Researchers at a US University have developed a material to improve joint health for people with injuries or degenerative conditions.Cartilage plays an essential role in the function of our joints and in long term joint health. Within our joints, cartilage covers and protects the ends of bones, providing a cushioning surface to protect against impacts, and to prevent bones from rubbing against each other.
But while much of our body is able to repair itself after an injury, cartilage has very little regenerative capacity. This means that it is much less capable of healing itself compared to our bones, muscles or skin.
New research may one day change that.
Promising new research
Researchers from Northwestern University in the United States have recently developed a goo-like material that could help repair joint cartilage. As part of their experiment, the researchers applied the material to sheep with damaged cartilage.
Sheep, like humans, have cartilage that cannot easily repair itself. They also experience similar weight and impact on their joints, relative to their size. This makes them more useful for research involving joint health compared to a lot of other animals, because the findings can more accurately predict how different treatments may work in humans.
Within just six months, the sheep’s joints had begun to repair themselves and showed evidence of newly grown, high-quality cartilage.
Current treatments to repair cartilage in knee joints often involve ‘microfracture surgery’. During this process, tiny fractures are made in the bone below a layer of cartilage. As the bone heals from these tiny fractures, it also produces cells that build additional cartilage and repair damage in the joint.
However, the cartilage regenerated through this process can often be a different type of cartilage than that found in our joints naturally, which can be less flexible and durable than our original joint tissue.
By repairing and regenerating the same type of cartilage that normally exists in our joints, the new material developed by the Researchers at Northwestern could provide a better alternative to the current approach.
Good news for older people may be on the way
Joint health can be a major concern for older people, as cartilage in joints can become thinner with age or lack of use. Serious injuries can also cause damage to cartilage, and because cartilage cannot easily repair itself, many joint injuries can permanently weaken the joint or require surgery or intervention.
Osteoarthritis, a condition that degrades the cushioning layer of cartilage between joints and causes bones to rub together and become inflamed, is also more common among older people, especially post-menopausal women.
If we are able to help cartilage repair itself, then this could significantly improve the long-term wellbeing of people who suffer from joint pain and conditions that affect joints.
Cartilage plays an essential role in the function of our joints and in long term joint health. Within our joints, cartilage covers and protects the ends of bones, providing a cushioning surface to protect against impacts, and to prevent bones from rubbing against each other.
But while much of our body is able to repair itself after an injury, cartilage has very little regenerative capacity. This means that it is much less capable of healing itself compared to our bones, muscles or skin.
New research may one day change that.
Promising new research
Researchers from Northwestern University in the United States have recently developed a goo-like material that could help repair joint cartilage. As part of their experiment, the researchers applied the material to sheep with damaged cartilage.
Sheep, like humans, have cartilage that cannot easily repair itself. They also experience similar weight and impact on their joints, relative to their size. This makes them more useful for research involving joint health compared to a lot of other animals, because the findings can more accurately predict how different treatments may work in humans.
Within just six months, the sheep’s joints had begun to repair themselves and showed evidence of newly grown, high-quality cartilage.
Current treatments to repair cartilage in knee joints often involve ‘microfracture surgery’. During this process, tiny fractures are made in the bone below a layer of cartilage. As the bone heals from these tiny fractures, it also produces cells that build additional cartilage and repair damage in the joint.
However, the cartilage regenerated through this process can often be a different type of cartilage than that found in our joints naturally, which can be less flexible and durable than our original joint tissue.
By repairing and regenerating the same type of cartilage that normally exists in our joints, the new material developed by the Researchers at Northwestern could provide a better alternative to the current approach.
Good news for older people may be on the way
Joint health can be a major concern for older people, as cartilage in joints can become thinner with age or lack of use. Serious injuries can also cause damage to cartilage, and because cartilage cannot easily repair itself, many joint injuries can permanently weaken the joint or require surgery or intervention.
Osteoarthritis, a condition that degrades the cushioning layer of cartilage between joints and causes bones to rub together and become inflamed, is also more common among older people, especially post-menopausal women.
If we are able to help cartilage repair itself, then this could significantly improve the long-term wellbeing of people who suffer from joint pain and conditions that affect joints.
