Originally published June 26 2005
Gene therapy may be an answer to arthritis, researchers say
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Nine women who had their knuckles injected with genetically modified cells five years ago have shown no adverse effects to the treatment, according to US News, but all participants had their joints replaced, making it impossible to say whether any relief was from the gene therapy.
Fist first, nine women are leading the way to a new generation of arthritis treatments.
Their knuckles all received injections of genetically modified cells, designed to fight the inflammation in these degenerating joints.
Today, researchers are pleased to report that the gene therapy is above all safe.
Unlike other gene therapy trials, in which patients developed diseases such as leukemia, this one had no adverse events.
And the added gene, which blocks a chemical that causes joint irritation and swelling, flourished within joint cells, scientists reported in the June 6, 2005, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The women were all sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that afflicts just over 2 million Americans.
Their knuckles were all in bad enough shape that they were scheduled for joint replacement.
And because the joints were replaced, researchers don't know if the transplanted genes would have halted the disease.
What they do know is that the genes behaved as predicted, paving the way for research in which gene therapy can be tested to see if it saves the joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis patients currently must make do with a range of anti-inflammatory drugs, some of which can damage other organs in the long run.
And surgery is the only other option for patients in whom the drugs don't work.
Gene therapy would be a potent addition to the anti-arthritis arsenal.
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