Arthritis

Posted on Arthritis, Pain Management

Data science to help find the most appropriate rehabilitation methods for arthritis patients

Physiotherapy exercise


University of Jyväskylä Stock Image. CREDIT Photo: Jouni Kallio.

Arthritis is the most common cause of chronic pain and disability in the world. While no good structure modifying drugs are available to prevent or treat osteoarthritis, various forms of therapeutic exercise have been shown to be useful in relieving pain and improving physical functionality. A recent study uses data science and mathematical models to find the most suitable rehabilitation method for each patient.

A novel method, developed in collaboration between the Faculty of Information Technology and the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, supports healthcare professionals in comparing and choosing the most preferred type of exercise based on a osteoarthritis patient’s personalized needs.

“The research will help us move towards more personalized treatment and therapy recommendations. Our method can help healthcare professionals to find the most appropriate rehabilitation method for each patient, which best meets the patient’s needs,” says Professor Kaisa Miettinen from the University of Jyväskylä.

Osteoarthritis is the most usual form of arthritis and a leading source of chronic pain and disability worldwide. Knee osteoarthritis causes a heavy burden to the population, as pain and stiffness in this large weight-bearing joint often lead to significant disability requiring surgical interventions.

Various exercise therapy modalities have shown their effectiveness in pain reduction, disability improvement, and enhancing the quality of life.

“There are slight differences in the effectiveness between different exercise therapy modalities, but in practice the choice of treatment is also influenced by, for example, the length and costs of treatment. Previously, there has not been tool available to support clinical decision-making that would seek the most suitable alternative for an individual patient,” Miettinen says.

This study is the first application of multiobjective optimization methods to support decision-making and treatment analysis in knee osteoarthritis that can take into account multiple and conflicting treatment goals.

“The novelty in the current results can be counted as the new wave of digitalization and decision analytics that connect researchers from different disciplines to make the best use of data and improve traditional methods to select intervention types that should be most beneficial and cost-effective for each patient,” says Miettinen, summing up the benefits of the study.

Posted on Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis

A unique study finds that tick saliva may offer a path to new therapies for inflammatory diseases

Molecular structure of Tick Evasin


Molecular structure of a tick evasin interacting with a human chemokine. This interaction blocks the chemokine from stimulating an inflammatory response. CREDIT (C) Ram Bhusal

A recent study by Monash University has found that proteins found naturally in tick saliva, called evasins, can be modified to block the activity of important proteins in human inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, asthma and multiple sclerosis.

The study, conducted at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, showed it was possible to modify evasins so that they bind to the exact group of disease-promoting human proteins (chemokines), helping to suppress inflammation.  

This new discovery opens the door to the development of much needed new therapies for inflammatory diseases.

The findings have now been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

Inflammatory diseases, such as atherosclerosis, arthritis, psoriasis, asthma and multiple sclerosis, all involve the same underlying phenomenon in which the body’s white blood cells attack certain tissues. The white blood cells are attracted to these tissues by a class of proteins (chemokines) that are produced in the affected tissues (e.g. blood vessel wall in atherosclerosis, joints in arthritis). By targeting chemokines, evasins block the movement of white blood cells and the resulting tissue damage. 

Typically, each tick species secretes a cocktail of evasins, thereby accomplishing broad-spectrum suppression of the host inflammatory response, presumably enabling the tick to feed for extended periods while not alerting the host to the tick’s presence.

However, some chemokines are involved in inflammatory diseases while others are needed for the body’s normal immune function. Therefore, for therapeutic applications, it is essential to modify the evasins so they only target the disease-causing chemokines. 

Co-lead author Professor Martin Stone says the study has identified the structural basis of chemokine recognition and establishes a foundation for engineering evasins.

“We’ve shown that it is possible to engineer an evasin with superior ability, giving us a novel structural model by which proteins can achieve binding selectivity,” said Professor Stone.

Dr Ram Bhusal, who co-leads the project, says: “To date, there are no anti-inflammatory therapeutics targeting the chemokine system, which makes this work of paramount significance as it opens up a whole new avenue for anti-inflammatory research. However, future work is still needed to ensure that these biomolecules avoid off-target effects.”

Posted on Arthritis

Please read if you have pain and/or inflammation- Turmeric (Curcumin) | New Research Is Game Changing!

Turmeric (Curcumin) | New Research Is Game Changing! - YouTube


Curcumin, which is the active ingredient from turmeric, has been used for 1000s of years and is heralded as a powerful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. So what do the human clinical trials show? The data has convinced me to consider using curcumin for patients with osteoarthritis.



Posted on Arthritis, autoimmune conditions, Fibromyalgia, Pain

Anti inflammatory diet for chronic inflammation, chronic pain and arthritis

Best SLEEP POSITION for people with PAIN - YouTube


In this video, Doctor Andrea Furlan explains that there is a relationship between what we eat and pain. Chronic inflammation may lead to chronic pain, and there are nutrients in our Western diet that predispose to more inflammation. People with autoimmune diseases are prone to more inflammation because their immune system is attacking their own cells using inflammation. We don’t know if fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disease or not, but people with fibromyalgia have more inflammatory markers than people without fibromyalgia. Changing their diet has a great impact on chronic inflammation. Doctor Furlan explains strategies to change eating habits and how to incorporate an anti-inflammatory diet:

Posted on Arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis

COVAX – Covid-19 Vaccines and Rheumatic Conditions

Vaccination
Vaccination


COVID-19 is the disease caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Since it emerged at the end of 2019, the virus has caused a global pandemic. In February 2021, EULAR, the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, launched COVAX – a physician-reported registry to collect information about COVID vaccination in people with both inflammatory and non-inflammatory RMDs. Rheumatologists in EULAR-affiliated countries were asked to report as many cases as possible of people with RMDs who had received a COVID vaccine, whether or not they had experienced side effects.

From February to July 2021, information was collected for 5,121 people with different types of RMD who had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. The most common inflammatory RMDs were rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. The most common non-inflammatory RMDs were osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Among people with inflammatory RMDs, 54% were taking a conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (csDMARD), 42% were on biological DMARDs (bDMARDs), and 35% were taking immunosuppressant medicines for their RMD (e.g., glucocorticoids, mycophenolate, azathioprine).

The results from COVAX show that the majority of people with inflammatory RMDs tolerate their COVID vaccine well – with no difference in safety profile to that seen in the general population or people with non-inflammatory RMDs. The most common side effects were short-lived reactions to the injection. One of the reasons for asking additional safety questions in people with inflammatory RMDs is the concern that the vaccine could cause a disease flare. In this study, only 4.4% of people experienced a flare after having their COVID vaccine, and only 0.6% were classed as severe. The majority of people (over 98%) were able to continue on their normal medication with no changes. The study also found there was a low rate of COVID-19 infections in people with RMDs once they were fully vaccinated.

These are valuable findings which will support discussions about the safety and benefit/risk ratio of COVID vaccination for people with RMDs. The information will also be useful for the development of new and updated recommendations.