£1.8million study launched to improve knee-osteoarthritis symptoms
Press release, 8 July 2010
Researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Salford are to carry out a series of clinical trials in 300 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
The £1.8m study, funded by medical research charity Arthritis Research UK, will take five years and aims to reduce the pain experienced by patients and improve their disability.
Osteoarthritis is a painful condition that causes progressive breakdown of articular cartilage and bone, leading to joint failure. Treatment options are limited to painkillers and ultimately joint-replacement surgery.
The Manchester and Salford teams, led by world-renowned osteoarthritis expert David Felson, an honorary professor at Manchester, plan to take a new approach to treating the condition.
“Unlike many researchers who believe that repairing cartilage is the most important aspect of treating osteoarthritis successfully, we believe treatments targeting the underlying causes, such as correcting patients’ gait and posture, may be more effective in relieving pain,” said Professor Felson, who is also based in Boston, US.
“We believe this new approach will have a significant impact on the way this common joint condition is treated and will result in practical, effective treatment for the six million people affected by this debilitating condition in the UK.”
To test this theory, the multi-disciplinary research team will study the effectiveness of three types of treatment on groups of local people: special shoes and insoles, knee braces and steroid injections. They will use the latest imaging techniques and sophisticated computer tools to measure outcomes.
People will be recruited from Manchester and Salford and will attend sessions at either the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility in Manchester, Salford University Gate Laboratory or Salford Royal Hospital.
Fellow researcher Dr Michael Callaghan added: “We hope these trials will make a real difference to the vast number of people suffering from painful knee osteoarthritis.
“We think these treatments will be attractive options to GPs, who often have little practical advice to offer osteoarthritis patients, other than weight loss, analgesia and exercise.”
Ends
Notes for editors
The trial is open to people in the Manchester and Salford areas with osteoarthritis of the knee. For further details about the study, please call the team on +44 (0)161 306 0545/7 or visit the Research in OsteoArthritis Manchester (ROAM) website.
Media enquiries
For further media enquiries contact:
Aeron Haworth
Media Relations
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester
Tel: +44 (0)161 275 8383
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk