Over 550 Clinical Trials Are Working on New Arthritis Therapies. Will Any of Them Find a Cure?

On the 12^th of October which is World Arthritis Day, we at FindMeCure wanted to raise awareness about the disease since early diagnosis is crucial for alleviating symptoms and getting better access to treatments. A number of open clinical trials our search engine comes up with for Arthritis is unbelievable – there are 556 worldwide studying all kinds of treatments from invasive interventions to adaptive strategies, and one of this trials may turn out to be the promising treatment of the (very near) future.

But wait a second – do you even know what Arthritis is? If you’re anything like me a few years ago, you only have vague knowledge about all those conditions that have to do with the skeletal system. So, let’s make everything clear and simple. In a nutshell, Arthritis is inflammation of the joints. However, there are so many different types of Arthritis and related conditions that it’s kind of an ambiguous umbrella term. The two most common types of Arthritis are Osteoarthritis, also called Degenerative Arthritis, and Inflammatory Arthritis, which includes Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis.

Degenerative Arthritis

In the first case, the cartilage tissue “wrapped” around the ends of the two opposing bones of a joint gets thinner and thinner until the bones rub against one another – which causes pain but also limited motor function and sometimes even visible alterations in the way the joints look (you can probably think of the way your gramma’s hands looked all knobby). Osteoarthritis’ symptoms worsen with age and joint replacement may be necessary if mobility is severely limited. Family history can be a risk factor but it’s not fate – there’s still a lot that can be done for prevention, as with most anything else weight and physical activity play a huge role. When symptoms are mild to moderate, muscles around the affected joint can provide additional support, so strengthening them could be the difference between relying on supportive devices and managing day-to-day tasks on your own.

Inflammatory Arthritis

Inflammatory Arthritis, on the other hand, is autoimmune. It’s when a person’s natural inflammatory response of the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints (or even other internal organs). It is generally believed that the cause of this kind of Arthritis is a mixture of genetic and environmental factors – for example, smoking can be a huge risk factor for Rheumatoid Arthritis in people with certain genes. Early diagnosis is can slow down the damaging effects of the disease or even prevent permanent joint damage – that’s why getting treatment as soon as possible is crucial and so, awareness about this type of Arthritis can be joint-saving.

Other types

There are other types of Arthritis depending on what triggers the inflammation of the joints: infectious (triggered by bacteria, a virus or fungus… it can even be caused by STDs) and metabolic (caused by the accumulation of too much uric acid, a substance which in a healthy organism is used in the metabolic process), but Osteoarthritis and Inflammatory Arthritis are the most common types.

And finally, here are some more facts about Arthritis:

• 1 in 5 adults is diagnosed with Arthritis and 1 in 250 children suffer from it or another rheumatic condition.
• By current estimations, the number of people expected to have  in 2040 is approximately 78 million.
• Although it can affect anyone, no matter what age or gender, it’s most common among women (especially the Rheumatoid kind) and the risk increases with age.
• Nearly half of the adults over the age of 65 have Arthritis.
• In the US it’s among the leading causes of disability.
• Symptoms include joint pain, swelling, decreased movement range and stiffness.
• Now it is generally believed that damage to the bones begins within the first 2 years of the disease’s development so early diagnosis is of utmost importance for preserving the bone shape and function.

How to get closer to future treatments? 

In conclusion, arthritis is an unforgiving condition. We must think of it as not only causing physical pain and visible malformations of the body. For many people аrthritis impacts dramatically their quality of life, ability to work and mental health state.

Because of the scope and the complexity of this condition, many pharmaceutical companies are investing in clinical trials to develop better treatments and hopefully – a permanent cure.

The treatments we have now (more on them in the next blog posts!) were discovered 10 or more years ago. The difference is that the therapies we will have in 10 years from now are actually available today. In clinical trials.

FindMeCure is dedicated to providing an easier and faster access to all these solutions we initially thought that belonged to the future. What we are building now will get us all a mile closer to the innovative RA therapies that are now in clinical trials. Subscribe to this blog to stay tuned for what’s coming up!

In the meantime, you can search for open clinical trials near you in the search field below.

There are over 550 clinical trials for arthritis in various locations around the world. Which one of them will be the ultimate cure? We wish we had an answer to this question.

However, our team finds answers to every other question related to clinical trials, so do not hesitate to message us in the live chat!

– Article by Nelly Katsarova