ArthritisDigest2013
Calcium + vitamin D reduces vertebral fracture, says large study
Taking supplements of calcium and vitamin D led to a large group of women experiencing less lower vertebral fracture and less in situ breast caner, say a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health.
The data comes from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) plus Vitamin D Supplement Trial. About 30,000 postmenopausal women were tracked for nearly five years after the seven-year period of calcium plus vitamin D supplementation ended. Continue reading
One-step cartilage repair for knee injuries
Prof Daniel Saris led the pioneering cartilage treatment
The world’s first one-step repair operation for damaged knee cartilage is on the menu at a University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. The procedure involves removing cartilage cells from the damaged knee and mixing them with specially selected donor stem cells. This cell mixture is then applied to the damaged area in the knee during the same operation.
It means that only one procedure is required instead of the usual two operations at an interval of three months. And costs could fall by as much as 75%. Continue reading
Postcode lottery for hip fracture hospital care
The quality of NHS care provided to people with hip fracture varies around the country and some areas are underperforming, says data from the National Hip Fracture Audit for 2013.
Every year over 60,000 elderly people are admitted to wards in England because of a hip fracture, and about 5,000 die within 30 days.
In the best performing hospitals 2% of people die within a month, compared to 13% of people in the lowest-ranking hospitals, reveal the figures from the British Orthopaedic Association and the British Geriatrics Society. Continue reading
Genetics means some women on bisphosphonates are more likely to fracture
A small percentage of older women who take bisphosphonates for osteoporosis are more likely to suffer a type of fracture in their femur (upper leg bone). Now a new study on 101 deceased baboons explains that this could be because of genetic variation.
Baboons are very similar to humans and develop some of the same age-related diseases. Their bones were examined under a microscope (they had died for reasons unrelated to the research project). Differences were found in bone remodelling (when mature bone tissue is removed from the skeleton so that new tissue can be added) that were because of inherited differences in the animals. Continue reading
“Glue molecule” is new focus of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers
A molecule that helps cells stick together is significantly over-produced in two very different diseases — rheumatoid arthritis and a variety of cancers, including breast and brain tumours, concludes a new study published in Oncotarget. The scientists who made the discovery also found candidate drugs to inhibit the molecule, cadherin-11, one of which is already in a clinical trial. Continue reading
