What Research Is Being Conducted on Knee Problems?

What Research Is Being Conducted on Knee Problems?
Studies of the various forms of arthritis are helping doctors
better understand these diseases and develop treatments to
stop or slow their progression and damage to joints, including
the knees.
Studies are also underway to discover and/or develop safer
and more effective pain relief, particularly for osteoarthritis
of the knee. In recent years, the nutritional supplement pair
glucosamine and chondroitin has shown some potential for
reducing the pain of osteoarthritis, though no conclusive
proof has emerged to date. Both of these nutrients are
found in small quantities in food and are components of
normal cartilage.
The recently concluded Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis
Intervention Trial (GAIT), which was co-sponsored by
the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases, assessed the effectiveness and
safety of these supplements, when taken together or separately.
The trial found that the combination of glucosamine and
chondroitin sulfate did not provide significant relief from
osteoarthritis pain among all participants. However, a smaller
subgroup of study participants with moderate-to-severe pain
showed significant relief with the combined supplements.
The 4-year trial was conducted at 16 sites across the United
States. The results were published in the Feb. 23, 2006 edition
of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Scientists continue to experiment with procedures that may
help replace lost or damaged joint cartilage. One procedure
that has met with success involves growing a person’s own
cartilage cells in a dish and then grafting the new cartilage
onto damaged areas of the joint. While the procedure has
been successful in repairing cartilage injuries at the end of the
femur, at present it is not recommended for arthritis-related
damage, and its potential use in arthritis is still uncertain.
Other areas of research involve trying to better understand
how and why joint injuries occur and the measures that
should be taken to prevent them; investigating the role of
exercise in protecting the knee; and developing less invasive
surgeries and better joint prostheses.
In December 2003, NIAMS and other groups at the National
Institutes of Health sponsored the Consensus Development
Conference on Primary Total Knee Replacement. The conference
findings underscored the value of knee replacements
for end-stage arthritis, and identified avenues for further
research