The testing of a stem cell therapy on patients for the first time in the UK could benefit people affected by osteoarthritis.
Patients could avoid the need for joint replacement surgery in the future if the year-long trial is successful.
The therapy could pave the way for new treatments to help sufferers avoid knee and hip replacements.
Eight million people across the country are affected by the condition each year - only one million of whom visit their doctor.
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.
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:http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/, will use stem cells extracted from bone marrow to repair worn knee cartilage.
In the trial, mesenchymal stem cells will be removed from the bone marrow using keyhole surgery and grown in the laboratory for three weeks.
They will then be implanted into the area of damage in the hope of forming new cartilage over a period of several months.
Patients will also be treated with cultured cartilage cells called chondocytes - more mature cells that are already used to repair small areas of joint damage, but not osteoarthritis.
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.
Age UK charity also offers services such as Health Care for the Elderly:http://www.ageuk.org.uk/ and Travel Insurance Medical Condition:http://www.ageuk.org.uk/buy/age-uk-travel-insurance/.
Article Directory : http://www.articlecube.com
