Researchers are developing new ways to manage OA and gaining insight into its causes.
By Susan Bernstein
Humans have dealt with the pain, stiffness and swelling of osteoarthritis, or OA, for ages. Yet researchers still study the disease vigorously with the goals of finding more about what causes OA, what steps may help people prevent OA and what new treatments may alleviate its symptoms and halt joint damage. In recent months, news on OA treatment developments and insight into the disease’s possible causes, and what may prevent it, have emerged.
Most important, researchers now have a deeper understanding of OA, a concept called patho-mechanics, and this knowledge affects OA treatment development. At the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) State-of-the-Art Symposium held in April 2010 in Chicago, lecturers noted OA must be viewed as a combination of how your body’s mechanics work, how your genes may have set you up to develop OA, and outside factors that can affect your bone, cartilage and various tissues and lead to the disease.
The November 2010 Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in Atlanta featured reports from a number of researchers who are digging deeper in OA’s mysteries and its possible treatment.