Arthritis is an inflammation of a joint, usually accompanied by pain, swelling, and stiffness, and resulting from infection, trauma, degenerative changes, metabolic disturbances, or other causes. It occurs in various forms, such as bacterial arthritis, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis.
Researchers are hoping to develop the first treatment for broken bones using a patient’s own stem cells. – Scientists are developing a revolutionary way to mend damaged bones and cartilage using a patient’s own stem cells.
Although many patients use glucosamine to treat osteoarthritis, available studies have reported inconsistent effects of glucosamine on symptoms and joint changes. In addition, previous studies have more often included patients with knee than with hip osteoarthritis. – A new, two-year, randomized, placebo-controlled trial found that glucosamine sulfate was no better than placebo in controlling hip pain, the ability to do normal activities and the progression of hip osteoarthritis. Glucosamine is a natural substance found in healthy joint cartilage.
Genentech Inc. and Biogen Idec Inc.’s cancer drug Rituxan (rituximab) reduced brain lesions in multiple sclerosis patients. – A drug therapy, using rituximab, dramatically reduced the number of inflammatory lesions that form along nerve fibers in brains of multiple sclerosis patients, revealed by researchers recently.
The research could lead to development of new drugs that turn off the immune system in patients with autoimmune diseases ? such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. – University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a new way to turn genes off in human T cells, a type of white blood cell that helps the immune system fight infections. Turning off genes, through a process known as mRNA decay, is important for regulating the body’s immune response after fighting infection.
One thousand people are to have their genomes mapped in a major effort to understand how genes influence disease. – An international research consortium announced the 1000 Genomes Project, an ambitious effort that will involve sequencing the genomes of at least a thousand people from around the world to create the most detailed and medically useful picture to date of human genetic variation.
Integration of Canada?s individual provincial and territorial health systems will support improved efficiency and effectiveness of the system. Integration will mean Canadians can readily access health services both where they live and where they travel, whether it?s across the country or around the world. – By 2020, problems with access to health services will be eradicated and registered nurses will be central to Canada’s primary care system, predicts the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) in Vision for Change a vision statement for Canada’s health system and a signature component of their 100th anniversary.
There has been much concern about the possibility of increased risk for heart attack and stroke in users of NSAID drugs, particularly COX-2 selective NSAIDs such as celecoxib. – COX-2 inhibitors like Celecoxib have come under scrutiny lately due to adverse cardiovascular side-effects stemming from COX-2 reduction. In both fruit fly and rat models, researchers reveal another adverse effect of Celecoxib; this drug can induce arrhythmia. More interestingly, this effect is independent of the COX-2 enzyme.
Osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common cause of disability among Americans. It’s a disease of age that affects more women than men on a 60-40 basis. – Research at the University of Delaware indicates that women wait longer to pursue knee-replacement surgery than men do.
UF scientists are testing the safety of experimental drug Compstatin for vision loss in macular degeneration patients. – University of Florida UF scientists are testing the safety of experimental drug Compstatin for vision loss in macular degeneration patients. In a first-of-its-kind safety research study, University of Florida researchers have injected an anti-inflammatory compound into the eye of a person with a sight-robbing disease.
University of Nottingham researchers revealed that people whose index finger is shorter than their ring finger are at higher risk of osteoarthritis. – People whose index finger is shorter than their ring finger are at higher risk of osteoarthritis, a new University of Nottingham study has found.
If adults with arthritis attend exercise program, they may expect improvements in symptoms, self-efficacy for arthritis management, and upper and lower extremity function. – Patients with arthritis tend to be less fit than their peers who don’t have this condition. Studies have shown, however, that they can safely participate in exercise programs to increase their fitness, strength and psychosocial status and that health providers recommend that arthritis patients participate in exercise.
New Tel Aviv University (TAU) research links depression to loss of the sense of smell, suggesting that the blues may have biological roots. – Can’t smell the roses? Maybe you’re depressed. Smell too much like a rose yourself? Maybe you’ve got the same problem. Scientists from Tel Aviv University recently linked depression to a biological mechanism that affects the olfactory glands. It might explain why some women, without realizing it, wear too much perfume.
