barbara
07-12-2010, 04:47 PM
Stem cell therapy test on patients
(UKPA)
A stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis is to be tested on patients for the first time in the UK.
The year-long trial could be the first step towards radical new treatments that avoid the need for joint replacement surgery.
Osteoarthritis affects an estimated eight million people in the UK, a million of whom seek help from their doctor.
The condition is caused by progressive wear-and-tear damage to the surface of the joints, leading to stiffness and pain.
In severe cases the joints have to be replaced with artificial implants.
Each year around 60,000 hip replacements and about the same number of knee replacements are carried out in the UK, almost all of them due to osteoarthritis.
The disease accounts for most of the estimated ?5.7 billion a year economic cost to Britain of musculoskeletal conditions.
Stem cell therapy offers the hope of "rebuilding" joints, using an arthritic patient's own immune system-friendly cells. Plans are now in place for the first early patient trial in the UK of such an approach to tackling osteoarthritis.
The trial, funded by the charity Arthritis Research UK, will use stem cells extracted from bone marrow to repair worn knee cartilage.
Up to 70 people with established knee osteoarthritis will take part in the study, due to be launched at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire, before the end of this year. The trial is part of a ?500,000 five-year research programme.
Copyright ? 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
(UKPA)
A stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis is to be tested on patients for the first time in the UK.
The year-long trial could be the first step towards radical new treatments that avoid the need for joint replacement surgery.
Osteoarthritis affects an estimated eight million people in the UK, a million of whom seek help from their doctor.
The condition is caused by progressive wear-and-tear damage to the surface of the joints, leading to stiffness and pain.
In severe cases the joints have to be replaced with artificial implants.
Each year around 60,000 hip replacements and about the same number of knee replacements are carried out in the UK, almost all of them due to osteoarthritis.
The disease accounts for most of the estimated ?5.7 billion a year economic cost to Britain of musculoskeletal conditions.
Stem cell therapy offers the hope of "rebuilding" joints, using an arthritic patient's own immune system-friendly cells. Plans are now in place for the first early patient trial in the UK of such an approach to tackling osteoarthritis.
The trial, funded by the charity Arthritis Research UK, will use stem cells extracted from bone marrow to repair worn knee cartilage.
Up to 70 people with established knee osteoarthritis will take part in the study, due to be launched at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire, before the end of this year. The trial is part of a ?500,000 five-year research programme.
Copyright ? 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.