Osteoarthritis increasingly affecting people in their 30s; personalised treatment is the key: study

Osteoarthritis OA long considered a wearandtear disease of old age is increasingly being diagnosed in patients as young as 30 years according to a review by researchers published in the journal International OrthopaedicsThe review published on May 15 reframes osteoarthritis as a heterogeneous syndrome rather than a single disease driven by diverse biological biomechanical metabolic genetic and molecular mechanismsThe findings suggest that the traditional onesizefitsall approach to treatment often fails because patients present with different underlying disease driversMore than 500 million people worldwide live with OA accounting for 76 per cent of the global population Prevalence has surged 132 per cent in the past 30 years and is projected to rise by another 60 per cent by 2050 according to Global Burden of Disease estimates Women individuals with obesity and those with joint injuries are disproportionately affectedOsteoarthritis is no longer confined to the elderly We are now seeing patients as young as 30 often driven by obesity and sedentary lifestylesThis research makes clear that osteoarthritis is not a single disease but a spectrum of conditions and recognising the specific phenotype in each patient allows us to deliver far more effective personalised treatment than a onesizefitsall approach said Dr Raju Vaishya senior consultant Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo HospitalsThe review identifies six disease subtypes including inflammatory metabolic and painsensitisation variants and recommends MRIbased tools alongside biomarker panels to guide treatment decisionsResearchers cited examples illustrating the need for personalised care A 33yearold IT professional with persistent knee pain was found to have vitamin D deficiency elevated body mass index and early joint degenerationTreated as a case of metabolic osteoarthritis with weight management supplementation and structured exercise the patient showed significant improvementIn another case a 60yearold woman with severe burning knee pain and disrupted sleep experienced little relief from standard medicationFurther assessment revealed a painsensitisation phenotype and treatment with neuromodulators targeting nerve pain pathways brought substantial reliefThe study also highlighted that MRIbased structural phenotypes including inflammatory meniscuscartilage subchondral bone atrophic and hypertrophic forms along with molecular endotypes such as low tissue turnover structural damage and systemic inflammationThese tools combined with biomarkers including COMP CTXII and hsCRP are expected to help clinicians make more precise treatment decisions the authors saidEmerging technologies such as AIassisted MRI scoring and PETMRI with 18FNaF are enabling earlier detection and patient clustering though wider clinical adoption will require standardised protocols validation across joints and largescale clinical trials the review notedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever