes, Creamer and Hochberg write. It may be possible, therefore, to develop drugs to inhibit these enzymes and halt their destructive effects.
Researchers have also identified a number of molecules called growth factors which normally stimulate cells within the joint to form new cartilage. One such hormone, called insulin-like growth factor 1 has been found to protect against the development of osteoarthritis in animals. Whether this growth factor or other growth factors that have been identified in joints could be used to safely treat humans is not yet known.
Currently, however, there are no treatments that can significantly modify the course of the osteoarthritis, Creamer and Hochberg write. Therefore the goal of therapy is to reduce arthritic joint pain and help alleviate any disability the disease may cause with medication and physical and occupational therapy. For people for whom these measures fail, it is often possible to replace their diseased joints with artificial ones, greatly improving their quality of life. But as our understanding of the processes behind osteoarthritis improves, new treatments are likely to become available, Creamer and Hochberg say. "Hopefully, these advances will alter the prognosis and improve the quality of life for patients with osteoarthritis in the coming century." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.