Arthritis

• Description
• Who is at Risk?
• Preventing Osteoarthritis

Description
The term arthritis literally means inflammation or swelling of the joints. According to the Arthritis Foundation, arthritis is a general term that is used to describe over 100 conditions that affect over 70 million people in the U.S. These conditions have the similar symptoms of pain, swelling, and stiffness of the joints and surrounding areas. The two most commonly diagnosed types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Although researchers have been searching for the cause of arthritis for decades; the cause of arthritis remains unknown.

Who is at Risk?
Of the 21 million Americans with osteoarthritis, 16 million of them are women. Because more women have arthritis than men, some scientists believe there is a hormonal component to the disease. With the exception of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis symptoms often begin after age 40. As few as 10 extra pounds of weight can translate into a higher risk for arthritis, especially in weight-bearing joints like the knees. A severe joint injury, such as a knee injury that damages cartilage, can add to the overall risk of arthritis. Ethnic background affects the risk of arthritis. For example, 25% of Caucasians carry the genetic marker for rheumatoid arthritis compared to 10% of African Americans.

Source: The Health Scout Network

Preventing Osteoarthritis
Division Head of Arthritis Research Martin Lotz, M.D., studies osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis that arises from the degeneration of cartilage in joints. Lotz studies cartilage and investigates how one can influence its growth. Joint trauma, for instance, is a little known risk factor for osteoarthritis, but there are no pharmaceuticals to limit this tissue damage.

Using models of cartilage injury, Lotz and his team have found that apoptosis, or programmed cell death, can be induced by mechanical stress in joints, and they are testing inhibitors to see whether they can decrease progress to osteoarthritis. Lab members are also looking at the stimulation of cartilage damage by chemical signals released by immune system cells and investigating whether blocking these signals represents a viable approach to preventing osteoarthritis.

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