Arthritis and Genetics

The Telegraph reports potentially significant news on the genetic causes of arthritis:

A set of genes that can increase the risk of arthritis by up to 20 per cent have been identified by scientists who say the discovery could open the door to new treatments.

The largest ever study into the genetics of osteoarthritis has found eight new genes linked to the condition in what is being described as a ‘major breakthrough’.

“Osteoarthritis is one the most common conditions affecting adults and is responsible for causing much pain and suffering for a large proportion of the population. Unfortunately, this is becoming a larger health problem as we live longer. We are only now just beginning to identify the genetic and lifestyle factors involved in OA and work out how they interact to allow the disease to develop. Only by doing this will we be able to develop treatments to tackle the disease at an early stage and avoid surgical replacements of joints. This landmark study, supported by the Alzheimer’s Research UK, has brought together the major research groups working on OA in collaboration, rather than being in competition. This important study opens up a number of exciting new avenues for tackling this common condition.”

Arthritis Research UK has been funding some excellent research of late, and a Q&A about this project, known as arcOGEN, can be found here. “This study has identified eight new genes, and has provided us with new information on the genetic causes of OA,” it reads: there’s more research where this came from, then …