As a child, I was curious and confused about the surname ‘Eitis’ to which my parents would refer; one whose first name appeared to be ‘Arthur’. Much later, I realised they were referring to ‘arthritis’, a condition known and experienced all too widely. If you’re beyond 60 years of age, you will either suffer from it or know peers – relatives or friends of a similar age – who are having to deal with it. And if you’re below 60, then be ready for when your turn may come.
Arthritis is not a nice condition to have because, firstly, it causes pain; and secondly, the condition is invisible, thus attracting little or no sympathy. Now this is not a doctor speaking. It is someone who has learnt that in the USA, something exciting is now happening. Read on.
There are two broad types of arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an auto-immune condition where the immune system attacks – yes attacks linings in the joints and gives rise to inflammation and pain, as well as systemic damage. Osteoarthritis (OA) is basically wear-and-tear of the joints, where the cartilage that separates them breaks down and eventually disappears. That’s when your joints start rubbing against each other, causing pain and inflammation. Cartilage works like the oil that stops the moving parts in a car engine from rubbing directly against each other and getting damaged in doing so. RA often starts in small joints (hands and feet), while OA includes all weight-bearing joints (knees, hips and feet).There are an estimated 250 to 350 joints in the body. It seems strange that there is no precise number. There are 33 joints in each foot. Plenty for ‘Arthur Eitis’ to choose from.
Today, we stick to osteoarthritis (OA). Let’s accept the fact that in later years, we start wearing out. Thus, for so many, OA is almost inevitable, though usually after a fair number of decades of life. Activity itself does not accelerate OA. On the contrary, in reasonable and consistent conditions, activity actually protects joints. But multi-activity and, especially high-impact, contact and joint use sports and most of us have done a fair bit of those - do give rise to joint damage and cartilage deterioration (sorry, detoriation) and the arrival of OA. Live now, pay later.
There are many people out there with pain in the use of joints who either accept it as inevitable or do not have access to the kind of medical care which can provide diagnosis and then remedial or palliative care. Hang on, did I just use the word ‘remedial’? There is no remedy for osteoarthritis other than very complex surgery with a long recovery period, cell therapy and bio-engineering. When OA was diagnosed in the feet, I asked the specialist: “Is there anything I can take to get rid of it?” Answer: “No.” “What, nothing?” Answer: “Well, you can take painkillers.” “Whaat! For the rest of my life?” Surgery was not provided as an option; strange indeed. Yet, even then, there’s no cartilage to ‘get the engine running smoothly’.There are, of course, the minimal cost measures you can take for achieving a degree of palliative effect. I add these for all today, regardless of age, because if the reader is not experiencing joint pain, they will know someone who does have it. You can help. For the feet, as well as fitting shoe inserts, you can start stretching the arches and picking up towels (preferably your own) with the toes. For thumbs and elbows, there are braces. For knee pain, the measures which do have some impact are those that strengthen the muscles above and below the knee – reduced strain, less pain. Apart from the self-evident exercises of stretching, squatting and other rather boring measures, there is still cycling and swimming; both hugely beneficial, provided you don’t fall off or forget to surface, respectively. But still no cartilage.
Now we get to the ‘exciting’ bit (bad luck if you got bored and gave up in favour of an adjacent page for some depressing corruption case, never to be prosecuted). In the USA, the Federal Agency has unveiled imminent osteoarthritis remedies. With special funding, three teams of researchers – from Duke University, University of Colorado and Columbia University - have regrown bone and cartilage, even entire knees, in animal studies. Human trials are not far off. That’s pretty mind-blowing for 32 million Americans who suffer from osteoarthritis and probably 200 million in the rest of the world.
Testing on human patients will start within 18 months and although this research has focused on knee osteoarthritis it will eventually be applied to other joints. Basically, the teams have developed injections or infusions that regrow bone and cartilage. Yes, bone and cartilage! One of the teams has discovered how to regrow an entire knee, using an artificial joint made of a 3D printed ‘scaffolding’ filled with bone and cartilage cells. That truly amazing remedy for osteoarthritis will put big smiles on many faces. Firstly, with the animals and then it will brighten human lives too. With the inevitable question arising from this incredible innovation – what’s next?
As a child, I was curious and confused about the surname ‘Eitis’ to which my parents would refer; one whose first name appeared to be ‘Arthur’.