Gene Therapy Could Treat Osteoarthritis And Eliminate The Need For Knee Replacement Surgery

Researchers feel that a breakthrough has been made in treating osteoarthritis with gene therapy and human clinical trials can now proceed

Monday, January 28, 2019 - Millions of baby boomers are now well into their senior years and more and more of them are experiencing osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a crippling and chronic pain that many patients report as the most severe pain they have ever experienced. Knee arthritis is expected to be a leading malady affecting seniors over the next decade or two and researchers are trying to find new and effective ways to treat this condition. According to the renowned online publication, Science Daily, "Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent musculoskeletal disease and a leading cause of disability worldwide costing economies billions of dollars worldwide." National DePuy knee replacement lawyers representing people with knee replacement problems can help answer questions about filing a DePuy lawsuit claim.

There are several ways osteoarthritis can develop in the human knee. A common cause is poor genes. According to Arthritis.org, a person can be born with a gene for poor collagen production resulting in weakened knee cartilage. Poor genes could be the cause of osteoarthritis in younger people that have not suffered a knee injury. Another common cause of OA is being overweight, putting more pressure on the knee joint and causing the knee cushions to wear away faster. The most notable cause of osteoarthritis is due to injury or normal wear and tear on the knee joint. A knee injury that caused a tear in the ligaments or cartilage could cause the knee to grind down the protective membranes that cushion the knee causing pain. Osteoarthritis mostly affects senior citizens whose populations have exploded over the last decade.

In the past, losing weight, taking pain medications, and knee replacement surgery was considered the best options for a knee patient. Scientific advancements have opened the door for new and exciting arthritis treatments such as gene and stem cell therapy. Researchers at Baylor University are encouraged that gene therapy can be a reality in the next few years and could potentially eliminate the need for knee replacements. "If this treatment decreases pain and inflammation and preserves the joint, there is the potential to both improve symptoms and delay or reduce the need for joint replacement surgery." Researchers have stated that they are encouraged by the results of applying gene therapy in mice and that they have seen "significant improvement in pain parameters and cartilage preservation in the face of osteoarthritis stimulated by injury." The same positive results were achieved when gene therapy was applied to animals with larger knee joints simulating humans and such test have paved the way to soon to be conducted human clinical trials.

Eliminating the need for knee replacements could negatively affect the companies like DePuy Synthes that rely on sales of the DePuy Knee Replacement device for a substantial portion of their income. It should be interesting to see if this company and others fight to keep a lid on gene therapy and protect their billion dollar business.

Gene Therapy Could Treat Osteoarthritis And Eliminate The Need For Knee Replacement Surgery

Researchers feel that a breakthrough has been made in treating osteoarthritis with gene therapy and human clinical trials can now proceed

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