Dr. Steve Yoon weighs in on new early-detection research for osteoarthritis.
Article Link: Osteoarthritis: Blood test may spot signs 8 years early (medicalnewstoday.com)
Osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease, can affect almost all joints. When someone develops OA, the protective tissues in their joints break down, which causes pain.
While there is no cure for OA, researchers are looking for enhanced treatment and early detection of the disease. Researchers from Duke University, North Carolina, recently studied blood serum from a group of women to see if they could identify blood biomarkers that indicate the development of the disease.
The researchers found serum biomarkers that they say can accurately serve as a predictor for OA in the knee and can predict it well before the disease shows up on X-rays.
How osteoarthritis is detected.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 20% of adults in the U.S. have arthritis, and OA is the most common form.
OA occurs when cartilage and other tissue in the joints begins degrading. As a result, there is limited protection between the bones, which causes them to rub together and cause pain.
The researchers used a multiple reaction monitoring assay of 165 peptides to test the serum samples from years 2 and 6 of the study. From that set, they were able to narrow it down to as few as six biomarkers that consistently predicted OA across all analyses.
When using these biomarkers, the scientists accurately predicted the development of OA as early as 8 years before the condition showed up on X-ray imaging.
Steve Yoon, MD, a board-certified physiatrist and director of Clinical Regenerative Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, spoke with MNT about the study.
“Because osteoarthritis is incurable, any ability to predict the occurrence of this disease early in an individual could possibly help the future quality of lives for millions of people worldwide,” said Yoon.
While Yoon is optimistic about the study findings, he pointed out that this type of test will not be put into use immediately.
“Tests like these are promising but are not likely going to be available for public use for a while,” Yoon cautioned. “One of the best ways to approach life is to continue engaging in healthy living – optimizing diet and moderate exercise has been linked in many scientific studies to help prevent and positively affect many diseases.”
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