Osteoarthritis no age deterioration

The osteoarthritis research must be intensified, because new study prove that osteoarthritis has nothing to do with age-related wear and tear.

(09.09.2010) One in ten Germans complain of joint pain, five million have discomfort due to the breakdown of articular cartilage and about two million Germans suffer from acute osteoarthritis. While physicians have long assumed that osteoarthritis is caused by age-related wear and tear of articular cartilage, recent studies have shown that a clear connection with age can not be established. In most cases, joint pain is caused by one-time damage to the articular cartilage during infections, inflammations, accidents, sports injuries or metabolic disorders.

„The disease does not result from abrasion or wear. In the beginning, it is rather often a one-time damage to the articular cartilage“, explains the President of the German Society of Rheumatology (DGRh) and Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Orthopedics of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf and the Department of Orthopedics at the Hospital Bad Bramstedt, Professor Wolfgang Rüther. Based on the new findings, the rheumatologists want to intensify their research on the treatment of osteoarthritis in the next few years, because so far „We know surprisingly little about the causes of osteoarthritis“, said the Secretary General of the German Society of Rheumatology (DGRh), Prof. Ekkehard Genth. In addition, there is still no therapy that can stop cartilage degradation. Therefore, as of September 15, 2010, the experts at the 38th DGRh Congress with around 2,000 participants will discuss not only the causes but also new therapeutic approaches such as the transplantation of cartilage cells.

The President of the German Society of Rheumatology (DGRh), Professor Wolfgang Rüther, also emphasized that the degradation of articular cartilage is no age-related wear disease and that can pass from the first injury to the onset of osteoarthritis years in which the patient feels no pain. Thus, an early diagnosis, which could also serve to alleviate the symptoms of old age, is extremely difficult to date. In addition, there are no drug or surgical treatment options to counter the disease adequately. So it is the stated goal of the scientists to further intensify the research activities and to develop new therapies. The already mentioned transplantation of cartilage cells and tissue offers a first approach in this direction and has already been successful in treatment. However, the method can only be used in patients with demarcated cartilage damage. „Unfortunately, a restoration of the original tissue quality is not yet possible”, said the DGRh President Rüther and therefore calls for an even more intensive exchange across the subject boundaries. „It is important to find ways to intervene in the process of cartilage degradation in close cooperation with rheumatologists, orthopedists and scientists“, stressed the expert. As a result, current treatment approaches are essentially limited to relieving pain and maintaining joint mobility, with advanced disease requiring many people to have an artificial joint. (Fp)

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