People living with osteoarthritis often wish they could predict the future. It might be helpful to know how severe their disease might become or if joint replacement was in their future. Knowing the likelihood of severe osteoarthritis might influence treatment decisions.
But osteoarthritis, unlike other types of arthritis, has not been tied to a laboratory biomarker. There's been no way to predict its course. According to a report in the August 2009 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, researchers have found that a sialglycoprotein (vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, also referred to as VCAM-1) was significantly elevated in a group of patients who had joint replacements. VCAM-1 expression is induced by inflammatory cytokines and researchers suggest VCAM-1 may reflect active cartilage damage or an inflammatory component of osteoarthritis.
For this finding to have practical application, further studies would be needed. But this suggests that biomarkers may be discovered that would more accurately predict the severity of osteoarthritis -- more accurately than just age and weight.
Related Resources:
- Osteoarthritis Risk Factors
- Does Aging Cause Osteoarthritis?
- Overweight - A Risk Factor for OA
- What Is the Prognosis for Osteoarthritis?
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