Knee arthritis treatment has always focussed on relieving knee joint inflammation.
Now, a team of researchers from Victoria University, La Trobe University, Warringal Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital found muscle inflammation outside the joint in those suffering knee osteoarthritis, meaning that treatment may need changing.
Lead researcher Dr Itamar Levinger at Victoria University said that muscle inflammation was a body's natural reaction to injury or infection but lead to muscle wastage when prolonged. For those with knee arthritis this muscle wastage can result in less capacity to perform daily activities.
"With the better understanding of changes in muscle function coming out of this study we will be able to target exercise and drug therapy more effectively to keep this population active and increase their quality of life for longer," Dr Levinger said in a university release.
The Arthritis Australia sponsored project based on previous findings, published in the 'Arthritis and Rheumatism' journal, will now test healthy 55 to 80-year-olds as a control group to see how the muscle function behaves in those without knee osteoarthritis. PTI MOT
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