Osteoarthritic hip
and knee joints should be given separate medical approaches in the future.
That is the main conclusion from a study conducted by a team of scientist
working at Duke University Medical Center. The work found that knee joints are
in a constant state of repair, while hip joints continue to
deteriorate.
"If you could capitalise on that and turn off the degradative processing
you might have some good effects," said Virginia Kraus, professor of
Rheumatology and Immunology at the educational establishment.
She explained that a single drug may be able to stop the breakdown process in the
knee, while a "cocktail" would be needed to promote new growth in the
hip joint.
The team will now investigate the level of automatic repair in the ankle joint.
According to Arthritis Research UK, 2.4 per cent of the British population
suffer from osteoarthritis.
© Adfero Ltd
Knee replacement surgery news : 12 February 2012
